Indoor plants: fittonia

The Fittonia family from the Acanthus family, according to various sources, has from two to ten species of plants, which have spread mainly to Peru. It is likely that Sarah and Elizabeth Fitton sisters are responsible for their name, it was they who in 1850 published a book in London entitled "Conversations of botany". Leaves of fitton have a beautiful color.

Indoor fittonium plants grow poorly with temperature changes, if there is dry air in the room. In addition, the plant must be periodically cut.

Care of the plant:

Lighting. Fittonium plants grow well in bright scattered light, but without direct sun rays. A good place to grow is a window of oriental orientation, or western. The window of the southern orientation for growing is better not to choose, although the plant will also grow, but it will need to pritenyat it. Also, the plant will grow on the northern window in the penumbra. It is necessary to carefully choose a place, since it is whimsical in relation to light, then it is many, it is not enough. Especially about good additional lighting should be taken care of during the winter period. Additional lighting can be made with the help of daylight lamps. Due to lack of light, the plant begins to stretch, the appearance of the leaves deteriorates.

Temperature regime. Fittonia - plants are thermophilic, in summer the temperature regime of the content should be about 22-25 degrees, permissible temperature decrease to 18 o C. In autumn and winter the plant is kept at a temperature of 18 ° C and more, but not lower. The temperature of the contents should not fluctuate, the plant will not suffer this and will start to discard the leaves. If the temperature drops to 17 degrees or less, the plant will begin to ache. Also, fittonia does not like drafts, especially in the winter, drafts should be avoided. In winter, it is best to keep the plant away from heating devices. Do not also put fittonia in the garden or on the balcony, even in the warmest months of summer.

Watering. Watering is carried out exclusively by soft warm water, previously durable. From the beginning of spring until the fall, watering is abundant (watering, as the uppermost layer of the earth will dry up). It is necessary to take into account the fact that fittonium quickly evaporates water with leaves (transpirates), from which the soil dries faster. Overdrying of the substrate is not permissible, even once, otherwise the root part of the plant will dry up and the leaves will begin to fall off. For a plant, it is also dangerous to overmoisten the substrate - the root system begins to rot.

Air humidity. For fittonii need high humidity, for this year-round spray the plant. For spraying, use filtered or stand-by water. If the plant is in a room with dry air, then sprinkling is carried out at least once a day. You can increase the humidity by using a pallet with raw claydite, moss, pebbles - put a pot of plant on it so that the bottom of the pot is above the water, and not in the water. Do not use products designed to polish the leaves.

Location. A great place for growing fittonia is the terrarium ("bottle garden"). To do this, we take a decorative glass container with a sealed lid or a glass bottle with a large neck, pour the right amount of soil on the bottom, plant the plant, water well and cover with a lid. As soon as there is condensation on the walls of the bottle, open the lid for 1-2 hours, so that the plant "breathes". Open-close need at least the first 7 days (but not more than 10 days). Next, the lid is allowed not to open, but always monitor the humidity.

If the plant grows too actively, then it must be thinned. Thinning is carried out in spring or with the onset of summer. If you plan to put the fitton from the "bottle garden" to the open air, then you need to do this gradually, every day, take a glass jar for a couple of hours, so the plant will prepare for further development in the room.

Top dressing. The active vegetation is in April-August. At this time, fittonium should be fed every 14 days with a weak solution of complex fertilizer, since this plant species is too sensitive to excess fertilizers. In winter, the feeding is reduced by 2 times.

Pruning. That the young fittonium is better branched, it needs to be pinched. At the age of 3, fittonia bare the lower parts of the stem - this is natural. Older specimens are rejuvenated by pruning, which is produced in the spring. It is carried out in several stages - it is unacceptable that the plant remains completely naked, without leaves, as this does not allow young shoots to develop.

Transfer. It is recommended to replace fittony in the spring every year. For diving, it is better to use a loose substrate - 1/2 part of peat and ordinary sand, plus 1 part of coniferous (heath) and sod land. Fittonia has a superficial root system, so for growing, you need to take a wide and shallow bowls, at the bottom of which a good drain is made.

Reproduction. These houseplants multiply by layers, division and cuttings.

Reproduction by cuttings - in the spring cut apical stem with 3-5 leaves (the optimal length of the cuttings is 5-8 centimeters) and are rooted in the sand (preferably covered with a glass container).

The stalk can be rooted in the water. The water layer should not exceed one centimeter. In this case, the container with the handle is best placed in a plastic bag and tied. The temperature of the content during reproduction should be about 25-28 o C. From time to time the packet must be untied and the can opened and sprayed with foliage. The stem will take root about 1.5 months. Once the cuttings in the water appeared qualitative rootlets, it is dived into the soil substrate. You can plant one copy each, but you can do several for greater efficiency.

Potential difficulties