Crassula care, cultivation, reproduction and use

The most popular are the tree-like representatives of the fat women. They are popularly known as the money tree, the tree of happiness, the monkey breadfruit. At home, this tree grows up to 50 cm, the trunk is wide, strong, branches well, leaves are dense, fleshy, oppositely located.

Content:

• Variety of fat women
• Plant care
• Reproduction of a fat woman
• Fatty pests and disease
• Medicinal properties of the fat woman

Variety of fat women

The Tolstyanka plant is a genus of the Tolstyankov family, its second scientific name is Crassula.

Total in the family have about 300 species, they all differ not only in height, but also in the appearance of the leaves and trunk. The smallest dwarf fat woman grows by only 3 cm, and the largest is more than 5 meters.

Some of them are adapted only for growing in arid regions, and some prefer aquatic conditions, for example, they are used at home for aquariums. Among all succulents, the bastard is the most shade-tolerant. Depending on the variety, the plant needs more or less light.

The more variegated the color of the leaves, the more the fat woman needs the sun.

The most common types of fat women in home cultivation:

• Crassula is tree-like.
• Crassula is sickle-shaped.
• Crassula lymphoid.
• Crassula perforated.

In many houses, you can most often find a tree-like fat woman:

• She came to us from South and South-West Africa, the maximum height in natural conditions is 3 meters, but at home it is most often a small tree, no more than 1.5 meters high.
• The leaves of the money tree are round, juicy, shiny. When the leaf falls off, a scar remains on the trunk.
• In a room, the plant is extremely rare in color, but when this happens, you can see cream or white flowers.

Crassula sickle:

• It has a straight, slightly branched trunk.
• Crescent leaves (hence the name of the species), grayish, juicy.
• During the flowering period, you can see bright flowers, red-orange hue, they are collected in an umbrella inflorescence.

Crassula lymphatic:

• Outwardly it differs from the previous representatives, it reaches a height of 25 cm, the stem is straight, juicy, branches well, the shoots are tetrahedral.
• In the spring, the fat woman blooms and small pale flowers appear.

Crassula perforatum:

• It is also common in indoor floriculture, the leaves are diamond-shaped, solid at the base.
• The name comes from the appearance, when it seems that the trunk goes through the leaves.

Plant care

First of all, you need to choose the right place in the room, the whole life of the plant depends on the lighting to a greater extent than on other conditions of detention. The plant loves sunny places, but this does not mean that direct sunlight will be safe for it, they can burn the leaves.

In summer, the plant can be shaded a little, and in winter it can be placed closer to the window.

If it is possible to regulate the temperature regime, then the following indicators should be adhered to:

• In spring, the temperature in the room should be 20-25 degrees, and in winter it is desirable to lower it to 15 degrees.
• If it is impossible to achieve such conditions, then, at least in winter, the fat woman must be moved away from the battery.

Air humidity can be any, it does not play a fundamental role. Periodically, the leaves of the bastard can be sprayed or wiped with a damp cloth to remove dust and other contaminants.

You need to water the Crassula carefully:

• It is very important to prevent waterlogging of the soil, and even more so stagnant water.
• The plant should be watered when the topsoil dries out a few centimeters.
• In winter, watering is limited, especially if the tree is kept at a lower temperature.
• Watering in the cold season is provided a maximum of 1 time per month.
• But again, it is important to make sure that the soil does not dry out completely.

Crassula needs feeding exactly as much as any other plants:

• Universal fertilizer is applied once a month during the period of active growth, that is, in spring-summer, and in autumn-winter, the required dose can be divided in half.
• Fertilizer for cacti is also suitable.

Crassula can be transplanted every year, but the optimal number of transplants is once every three years. After transplanting, the plant may become sick. The fat woman does not like space and large pots, so you need to choose a flowerpot that is not deep, according to the diameter of the crown.

It is advisable to select the soil not heavy and not dense.

In the store you can buy a substrate for cacti, it is nutritious and at the same time loose. Do not forget about good drainage, sand is always added to the soil. When self-made soil, sod land, sand and leafy earth are taken in a ratio of 1: 1: 3. To reduce acidity, ash and clay are added to the soil.

Reproduction of a fat woman

Crassula can be propagated using cuttings or by rooting a leaf.

Both methods are simple and effective. It is believed that a fat woman is needed start multiplying in spring, during the period of active growth, but practice shows that the most favorable period is from August to October. In this case, stimulating factors in the form of artificial lighting or the creation of greenhouse conditions using glass or polyethylene will not be needed.

The fat woman grows slowly, so you need to be patient. Rooting will take place in 2-3 weeks, the main thing is that the mother plant is mature and strong, well-branched.

