Healing properties
Many types of agave have medicinal properties, but the most commonly used type is American agave. Juice is extracted from its leaves - the main raw material for many folk remedies. When used externally, it helps with the resorption of hematomas and subcutaneous hemorrhages. Helps to remove "stars" from thrombophlebitis. Compresses with agave juice perfectly relieve pain syndromes and reduce inflammation, contribute to the rapid healing of injuries.
Precautions and contraindications
Fresh agave juice is pungent and can leave a chemical burn on sensitive skin. In order to find out the reaction of the skin, you need to drip on the elbow
In case of reddening of the skin, agents with agave juice should be used with caution. Inside take only in diluted form
There are many folk recipes, but if you decide to try, start with small doses or reduce the application time for the first time. If the body responds positively, you can continue the treatment. You should not use inside formulations with agave juice for those who are planning to soon have a child, because the plant juice contains substances that inhibit the reproductive functions of the male body.
The use of agave in traditional medicine
For the preparation of medicinal products, you need to take leaves at least three years old. From the age of three, they contain the largest concentration of medicinal substances. It is necessary to keep the leaves in the refrigerator for 10 days.
- Diseases of the liver and gallbladder. Wash agave leaves and divide them lengthwise into strips. Air dry them and grind them into a powder in a coffee grinder. Apply the ready-made powder with a dose of 0.2 to 0.5 g with water. In the treatment of Botkin's disease (jaundice), an aqueous solution can be used as an adjuvant: 250 gr. pour the leaves with boiled water, leave for 6 hours, drink for 30 minutes. before meals, 1 tbsp. spoon.
- Diseases of the digestive tract. An infusion of leaves in cold water, prepared as described above, and a decoction of wormwood (20 grams of dry herbs per 200 grams of boiling water, boil for 5 minutes, insist), you should mix 1 hour of a decoction of wormwood with 5 hours of agave infusion. Drink before meals for 30 minutes. Three times per day. Helps with gastritis, heartburn, and as an adjuvant in gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer.
- For the treatment of eyes with conjunctivitis. Pour boiling water over the chopped agave leaf (the caustic substances of the plant lose their properties from the hot temperature) in the amount of 150 gr. water. Insist for an hour, strain, add half a teaspoon of honey and mix very well. Inflamed eyes should be rinsed with this solution as needed.
- With the deposition of salts (osteochondrosis, gout). For the treatment of diseases of this type, an alcoholic solution of agave leaves is used. The tincture is prepared at the rate of 1 part of finely chopped agave and 10 parts of 70% alcohol. Keep the tincture in a dark place, shaking occasionally. Should be taken 20 drops before meals.
There is evidence of good results when used in the treatment of bronchial asthma and pneumonia. For boils, boils, apply a compress from plant juice and olive oil in a 1: 1 ratio.
Agave for joint pain - useful video
Propagation of agave by offspring and cuttings of rhizomes
The plant releases babies in the form of cuttings that come from the base of the trunk. Often, growers think that these are cuttings from the agave rhizome, but this is not so.
Cuttings should be separated after removing the mother plant from the pot. If you pull out the ground part of the baby from the ground, it will not take root, and the place of the rupture can fester. Children are cut off from the trunk itself. The cut site on the parent crop is treated with charcoal.Due to the specificity of the procedure, reproduction is best combined with the next transplant.
Separation of cuttings should be combined with a planned transplant
The cut off stalk is left for 10-12 hours to dry the cut site; it is also treated with charcoal. A young bush is planted in loose sandy soil
They take care of a young cuttings, like an adult plant, but special attention should be paid to watering
How to grow a pomelo from a bone
Citrus pomelo can also be grown from seeds. The tree will bloom beautifully, and in 10 years it will gain strength for fruiting. Of course, it is better to grow a pomelo in an apartment, in the country it is unlikely to take root.
Before planting, the washed bones must be kept in the refrigerator for 2 months. If there is no time to wait, soak them for 18 hours in Epin's solution or any other stimulant. For planting, prepare a soil mixture of leaf and turf soil, humus and sand (1: 2: 1: 1). A simpler alternative is commercial citrus soil.
Plant the seeds to a depth of 3 cm, then create a small greenhouse using film or a plastic bottle. Make sure that the soil does not dry out. Shade young pomelo from sunlight and protect from drafts. Spray the seedlings with warm water twice a week. As a top dressing, you can choose any complex fertilizer for flower plants.
