Bilbergia - growing and care at home, photo species

Billbergia is a flowering, evergreen plant from the bromeliad family. It forms a rosette from wide, belt-shaped leaves in the center of which moisture accumulates. During flowering, throws direct peduncles with drooping inflorescences. Plant height does not exceed 60-70 cm.

Homeland of Bilbergia Brazil. Culture is a typical epiphyte. Under natural conditions, it grows only on trees; special substrates are used for growing in the room. The average life expectancy when creating the necessary conditions reaches 5-8 years.

Also be sure to look at a flower from the same family - echmea.

	Growth rate is high.
	It blooms from early winter to early spring.
	The plant is easy to grow.
	It is a perennial plant.

Useful properties of bilbergia

Bilbergia is drooping. A photo

Leaves of bilbergia actively emit volatile, which effectively disinfect the air. Also, the plant is able to increase the negative ionization of the air, thereby creating a healthy electrostatics. In addition, bilbergia actively contributes to sound absorption. And its spectacular appearance serves as an excellent decoration for interiors of any type.

Bilbergia: home care. Briefly

Bilbergia at home grows well and blooms only if a number of requirements are met:

Temperature mode	In summer, 23 ° -25 °, in winter not lower than + 16 °.
Air humidity	It does not impose special requirements, but responds positively to spraying.
Lighting	Bright, but diffuse, direct sunlight should be avoided.
Watering	In summer, the soil should be constantly moist; in winter, watering is reduced.
Soil for bilbergia	Lightweight, highly nutritious, with mandatory drainage.
Fertilizer and fertilizer	In the period of intensive growth every 2 weeks.
Bilbergia transplant	As it grows in the spring.
Breeding	Seeds or division of an overgrown bush
Growing Features	Young plants bloom much faster.

Caring for bilbergia at home. In detail

Caring for bilbergia at home is not particularly difficult. It tolerates dry air well and weakly suffers from drafts.

Flowering bilbergia

Bilbergia blooms twice a year: in spring and autumn. The peduncle appears from the center of the outlet. Flowers are collected in drooping brushes, at the base of which are located bracts of bright red or pink color. After flowering, the mother rosette forms many creeping shoots, and itself dies.

Young plants bloom for 2-3 years. In very large specimens, several outlets can bloom simultaneously.

Temperature mode

In the summer, bilbergia prefers moderate temperatures in the range + 23-26 °. With heat above + 28 ° and dry air, plant growth stops. In winter, the flower needs cooler conditions of + 18-20 °. If necessary, bilbergia will easily endure a short-term temperature drop to + 2-3 °. But prolonged maintenance under such conditions will lead to the death of the plant.

Spraying

Bilbergia at home perfectly adapts to the ambient humidity. In winter, after turning on the heating, it is advisable to spray the plant. Water for spraying must be soft. From a hard plant on the leaves, an ugly brown coating will appear over time.

Lighting

Home bilbergia needs bright but diffused lighting. Therefore, for its placement, windows of eastern and western orientation are best suited. In the north, she will suffer from a lack of light. When placed on the southern windows at noon, the plant must be shaded.

Watering Bilbergia

The bilbergia plant at home requires frequent and plentiful watering. The soil must always be moist. During the summer period, when watering, water is also poured into a leaf funnel. In winter, doing so is undesirable.

High humidity combined with coolness can lead to the development of fungal diseases. For irrigation use only soft water. It must first be defended for 3-4 days or passed through a filter.

When grown on a substrate of moss, bromeliad is watered after complete drying. To do this, it is placed in a basin with warm water. After the moss is fully nourished, the plant is returned to its place.

Bilbergia pot

The pot for growing bilbergia can be plastic and ceramic. Its size should be slightly larger than the size of the root system. In conditions of small crowding, the plant develops much better.

You can grow bilbergia on the "bromeliad tree". It is made from a thick branch. The roots of the plants placed on it are wrapped with sphagnum moss. If necessary, the tree is replaced with a large piece of bark.

Priming

Bilbergia does not present special requirements for soil substrate. The main thing is that it is sufficiently loose and breathable. Flower shops also sell special substrates for bromeliads. With self-compilation of the soil, a large amount of chopped moss and clean river sand are necessarily included in its composition.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

During the spring-summer period, bilbergia is fed every 2 weeks with special fertilizer for bromeliads.

Using universal dressing for indoor plants is not recommended. They contain a fairly large amount of nitrogen.

Bilbergia transplantation is carried out as necessary. Its root system develops rather slowly. The signals for transplantation are roots crawling out of the pot.

