Growing Drimiopsis at home, care features

Indoor plant drimiopsis is unpretentious to growing conditions and feels great in city apartments and offices. It is appreciated for its bright, beautiful greenery, it grows quickly and serves as an interior decoration. Caring for him is simple and does not take much time.

Description of the plant

Drimiopsis has other names - "scilla" and "ledeburia". It is a perennial bulbous plant. During growth, the bulb rises above the soil surface, and after some period most of it rises above the ground.

This indoor flower does not have a stem - strong petioles grow from the bulb itself, their length is from 10 to 15 cm.The size of the leaves varies depending on the variety. They can be from 10 to 25 cm. The color is usually rich green, the leaf plate can be monochromatic or strewn with many specks of different shades - from green to brown. Leaves can be ovoid or lanceolate. There are varieties in which the leaf has an elongated heart-shaped shape. What all varieties have in common is that the edges of the leaves are even, the tip is pointed, and the surface is smooth, glossy.

Flowers are small, gathered in an ear, panicle or brush. One peduncle can have up to 30 buds. Their color is cream, white or white with a greenish tint. Under favorable conditions, drimiopsis blooms for a long time - from February to the end of April. The buds open in turn, starting from the bottom. Sometimes in September, the second wave of flowering can begin. The aroma during flowering is pleasant, reminiscent of the smell of lilies of the valley, but weaker.

Conditions of detention

At home, there is always a suitable place for this unpretentious flower. Lighting should be bright or diffused. You can place the pot both on the east or southwest windowsill, and on the south.

When content on the south window, the following nuances must be taken into account.

• If the flower is on the windowsill, then in summer bright sun rays passing through the glass can leave a burn on the leaves. To avoid this, the container with the plant must be rearranged a little deeper into the room or shaded from the sun with a white paper sheet.
• If drimiopsis stands on an open balcony, terrace or on an unglazed loggia, then the bright summer rays are not dangerous to him.

In bright light, the leaves acquire a rich color, and the spots on them look more contrast. In the shade, the greenery of the plant turns pale, the petioles are strongly elongated and can droop under the weight of the foliage. Without sufficient light, the spotted color can be smoothed out or completely disappear.

The optimum temperature of the content is 20-25 ° C. In winter, it is desirable to lower it to 15-17 ° C - this will have a beneficial effect on the formation of peduncles. If you keep Drimiopsis at an elevated temperature all year round, then flowering may not occur or it will be very short and weak.

Sometimes in the fall, Drimiopsis can shed most of the leaves. If this happens, then it is imperative to transfer the flower to a cooler place and change the care: reduce watering, thereby creating a dormant period. With an increase in daylight hours in spring, the leaf buds will wake up on their own.

Care rules

Drimiopsis is watered only with settled warm water. During watering, the earthen clod is moistened abundantly, and the excess water is drained from the pan. Between watering, the earthen lump should dry out a little. Watering is less frequent in autumn and winter than in summer.

Important!

Drimiopsis easily tolerates a short drought, but does not tolerate frequent waterlogging of the soil, especially at low temperatures. From excess moisture, root rot can begin, and it will be difficult to save the bulb.

Drimiopsis easily tolerates dry room air; during the heating season or in the summer heat, spraying is not required. You can clean the plant from dust under a warm shower, but this should be done only in warm weather. During the procedure, cover the soil together with the bulb with cellophane.

Drimiopsis responds well to top dressing. It is best to use liquid complex mineral fertilizers. You can use fertilizers designed for bulbs or succulents. They are brought in for the entire period from the beginning of flowering to October with an interval of 2-3 weeks.

In order for the flower in the pot to grow evenly, it must be turned every 10 days. If this is not done, then the main part of the leaves will turn towards the light source and the plant will look ugly from the side of the room.

Transfer

When the mother bulb rises strongly above the soil, and there are too many baby bulbs, the flower must be transplanted. If this is not done, then flowering may stop, and the stalks and leaves will begin to stretch and shrink.

The transplant rules should be observed, because this ultimately affects the decorative effect of the plant.

• The new bowl should be low, several centimeters wider than the previous one.
• A drainage layer is required, for this you can use expanded clay or small pebbles.
• You can get potting mix at the store. Drimiopsis is suitable for succulent soil. You can use a “universal potting soil”, but it usually contains a lot of peat. Such soil should be mixed with garden soil in a 1: 1 ratio and 1/5 of the sand should be added.
• When planting, the bulbs can be buried so that only the growth point of the petiole peeps out above the soil surface. The plant will then rise above the ground by itself. With this planting, you need to be careful with watering to prevent decay.
• Can be planted so that ¼ of the bulb is raised above the soil. The disadvantage of this method is that the transplant will have to be carried out more often than usual.

Reproduction

The most convenient and effective breeding method is to plant daughter bulbs. They are separated during transplantation of an adult plant. Several roots should remain on each bulb. The place of separation is sprinkled with crushed activated carbon or wood ash. Several bulbs are planted in one bowl at once, keeping a distance of 2-4 cm between them. Until new leaves begin to grow, the soil is not allowed to dry out. Watering should be frequent but moderate.

Drimiopsis is easily propagated by leaf cuttings. They are broken off closer to the onion and placed in water. The lighting should be bright at all times. The first roots may appear in 10-20 days. When they grow up to 1 cm, you can plant. During rooting, water is changed only if it becomes cloudy and smells unpleasant.

Leafy cuttings can be rooted in wet sand, but care must be taken to ensure that the sand does not dry out.

Reproduction of Drimiopsis by seeds is possible, but it is rarely practiced at home: the process is laborious, it is difficult to collect seeds, they quickly lose their germination, and only a small part of them germinate.

When choosing a plant, ease of care and ease of propagation are important factors for many growers. Drimiopsis fulfills these requirements, and its beautiful foliage is eye-catching and can set the tone for the entire flower collection.