Ardisia, Or Red Peas. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Kinds. Photo

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Ardisia, Or Red Peas. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Kinds. Photo
Ardisia, Or Red Peas. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Kinds. Photo

Video: Ardisia, Or Red Peas. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Kinds. Photo

Video: Ardisia, Or Red Peas. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Kinds. Photo
Video: Coral Ardisia Plant Care 2024, March
Anonim

At the moment, about 800 species of Ardisia are known. Her homeland is Japan and South Asia. The most common in the culture are Ardisia crenata and Ardisia crispa. Ardisia is a slow-growing plant attractive for its shiny leathery leaves, but its main value is its red berries, which appear in December. Ardisia berries develop from tiny flowers that bloom in summer and remain on the plant for several months. If the plant is properly cared for, it bears fruit all year round.

Ardisia crenata (Ardisia crenata)
Ardisia crenata (Ardisia crenata)

In the genus Ardisiy there are trees, shrubs or semi-shrubs. Leaves are evergreen, shiny, leathery, whole, alternate, opposite or whorled (three in a whorl). Flowers are collected in panicles, umbrellas, brushes; white or pink, calyx five-part, corolla five-part, spine-lobed, with bent lobes; stamens five, long, protruding far. The fruit is a spherical, smooth, brightly colored drupe.

Content:

  • Features of the content of ardisia at home
  • Ardisia care
  • Reproduction of ardisia
  • Types of ardisia
  • Diseases and pests of ardisia

Features of the content of ardisia at home

Location: Preferably a bright spot with only morning sun. The temperature in summer is 18-20 ° С, in winter 15-18 ° С. An excellent perennial plant for a moderately warm room.

Lighting for Ardisia: This plant loves bright light.

Watering ardisia: Throughout the year, the soil should be constantly moist.

Air humidity: Air humidity should be moderate, not high. In order for the berries to form, the air humidity must be more than 60%.

Top dressing of ardisia: During the growth period, once every two weeks, in winter - once every four weeks, ordinary flower fertilizers are applied. Features: for better berry formation, the flowers are pollinated with a brush.

Repotting Ardisia: It is recommended to replant every one to two years, in spring, in good clay soil for flowers.

Remember:

  • purchased plants are grown using growth-retarding chemicals, so the internodes of branches grown after purchase will necessarily be longer;
  • buds are laid in winter, at low temperatures (15-18 ° C);
  • moist air is desirable for setting a sufficient number of fruits.

Ardisia care

One of the important conditions for the development of ardisia is good lighting, but it must be shaded from the midday sun. The plant should be watered regularly, as the topsoil dries. In winter, watering should be reduced. At the same time, the flower requires a cool content with an air temperature of about 15-18 ° C. At the end of February, they transfer it to a warm room and begin to feed it with fertilizers. This is done every two weeks.

Ardisia loves humid air, despite this, it is impossible to spray the bush on which the berries have set. Pallets with wet pebbles will help to create comfortable conditions for the plant. Once a month, wipe the leaves with a damp cloth. This must be done carefully so as not to hurt the berries.

The flower is transplanted once a year into a mixture of leafy earth, peat and sand. Drainage must be placed on the bottom of the container. The volume of the pot is increased slightly during transplantation, since it is believed that ardisia blooms and bears fruit better in a cramped container.

Ardisia
Ardisia

Reproduction of ardisia

Young plants are grown from seeds. For germination, take the largest ripe ardisia berries up to 1 cm in diameter. Having freed it from the pulp, we find a hard round bone (0.5 cm) with longitudinal light veins, vaguely resembling unripe gooseberries. We plant it to a depth of about 1 cm in a uniformly moistened substrate, cover the pot with glass or transparent film.

Sowing is carried out in March in seed soil. The soil temperature is maintained at 18-20 ° C. Ardisia seeds germinate at normal room temperature. The grown seedlings are transplanted one at a time into small containers filled with ordinary potting soil. Only after 2-3 years the seedlings will turn into attractive bushes.