Trimming bilbergia

The bilbergia does not need special pruning. Dry and damaged leaves, as well as dying old sockets, are removed from it as necessary.

Rest period

Bilbergia does not have a pronounced resting period. In winter, the plant simply slows down. During wintering, it is advisable to reduce the temperature to 16-18 °. This will prevent stretching in a short winter day.

Why bilbergia does not bloom at home

If the plant stubbornly refuses to bloom, perhaps mistakes were made when caring for it:

1. The plant suffers from a lack of light. The pot with bilbergia should be rearranged on a sunnier window or arrange illumination for it.
2. When transplanting, a too large pot was selected. Until the roots conquer the entire volume of land, the plant will not bloom.
3. Lack of moisture. Bilbergia must be watered frequently and plentifully. In summer, water is also poured into the center of the outlet.
4. Not enough food. The plant must be fed with special fertilizer for bromeliads.
5. Winter is too warm. To book flower buds, the plant needs a decrease in temperature in the winter.

Growing bilbergia from seeds

To grow bilbergia from seeds, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. Seeds are sown immediately after harvest.
2. Before sowing, the seeds are disinfected in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate.
3. Sowing is carried out in a mixture of peat and chopped sphagnum moss.
4. The sowing capacity is necessarily covered with a film and placed in a darkened, warm place with a temperature not lower than + 23 °.
5. The greenhouse must be ventilated periodically.

The first shoots appear in 1-1.5 months. After the seedlings form 2-3 real leaflets, they are dived into separate pots. In the future, they are looked after as well as adult plants.

Reproduction of bilbergia by the lateral processes

The easiest way to reproduce. In the process of growth, bilbergia forms numerous side shoots that can be used for reproduction. They are separated during the annual transplant. The larger the dividers, the faster and easier they take root.

After separation, the sections are treated with charcoal powder. Young plants are planted in a soil mixture for adults in small greenhouses. You can also root in crushed moss or perlite. In this case, after root development, additional transplantation into a full-fledged substrate will be required.

In conditions of high humidity, plants take root much faster. To stimulate the development of the roots of the delenka, before planting, you can dip in “Kornevin” powder. They bloom after 2-3 years of cultivation.

Diseases and Pests

Most diseases arise due to errors in care:

• The tips of the leaves of bilbergia dry. The plant suffers from dry air. Water should be added periodically to the sheet funnel. To increase the moisture level, small containers of water are also placed next to the plant.
• The leaf socket is falling apart. The reason is the lack of lighting. The plant must be rearranged in a lighter place or organize illumination from conventional fluorescent lamps.
• Light brown spots on the leaves of bilbergia. The flower received sunburn. Bilbergia should be protected from direct sunlight. To speed up the recovery process, the plant is treated with anti-stress drugs: Epin or Zircon.
• Slowly growing leaves of bilbergia. Lack of lighting and batteries will slow growth. It is necessary to adjust the conditions of detention.
• Bilbergia rots. Excessive moisture and lack of drainage cause root rot to develop. To save the plant, an emergency transplant into a fresh substrate is necessary. During it, all the rotten parts are cut out, and the places of the cuts are sprinkled with charcoal powder.

Of the pests, bilbergia is most often affected by a mealybug, scale insect and aphid. To combat them, solutions of insecticides are used.

Types of home bilbergia with photos and names

In indoor floriculture, the following types are most common:

Bilbergia drooping (Billbergia nutans)

Leaves are belt-shaped up to 70 cm long, saturated green, with a large amount of bright sunlight their surface turns pink. Leaf plates are assembled into a large, tubular outlet. Inflorescences of a drooping type with long bracts.

Bilbergia paleaceae (Billbergia pallidiflora)

Epiphyte, in vivo grows on rocky slopes. Leaves are few, collected in a powerful, tubular outlet. Leaf blades are bright green, rough, with numerous spikes along the edges. Curved peduncle with spike-like, densely pubescent inflorescence.

Bilbergia magnificent (Billbergia magnifica)

The leaves are few, form a powerful, tubular outlet. The leaves are green, linear, up to 70 cm long. An inflorescence is spike-shaped with blue flowers. The bracts themselves are very large, saturated pink.

Zebrin Bilbergia or Zebrina Bilbergia (Billbergia zebrina)

Epiphyte with long leathery leaves with characteristic white stripes. The flowers are blue, with large pink bracts.

Watch the video: BROMELIAD CARE: PROPAGATING METHODS BY SEEDS AND DIVIDING PUPS (May 2024).