Propagation using cuttings:

• Cuttings can be put in water and wait until the first roots appear, or they can be immediately planted in a small pot in the potting soil.
• It would be more correct to first lower the cutting into water, wait until small roots appear, and after about a week, transplant it into the ground.
• In spring or summer, the plant will take root very quickly.
• The plant instantly begins to lengthen and expand, the main thing is that the soil is nutritious and moist.
• If you plant a fat woman in autumn or winter, then active growth will not begin immediately, but only by spring.

Another way is to root the Crassula leaf.

Here the technology is the same as for cuttings propagation, the leaf can be dipped in water, but you can directly into wet soil (peat with sand). Wet moss will do as well. The leaf is buried in about a third of its height, it is advisable to make a support for it or plant it near the edge of the pot so that it does not fall.

If the leaf will take root in water, then the cut must first be dried. This will take about 2-3 days. Thus, there is no risk that the leaf will rot. The roots will not keep themselves waiting long, but the plant itself will not begin to grow soon.

Every year for the first three years, the bastard needs to be transplanted into a larger pot.

Fatty pests and disease

It is not difficult to take care of a fat woman; it does not require special conditions that cannot be created in the house.

However, it often happens to a fat woman and get sick. Many cannot grow a plant at home, while in other people it reaches enormous sizes.Especially superstitious owners believe that the growth of Crassula depends on the amount of money in the house (it is not for nothing that it was nicknamed the money tree), but it is worth considering whether it is still a matter of improper care or parasites?

The diseases of the fat woman are the same like other succulents... Main reasons: bacteria and lower fungi. They begin to act when the plant does not have enough light or the air humidity is too high.

The main pests:

• Mealybug.
• Root worm.
• Shields and false shields.
• Spider mites.
• Greenhouse flat beetle.
• Nematodes.
• Thrips.
• Aphids.

You can determine the disease by the state of the leaves. For example, if the leaves become soft, yellow and fall off, then this may be a signal of an excess of water. You can help in the following way: remove the flower from the pot, remove damaged rotten roots, sprinkle the cuts with charcoal and transplant the plant into new soil.

If brown or yellow spots appear on the leaves, then most likely Crassula has a scale insect. The affected shoots must be removed, if insects are found - destroy, wipe the flower itself with an insecticide.

If small yellow spots have formed on the leaves and a cobweb is visible, then it is worth talking about a spider mite.

It is not easy to get rid of it, for a start, the plant is completely processed with tobacco or garlic infusion, the leaves are washed with soapy water, and special chemical preparations for ticks are also used. If the plant is affected by a mealybug, then a cotton-like substance will appear on the leaves and in their axils. If it is possible to find parasites, then they are destroyed, then the tree is completely cleaned with soapy water, why the fat woman is sprayed with garlic solution and insecticide.

Medicinal properties of the fat woman

The fat woman brings not only money to the house, as is commonly believed, but is also a home doctor. In addition, Crassula cleans the house of negative energy, brings well-being and good emotions to the house.

The fat woman's reproach:

• The fat woman is used for sprains and bruises. To do this, a bandage or gauze is moistened in the juice of the leaves of a plant and applied to a sore spot and covered with polyethylene. The dressing is changed every three hours until the pain subsides.
• When many remedies do not help to remove pain and is swollen after a wasp sting, Crassula will come to the rescue. The cut leaf must be attached to the bite site and fixed. If such measures are taken immediately, then the pain will quickly fade away, and the swelling will disappear, the risk of any complications will be eliminated.
• The leaves of the bastard are used internally fresh for sore throat. Three times a day it is necessary to chew on a third of a leaf and then inflammation with angina, pharyngitis and tonsillitis will disappear faster.
• For kidney disease, an infusion of bastard leaves is used. To do this, the leaves are crushed and in the amount of 1 tsp. pour a glass of boiling water and keep it in a water bath for 15 minutes, then infuse for another 1 hour. This infusion should be taken 3 times a day, 1 tablespoon before meals. The course of treatment lasts 10 days, then there is a break for a week.
• Rubbing the juice of the leaves is effective for arthritis of the joints. If the hemorrhoids have worsened, then it can be lubricated with vaseline ointment mixed with the juice of the leaves of the bastard. You can also insert a swab dipped in juice for 20 minutes. The pain will go away if you do this procedure once a day.

Also, the leaves of the bastard help with exacerbation of stomach ulcers, on an empty stomach you need to eat 2 whole leaves of the fat woman an hour before breakfast.

Crassula is also effective for:

• Corns.
• Burns.
• Cuts.
• Ingrown toenail.
• Herpes.

The fat woman is a unique plant, it possesses high decorative properties, brings money and prosperity, and also has healing agents. It is very simple to propagate Crassula, so if you saw this tree from your neighbors, then it will be enough to ask for one leaf to grow a plant at home.

More information can be found in the video.