Money tree: planting and home care tips

There is not a single fan of indoor floriculture, no matter who has a pot with fat woman, crassula, or, as it is commonly called, a money tree with fleshy, coin-like leaves. But what kind of care this amazing tree requires is rarely anyone thinks about.

Content:

• Types of money tree and their features
• Creating conditions for the growth of the money tree: temperature, lighting
• Features of caring for a fat woman: watering, feeding, crown formation
• Reproduction and plant transplant rules
• What is known about diseases and pests of the money tree

Types of money tree and their features

Many of the plants on the windowsills are newcomers from southern countries, and the money tree is home to the African continent and the Arabian Peninsula. It was there, in deserts with a tropical climate, when there is little rainfall and the sun is quite active, that this tree learned to survive, accumulating nutrient moisture in small rounded leaves.

There are about three hundred types of jerky, and the most common are:

• Crassula, growing in sultry Africa on the rocks, has numerous shoots spreading along the ground or directed upwards and having a length of more than half a meter. In the upper part of the stems with an umbrella, yellowish inflorescences are collected.
• A perennial plant only ten centimeters high grows on sandy soils. It has lanceolate leaves, collected in a bunch at the base of the stem, pubescent with panicles. This plant is called Cooper's Crassula.
• The most common fat woman, the one that is called the money tree, bears the scientific name Crassula silvery or purslane, Cotidelon oval. It has many shoots that develop into the crown of the tree. The trunk of a tree is usually thick, sometimes lignified from below, and from above it is decorated with a crown of thick silvery or dark green leaves, with a shiny surface, with a reddish border or spots of the same tone. The leaves are poisonous, they cannot be used for food, because the arsenic content in them is high. The height of the bush can reach from a few centimeters to two meters. After seven to ten years of growth, the money tree can be covered with small white flowers with a greenish and pinkish tint. The inflorescences attract with their sweet scent.

Creating conditions for the growth of the money tree: temperature, lighting

After purchasing crassula, you must immediately find a permanent place in the room for it. Lighted places are preferable to the life growth of a flower, it is possible with a slight partial shade, but direct sunlight is destructive for it. The southeast part of the house will be the best place.

During summer and spring, you can take out a pot with a plant on a balcony or in a garden, protecting it from bright ultraviolet radiation.

If this is not possible, then it is advisable to ventilate the room more often, hiding the money bush from drafts.The temperature at which the tree is comfortable should be no higher than 25 degrees Celsius during the period of activity, and in autumn and winter we reduce it to ten degrees above zero.

The increased humidity in the room can interfere with the active growth of the flower, therefore, in addition spray it's not worth it either. But it is necessary to wipe the fleshy leaves from dust, because a lot of it accumulates on them in a short period of time. Such unpretentiousness of the plant serves as its popularity among lovers of indoor plants.

Features of caring for a fat woman: watering, feeding, crown formation

Fat woman, or a money tree - an unpretentious plant, but requires compliance with the following care rules:

• In the tropics of Africa, the climate is dry and hot, so for Crassula glaze it will be enough no more than twice a week, and even less during rest periods. And here the main thing is to monitor the condition of the soil, preventing it from drying out or excessive moisture.
• It is also necessary to fertilize the indoor bush no more than once a month, and even less often in the winter months. For feeding use special additives for succulent plants, which include cacti and bastard.
• Shape the crown a tree is necessary when it will be in an adult state with a stiff trunk. Start by pinching thin stems to stop them growing upward. To do this, remove the kidney over the third leaf with tweezers or just a fingernail. At this place, about three buds are formed. This is how the tree branches. As soon as a single kidney appears, they try to remove it. If you separate a branch that has already formed, then sprinkle the cut site with cinnamon powder or a crushed tablet of activated carbon. The crown is also shaped by lighting. It is necessary to turn the tree more often with one or the other side to the light, then bending of the branches in one direction can be avoided.

Speaking about the unpretentiousness of a plant, they always mean that it does not require much effort from us to care for. But you need to pay at least a minimum of attention to it.

Reproduction and plant transplant rules

It is rare to see a person who would dare to grow a tropical tree himself. But the fat woman can be bred independently in two ways:

1. For sowing seed, pots are prepared with soil, which is harvested in advance. A drainage layer is laid out on the bottom of the container, consisting of brick chips or fine coal. The soil consists mainly of sod land, with the addition of sand, leaves and humus mixed with the earth. You can purchase a special succulent soil from a specialist store. The planting container should be low and wide because the root system of the tree is shallow. Seedsthat have fallen into the ground are covered with glass. Daily airing and spraying of the soil will lead to the fact that in 10-12 days the sprouts of the bastard will appear.
2. By cuttings it is much easier to propagate the money tree, because the prepared cutting for rooting is immediately planted in the ground to a depth of about 6 centimeters. It is recommended to plant the plant in spring, then there is confidence that it will bloom in the future. A transplant in the summer months makes it impossible to even dream of a blooming Crassula.

It is also better to transplant an adult plant in the spring, preferably every year. It is necessary to prepare a container with soil for a tree in advance, so that then, together with a lump of earth, transfer the fat woman there. You can add more earth to the pot.

If rotten roots are found due to excessive watering, they can be carefully removed, the bush can be dried, leaving it with open roots.

An indifferent attitude towards the plant will not make it a beautiful, pleasing to the eye, green tree on the windowsill. Many believe that Crassula gives happiness and good luck to its owners, and for this they must make it beautiful and healthy.

What is known about diseases and pests of the money tree

Symptoms of any disease on a plant can appear only from improper care of it. A rot fungus that affects the roots and trunk of a tree actively grows in the soil with excessive moisture. The plant can only be saved transfer him in another pot.

The appearance of yellow spots on the leaves, followed by falling off - this is also increased humidity in the air and soil.

But the lack of moisture also leads to damage to the leaves: they begin to turn brown, dry and fall off. In this case, only timely watering water at room temperature. Lack of lighting will also disfigure the plant, making the stem curved, and may even lead to death.

The main pests that most often attack the fat woman include:

• A feature of the mealybug is the ability to infect an indoor flower, located on the leaves, weakening their vital activity. You can get rid of it by wiping the places where the parasite accumulates with alcohol infused garlic in the form of a solution. Spraying with Fufanon or Actellik is also effective in fighting the parasite.
• The appearance of small yellowish spots on the leaves indicates an attack by a scale insect, which can be removed by hand. Treatment with soapy water or appropriate insecticides will help to cope with the pest, provided that it is twice spraying in Week.
• The worm that infects the roots of the plant loves high humidity, actively moving and multiplying in the soil. You can find it during a flower transplant. By thoroughly washing the roots and drying them, you can save the plant. Double treatment with Aktellik will destroy the larvae of the worm, after a week the spraying can be repeated.
• Small, barely noticeable insects of a white or reddish hue, spider mites entwine leaves with a thin net, which begin turn yellow and fall off, subsequently becoming covered with rust-like crusts. In this situation, spraying the money tree with cold water will help, then the humidity in the room will increase and the spider mite will die. Insecticidal preparations will consolidate the victory over the harmful insect.

Diseases and pests that attack a tree do not arise out of nowhere. They are the result of our inattention to the life of a green friend who has settled on the windowsill.

More information can be found in the video: