Top dressing and watering: how to care for a Decembrist during flowering?

Decembrist flower - how to care at home?

Flora pleases the eye with a variety of plant species of various colors, sizes and bizarre shapes. One of the most unusual representatives is the South American cactus, which has an interesting name - the Decembrist, or zygocactus.

This is a very special plant that destroys the idea of ​​what a cactus is, since the described specimen is not very friendly with sunny weather and loves water very much.

It is due to its specificity that the Decembrist deserves attention and a place on the windowsill, which is the subject of this article, providing all the necessary information for home breeding of a "foreign guest".

Why does the Decembrist have sluggish leaves

Despite the fact that all the plants sold are already adapted and bred as resistant as possible regardless of the conditions, a frequent problem is a change in the state of the leaves - they seem to lose moisture, become soft and lethargic, as if they are about to wither completely.

Most often this happens during the heating season, when the batteries dry up the air greatly, and the plants on the windowsill invariably suffer from this. For the Decembrist, high air humidity is important, since this cactus comes from tropical forests.

The solution to the problem of leaf lethargy provoked by dry air is sought only in methods of increasing this indicator. So, the above-ground part can often be sprayed with water, or a pallet with wet pebbles can be placed next to the pot.

Why do buds fall

Usually, a Christmas tree begins to throw out buds from November, and already in December, a lush bloom begins. However, it often happens that, having successfully started the flowering process, the cactus sheds its buds. Such an unpleasant event occurs for several reasons.

The first is a change in the location of the pot, since the zygocactus reacts hard to change the usual place, sometimes even the frequent unfolding of the pot ends badly. Low air humidity, excessive watering, low air temperature, the presence of temperature extremes - all this can lead to dropping of the buds.

It is worth remembering that flowering is the most sensitive and delicate period in the life cycle of a plant, therefore, to maintain it, it is necessary to show maximum attention to the conditions of detention.

What if the Decembrist does not bloom?

The flowering of zygocactus is very beautiful, and almost everyone starts this plant just to enjoy this wonderful event once a year. However, quite often it happens that flowers simply do not appear, and the expected lush flowering does not occur. If this happens, then it is necessary to revise the conditions of detention, because the absence of flowering can be caused by such factors:

the cactus did not "feel" the onset of this period due to stable environmental conditions

To awaken the plant, from the end of September it must be placed in a cooler place and watering reduced, and in November returned to normal conditions with enough light - then the cactus will begin to prepare to throw out the buds;
during the time when the plant had to prepare for flowering, the conditions of care were incorrect - insufficient watering, low humidity, little light;
flowering can only start on one side, and this happens because of uneven lighting;
the ground should always be watered well, but it is important to avoid stagnant moisture, otherwise the roots will rot, and then there will be no talk of flowering at all ..In the question of how to make the Decembrist bloom at home, it is important to take into account the specifics of the reason that caused the appearance of such a problem

When the cause is eliminated, the process of bud formation will also improve, and due to the unpretentiousness of the plant, it is usually enough just to clearly follow all the care recommendations

In the question of how to make the Decembrist bloom at home, it is important to take into account the specifics of the reason that caused the appearance of such a problem. When the cause is eliminated, the process of bud formation will also improve, and due to the unpretentiousness of the plant, it is usually enough just to clearly follow all the care recommendations

Photo of the varieties of the Decembrist flower

The Decembrist flower is familiar to many and is popular, numerous signs are associated with it and a decorative function is assigned to it

When choosing a copy for your home, it is important to know that there are many of its varieties, which differ in particular in the nature of flowering. Photos with the image of different types of plants will help in choosing

March 18, 2019 - life-sup

How to feed the Decembrist at home so that it blooms

Due to the fact that the Decembrist belongs to the genus of cactus plants, he needs special feeding that spares the roots. Succulents cannot tolerate concentrated fertilizers. If it is not possible to purchase special feeding for them, you can use fertilizer for ordinary indoor plants, reducing its concentration by half. The Decembrist gratefully responds to feeding with folk remedies. Such home fertilizers cannot harm, but they can feed the plant and improve the composition of the soil.

Folk remedies

Feeding home flowers with folk remedies has become very popular. On forums on the Internet, flower growers discuss the results of the application. one or another non-standard fertilizer, share with each other the features of its preparation. Fans of the Decembrist recommend using the following types of feeding for him:

Wood ash

Top dressing can be applied dry and previously dissolved in water. To prepare the fertilizer, 2 tablespoons of ash are added to 1 liter of water and infused for several hours. The nutrient solution will be able to give the plant a set of trace elements in an easily digestible form. It is an excellent potash fertilizer that can be used during budding and during flowering.

Hydrogen peroxide

By saturating the earth with oxygen, the product strengthens the root system, promotes the growth of the Decembrist and its flowering. To prepare top dressing, you need to dilute 1 tbsp. a spoonful of peroxide in a liter of water. Fertilization is applied during the active growing season 1 time per week by root application.

Boric acid

The product is prepared in 0.1% concentration and is used to spray the leaves. The use of top dressing stimulates the growth of shoots and promotes the establishment of more buds. Recommended for spraying Decembrist leaves during budding and flowering.

Tea infusion

This remedy is often used by experienced gardeners who already know about its effect on increasing the number of buds. In their opinion, no expensive fertilizer will give such a wonderful result. Tea infusion is capable of causing flowering even in those plants that stubbornly refuse to bloom for several years. To carry out top dressing, ordinary black tea is brewed with boiling water, let it brew and use the tea leaves for watering instead of plain water.

Infusion of fresh apples

Schlumberger gratefully calls names for the use of fresh sour apple dressing. To prepare the fertilizer, 2-3 green fruits are cut into small slices and 500 ml of water are poured. Top dressing should be infused for 2 days. After that, apple water is used for irrigation. This fertilizer is completely harmless and can be applied at any stage of plant development. The frequency of feeding is also not limited in any way.

Complex fertilizer

Special fertilizers for cacti and succulents are good because they contain the entire set of nutrients in the right concentration. When using them, you should not deviate from the manufacturer's recommendations, prepare the solution strictly according to the instructions. Schlumberger has sensitive roots and too high doses of minerals can be harmful instead of good. Most often, for feeding the Decembrists they use:

• fertilizer "Ideal";
• liquid complexes for flowering plants;
• all kinds of feeding for cacti.

Among other things, the size of the pot is important for a good flowering Christmas tree. The container should not be too tight, otherwise the soil will begin to deplete very quickly. But the Decembrist does not need a large pot either, otherwise the flower will begin to increase the green mass to the detriment of flowering.

How to properly water the Decembrist seasonally

The main task of the owners of Schlumberger is its flowering. This can be achieved only by observing the cyclical development of the plant, following the rules for leaving the corresponding stage. The regularity of watering also depends on the stage.

December - January (flowering)

It is important to maintain strength for long flowering, moderate watering in the morning, after 3 - 5 days, supplemented with fertilizer. The substrate must be moist all the time.

May - August (active vegetation)

It is important to provide conditions for the accumulation of vitality, water sparingly, in the evening, after the topsoil has dried by 2 - 3 cm, supplement with dressings, spraying, arrange a shower. At this time, the Decembrist is transplanted, reproduction

After transplanting, watering should be resumed as the substrate dries up, the next feeding is only a month later.

September - October (budding)

The period of tying buds. Reduce moisture to a minimum (once every 2 weeks). No spraying. Arrange hardening by lowering the temperature; if the soil is very wet, frostbite of the roots can occur.

November

The appearance of buds, resume regular morning moderate watering with warm water, top dressing, spraying.

Observing simple recommendations, the cultivation of Schlumberger will not cause trouble, and the timely lush flowering will bring a lot of positive emotions.

Water: how much is required for irrigation?

If you write a section for the book "Decembrist Flower: How to Take Care at Home", then the chapter on watering could be briefly formulated as follows: watering should not turn into flour neither for the plant, nor for the owner who cleans up its consequences. Literally disentangling! The "poured" Decembrist can:

• shed buds and flowers;
• stop growing;
• rot

Watering is carried out depending on the degree of soil moisture. In winter, this is done no more than once a week, during the resting season - no more than once a month. In summer, keeping the soil moist. Constantly! Watering with water is better "soft", settled.

Spraying is permissible only in a room that is only warm enough, while during the period of temperature drop, which is necessary for the success of flowering, you should not additionally cool the plant by spraying water over it.

Reducing watering from August, gradually bring the plant to the season of color gain, the build-up of green mass by this time should completely stop.

Top dressing

Mineral mixtures twice a month is the easiest option than feeding the Decembrist so that it is guaranteed to bloom. Complex fertilizers containing potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. Once a year, before flowering, it is recommended to feed the Decembrist with organic liquid fertilizer.

There is a little secret that stimulates the zygocactus to bloom and set buds. This is the pinching of young cuttings, which in the spring begin to grow vigorously at the ends of the leaves. In this case, energy is directed not to the development of leaves, but to flowering and seed formation for the survival of the species.

