The most popular types of aglaonema and home care

Mother Nature carefully hides the secrets of tropical forests from humans, fencing them off from the rest of the world with a high, insurmountable wall of intertwined trees, bushes, lianas and ferns. Even from a bird's eye view, it is impossible to see the details - the jungle covers the ground with a solid green carpet. The crowns of giant trees, reaching 100 meters in height, create such a dense cover without the slightest gap that it is always twilight in the lower tier. It was in such conditions that aglaonema grew for thousands of years - a plant with beautiful leathery leaves, the existence of which Europeans did not even suspect for a long time. It was only in the middle of the 18th century that it was discovered and first described by missionaries living in the Philippines. Since then, interest in the exotic beauty has been growing every year, making her a welcome guest in every home.

What does the plant look like?

Aglaonema is a perennial herbaceous evergreen plant belonging to the Aroid family. His homeland is the rain forests of Southeast Asia. The closest relatives of the flower are Dieffenbachia, Spathiphyllum and Philodendron. The tropical guest is appreciated for the extraordinary beauty of the leaves. Long, dense, they have an elongated or heart-shaped shape with a pronounced midrib. It is not for nothing that the name of the flower is translated as “shiny line” - in the darkness of the lower tier of the jungle, the green background of the leaf plate practically dissolves, highlighting bright stripes and blotches.

How else is aglaonema different?

• The height of the bush varies from 30 cm to 1 meter.
• The trunk of young plants is practically absent, in adults it is short, erect, rather dense, branched, with preserved traces of fallen leaves.
• The roots are thick and fleshy.
• It is rare to see how aglaonema blooms at home. Do not be upset - the flower of an exotic guest is rather ordinary-looking, but of an original form. It is a whitish ear wrapped in a light green case. Grows in leaf axils 1-3 pieces.
• When the flowering period ends, fruits are formed - bright red berries with seeds inside. They can be used for plant propagation.

Advice

When working with a plant, special care should be taken: the fruits and juice of the leaves are poisonous and can cause severe burns and even poisoning. So don't forget about gloves and wash your hands thoroughly!

Variety of species

Many years have passed since the first Aglaonema was discovered in the wild and moved to a human dwelling. But until now, this exotic beauty does not leave breeders alone: ​​every year new varieties appear that adorn the windowsills of our houses. The following are especially popular.

• "Maria" - this plant is the most shade-tolerant, easily tolerates a drop in temperature and a lack of moisture. It is valued for its large, unusually beautiful emerald leaves and compactness. There are two varieties of the variety: "Maria-Christina", which can grow up to 70 cm in height, and "Maria-Anna" with small leaves.
• "Changeable" - got its name from its ability to change the shade of the stem as it grows older. It is a popular variety with deep, dark oval leaves decorated with a silvery pattern.
• "Crete" - a bright representative of the so-called "red group". Interestingly, as the plant grows, the leaf blades change their color from rich red to different shades of green.
• "Silver Queen" - due to its unpretentiousness, it has become the most common specimen in home floriculture. The front of the leaves is silvery, with occasional green blotches, and the back is light green.
• "King of Siam" ("King of Siam") really differs from other varieties in royal size - up to 1.5 meters in height - and large marble-colored leaves on white petioles.
• "Butterfly" - the leaves of this specimen are bright, like tropical butterflies. A bright pink scattering on a rich green background attracts with its extravagance.
• "Friedman" - this plant stands out not only for its large size, but also for the unusual shape and color of its leaves: a shiny grayish leaf blade is framed by a wavy dark green border.
• Silver Bay - the youngest frost-resistant variety bred by breeders. It is interesting with its unusual rounded shape and silvery color of the leaves, surrounded by a green stripe.
• "Pataya Beauty" - the thin trunk of this beauty gives her a special harmony and grace. The variegated leaves darken as the plant matures. Despite the external fragility, the flower is unpretentious in care. Withstands temperature extremes, excess humidity and lack of sunlight.

To date, about 20 varieties of aglaonema are used for growing at home, which differ not only in size and appearance, but also in the requirements for keeping conditions.

Advice

It is better to acquire young plants that have practically no stem. When buying, also pay attention to the condition of the leaves: they should be dense, elastic, brightly colored, without yellow spots, signs of spoilage and pests.

Room microclimate

Aglaonema is a real find for connoisseurs of indoor plants. Although she is accustomed to the exotic conditions of the tropics, caring for her is not difficult.

• Since in nature the flower lives in the lower tier of the rain forest, it does not need a lot of light for growth and development. It is better to place a pot with a room specimen in a room with diffused lighting or slightly shaded. Often the agla-mute is used to decorate office shelves and shelves, hallways and even bathrooms. Direct sunlight can kill a flowering plant and cause leaf burns.
• Like any tropical plant, aglaonema loves warmth. Taking care of her health, you need to create a comfortable temperature regime: in summer it is 25-26 ^°C, in winter, a decrease to 18 ^°FROM.
• An exotic beauty must be protected from drafts, which often cause curling of leaves.
• It is desirable to maintain air humidity in the region of 50-60%. For this, daily spraying of the leaves or rinsing them under a warm shower is shown.

