Care of the epiphyllum at home and in the flowerbed: a photo of the cactus for diseases, as well as how to rejuvenate when to prune old branches of a flower and why leaves fade

South American epiphyllum (phyllocactus) is a forest cactus that is completely undemanding succulent.

Caring for it is simple, you only need to consider some features of the content of exotics at home.

What nuances must be observed when caring for this unusual cactus so that it blooms and delights the eye of the household for as long as possible?

How to care for a flower at home?

Temperature

Phyllocactus does not like sudden changes in air temperature. In spring and summer, a tropical resident can tolerate 22 - 25 ºC. In autumn, the flower should be prepared for rest; at rest, the content temperature should be reduced to 12 - 15 ºC.

Important! Lowering the temperature to 8-10 ºC is unacceptable, the cold is contraindicated in this succulent.

Watering

Epiphyllum does not require abundant watering. In summer, it should be watered more often, 1 time per week in small doses. Between watering, the top layer of the substrate should dry. In the fall, watering is reduced. In winter, you can not water the flower, only slightly moisten the substrate 1 time per month. In spring, regular moderate watering resumes.

The plant does not need additional humidification, in strong heat, you can lightly spray the leaves of phyllocactus.

Water for irrigation use soft, settled, room temperature.

Shine

Epiphyllum, unlike many cacti, does not tolerate bright sunlight. The light should be bright, but diffused. Pots are best installed on the eastern and western windows. South location requires window shading.

It is undesirable to install pots on the north side of the house. In this case, additional lighting is required with special lamps for 3-4 hours a day. In the summer, the plant can be moved to the balcony or to the garden, shaded from the sun. In the fresh air, flowers grow well.

Attention! Overheating and an excess of bright rays causes burns of leaf-shaped stems.

When and how to rejuvenate a cactus?

Rejuvenate the bush every 2 to 3 years. The procedure is best done with a transplant. Pruning at home is required only for an adult plant.

Cropping Pattern:

Long overgrown flat stems are shortened.
Clogged stems are cut off when cork formations appear.
The thinned tops of the stem of a rounded and faceted shape are removed.
Damaged processes infected with infections should also be trimmed.
To grow young shoots, forming flower buds, you should pinch the old shoots.
Places of cuts are sprinkled with activated or charcoal.

Priming

The substrate should be light and loose, not retain moisture. A drainage layer is required. For the correct location and strengthening of the roots, pieces of expanded clay or medium-sized clay shards are laid at the bottom.

The composition of the substrate:

Sod land - 2 hours
Leaf land - 2 hours
Charcoal - 1 hour.
Peat fiber - 1 hour
Coarse river sand - 1 hour.

Top dressing

During active growth, the substrate should be fertilized with mineral fertilizers for succulents. During the rest, phyllocactus should not be fed. Nitrogen fertilizers are used from late summer to October to stimulate the growth of stems.

Reference! It is recommended to alternate mineral and organic dressings (leaf humus, bird droppings of low concentration, completely rotted compost, etc.)

Transfer

The flower should be transplanted every year in early spring until the age of three. Adult phylloctacti require transplantation only in case of painful lesions or with extreme root sprawl.

Transplantation scheme:

The substrate of the mother bush is moistened.
A layer of drainage is poured into a new container, 2 cm larger in diameter.
The flower is carefully removed along with an earthen lump.
Dry and rotten roots are trimmed.
Slices sprinkled with crushed coal.
Transplantation is carried out by the method of transshipment.
The empty space on the sides is filled with a new substrate.
The soil is slightly compacted to fix the bush.
If necessary, supports are installed to support the seedling.

It is necessary to refrain from watering for 3 to 4 days. Pots set in a place protected from the sun.

Pot

The root of the epiphyllum is superficial, so the pots should not be deep.

High pots contribute to acidification of the substrate.

Tanks should be selected flat, spacious. It is better to use ceramic containers not processed with glaze. Rough inner surface allows better rooting. Ceramics better regulate the temperature of the substrate. You can also use plastic containers. Drainage holes are pre-made to prevent moisture stagnation. At the bottom, it is important to lay out broken polystyrene, pebbles, gravel.

How to prepare for wintering?

From November to the very end of winter, the plant should be at rest. In order for full flowering to occur, the plant needs rest. During this period, watering should be reduced, air temperature should be reduced. Phyllocactus should not be fed either.

When to prune old branches?

The peculiarity of phylloctactus is that the flower ripens on the stem only once. Old branches that already had flowers should be trimmed after 1 year. During the next flowering, they do not give buds.

Important! For laying flower buds, only wide, strong stems of a trihedral or flat shape should remain.

How to take care after purchase?

