Neoregelia. Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Decorative Deciduous. Houseplants. Flowers. A Photo

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

The genus received its unusual name in the middle of the 19th century thanks to the director of the Petersburg Imperial Botanical Garden, Eduard - August von Regel. From Latin Neoregelia literally translates as "New Regelia". The genus consists of more than one hundred species, sixty of which grow in nature, and forty are known only in culture. The latter are used as flowering ornamental plants for indoor flower gardens and greenhouses.

Neoregelia is a very beautiful epiphytic plant, the peculiarity of which is that a dense inflorescence of blue flowers develops right in the center of the rosette, and the covering leaves during the flowering period can retain their bright red color for several months.

© Forest & Kim Starr

Adult plants are large enough - up to eighty centimeters in diameter and up to twenty centimeters in height. The leaves of the plant reach thirty centimeters in length, and their width and color vary depending on the species. For example, in elegant neoregelia, they are light green, with light edging along the edges, and in bubbly neoregelia, they are dark green, with narrow reddish stripes and small brown scales.

Of all the species, the Carolina neoregelia is especially distinguished. It forms flat rosettes of long (up to 40 centimeters), dark green leaves, at the ends of which there are thin spines. During flowering, the inner leaves of the rosette turn bright red. A thick inflorescence appears in the center of the rosette. It consists of white or bluish flowers on a very short peduncle. This species has two forms specially developed for indoor floriculture - "Flanders" and "Tricolor".

© Bocabroms

Plants are kept in a warm and humid room year-round, with sufficient illumination, but without direct sunlight. With a "sunburn" on the leaves, ugly spots of a pale brown color are formed. If the air is not humid enough, the tips of the neoregelia leaves will dry out and turn dark brown. The temperature of the plant in the "winter" period should not fall below fifteen degrees Celsius.

For watering and spraying, only "soft" water without lime admixtures is used. Once every two weeks, fertilizing with mineral fertilizers is required, which can be applied directly to the outlet. True, after this, the leaves of neoregelia must be thoroughly rinsed so that there are no mineral salts left in the outlet.

Neoregelia reproduces with the help of offspring separated from the mother plant. The offspring can be transplanted only after they are fully rooted.

© Digigalos