In nature, it is rare to find a plant that is so unpretentious in care and indifferent to fertilizers, but at the same time has not only a beautiful decorative appearance, but also is the main ingredient in many recipes of traditional medicine. This amazing plant has a name - a sedum, it was he who became the hero of our article.
Botanical description
Externally, sedum looks like a low sprawling shrub with lots of creeping stems. This is a perennial plant, blooming in the second year of life. The root system consists of one short root with branched rhizomes, with which the bush extracts moisture from the soil. The leaves are small and thick, the flowers with five petals are bright yellow. The flowering period - from May to early August. After flowering, a fruit is formed in place of the flower, within which seeds ripen, they reach full maturity by the end of autumn.
Did you know? A few centuries ago, young girls smeared cheeks with a sedum juice to give them a blush.
Spread
This wild plant is widespread on stony slopes and fields throughout Russia, Europe, in the western part of Siberia, as well as in some areas of North Africa. Pummel prefers dry places in glades, meadows and forest edges. Sometimes grows like a weed in gardens. 
Application of sedum
For a long time, caustic has found application in many recipes of traditional medicine.
Other varieties of stonecrop have found their application in folk medicine: prominent, purple, and large.
Drugs based on its juice can cure such common skin diseases as acne, acne, warts, eczema and lichen. It can be found in the compositions of many homeopathic medicines for the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and disorders of blood pressure. In folk medicine there are a huge number of recipes based on stonecrop, designed to cure epilepsy, gangrene, body ulcers, hemorrhoids, as well as bone fractures and diseases of the joints. From this plant you can prepare healing teas, tinctures, ointments and make compresses.
Important! Bushes do not need frequent transplantation to a new place. One transfer to a new bed in 2-3 years is enough.
Growing at home
Pummel is an unpretentious plant, caring for which does not require special skills. However, subject to certain rules, the plant will have a healthy and attractive appearance. 
Choosing a landing site
This grassy shrub needs good lighting, so when choosing a place to plant it, pay attention to the sunny areas in the garden. In the shade of the trees, it is also possible to grow it, but you can hardly wait for the fragrant flowering from the plant.
Familiarize yourself with the popular stonecrop varieties, their description and the nuances of cultivation.
Soil and fertilizer
In caustic sedge very ascetic requirements for the conditions of its content, the composition of the soil - is no exception. The "simpler" the composition of the soil mixture, the better it will grow and bloom. Choose a loose soil with lots of clay and sand, add a little bit of humus and ash to the mixture, and the ideal soil for growth and flowering of this type of plant is ready.
Additional feedings are not necessary. If you decide to apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, then choose the smallest concentration. Fertilizers with a nitrogen content have a double effect on the stonecrop - accelerate its growth, but at the same time significantly reduce the resistance of plants to disease.
Did you know? The use of stonecrop is possible not only in medicine. This plant produces tasty and healthy honey.
Watering and moisture
The sedum growing in the garden in the open air rarely needs watering - it takes the necessary moisture from the soil itself. Additional moisture is possible during the driest week of summer. Humidity and spraying, too, he does not need for comfortable growth - growing in nature, the plant chooses areas with dried soil, so an excess of moisture will do more harm than good.
Breeding
Reproduction of acrid sedum is possible in two ways - by seed and vegetatively. Both methods do not require special skills, we offer to consider each of them in more detail.
Seeds
Reproduction of acrid seedlings is a fairly easy process. Seeds are sown in mid-March. A prerequisite for successful reproduction of stonecrop in this way is the preliminary stratification of seeds. To do this, you will need to place the seed in the ground, cover the container with glass or plastic film and place in the refrigerator. The temperature should not be below +5 ° C, in modern refrigerators such a temperature regime is observed in the compartments for storing vegetables and fresh greens. The term of stratification is two weeks. 
Once a day it is necessary to open the film for a short period for airing, and in case of drying out of the soil - to moisten it with a spray bottle. After such preparation, the seeds are ready for germination - the seed container is opened and placed in a well-lit place, with a temperature of at least +18 ° C. Under all conditions, the first shoots should appear in 15-25 days.
Dive sprouts carried out after the stalk will appear 2 large leaves.
Important! If you decide to use the juice of this plant for the treatment of diseases, be sure to consult your doctor before starting therapy. Consumption of caustic sedum is contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women, as well as people with diseases of the central nervous system.
Vegetative
Reproduction of acrid sedum is also possible vegetatively - by dividing the bush or cuttings. This should be done in spring or autumn - during the flowering period the plant cannot be divided. Vegetative reproduction occurs in two simple steps:
- Carefully trim the selected shoot with a sharp knife or scissors. To understand what the length of the cutting should be, focus on the length of your index finger.
- Dig a shallow hole in the ground, at the bottom of which place a little humus. Place the sprout in the hole and fill it with earth on top. It is not necessary to lay fertilizer, but this method will help the plant to adapt more quickly to a new place and take root.
Sedum is an excellent alpine plant. Find out what other flowers you can pick for a rock garden.
Pruning
If your bush grows in one place for five years or more, then it needs a rejuvenating pruning of shoots. During this procedure, old stalks, dry leaves and shoots that have lost their decorative appearance are removed. Quite useful is the addition of new soil to the roots.
The main signs that the plant needs such a procedure will be the appearance of young leaves with a pale color and the grinding of flowers. Decorative pruning is the regular removal of faded flowers.
Wintering
Sedum resistant to low temperatures and does not require special shelter in the winter. Even under a layer of snow, its leaves do not fall off and do not lose their color.
Possible difficulties in growing
Despite the ease of reproduction and the unpretentiousness of the plant to environmental conditions, many gardeners face some difficulties in the process of growing stonecrop in the garden. The most common problem is slow growth. This happens when the stonecrop gains strength before flowering or grows roots, that is, under the ground there is an active growth of the root system, and the aerial part temporarily halted its development. Most often, growth is slowed down after transplanting a sedum cell to a new location.
Pests, diseases and prevention
Most pests bypass sedum. One of the reasons - its juice is poisonous for insects. If the pest decided to feast on the sweet flowers, you can get rid of it mechanically - by carefully cutting off the damaged part of the plant with garden scissors. 
The ability of the sedum to grow on the badlands makes it resistant to damage by diseases peculiar to garden plants. Improper care of grassy shrubs can cause the appearance of fungal infections, which in the case of timely diagnosis does not pose a great danger to other inhabitants of the garden.
Ground cover plants are a real find for those who want to decorate their garden, as they do not require special care. We advise you to look at the garden carnation, periwinkle, saxifrage, camelite, young, primula.
You can fight the spread of fungal spores in one simple way - a diseased bush of a sedum is excavated, and the stems damaged by fungus are gently removed, the cut can be powdered with crushed coal. In this form, the bush is left to rest for a day. So that the roots do not suffer from a long stay in the air - wrap them in a moistened cloth. After such storage, stonecrop can be safely planted in the beds.
Another disease that poses a danger to plants is necrosis. Seeing signs of necrosis on the stems or leaves, remove the damaged parts and spread the cuttings off one another. All preventive measures against diseases and pests are reduced to one principle - moderate watering and a minimum of fertilizers.
When it comes to decorating a garden plot or its landscaping, sedum is a worthy alternative to many flowering plants that require special care and attention in the process of their cultivation. Among gardeners the number of fans of this unpretentious bush grows every year.
Video: Caustic - an unpretentious groundcover succulent
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