There are situations when, with improper abundant feeding, the plant burns the roots and begins to die off. To save him, they pinch off all the new overgrown segments and root them, and draw conclusions for themselves on mistakes in feeding.

Video: Watering the Decembrist at home

Decembrist photo description

A bushy perennial houseplant, called by the people "Decembrist", either in honor of the name of the month, or for the "obstinacy of character" that blooms in December, contrary to the natural laws of the northern hemisphere, the height of flowering falls on Christmas, for which it has another name "Christmas Cactus". Homeland - coastal tropical Brazil.

In the wild, it lives on trunks, in plexuses of tree branches (epiphytes), in crevices of alpine rocks (lithophytes), where, despite monsoon rains, water does not retain. Having a meager root system, it feeds on organic products that accumulate in stone cracks, depressions in the bark. Hiding in shady thickets, it is saturated from humid air with the help of light aerial roots growing between the segments (cladodia) that make up the stems of the plant, hence the name "forest cactus".

Succulent ability to accumulate moisture refers them to the cactus family, oddly enough, without a single thorn (modified leaves) and the special structure of annual increments served as another name "zygocactus". The Decembrist has no leaves, mistaking flat segments for leaves, they make a big mistake.

Stems:

• drooping, branched, up to 50 cm long;
• consist of numerous flat cladodes (annual increments).

Claudia:

• have a bright green tint;
• serrated edge with modified areoles (lateral buds) between the serrations;
• growth buds or buds are located at the apex of the segment.

Flowers of outlandish beauty, blooming in early summer, endowed with white or red color, an elongated tube of pointed multi-tiered petals, with an upward-bent end, long stamens extending far beyond the corolla. Hummingbirds, drinking the moisture collected by the flower with a thin nose, pollinate it at the same time.

The centuries-old struggle for existence has developed an amazing survival skill for the species - reproduction is possible even in one segment. Apparently, thanks to this ability, the Decembrist managed to survive on the other side of the equator.

For more than two centuries, zygocactus has delighted with its bright colors in winter, preserving all the properties of natural growth, presenting the variability of possibilities to breeders. The name used in scientific circles - Schlumberger - the plant received in honor of the French collector-botanist Frederic Schlumberger (1823 - 1893), who first proved its belonging to the cactus family.

The modern variety of Schlumberger has more than a hundred varieties, differing:

• the size, shape and color of the cladodia;
• shades, size of colors;
• the number, the doubleness of the petals.

There are varieties with erect stems, ampelous; undersized and up to 1 meter shoots. Despite so many different varieties, the simplicity and stability of care, including watering, remains.

Top dressing

If all of the above rules are taken into account, and the Decembrist does not bloom, then it is more likely that there is a lack of nutrients, so it must be fed. Top dressing begins in the spring and ends in early autumn. In the summer, the amount of nutrients added is doubled. Of the folk recipes, the following are considered the best:

• Sugar - This is the easiest and most affordable way to feed. Thanks to the energy that glucose gives, the plant can spend it on flowering. In a liter jar of water, dissolve two tablespoons of sugar and water the soil. In parallel with it, it is imperative to add any EM drug that will replenish the amount of carbon dioxide. Otherwise, mold can grow in the ground.Sweet water should be watered no more than once a month.
• Ash - It is added to the ground during the transplanting of a house plant. If a transplant is not planned, then two tablespoons of ordinary wood ash are dissolved in a liter jar of water, insisted for about three hours, then they are watered. You can just sprinkle the ground with ashes and pour water on top. The beneficial minerals contained in ash will help the Decembrist recover. It is especially useful if the flower lacks potassium. This can be seen by the yellowed leaves.
• Boric acid - If you spray with a boric acid solution, the number of inflorescences will increase. To do this, 0.1% boric acid is dissolved in a liter of liquid. Spraying is carried out in December and during flowering. It is undesirable to perform this procedure in direct sunlight, otherwise the leaves may get burned.
• Diluted mullein - They are fed six months after transplanting, but you need to remember that it accelerates the onset of budding, so they do not bring it in in the fall so that the flower has time to rest. For feeding, one fifth of the mullein is dissolved in a liter can of liquid. It can be replaced with bird droppings.
• Hydrogen peroxide - Thanks to it, the root system of the flower will be able to receive enough oxygen and will be healthy. To do this, dissolve half a tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide in two glasses of water. Water once a week. It is undesirable to spray greens with this solution.
• Citrus - Take the peel of any citrus fruit, chop finely, then pour boiling water over it. Insist for about a day, filter and watered once a week, diluting in advance with the same amount of water.
• Apples - This only requires sour green apples. They need to be cut into small pieces, filled with water and left to infuse for about two days. Then watered twice a week. This tincture of a houseplant can be watered at any time, even during a dormant period. It only brings benefits.
• Tea - This is the most unusual and effective way by which you can achieve the beginning of budding in a plant. To do this, a glass of black tea leaf is brewed in a three-liter jar of boiling water. Then they wait until it cools down, after which it is watered twice a week. No expensive product can compare with tea leaves.
• Yeast - They are able to replace almost all chemical fertilizers due to the large amount of nutrients they contain. In one liter of warm water, dissolve two tablespoons of dry yeast, add a tablespoon of sugar. Insist for about two hours. Then it is diluted with five liters of water and watered with the Decembrist.

