Ehmeya - home care, reproduction, photo

Ehmeya (Aechmea) - a herbaceous plant from the bromeliad family. The countries of South and Central America are considered the homeland. In the XIX century. flower began to grow in European botanical gardens. Since the end of the 20th century. lovers of home gardening became interested in ehmei.

At home, the height of the plant can reach 1 meter, however, its width will be about 30 cm, and the length of the leaves - 60 cm. The flower has an average growth rate. At home, lives up to 7 years, daughter sockets are transplanted. Long leaves, prickly around the edges, form a funnel.

Echmea blooms once in a lifetime, starting at the age of 4. In summer, bright inflorescences appear, formed by a large number of small lilac-purple flowers and bracts. Many species of echmea are epiphytic plants living in nature on rocks, crowns of shrubs and trees.

The poison of ehmei

Ehmeya is a poisonous plant. The juice contained in its leaves, getting on the skin and mucous membranes, causes severe irritation. Work with the flower carefully, wearing gloves. After work, wash your hands thoroughly.

Care for echmea at home (briefly)

Ehmeya at home develops well if its elementary needs for light, moisture, nutrition are satisfied:

With the obvious ease of caring for the plant, it is possible to highlight the features of growing ehmei. Faded inflorescences are removed by secateurs so that they do not weaken the plant. Ehmeya has weak roots and can grow on the ground or on a support - a piece of bark, plastic or glass (a hole is made in the stand into which echmea is inserted, wrapping the roots with moist moss).

Caring for echmea at home. In detail

Homemade ehmeya will please with original foliage and elegant flowering, if at home optimal conditions are created for it.

Flowering ehmei

Ehmeya usually blooms in summer. Flowering ehmei - a long, but one-time phenomenon. Only an adult plant blooms, starting at about 4 years of age. It happens that the flower does not appear on a more mature bush. Perhaps the offspring from which he grew up was cut off too early from the mother plant and develops slowly, without getting enough nutrition. Having matured, he will also release an inflorescence of bright flowers.

To speed up the beginning of flowering, a young ehmeya is placed for 10 days in a bag with bananas or apples. Ripe ethylene-producing fruits will speed up the flowering process. But do not mindlessly strive for the appearance of flowers. After flowering, the young echmea lives no more than a year, sometimes not having time to form lateral shoots.

A mature plant will no longer bloom, but will produce shoots that can be transplanted. Faded inflorescences are removed immediately so that they do not spoil the appearance of the plant, do not slow down its growth and do not cause decay of the top.

Temperature mode

To grow a strong and healthy ehmeya, home care suggests that the room will often be ventilated, because it requires fresh air. In the summer, the flower is taken out onto the street. Observe the temperature regime. In summer, the apartment should be between + 25 - 28 ° C, in winter - not lower than + 17 ° C.

The daily temperature is indicated. Ehmeya is a rare plant that likes a drop in temperature at night: a slight drop is useful to it for flowering.

The bush is protected from the draft.

Spraying

A tropical echmea flower at home will feel comfortable if the humidity is maintained at 60 - 70%. During the heating season and in the summer heat, spraying the leaves with warm, settled water will help in this.

Spraying and installing the bush in a pan with wet expanded clay are possible options for increasing indoor air humidity, you can not wipe the leaves.

Lighting

At home, the ehmea flower should be located on windows looking west or east: there it will receive enough light. When placed on a window facing south, the lighting will be too bright and long. This will cause a burn of leaves.

If it is impossible to rearrange the flower, it is necessarily shaded. In the northern part of the room there is little light, here the growth of echmea will slow down. Optimal for her is bright diffused lighting.

Watering ehmei

Watering the ehmei is a mandatory and regular procedure. Water when the topsoil dries. In the summer, once every 7 days, they pour warm, settled water into a power outlet, then water the soil. In winter and after flowering, they are limited to moderate soil moisture (it should not dry out), water is not poured into the outlet, so as not to cause decay of the growth point.

Waterlogging ehmey is not necessary: its wide leaves evaporate little moisture, and the water in the outlet helps to tolerate the short-term lack of watering. Ehmeya loves spraying and bathing under a warm shower. After the procedures, it is left in a shaded room so that the water dries out and the plant does not receive a sunburn on the leaves.

Priming

Ehmeya is a flower for which the acidity of the soil is not important. It is important that the soil is breathable and loose. You can buy ready-made soil mix for bromeliads, improve it with sphagnum and chopped charcoal.

You can prepare the substrate yourself, taking in equal proportions sheet soil, peat, humus and in half a dose of sand. Add moss and chopped charcoal to the mixture. Be sure to pour expanded clay or broken bricks for drainage at the bottom of the pot.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

Top dressing and fertilizer are good for the flower. Ehmeya is responsive to watering or spraying leaves with a twice-diluted liquid universal fertilizer for flower plants or specially designed for bromeliads.

The procedures are carried out after watering in cloudy weather or in the evenings, so as not to burn the leaves (in spring and summer - once every 2 weeks, in autumn - once every 30 days, and in winter - once every 2 months). In winter, the solution is diluted 3 times.

Ehmei transplant

Ehmei transplantation is a simple job, accessible even to an inexperienced grower. Young bushes are replanted annually before flowering. Adults can be transplanted after flowering, if you need to separate the children. When the long leaves are already hanging from the pot so that the echmea loses its stability, a transplant is necessary.

The root system of the echmea is small, so it needs a small shallow pot. Soil is taken the same as for planting a flower, be sure to use drainage. After transplanting, the bush is placed in a shaded place and is not watered for several days.

They work by wearing gloves to protect their hands from accidental contact with the poisonous juice of ehmei and not get hurt by thorns on the leaves.

Pruning

The bush does not need to be formed, so it does not need regular pruning. After flowering, the peduncles that began to fade are cut with a sharp knife so that they do not interfere with the echmea and spoil its appearance. When the children formed between the leaves grow significantly, they are cut off.

How to leave on vacation

A caring owner, leaving home for a week or two, will always think about how to leave an ehmeya unattended on vacation? The owner of the ehmei was lucky: the plant can survive 2 weeks without watering, but before leaving it is watered, mulched with sphagnum, and the settled warm water is poured into the outlet.

Ehmeya is put in a tray with wet expanded clay and, if necessary, is shaded. If there is a longer absence, they ask relatives to take care of the flower.

Propagation of ehmei

Propagation of ehmei is possible by two methods.

Propagation of ehmei by offspring

• Developed offspring (reaching one third of the height of an adult flower) are separated from an adult mother plant with a sharp clean knife. They take root easily.
• The cut points are sprinkled with charcoal powder to prevent decay.
• Planted in light soil and watered.
• They cover it with polyethylene, making holes in it so that the seedling breathes.
• The film is removed for watering and airing.
• After 30 to 45 days, rooting will occur.
• The bush is transplanted into a large container and taken care of as an adult plant.

Growing ehmei from seeds

Seed propagation - the seeds are sown in peat (or sand + peat), covered with a film and left at + 23 ° C. After 3 weeks, the seeds will sprout. About 3 months later, after the appearance of 3 leaves, they are dived into separate pots. Echmea obtained from seeds will bloom in 3 years.

Methods of propagation of ehmei are simple, but they often use the first: so you can wait until the flowering of ehmei, varietal features are preserved.

Diseases and Pests

Ehmeya does not require special care, but it is the flower grower's duty to create favorable conditions for the plant. If you surround the flower with attention, you can be sure: diseases and pests will not touch it. Otherwise, the disease can manifest itself in the form of symptoms:

• old sockets die - A natural physiological process, often occurs after flowering;
• rotten sockets ehmei - waterlogging at low temperature (reduce the number of irrigation, drain the water from the outlet; put in a warmer, ventilated place);
• ehmea leaves fade - a lot of light (shade the bush);
• brown spots on the leaves - fungal disease (fungicides are used); if the spots are pale brown - a sunburn (shadow, rearrange);
• flaccid shriveled echmea leaves - lack of moisture (watered, water is poured into the outlet);
• dry tips of echmea leaves - Too dry air (increase humidity);
• bright green spotting of silvery leaves - erasing the scales when wiping the sheet with a napkin;
• leaves turn yellow and fall - waterlogging (adjust watering, ventilate);
• after flowering, the leaves shrink and fall - the natural aging process, the bush cannot be saved;
• the inflorescence turned dirty pink - ehme cold (rearrange in a warm place).

Sometimes echmea is affected by aphids, mealybugs, scale insects, spider mites. Pests are activated in the heat with increased air dryness or during cooling and overflow of the flower. The appearance and reproduction of insects is easier to prevent than to deal with them later.

Types of homemade ehmei with photos and names

More than 250 species of echmea are found in the wild. Some of them are cultivated at home.

Striped Ehmea (Aechmea Fasciata)

Dark green leaves with a marble pattern and small cloves at the edges form a high funnel. The sheet plate is dense, belt-shaped (length up to 0.6 m). The capitate or pyramidal straight peduncle grows up to 30 cm. Bluish-red small flowers are surrounded by glossy pink bracts.

Echmea Weilbach (Aechmea Weilbachii)

The xiphoid wide leaves, having a copper-red color and a linear shape, form a symmetrical rosette. Leaves without thorns, their length reaches 50 cm. A racemose inflorescence is located on a red peduncle. Scarlet large bracts are collected at the base, between them are small flowers with blue-purple petals.

Curved Achmea (Aechmea Recurvata)

Light green narrow leaves with a linear shape and spiky edges form a wide funnel. Leaf width - up to 1, 5 cm, length - up to 40 cm. Inflorescence capitate is about 0.2 m high. Pink flowers are surrounded by triangular red bracts.

Ehmeya is a plant of interest with variegated green leaves and catchy flowers. It blooms once in a lifetime, but the flowers are so magnificent and unusual that they amaze the connoisseurs of beauty. Caring for a plant is not difficult. Therefore, the number of fans of ehmei is growing steadily.