Healing properties
For medicinal purposes, agave juice is used, which has certain properties:
- pain relievers;
- diuretic;
- disinfectant;
- laxative;
- regenerating;
- diaphoretic;
- antipyretic;
- sedative;
- expectorant;
- anti-inflammatory.
In folk medicine, they are treated with the following diseases:
- stomach ulcers and gastritis, colitis, bloating;
- neuralgia;
- skin lesions, including burns, frostbite, and boils;
- pulmonary pathologies (tuberculosis, pneumonia, asthma);
- venereal diseases;
- inflammation of the kidneys and bladder.
The plant secretes phytoncides, which helps to cleanse the air from pathogenic viruses and bacteria.
Agave, due to its graceful appearance, easily fits into any interior. It is suitable for decorating apartments, offices, winter gardens, greenhouses. And with proper care and comfortable conditions, the plant will delight for many years. Moreover, parasites and diseases practically do not affect him, and the thorns protect him from the encroachments of pets.
Conditions for keeping at home
Blue agave is a plant that is completely non-whimsical. It can be given even to those flower growers who are just beginning to try themselves in growing unusual crops. And yet for the "sun dweller" it will be necessary to create certain conditions, only then he will delight with his beauty and health.
The first thing to note is the lighting. Since on the open plantations of Mexico the plant cannot suffer from a lack of light in any way, at home it should be provided with a constant influx of sunlight. Place the blue agave on the south side, where the sun is most. In winter, when the daylight hours are too short, pamper the plant with artificial light lamps or phyto-bands.
As for the temperature, it should be kept within 22-28 degrees Celsius. Of course, agave will successfully withstand higher temperatures, it will simply begin to accumulate water inside itself. The plant is very fond of fresh wind, therefore, in a summer cottage, or if you have your own garden, you can take the agave outdoors in summer. If you live in an apartment, the room will need to be often ventilated, otherwise the agave will wither.
In winter, the temperature is maintained at +18 degrees. In the harshest winters, and if the heating season starts late, you shouldn't worry either. The plant will perfectly tolerate lower temperatures. But if the mark of the thermometer drops below zero, and the agave is in the open air, this should be a cause for concern.
How to care for a cactus
The gruconi cactus, which belongs to echinocactus, is perhaps the most popular among all the cacti that are grown on home windowsills.
Gruzoni is a spherical cactus with long spines. Subsequently, it takes on a barrel-shaped form. It differs from other types of echinocactus in the number of ribs - there are 35 of them.
The homeland of this cactus is Mexico, and therefore bright lighting is needed for this species. The cactus is not afraid of direct sunlight, so it can be taken out on a sunny balcony in the summer. If a cactus grows all the time on the windowsill, then, in order to avoid curvature, it is recommended to periodically turn it in different directions towards the light. With a lack of light, the cactus will begin to lose thorns, and those that grow will be very thin.
The optimum temperature for this species is 25 degrees. But at a higher one, the growth of the cactus may stop.
In winter dormancy, the cactus is kept at a temperature of 12 degrees. Moreover, if the temperature drops below 10 degrees, the cactus will freeze and may die.
In the spring-summer period, watering the cactus is carried out only after the soil has completely dried out. Water is used separated and at room temperature. As for watering during wintering during the dry period, the cactus is not watered at all. With a warm winter, it is necessary to slightly moisten the soil once a month.
It is not necessary to spray the cactus; it also has enough moisture when watering.
The pot in which the weight is grown should be shallow and slightly wider than the stem of the cactus. In general, its height is determined by the size of the root system. The root in the pot should be loose.
Transplanting a cactus is similar to other species in this prickly family.
This cactus is propagated and grown using seeds. The video below shows you how to do it correctly.
> In general, caring for cacti is not that difficult, just follow a few simple rules.
Good luck!
Varieties of home agave
Not all types of this Mexican beauty have taken root in the new conditions abroad. But those that have been domesticated grow successfully both outdoors in the summer and indoors. The sizes of home agave are varied - from 10 to 300 cm in diameter.
American agave
With proper care, the shrub grows to an impressive size at home. Leaves 25 cm wide are thorny, fleshy and sharp at the ends. The American beauty has a small stem up to 30 cm in height, the leaves on it are collected in a rosette. The length of the leaves reaches 2 meters, the diameter of the bush often grows up to 3 meters. The color of the leaves is gray-green.
Queen Victoria Agave
A popular indoor look, famous for its decorative effect. The leaves are collected in a dense rosette, up to 20 cm in diameter, sometimes grow up to 40 cm.The leaves themselves are dark green with oblique white lines on both sides, some varieties have white marks or patterns. The size of the leaves is 10-15 cm in length and 5-6 cm in width.
Note! The thorns of the Queen Victoria agave are only at the ends of the leaf - one large (up to 2 cm) and several small
Queen Victoria variety
Agave drawn, or agave attenuata
This agave variety is often confused with a palm tree, as it has a pronounced stem up to 15 cm in diameter. It grows up to 150 cm. The leaves of the agave attenuate are wide and smooth, without thorns. The color is grayish or bluish-green, with a beautiful bluish bloom on top. Leaf length - 70 cm, width - 15 cm.
Agave thread
A very interesting bush that looks like a thorny ball. Its diameter and height is about 60 cm. The leaves are thin (up to 2.5 cm) and sharp, dark green in color. The edges of the foliage are often decorated with white stripes. The main distinguishing feature of the filamentous beauty is its thin white fibers, which are densely located along the edges of the leaves. It looks very unusual and beautiful.
It looks like thread agave
Agave drunkards, or agave potatorum
Another decorative piece. The leaves of this thorny inhabitant of Central America have an unusual shape - obovate, spatulate. At the base, the leaf is narrow, and at the end it expands. The width of the leaf is 10 cm, the length is up to 30 cm. At the very tip of the leaf there is a long sharp needle, along the entire wide part of the leaf there are smaller needles. Green leaves with a silver or white bloom beautifully set off the dark red thorns. Some varieties adorn white streaks and streaks along the edges of the foliage.
How to care for agave at home and plant types
Agaves are one of the least demanding succulent plants, so they can be recommended as a grateful object for beginners. How to care for an agave plant at home? For the successful cultivation of agaves, peduncles with children need a sunny place, a nutritious earthen mixture, a spacious pot, good watering in the warm season and a dry wintering. They easily propagate by seeds and root shoots, serve as an excellent material for phytodesigners, and can be used both in compositions of winter gardens and greenhouses, and due to their endurance in resistant plant groups located in places of interiors unfavorable for plants.
The photo "Caring for an agave at home" shows how to grow this plant:
Most often, you can find Agava americana (americana). It is a common decoration in southern gardens and parks, and is often planted outdoors for the summer and in more temperate climates. Agave americana is a powerful plant with rosettes up to 3 m in diameter, individual hard curved blue-green leaves with thorns along the edges reach 175 cm.
Agave victorie-regine with spherical rosettes formed by rigid, triangular leaves in cross-section has gained popularity in indoor and greenhouse culture. White stripes run along the edges of the dark green leaves, giving the plant a particularly elegant look.
Agave parri has fleshy and rounded gray-green leaves, somewhat reminiscent of a fat woman.
Agave stricta, on the other hand, is more like a yucca, as its leaves are long and thin.
Diseases and pests of agave
Pests quickly kill agave. At the first sign, the flower should be treated with special mixtures or folk remedies.
Scabbards or thrips are the main enemies of the agave. If there are few pests, they are removed with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol or vodka.
Then wipe the leaves with a mixture of soap and garlic with the addition of water.
These are not bad methods, but in case of mass defeat, you need to use the drugs "Actellik", "Karbofos", "Intavir".
Agave
- an unpretentious plant that can survive in central Russia, although it is used to the warm climate of Mexico and Asia.
The flower has enough rocky soil, diffused light and watering
It is important to observe the temperature regime, because agave does not tolerate low temperatures well.
But he loves ventilated rooms where there is enough fresh air.
Despite its resistance to conditions, agave easily dies from pests, so you should not start feeding and processing.
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Like many succulents, agave can undergo putrefaction if the watering regime is not adjusted. From pests, thrips and aphids can appear on it. Insects are easily removed with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol. When infected with insects, agave leaves are treated at least 1 time in 2 days.
Agave is extremely rare. The most common ailment is root and stem rot. The reason is high air humidity at a consistently low temperature or lack of drainage. The first symptoms of damage are dark spots and streaks on the foliage. The plant stagnates in growth and wilts. For treatment, use any fungicidal preparations with copper in the composition, which are sprayed on the outlet every 7-10 days.
Of the parasites, the danger is:
- aphid;
- spider mite;
- thrips;
- shield.
Pests must first be removed from the leaves with a napkin dipped in alcohol or garlic infusion. Then the outlet is sprayed with a solution of the drug "Actellik" (used according to the instructions on the package).
