How to care for a moisture-loving cyperus at home?

Cute cyperus umbrellas, like miniature holiday fireworks, generate a surge of vivacity and energy in the morning. The plant is very unassuming, it is easy to care for it at home, the main thing is to water it more often.

The native land of Cyperus is the tropical and temperate zones of Asia, Africa and Madagascar. For a long time, thickets of plants densely surrounded the banks of the Nile and provided food for hippos and building material for the Egyptians, who built not only dwellings from long reed-like stems, but also ships plying the Atlantic Ocean.

What does cyperus look like?

An evergreen herbaceous perennial from the sedge family with numerous trihedral pagons grows in nature up to 3 m, in room culture - up to 1.5-1.7 m.A whorl of long narrow leaves is formed on the crown of each stem, in some species it is rich green, in others have a light emerald hue. Popular forms of some species with wavy edges of leaf plates and variegated. In the center of the whorl, a small spike-shaped inflorescence with small inconspicuous flowers appears in summer.

Cyperus species

The genus Cyperus consists of almost 700 species, but only a few are grown indoors.

• Cyperus alternate-leaved - a herbaceous perennial plant with leafless stems about one and a half meters high, crowned with a whorl of narrow-linear leaves, gracefully drooping and reaching a length of almost 20 cm. Invisible white flowers are grouped into small spike-shaped inflorescences. The fruit is a grain. Various forms are popular in floriculture: dwarf - no more than 40 cm in height, white-striped - with light longitudinal lines along the leaf plates.
• Papyrus - a real giant among relatives, reaching a height of 3 m and more, with stems as thick as the girth of a human wrist. The plant is a legend, from which scrolls for writing manuscripts were made in Ancient Egypt. It was considered curative, able to eliminate headaches, relieve insomnia, improve cerebral circulation, vision and memory. Endangered.
• Zumula - differs in the presence of a basal rosette - a bundle of thin filiform leaf plates - and palm-like herbaceous stems with whorls-umbrellas at the top. The plant is very fond of cats, it often suffers from their teeth and looks slightly decorative. In indoor floriculture, one of the most popular types of cyperus.
• Heffler - originally from Thailand, a marsh species, which is a basal rosette of narrow linear leaves. Popular as an aquarium plant adapted to grow under water, although it tries with all its might to release foliage above its surface.
• Cyperus sprawling - a low indoor flower (up to 40 cm). The stems are glabrous, with a bunch of wide palm-like leaves on their top. The inflorescence looks like a typical spikelet of cereals, tiny, with a brownish tint.

Planting cyperus: substrate and flower containers

The difficulty of growing a plant at home is low compared to most indoor flowers. Cyperuses are grown in a plastic or ceramic vessel, the diameter of which is selected so that the roots are slightly cramped. The plant uses a spacious pot to build up the root mass to the detriment of the decorative aboveground part.

Fertile soil is necessary for cyperus. For example, a mixture is made up of the following components:

• 2 volumes of clay-sod land;
• 1 volume of leaf humus;
• 1 volume of peat;
• 1 volume of sand;
• a pinch of charcoal;
• some brick chips.

Drainage at the bottom is not needed, cyperuses grow in swampy soil and do not suffer from excess moisture.

Plants are transplanted annually, they actively develop vegetative mass and roots, therefore they quickly fill the inner space of the pot.

The plant does not require vigilant care; it is enough to remember about its hygrophilia and intolerance to dry soil and air.

Accommodation in the house, requirements for light and temperature

In an apartment, Cyperus grows beautifully in a bright kitchen or bathroom, and will decorate a hall or living room. With the arrival of spring warmth, the plants are taken out to the balcony or garden; transplanting into open ground at the very edge of the garden pond or immersing 2/3 pots with cyperus in a pond around the fountain will be especially wonderful for them.

The perennial does not have a pronounced dormant period, it grows well both in warm and cool rooms - the main thing is that the temperature does not drop below +12 degrees. Optimum thermometer readings in rooms where cyperuses are grown, in summer - + 18-25 degrees, in winter - + 16-18.

The plant requires good lighting, but in the bright sun, with the slightest lack of moisture, it dries up, and the stems turn into yellow straw.

Watering, air humidity and fertilization

Cyperus care consists primarily of abundant hydration. The soil mixture should be constantly wet, and even better - wet, swampy. In spring and summer, a pot with a plant is simply placed in a medium-deep tray and filled with water.

Cyperus always reacts favorably to spraying and washing the leaves, coming to life before our eyes.

Advice

In conditions of high humidity, the plant needs good air circulation, therefore, airing the premises is a must-take care measure.

During an active growing season, cyperus is fed twice a month with organic or mineral fertilizers; in winter, one feeding a month or one and a half is enough.

How to propagate cyperus indoors?

An easy and simple way of reproduction is the division of the rhizome in the process of transplantation. The plant tolerates the procedure painlessly, quickly takes root and gives new shoots.

The cyperus is taken out and the pot and the root system is gently freed from the substrate, rinsing in warm water, so that it is easier to untangle long thin roots. Usually, its root system can be easily divided into several parts without the use of sharp instruments. If necessary, their use is disinfected before cutting the roots into pieces. Delenki are seated in separate pots and cared for as adult plants.

Sowing seeds is a more laborious method that brings good results, provided that the planting material is of good quality. How to propagate cyperus by seeds? In spring, the grains are sown shallowly into a substrate consisting of 2 parts of peat and 1 part of sand, they are constantly moistened and aired. Containers with crops are kept in a moderately warm room at a temperature of 18 to 20 degrees. Seedlings appear in 20-30 days, they are first dived, and then, after reaching a growth of 8-10 cm, they are planted in containers of 3-4 seedlings. By autumn or next spring, each seedling is overgrown with good roots, several new shoots and is ready to be transplanted into a separate pot.

Reproduction of cyperus by apical cuttings is also permissible. To do this, cut a whorl with leaves 3-5 cm below the node and place it in water or constantly moistened sand, put it in a warm place with a temperature of at least 22-24 degrees above zero. For better rooting, the tips of the leaves are cut. Roots usually develop by the end of the third week.

Diseases and pests of cyperus

Any home flower is attacked by insect pests, and cyperus is no exception. Mealybugs are observed on young plants; older specimens suffer from damage by aphids, whiteflies, scale insects and thrips.With small colonies, cyperus is washed with a soapy solution, carefully removing the pests with a sponge, with large ones, they are treated with insecticidal preparations, for example, "Aktellik" or "Fufanon".

Cyperus is resistant to most diseases, it does not forgive only mistakes in violation of the irrigation regime - at first the tips of the leaves turn brown, and if watering is not restored, the pagons dry up completely. However, the plant recovers immediately after the resumption of moisture, releasing new young stems.

Cyperus is a special plant. The Egyptians have worshiped him for thousands of years. The name is translated from the Egyptian language as “gift of the river”. Indeed, the inhabitants of African countries ate rhizomes for food, baskets and mats were woven from strong stems, and also light ships, which, according to the famous navigator Thor Heyerdahl, reached the American coast much earlier than Columbus.

In the interior of the dwelling, cyperus is a spectacular accent that attracts the eye with lush greenery and personifies gushing energy, as fans of feng shui believe. For most flower growers, this is just an elegant and unpretentious indoor plant to care for.