Reproduction methods

There are several ways to breed a Christmas tree:

• cuttings;
• vaccination.

The most affordable and effective way is grafting. Breeding a Christmas tree with a scion is a much more difficult task, but it is also available at home.

How to propagate the Decembrist by cuttings

1. Time for breeding.
Zygocactus cuttings root perfectly regardless of the season and weather outside the window. But it is best to do the breeding of the Decembrist in the period from April to May. At this time, the mother plant has already bloomed.

2. Choice of cutting.
Healthy, undamaged cuttings from three separate elements are suitable for propagation by a leaf. It is necessary to inspect the plant and select a separate shoot with small roots. If you want to grow a lush bush, you need a few cuttings.

It is preferable to choose shoots on a less dense part of the plant, this is due to the fact that after cuttings the adult plant rejuvenates, and in the place of the cut off shoots others will intensively begin to grow and bloom profusely.

3. Separation of the cuttings from the mother plant.
Never use a knife, scalpel, scissors, or other sharp object to cut off the appendix. Use only your hands. Take the handle, pinch it a little and twist it around the axis.Hold the plant with your other hand so as not to accidentally break it.

4. Preparing the cutting for planting.
The shoots need to be dried, for this they are left in a container for a day in a dry and dark room. A transparent film forms at the site of separation - this means that the plant is ready for planting. If possible, cuttings can be sprinkled with sand or charcoal.

5. Preparing the soil.
The easiest way is to buy a universal cactus soil in a specialized store. The acidity of the soil should be in the range of 5.5-6.5 pH.

You can also prepare the substrate yourself. The optimal composition of the soil for the Decembrist:

• leaf land - 6 parts;
• humus earth - 4 parts;
• peat - 2 parts;
• sand - 2 parts;
• sod land - 1 part.

Zygocactus grows best in the soil, which is enriched with peat, so some growers grow the Christmas tree in pure peat. The two main conditions that apply to the substrate are lightness and breathability.

Note: a third of the flowerpot is filled with drainage to avoid stagnation of water in the flowerpot.

6. Planting cuttings.
The size of the flowerpot should not greatly exceed the volume of the root system. The roots of the zygocactus are poorly developed, so there is no need for a large pot. The pot is filled by a third with drainage, and up to half with a prepared substrate. The soil is lightly pressed and moistened. A recess is made in the center, and a shoot is planted. If you need to plant several cuttings, the grooves are made according to the number of plants.

If it so happens that it is time to plant the shoots, and you have not yet had time to purchase the flowerpot, use disposable cups. Cover the top of the plant with a glass container or polyethylene.

7. Growing conditions.
The container is immediately placed in partial shade and the temperature is maintained from +15 to +20 degrees. Plants need to be regularly ventilated - the shelter is removed daily for 20-30 minutes. Watering is necessary in moderation.

For full rooting, a Christmas tree needs 3 to 4 weeks. As soon as new segments of leaves appear on the cutting, it is transplanted into a permanent flowerpot.

Reproduction by grafting

This technique is unpopular and rarely used. If you want to experiment, master new techniques of floriculture, try to plant a Decembrist. Two plants are suitable for this:

• prickly pear;
• pereskia prickly.

The upper part of the prickly pear or pereskia is cut off, the stem is removed from the leaves and is split closer to the upper edge. 2-3 Decembrist segments are used as a scion, the lower part must be sharpened and inserted into the prepared slot. After that, the vaccination site is fixed with a needle and a plaster. Plants grow together at a temperature of +18 degrees for several weeks.

The bandage can be removed as soon as the plant begins to grow. All lateral shoots and leaves on the plant to which the Decembrist was grafted must be removed, otherwise the rootstock will not have enough strength to provide the grafted stalk with nutrients. If the grafting process is done correctly, the Decembrist will bloom in the very first winter.