Once upon a time, the leaves of these plants were used in a weave. Probably, the name of the family is taken from here. In Greek, the word calathos means "basket".
This is mainly herbaceous plants. They refer to perennial. The leaves of the calatea are large, located at the root, they have pinnate veins and spectacular coloring. Flowers kalatei three-membered. Coloring can be different: white, yellow, red. Flowers are collected in inflorescences spiked form (they are called spiked tiers). They can be either apical or axillary.
Maranthas are more whimsical than kalatei, as for air humidity, but they need it too. The plant is contraindicated in temperature changes. It will be ideal if you place a kalatea on the windowsill of a closed window.
Indoor plant kalateya pleases its owner with flowering, mainly in the summer days.
Kalatei: caring for plants.
Kalatea is a plant that is well tolerated by a shadow. It feels great with a diffused type of lighting, especially if it is bright. In winter, too, the plant needs to provide good scattered lighting. In the spring and autumn days the plant does not tolerate direct light. The color and size of the decorative leaves depend on how well the kalatea is protected from direct rays. With strong brightness of light, leaves can lose color, and leaves can also lose in size.
Plants feel good on the windows of the western and eastern directions. If the plant is on the southern window, then it should be pritenyat. Well grow kalatei and with artificial light (with fluorescent lamps - up to 16 hours).
In spring and in summer, the temperature for kalatei should be at the level of 22-30 degrees. At night there is a slight decrease. In winter, the temperature should not drop even to 18 degrees, but also exceed 25 degrees, too. The plant is sensitive to drafts and temperature extremes. The temperature of the earth in the pot should be at a level of 20 degrees, and in the summer time - 22. If the roots are supercooled, they may die.
Watering the plant kalateya must be abundant, repeated watering should be done when the upper earthen layers dry out. In the autumn and winter days, water should be less. It is necessary to watch closely that not to swamp the ground in a pot and not to overdry it. Also, do not overcool the roots. The most sensitive to excess watering is the Makoya kalatei.
Kalatee needs high humidity - up to 90 percent. It should be well sprayed all year round. In this case, water must be used by the one that managed to settle. It is better if it is filtered out. Leaves should not get large drops, otherwise darkening may occur.
If the plant is in a room with low humidity, then the plant should be sprayed more often - up to two times a day. To increase the humidity, you can put a pot of Galatea on a pallet with wet moss, pebbles. But we must ensure that the bottom does not reach the water. To keep high humidity at night, it is necessary to put polyethylene packages on the plant. Kalatei feel great in teplichkah, terrariums.
To feed kalatei it is necessary from the first spring days to deep autumn once a couple of weeks. To do this, any flower fertilizer is useful. In winter, fertilization should be reduced and carried out once a month and a half. It's bad if there is an overabundance of nitrogen and calcium compounds in the soil.
When this houseplant is still young, it must be transplanted every 12 months. Formed kalatei are transplanted, mainly in the summer or late spring, once every couple of years. When the plant is transplanted, old leaves are removed. Capacity for planting kalatei need not very deep. The soil must be loose, humus, weakly acidic (pH to level 6). Well, if the mixture of earth will consist of 2 parts of land of leaf type, for part of sand and peat. In the ground you can add coal from the tree. If there is no possibility to make the soil for plant transplantation independently, you can use the land from the store. The plant needs well-arranged drainage.
Reproduction of a plant.
- Seeds;
- By means of division of rhizomes.
Kalatei form nodules and rhizomes. When they reach the adult state, the rhizomes begin to branch. When transplanting, they are well divided. A large plant can easily be divided into a couple of new ones. When detaching, make sure that the roots are not damaged. We must plant in the ground with a peat foundation. After it must be poured with cold water and make up the top layers, and then watered again. Pots should be placed in a bag of polyethylene and transferred to a warm place. There the plant must stand until it gets stronger.
Possible difficulties in growing kalatei.
- The growth of the plant is slowed down, the tips of the leaves are brown. The cause may be dry air.
- The tips of the leaves become a yellow-brown color. The reason - the lack of nutrients in the earth substrate or their overabundance.
- The leaves are covered with spots and often fold. It happens because of a lack of moisture in the soil.
- The stems wither and rot. The reason is too low temperature and humidity increase.
- Leaflets begin to fall off. The reason - in the room dry air, excessively frequent watering. The soil is not allowed to soil.
- Leaflets wither and lose their color. The reason is intense sunlight.
The plant can be damaged by a spider mite, whitefly, as well as a scab and a mealybug.