Advice

Do not use wax to give the leaves a glossy shine: this negatively affects the development of the bush and in some cases even leads to the death of the plant.

Watering and feeding rules

The rainforests of Southeast Asia are not called rainforests for nothing. Every day, the strongest downpours like an impenetrable wall fall on these territories, washing away everything in its path. Up to 7000 mm of precipitation falls here a year. It is easy to guess that moist soil is a natural comfortable condition for the existence of all tropical plants. Aglaonema is no exception.

How to care for home specimens so as not to harm the tropical beauty?

• During the period of growth and development (spring-summer), watering should be generous, but not excessive.
• You can only use warm, well-settled water.
• Do not allow excess moisture to accumulate in the pallet.
• Before watering, you need to probe the soil to a depth of 5 cm. If the soil is dry, water it.

Advice

In the autumn-winter period, water the plant sparingly, as the earthen coma dries up and only with heated water.

Aglaonem has a growing season from March to September.To maintain the vitality of the plant, it is necessary to carry out regular feeding, following the advice of experienced florists.

• The procedure must be repeated once every two weeks.
• It is better to use special formulations for decorative leafy plants - Agricola, "Uniflor-growth", "Kristalon". It should be remembered that the tropical beauty does not like lime dressing.
• For even absorption, nutrients should be applied only 3-4 hours after watering.
• It is important to observe the fertilizer concentration indicated in the instructions.
• You need to alternate mineral dressings with organic ones.

During the resting period, aglaonema can be not fed at all, or it can be done in moderate doses once every six weeks.

Transfer

Do not rush to replant the newly purchased plant, even if the pot, in your opinion, does not fit into the interior of the apartment. Change of place is stress for exotic. It will take a green beauty 2-3 weeks to get used to the new environment. Therefore, it is not worth experimenting with new soil ahead of this time.

Flowering is a sign of the health and normal development of any plant. Aglaonema breeders know that this flower more actively releases cobs, being in a cramped pot, therefore, it is not often recommended to transplant the bush into another, freer pot - once every 2-3 years, in the spring.

The transplant is carried out according to the following scheme.

1. Choosing a pot. We make sure that it is wide and shallow enough, since the roots of the aglaonema are superficial.
2. A drainage layer will help to avoid stagnant water. Fill the bottom of the pot with expanded clay, pebbles or shingles.
3. We fill up the soil for aglaonema up to half the pot, the components of which are leaf earth, peat, humus and sand in a ratio of 3: 2: 1: 1. The soil is loose and permeable.
4. We place the plant in the center of the container, taking care not to damage the roots.
5. We fill up the soil. A mature plant can be slightly deepened.
6. Water with plenty of water.

Advice

To replenish the supply of nutrients, it is not necessary to transplant the plant - it is enough to remove a couple of centimeters of the surface soil and add fresh soil. This procedure should be carried out at the beginning of each spring.

The best way to breed

Modern man is very tired of city noise and gray concrete buildings. A small garden with exotic plants on a home windowsill is a dream come true of relaxation, fresh air and bright colors of the rainforest. To create such a piece of paradise, it is not at all necessary to buy new expensive copies every time, ordering delivery from Thailand - it is enough to multiply existing houses. To grow aglaonema, you can use seeds or cuttings. But the fastest, most reliable and common way is propagation by cuttings.

1. At the end of spring, we cut off a part of the stem up to 10 cm long with leaves.
2. We process the sections with crushed activated carbon or wood ash.
3. We leave in this form for 24 hours in a dry room with good ventilation to dry.
4. Then we plant the cutting in a substrate of sand and peat, deepening the cut end by 5 centimeters.
5. We cover with foil, not forgetting to water and air the improvised greenhouse.

Under suitable temperature conditions (25 ^°C) after about 20 days, the roots will appear, and it will be possible to transplant the seedling into the ground, observing all the rules described above.

Advice

From an adult overgrown plant, you can separate the young shoot along with a part of the root and transplant it into another pot, after sprinkling the cut with activated carbon.

What problems can you face?

With proper care, aglaonema practically does not cause any problems to the owner. If something goes wrong, then she will definitely give a signal to her master.

The first to react are the leaves, which can change their appearance:

• curl and droop due to low air temperature and lack of moisture;
• turn yellow from the complete absence of sunlight or an excess of chlorine in the water;
• dry out with insufficient watering or soil depletion;
• lose color (most often this happens with variegated specimens with a lack of sun);
• turn pale due to the lack of minerals in the soil.

Sometimes the leaves of the plant do not turn yellow, but are covered with a whitish bloom, reminiscent of flour dust. This is how a fairly common disease manifests itself - powdery mildew. It is caused by errors in the care of the flower: first of all, overflow and inappropriate room temperature. You can help your pet by removing damaged leaves and treating it with a fungicide solution from a spray bottle several times.

Decorate your home with this wonderful plant, treat it with all your heart, and it will surely answer you kindly, clearing the air in the room from harmful substances, relieving you of stress and significantly improving your mood.