The money tree, which has long been intensively grown in room culture, is currently represented by a wide variety of varieties.
One of them has a name. "sunset" - "sunset". Paints that play on the leaves of this kind of fatty grass are really akin to sunset landscapes: yellow and white streaks to the edge of the leaf go into a bright red border.
At the same time, no matter how successful breeders reach, bringing out new and new varieties of Krassula, the main species characteristics and conditions of keeping money trees are the same for colorful, brightly colored "home" forms, and for "wild" ancestors in the semi-deserts of Africa and Arabia.
Care for the Krassoula Sunset at home.
Lighting
To prevent the red-yellow-and-white painting of the fatty woman from the sunset, she must definitely provide bright, intense natural light. Shading is minimal: only on the south windows on particularly nice days, at the height of summer.
If there is not enough light, the “sunset” color of the leaves turns green.
With poor lighting Crassula of this variety sheds leaves.
Temperature
Optimal for spring and summer is the temperature range from 20 to 25 degrees.
In winter the plant is still placed in the brightest place, but the temperature is desirable reduce to 15 degrees.
Quick temperature changes, as well as drafts, are harmful to crassule.
Priming
Soil substrate should be loose, slightly acidic, moderately nutritious.
- Such mixtures will do:
- store soil for cacti and succulents;
- universal soil with an additive - up to a third of the volume - washed river sand;
- a mixture of turf and leaf land, as well as peat and sand (all components in equal proportions) with brick chips and pieces of charcoal.
- Sand and peat in a ratio of 1: 1 is used for pre-rooting during propagation by cuttings and processes.
Landing
In a shallow but wide enough container, before filling it with a planting substrate, be sure to place drainage layer minimum thickness of 2 cm.
A small layer of soil is poured onto the drainage, on top of which the root system is placed - best of all, protected by an earthy clod.
The plant is placed exactly in the center of the pot, and the soil is gradually poured to the level of the root collar and gently compacted without reinforced “tamping”.
Then gently watered the sweatshirt sunset with soft water.
The surface of the soil should be regularly loosened.
Transfer
The best transplant time is Spring, the beginning of active growth and summer - the growing season.
If necessary, you can replant this Crassoul also in autumn and winter.
When a newly acquired plant is transplanted, it is given time to pre-acclimatize for several weeks.
In order not to hurt the sensitive roots, Crassoul sunset is better. reload together with the old earthen clod.
Watering
When caring for jade a sunset is needed moderate wateringwhose frequency varies seasonally.
In spring and summer they water one or two times a week, paying attention to the condition of the soil: after the ground has dried on top, it is not watered immediately, but after 2-3 days.
AT autumn and winterWhen kept in a cool place, watering becomes even less, their frequency is reduced to once a month.
If wintering is warm, water will be needed more often.
Periodically beautiful leaves should free from dust; at the same time they can be sprayed, and then wiped or rinsed under a shower, protecting the soil from the ingress of excess moisture.
Top dressing
The plant needs additional feeding only during the period of active growth - from April to August inclusive.
In these spring and summer months, a complex blend for succulents and cacti should be made twice a week.
You can apply and complex fertilizer for home floriculture, but always with a reduced nitrogen content.
Fertilizer is better after irrigation, on wet ground.
In the autumn-winter period, crassule sunset, especially at low temperatures, is not fed.
Trimming and Pinching
In order to achieve a beautiful shape of a sweetie bag and evenly distribute the weight of the crown of a perennial tree that grows up to a meter in height, it should be cut and pinned.
The general principle of these procedures is: you need to cut off the shoots of an adult tree immediately after the fourth pair of leaves, or pinch that growth bud that forms between the fourth pair of leaves on a young shoot.
Waste after pruning can serve as planting material - cuttings for rooting.
Bloom
Fatty sunset blooms in late autumn, white-purple inflorescences of medium-sized "stars". Mature plants usually bloom, at the age of seven to ten years, under optimal growing conditions.
Propagation of the sunset
In order to preserve the varietal quality, crassule sunset is propagated only vegetatively.
Leaf propagation
The leaf separated from the plant should be dried in the shade during the day, and then rooted.
For this purpose, the lower end of the leaflet is placed in a solution of the root, and after the appearance of the roots, a leaf is planted in a shallow dish with a lightweight substrate and covered with a plastic film. "Greenhouse" is regularly aired, and then, as the sprouts appear, the young plant is placed in a shallow pot with a standard soil mixture.
In addition, the leaf can take root and simply in water, to which carbon powder is added to prevent rotting. The next steps — sequential planting into the soil — are described above.
Reproduction by cuttings
Krassula sunset willingly propagated by cuttings.
Part of a developed stem with a length of 10-12 cm is optimal for such breeding.
After separation from the parent stem, the cutting is dried for a day or two, depending on its thickness. Lower leaves are removed.
If pre-rooting is carried out in water, crushed coal and / or a root formation stimulator must be added to it.
Roots are formed within two weeks. Then the cuttings are planted, about half deep, in a small pot with a diameter of 5-7 cm with a drainage layer and the corresponding soil. Cover with a plastic cup. This greenhouse is ventilated, the soil is moistened, and after the formation of new shoots the glass is removed.
Many flower growers immediately place the stalk into the soil mixture, bypassing the water rooting stage - and, as a rule, this method is also successful.
Reproduction shoots
The crimson sunset, preserving the natural features of its viable ancestors, prepares processes for its “landing” into the soil, equipped with aerial roots.
These roots dry out after a while, but the processes do not lose their vitality and can be, after separation from the mother plant, planted into the soil with fresh, white roots - then the process will take root faster and with dried, brown ones - in this case the same methods as in propagation by cuttings and leaves.
Diseases and pests
Krassula Sunset itself is disease resistant, like all money trees.
The main danger is an excess of moisture, especially when watering with cold water.
Then the leaves turn pale and hang, fungal infections join and the stems rot at the base. Especially dangerous is rotting in the root area. In such cases, cut a healthy top and rooted it in a separate container with fresh soil, get rid of everything else, and then strictly monitor the irrigation regime and temperature of irrigation water.
Excess sun leaves burns on the leaves - brown drying spots appear on them. The plant should be pritenit or rearranged, remove the affected leaves.
Among the pests, a sandy mealybug can attack a pony grass sunset. If there are not many of them, you can remove insects by the piece, using a cotton swab dipped in alcohol. The radical means of killing insects is systemic insecticides.
Fatty sunset captivates extremely spectacular colors - especially in catalogs and on the shelves of flower shops.
After the purchase, at home, in order for the yellow-white splendor with a bright red border not to fade, it will be necessary to provide this kind of fat woman with an illumination close to the solar greenhouse.
And, if your Krassula sunset is still shining with sunset colors - there is something for Dutch gardeners to learn from you.
A photo
Next you can see the photo of the Krassula Sunset:
