What conditions does Zamioculcas require and how to properly care for it?

The luscious green feathery leaves of zamiokulkas will decorate both the home interior and the office of a serious company. Caring for a dollar tree at home is minimal: the plant will survive, even if it is not watered on time due to its own forgetfulness or busyness.

In cultural cultivation, the dollar tree appeared quite recently, only 20 years ago, but managed to get the approval and appreciation of gardening specialists as one of the unpretentious herbaceous perennials. The only cultivar is compact in size - about 60 cm tall - and smaller leaves than the natural species.

What does a dollar tree look like

Zamiokulkas has a thick tuberous rhizome, from which feathery shiny leaves of a dark emerald color stretch. The plant sometimes reaches a height of 1 m.Zamioculcas blooming in indoor conditions is a rare phenomenon. An inconspicuous light cream ear is wrapped in a pale green blanket and hides among the swollen leaves at the base.

The genus Zamiocúlcas in the Aroid family is monotypic and consists of one species - Zamiocúlcas, native to the African tropics. The plant was first described by K. Loddjes, a naturalist and collector of tropical exotic plants, in 1828 and for a long time it was called by his name, and now it is found as a synonym. Zamioculcas received its current name due to the similarity with the zamia, a typical representative of the cycads.

Popular names include “dollar tree” and “flower of celibacy”. It is clear with the currency name - the large leaves of zamiokulkas partly resemble the somewhat smaller foliage of the fat woman, nicknamed by the growers "the money tree". The second name is most likely associated with the flowering of zamiokulkas: its ear is similar to the inflorescence of spathiphyllum, popularly known as "women's happiness", which blooms quite often. Accordingly, the rare appearance of a flower in a zamiokulkas, according to popular beliefs, is a sign of celibacy.

Of course, the plant has little to do with accepting, and it blooms when proper care is provided and the conditions of detention are respected.

How to transplant zamioculcas: choosing a pot and a substrate

"Flower of celibacy" at a young age is transplanted annually in April, older plants - every two years. Zamioculcas responds well to transplantation, but sometimes it stops growing for a short period.

For planting, a wide, stable pot is chosen that does not exceed the size of the root system too much. A drainage layer of pebbles or crushed stone must be laid on the bottom; light expanded clay is more suitable for young plants with poorly built up green mass.

Advice

It doesn't matter which pots you have on hand - plastic or ceramic. The main thing is that there are drainage holes at the bottom to drain excess moisture.

The soil in which the dollar tree will grow must be nutritious and loose, with good air permeability.

The main components of the soil mixture are traditionally taken:

• 1 volume of leafy land;
• 1 volume of sod land;
• 1 volume of peat;
• 1 volume of sand.

The tuber is placed shallowly in a flower container, barely sprinkled with earth.

Advice

Zamiokulkas juice, when it comes into contact with the skin and mucous membranes, causes a strong burning sensation, therefore, the plant should be transplanted with gloves.

Caring for a dollar tree couldn't be easier

It is not difficult to take care of the plant at home, the plant forgives minor mistakes, except for waterlogging.

• Accommodation in the house

Zamioculcas is a large flower that grows naturally on the dry hilly plains of Africa among succulents. Consequently, in the room, windows facing south, southeast and southwest are more suitable for him. In the summer months, it feels great in the garden or on the balcony, outdoor terrace, unglazed loggia.

• Light requirements

The dollar tree loves diffused light. In nature, it grows under the scorching sun, but indoor zamioculcas gets burns from bright sunlight. It develops in partial shade, but more slowly, and grows new shoots smaller and with small leaves. In the period of relative dormancy from September to March, the plant also needs good lighting, but additional lighting is organized whenever possible and is not vital.

• Temperature regime

What temperature does an African exotic plant need? The range of thermometer readings in the room where indoor zamioculcas grow is quite wide. Optimum summer temperatures are moderate - in the range of 21-24 degrees Celsius, but the plant will painlessly withstand 30-degree heat.

In winter, the flower puts up with the dry air of heating devices and tolerates a temperature drop of at least 12 degrees.

• Watering and humidity

Florists often forget that zamiokulkas, although it belongs to the aroids, is able, like succulents, to store moisture in tubers and the lower part of the leaf petiole. However, these "reservoirs" are not limitless, excessive watering and spraying leads to decay of the base of leaf stalks and tubers.

That is why the plants should be watered sparingly in summer, only after the earthen coma dries out no less than half, and in winter, reduce the frequency of humidification to 1-2 times a month, especially when kept in rooms with low air temperatures. It is undesirable to leave water in the pallet, even in significant heat.

High air humidity harms zamiokulkas, the plant is undemanding to spraying. In intense heat, the flower will be delighted with a refreshing soul, in other periods of development, it is enough to wash off the dust from the leaves with a damp cloth.

Advice

A leaf that only yesterday grew vertically, and today suddenly bent over, should be immediately examined at the base. As a rule, drooping shoots signal the beginning of rotting. It is necessary to stop watering for a while and carefully observe the plant. Usually, short-term waterlogging is painless if the irrigation regime is timely adjusted.

• The need for feeding

Zamiokulkas does not need frequent fertilizers. During the active growing season, it is fed carefully, in diluted doses. Complex mineral fertilizers or fertilizing for succulents or cacti are used with a frequency of no more than once a month. In the autumn-winter period, the plant rests and does not grow, therefore, it does not need replenishment of nutrients.

With the achievement of significant sizes, the pinnate leaves of the zamiokulkas will require a special support with a ring, otherwise the fleshy petioles with large foliage from their own weight collapse and break.

Reproduction of zamiokulkas: possible options

The dollar tree propagates by seed, but this method is practically impracticable for flower growers living in temperate latitudes. Planting material appears on sale very rarely, it is impossible to find it, and it is also almost unrealistic to collect it at home, since zamiokulkas blooms even in ideal indoor conditions.

However, the vegetative propagation of the dollar tree is quite efficient, and even despite the fact that the zamioculcas does not form convenient shoots, there are several ways to grow a new specimen.

• Easier than other methods - division of the rhizome, which is combined with a transplant. Optimally, if the cuttings contain 2-3 nodules, the new plant will turn out to be strong and hardy. Places of cuts are dried and then sprinkled with crushed charcoal.
• However, one pinnate leaf with a tuber bud, separated from the mother plant, also develops successfully. Like larger delenki, it must be dried, treated with charcoal powder from possible infections and planted in a separate flower container. The tuber bud is deepened only to the base of the leaf, no more. In the future, they are looked after as for an ordinary adult specimen.
• The most laborious and time consuming method is reproduction by single small leaf blades, cut off from a large cirrus leaf. The cuttings are dried for two days, then buried in a peat-sand mixture for a third of their length, moistened and covered with plastic wrap or a glass vessel on top, constantly ventilated so that mold does not start on the surface of the soil.

The process of rooting of leaf blades sometimes takes several months. If you decide to propagate zamioculcas in this way, be prepared for the fact that not all specimens will successfully turn into independent plants - some turn yellow and rot. But if the process proceeds as it should, first a slight swelling appears at the buried base of the plate, which eventually turns into a miniature nodule with a growth bud and roots. The use of root formation stimulants - "Kornevin", "Heteroauxin" and other similar means, helps to speed up rooting. It is advisable to plant young dollar trees in soil mixture for adult plants after the formation of a full-fledged tuber and 1-2 leaves.

Diseases and pests of zamiokulkas

The plant most often suffers from waterlogging of the soil. Overflow is especially dangerous at low temperatures indoors - rotting of tubers and pagon bases cannot be avoided. And if the plant is saved from short-term dampness by immediate cessation of watering and treatment with "Fundazol" or "Oxyhom", then a prolonged excess of moisture and stagnation of water in the sump almost always leads to serious damage by root rot and death of the plant.

Zamioculcas are also annoyed by insect pests. On the petioles of the leaves and on the underside of the leaf plates, brownish tubercles of the scabies are often noticed. With a minor invasion, it is enough to remove the parasites with a sponge soaked in soapy water. More numerous colonies are destroyed with Aktara solution.

The silvery cobweb on the leaves will betray the presence of unwanted guests - spider mites. In this case, there is no time to think, you need to know exactly what to do with this misfortune, otherwise the plant will quickly wither away. Mites are washed off with a solution of laundry soap or sprayed with Actellik, if there are many of them on the plant.

Aphids do not appear very often on the tops of the shoots or on the underside of the leaf plates. The insect does not like wood ash, so the affected areas are sprayed with soapy water, then sprinkled with ash powder. In the event of a mass attack, special preparations are used - insecticides "Fitoverm", "Bankol" and others.

Errors in care are associated with some problems in the cultivation of zamioculcas.

• Leaves react painfully to mechanical damage and often die off.
• In insufficiently lit places, foliage stretches unnaturally.
• Leaves turn yellow - the first sign of excessive watering.
• Loss of the lower lobules on the cirrus leaf for the dollar tree is a natural process.
• The spots that appear on the leaves of the plant have different causes - waterlogging, drafts, low air temperature.

All these problems, however, can be avoided by carefully observing the green pet and taking proper care of it.An unpretentious zamiokulkas will brighten up the home interior, and whether to believe the signs that it attracts dollars to the wallet, each grower has the right to decide for himself.