Pakhira Water - Simple Nobility. Home Care. Photo

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Pakhira Water - Simple Nobility. Home Care. Photo
Pakhira Water - Simple Nobility. Home Care. Photo

Video: Pakhira Water - Simple Nobility. Home Care. Photo

Video: Pakhira Water - Simple Nobility. Home Care. Photo
Video: Bovis Homes at Hampton Water 2024, March
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Among those capable of accumulating water in the trunk of plants, pakhira aquatic has always occupied a special, honorable place. And it's not just that the plant is called the bottle tree (by merit). This beauty, unlike competitors, can rather boast of her classic appearance. Large leaves of pakhira with a strict silhouette and unusual, but revealing its true beauty only near the trunk and tree-like silhouette made this plant a legend. But the main advantage of this non-standard caudex is its rather large size. Able to compete with trees and shrubs, pakhira aquatic tolerates room conditions well and requires, albeit specific, but completely uncomplicated care.

Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica)
Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica)

Content:

  • Pakhira aquatic - tree-like caudex with elegant simplicity of leaves
  • Conditions required for pakhira aquatic
  • Caring for pakhira water at home
  • Diseases and pests of pakhira aquatic
  • Propagation of the bottle tree

Pakhira aquatic - tree-like caudex with elegant simplicity of leaves

Aquatic pakhira does not at all look like an exotic plant and, unlike its caudex colleagues, at first glance does not give the impression of an unprecedented exotic. In spirit and character, it is rather akin to the classic indoor woody plant, gives the impression of a traditional and even relict plant. Austere, neat, with simple but elegant shapes, pakhira is easily misleading. Despite its understated appearance, it requires the same care as any other caudex plant.

Pakhira came to us from the tropical forests of South America, where it can be found in swampy areas. In its homeland, it is also known as the Guiana or Malabar chestnut, and in the West as the Chinese and money tree. In our country, pakhira aquatic is most often called the bottle tree, although it shares this name with several other caudex cultures.

Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica) conquers with its tree-like silhouette and structure. It is difficult to guess from a distance about the unusualness of pakhira: it seems just a classic, strict and even somewhat prim tree. And only at close range you can appreciate all the advantages of this beauty. Most often, the pakhirs on sale are represented by specimens with artificially intertwined trunks, which seem to be a bizarre work of art.

But pakhirs with a simple trunk are also very beautiful (especially since with age they will begin to bush and release side shoots). The interweaving of the trunks of several different young plants into a kind of pigtail is very effective, but it also has its drawbacks: over time, sooner or later, some of the plants intertwined with each other die off and die, and only the strongest survive. But this happens slowly and for many years you can admire the intricate ligature of the trunks.

The height of the trunks increases with time: in young plants they are practically invisible, but the “stem” gradually lengthens and rises upward. The height of pakhira aquatic in room culture is limited to 1-1.5 m. The trunk is thickened from top to bottom, it stores water between the bark and wood. Branches with luxurious leaves only decorate the original trunks of the plant.

Even the foliage of the aquatic pakhira is deceiving. From a distance, it seems that the plant produces classic large oval-lanceolate leaves with a flawless silhouette, but everything is not so simple. In fact, the ideal dark leaves are just a fraction of the five-fingered compound leaves spread out like a palm. The dark, rich color favorably emphasizes the classic beauty of the greenery of this plant. The palm-shaped sheets of aquatic pachira seem both massive and graceful at the same time. And even if there are not so many of them, they create a full-fledged crown.

Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica)
Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica)

Conditions required for pakhira aquatic

One of the main advantages of pakhira water is its simplicity. She does not need a cool wintering, but she can put up with it, does not impose special requirements on other growing conditions and, with sufficient lighting, practically does not cause problems. This plant is suitable even for novice flower growers and those who do not have enough time for meticulous care: watering for pakhira is rarely carried out, which allows you to significantly unload the schedule for caring for her collections.

Of course, she does not add to the list of the best indoor Spartans, but it is still a very friendly plant. The high price of pakhira is associated with the difficulties of its cultivation and formation, long-term growth to achieve an attractive shape.

Lighting for pakhira aquatic

In fact, the only strict requirements of pakhira aquatic are precisely the lighting. This plant requires either a sunny location or diffused bright light. Direct midday rays leave burns on the leaves, but morning and evening rays are not afraid of pakhirs. Even in light partial shade, pakhira is not grown.

The light-loving beauty is able to put up with some reduction in the intensity of light in winter, but if it is possible to compensate for it, this will only have a positive effect on the attractiveness of the crown. It is necessary to change the lighting in winter gradually, stretching its movement to a new place in several stages.

Finding a place for pakhira is not quite easy. Only young plants fit on the windowsill without any problems, while adults need to be moved into the interior, and there it is difficult to recreate bright lighting. The eastern and western windowsills are considered ideal places for the intensity of lighting.