When choosing phyllocactus in a store, you need to pay attention to the condition and color of the shoots. The stems of a healthy flower are dense, elastic, bright green in color. If there are traces of mold in the pot, the flower is infected. The leaves are covered with spots and cobwebs, the stems are dry, damaged - the plant should be treated, it is better not to acquire such a seedling.

It is also undesirable to buy a bush with buds. During transportation, the buds, as a rule, crumble, the flower does not tolerate movements in the budding phase. Phyllocactus will not bloom in the next 2 years. In a healthy flower, the trunk is well fixed, does not move.

When buying a flower in winter, you should not immediately transplant it into a permanent pot. It is better to transplant a plant in the spring. The young seedling is placed in a small pot so that the root occupies the entire cavity of the container. The old, storey substrate should be completely removed. After the store flowers are transplanted into a new, disinfected substrate.

Flowering care

Buds are formed only with sufficient lighting. During this period, the flower consumes a lot of bright, but discharged light. The more light, the more abundant and more efficient the epiphyllum blooms. Flowering does not occur in the shade.

During the formation of buds and the entire flowering period, nitrogen fertilizing should be avoided. It is better to use potash and phosphorus fertilizers.

Do not rotate or rearrange the pots during flowering., a flower can dump buds and flowers. How this plant blooms and what to do if this does not happen, you can find out in another article.

We offer you to watch a video about caring for the epiphilum at home:

Features of outdoor cultivation

For growing flowers on a flower bed, a simplified composition of the substrate is used. The usual garden land is mixed with sand. Gravel is poured into the holes for drainage. When planting, seedlings should be fed with a well-diluted mullein solution. When the flower is wet, aerial roots can grow on the stems.

Long stems can be bent to the ground, fixed, sprinkled with soil. Received layering transplanted in the usual way. The phyllocactus in the flowerbed grows rapidly, the stems need support so that they are under a slight slope. In open ground, the bush should be watered only in the hot summerIn spring and autumn, the flowers have enough moisture from rains, dew, soil moisture. Flowers shade from the sun.

Important! On flower beds, phyllocactus is often planted on prickly pears in the spring. The grafted plants quickly take root, develop and bloom profusely.

Phyllocactus diseases and photos of the affected plant

Why do leaves fade?

The leaves wrinkle, turn yellow and begin to dry from a lack of moisture or direct sunlight. It is necessary to pritenit bushes, add spraying of stems.

The leaves lose their elasticity and bright color when the roots rot and dampness, the severity of the soil. It is necessary to transplant a flower, replace the substrate, remove diseased root processes. The root must be treated with charcoal.

Fungus

Fungal diseases of phyllocactus - black rot, fusarium, rust. Flower treatment and temporary quarantine are required so that the infection does not spread to healthy bushes. It is necessary to stop watering for 5-6 days, cut off diseased areas, treat the substrate and stems with the preparation “Vitaros” or “Topaz”. When decaying the root, an urgent transplant is needed. After sanitary pruning, the root can be sprinkled with ash. After transplanting, careful watering is required.

Pests

Aphid

This pest feeds on the cellular juice of the leaves. The flower is sick, growth stops, flowering does not occur. Treatment with any fungicide should be carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 7-10 days. To prevent damage to aphids, in spring it is advisable to treat the substrate with a solution of "Antitlin" or "Biotlin".

Shield

Small bugs are located on the stems and trunk. You must remove them manually. The stems are then thoroughly washed with laundry soap. With severe damage, the treatment of stems with insecticides is necessary.

Mealybug

Sucking insects leave a waxy coating on the leaf plates. These insects carry viral diseases, the epiphyllum can die. Wipe the stalks with alcohol or soapy water. In case of severe defeat, it is necessary to treat the stems with “Aktara”, “Confidor” or “Fitoverm” preparations. Processing is repeated after a week.

Breeding

Seeds

Seeds germinate in small greenhouses in a bright and warm place. When seedlings appear - faceted spines, seedlings are grown without shelter. Seedlings dive for growing into small pots.

Reference! Flowering occurs 4 years after sowing.

Dividing the bush

The easiest and most affordable way. The maternal adult bush is divided in the spring into 2-3 parts, keeping in each part the root and stems. Epiphyllum takes root quickly. The first 10 days, seedlings should be placed in a semi-shady place, gradually accustomed to light. Watering is minimal.

Cuttings

The procedure is carried out in April. Cut off wedge-shaped stems 8 to 10 cm long, dried for 1 day before rooting. Rooted cuttings in a mixture of perlite, sand and garden earth. Saplings are instilled in low tanks, deepening the stalk by 1 cm. Limit watering for 2 to 3 days.

This article will answer all questions about breeding this amazing plant at home.

Epiphyllum is characterized by rapid growth and strong branching. For its special decorativeness and brightness of flowering, this exotic plant is called a cactus - an orchid.