Before planting, it is recommended that the hard bones of ardisia be scarified (carefully filed) and soaked for several hours in a solution of stimulating drugs.

From cuttings, plants develop faster, but cuttings take root not easily, at a soil temperature of at least 25 ° C.

Types of ardisia

Ardisia crenata (Ardisia crenata)

Ardisia crenate is widespread in culture - an extremely attractive and interesting plant. Over a year, bright red berries can decorate ardisia, then they shrivel and fall off. The culture grows up to 2 m in height. Especially decorative are leathery dark green leaves with a wavy edge, with nodular swellings. In place of white or pink flowers, coral-red berries form in winter.

Ardisia crenata (Ardisia crenata)
Ardisia crenata (Ardisia crenata)

Ardisia curly (Ardisia crispa)

Much less common is Ardisia curly - A. crispa - 60-80 cm high. It has leathery alternate, oblong-lanceolate, glossy dark green leaves with a wavy edge. In June, star-shaped white-cream flowers with a reddish tint bloom, collected in fragrant panicles. Ardisia curly fruits are very decorative, bright red round berries that often adorn the plant when it blooms again.

Ardisia curly (Ardisia crispa)
Ardisia curly (Ardisia crispa)

Ardisia low (Ardisia humilis)

Ardisia low - smaller than curly ardisia. She has dark green leathery leaves 5-15 cm long. Small light pink flowers, collected in drooping paniculate inflorescences. The berries first have a brownish-red color, then they become glossy and blacken.

Ardisia low (Ardisia humilis)
Ardisia low (Ardisia humilis)

Ardisia solanacea (Ardisia solanacea)

Ardisia solanacea is a species with reddish shoots and leathery light green leaves, narrower than those of curly and low ardisia. The pink or lilac flowers are completely inconspicuous. They are replaced by berries, at first reddish, later dark and glossy.

Ardisia solanacea (Ardisia solanacea)
Ardisia solanacea (Ardisia solanacea)

It also occurs ARDISIA Wallich (Ardisia wallichii), which is considerably larger plant. Leaves up to 20 cm long, 6-8 cm wide, obovate, wedge-shaped narrowed at the base, entire. The flowers are bright red, the fruits are black.

Diseases and pests of ardisia

Scabbards, aphids and worms cause significant damage to the plant. Pests are removed with a cloth or cotton swab dipped in alcohol, and then treated with special insecticides.

Ardisia also has fungal diseases.

Excess water or irregular irrigation will cause foliage to fall.

Light, chlorotic-damaged leaves indicate a lack of iron. The plant is fed with iron chelates (chelates are called a special type of chemical compound).

Brown tips or edges of leaves indicate too dry air, cold drafts, or insufficient watering.

Brown spots on the leaves can be the cause of both insufficient watering and bacterial disease caused by excessive moisture in the air and soil.

The leaves are curled, soft with brown edges - the temperature is too low, it may be warm during the day, and at night the temperature drops below normal. Make sure that the thermometer does not drop below 12 ° C in winter.

Yellowing of leaves - with dry air, lack of nutrients in the soil (in particular, nitrogen), when the plant has not been transplanted for a long time, as well as with a lack of lighting, especially in winter.

Light dry spots on the leaves - too intense lighting or sunburn. Ardisia needs shading from direct sunlight at noon.

The thickening at the edges of the leaves is not a sign of disease or pests. Ardisia is characterized by symbiosis with Bacillus foliicola bacteria, which develop in these nodular thickenings. It has been found that the destruction of these nodes inhibits the growth and development of plants. The seeds of ardisia germinate already in the fruits on the plant - this is how the plant stimulates the colonization of the offspring with useful microflora. In this case, bacteria easily enter the point of growth of the seedling, and then inside the leaf buds.

In general, ardisia is a very ornate tree. Its flowers, depending on the species, are pale pink or white. Usually flowers and berries do not appear at the very top of the plant, but as if under the crown of leaves on the trunk.

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