Comfortable temperature

The bottle tree feels good in any living room. Normal room temperatures from 18 to 23 degrees are suitable for him, but the plant will be able to adapt to a hotter environment, provided the air humidity increases, and to colder temperatures, if the indicators do not fall below 12 degrees Celsius. Changing the conditions in winter is not necessary for this plant, but if there is a natural drop in air temperature, the pakhira will not suffer. In the heat of winter, provided that there are no measures to compensate for the reduction in light, the pachira can begin to stretch.

Resistant to temperature extremes, pakhira feels great outdoors in summer. But you can display it not in the garden, but on a terrace or balcony protected from wind and rain.

Air humidity for pakhira

The humidity of the air for pakhira, if possible, should be high. It does not require constant measures and a tropical environment, but if you can increase the rates to 60% or more, then the plant will respond to such care with more active growth.

Caring for pakhira water at home

Watering pakhira

Due to the ability to accumulate water in the trunk, pakhira can significantly simplify the maintenance regimen. This plant is drought-resistant, does not tolerate waterlogging and abundant watering. Subsequent procedures are carried out carefully, with a small amount of water, after the top layer of the substrate has dried. If pakhira needs more intensive watering, it signals this with its limp leaves.

In winter, watering for pakhira should be reduced, allowing both the upper and middle layers of the substrate to dry out, maintaining only light soil moisture. Any waterlogging at this time of the year can cause stem rot. For pakhira, unlike many caudex, bottom watering is unacceptable. Particular attention should be paid to the quality of the water: it should be not only soft, but also warm (several degrees warmer than the air temperature).

Pakhira is content with spraying as well, he feels good when installing pallets and bowls with wet materials.

You can spray only the crown, but not the trunk, on the pakhira. Spraying procedures become mandatory only when the air temperature rises above 23 degrees Celsius. Too dry air during heating systems and in summer can cause loss of leaves.

Feeding for pakhira water

Pakhira does not like an excess of nutrients in the soil, as well as excessively intense watering. Fertilizers for the plant are applied quite rarely, with a frequency of 1 time per month even in the phase of active growth, but from November to February, feeding is not carried out at all.

For pakhira, it is better to choose special fertilizers for succulents, but universal mixtures are also suitable, if their dosage is halved.

Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica)
Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica)

Pruning pakhira aquatic

Pakhira shaping is optional but desirable. The plant develops quite rapidly, and if it loses its compactness, attractiveness, looks sloppy, then it can be cut off at will, removing excess shoots or shortening the branches stretching upward, in order to thicken the crown and give it a spherical shape.

The trunk of the pakhira must not be touched. Moreover, it is only by trimming that you can adjust the height of the barrel and its thickness. Pruning can only be carried out in the first half of the warm season, from late February to mid-summer.

Transplant and substrate

Even at a very young age, it is better to transplant pakhira only as needed. The transplant is carried out at the usual time - in the second half of February or March.

Containers for water pakhira are increased by 4-5 cm in diameter. Particular attention should be paid to the ratio of height and width: for pachira, the diameter of the pot should be larger than its depth, since the rhizome develops mainly in breadth.

The substrate is selected from among loose, slightly acidic mixtures. High nutritional value of the soil for pakhira is undesirable. You can select ready-made soil mixtures, as for palms or dracaena, or you can independently compose the soil from equal parts of sod, leafy soil and sand without humus with the addition of half a dose of brick chips.

To prevent problems with dampness and compaction of the substrate, a high drainage layer must be laid on the bottom of the container during transplantation. In this case, the planting depth for pakhira must be left the same.

Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica)
Water pakhira (Pachira aquatica)

Diseases and pests of pakhira aquatic

Pakhira cannot be called a resistant plant. It is often affected by spider mites and thrips. It is possible to effectively control pests only by correcting care in combination with spraying with insecticides.

Common problems in growing aquatic pakhira:

  • falling leaves with extreme dry air;
  • rotting of the stem when the soil is damp or soaking during watering;
  • stretching branches and trunk with poor lighting;
  • the appearance of spots on the leaves when exposed to direct sunlight;
  • rolling leaves at low temperatures;
  • the appearance of a brown edge of the leaves or drying of the tips in drafts and in very dry air.

Propagation of the bottle tree

Pakhira water can be obtained from seeds and cuttings.

Plant seeds are sown in any universal substrate, leveled and watered a few hours before sowing. Seeds of pakhira water must be spread over the soil, without covering them with soil or covering them with the thinnest layer of substrate. After sowing, the seeds are additionally sprayed with warm water. Germination is carried out under a film or glass, with daily ventilation and maintaining the temperature from 25 to 30 degrees. Pakhira sprouts within 3 weeks, but the freshness of the seeds is crucial (the percentage of germination rapidly decreases over time).

To obtain new plants, apical cuttings are cut from pakhira using young branches with a "heel". Cuttings are carried out in spring or June. Cuttings are rooted only in a sand-peat mixture under a hood. Temperatures are similar to those for growing from seeds. The humidity should be constantly high.

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