Zamioculcas (dollar tree), due to its rich green complex leaves and unpretentiousness, has gained popularity in indoor floriculture.
Kenya is considered to be its homeland, a country characterized by changing tropical rainy seasons and arid hot periods.
To survive in such a climate, this plant acquired the ability to accumulate moisture in leaf petioles, roots and tubers.
The wax surface of its leaves reflects the sun's rays well, thereby reducing the evaporation of moisture.
This helps him survive a period of drought.
Thanks to these features of Zamioculcas, growing and caring for it at home is quite simple.
Zamioculcas - home care: reproduction, planting, transplantation
At home, a dollar tree is propagated by dividing the bush and cuttings.
Cuttings best carried out during the period of active vegetation - in spring and summer. In this case, the mother bush must be healthy. Cuttings rooted weakly from plants bought in stores treated with stimulants for growth and flowering. Such copies can be used after a year of living in your home. As a stalk, take a separate leaf or a whole leaf with rachis (the main axis of the leaf, petiole - it is often incorrectly called the stem). You can root in water or in a mixture of peat and sand (3: 1), which can be replaced with perlite or vermiculite. If universal soil is used for planting, then it must first be sterilized (spilled with a potassium permanganate solution or calcined in the oven at + 200 ° C for 15-20 minutes) and add a disintegrant (coarse sand, fine expanded clay, perlite) to it. Leafs with petioles are cut with a sharp knife from the selected plant. Slices are dipped in rootin or heteroauxin. Pots are filled with prepared soil mixture with obligatory drainage from fine expanded clay.
Rooting of leaf cuttings of Zamioculcas in a substrate
After planting the cuttings, they are watered with a fungicide solution (for example, Maxim, Vitaros) and placed in a greenhouse or covered with a transparent plastic bag. During the whole rooting process (it takes from 2 to 6 months), the temperature should be maintained at + 19 + 21 ° C. Periodically, it is necessary to ventilate the landing. After 60-70 days, a tuber will begin to develop at the base of the leaf, which will only reach its development in six months. Do not be scared if by this time the leaf turns yellow - this is a natural process. The shoot will grow in about 12-14 months, and a new pair of leaves - 1.5-2 years after planting.
A simpler option is to propagate zamioculcas - when transplanting, divide an adult bush. The shoot with a part of the tuber and roots is separated with a sharp knife, the cut is sprinkled with charcoal or sulfur powder. In pots with prepared soil and drainage, a shoot is planted and watered with fungicide. After 1-2 months, new roots will begin to grow.
Transfer
The dollar tree is a slow-growing plant: 1-3 new leaves grow in it per year. Young plants are transplanted annually in the spring. With age, as the bush grows, the transplant is done 1 time in 2-4 years. If you do this less often, then you can regulate the growth of the plant. When transplanting a new pot, one should not take much more than the old one, otherwise the development of the root system will be more intensive than the ground part. Drainage (expanded clay, small crushed stone, polystyrene broken into pieces, broken clay shards, etc.) should occupy a quarter of the volume of the pot. The soil for planting is prepared from peat and leaf or garden, forest land in equal proportions, a mixture of baking powder (sand, perlite or vermiculite, small expanded clay) is added to it - 1/3 of the total volume of the substrate. Before planting, the roots are cleaned of old soil, the transplanted plant is placed in a pot, straightened the root system, covered with earth and watered.
Zamioculcas - home care: temperature, lighting, soil
Temperature and humidity
The optimal temperature for growing Zamioculcas is a range from +20 to + 28ºС in the summer and + 16-18ºС in the winter. The plant can easily tolerate heat above + 30ºС. It is important to remember: with a decrease in air temperature (especially in winter), the amount of watering is reduced. In the summer, the plant will feel good on the open balcony or terrace. Humidity does not have much effect on the dollar tree. In summer, you can rarely spray it and wipe the leaves from dust with a damp sponge or cloth. After such a procedure (especially when using unfiltered water), as well as after applying foliar application, applying chemicals against pests, whitish spots may remain on the leaves. To return a presentable appearance to a plant, it is sprayed with polishes (for example, Perfect Plant). Experienced flower growers advise: if there is no desire to use chemicals, it is easy to make a "home" polish: mix the egg yolk in the proportions 1: 1 (you can take milk instead) and water, wipe the leaves with this composition. Shine will be provided.
Lighting
Due to its unpretentiousness, zamioculcas can grow in any light. However, in the shade it will develop poorly, its leaves will stretch. The best windows for this plant are western and eastern. If the dollar tree stands on the south windowsill, then at noon it is shaded from direct sunlight to create scattered lighting, creating diffuse lighting.
The soil
Dollar tree prefers well-drained, moisture-permeable soil with a neutral level of acidity (pH = 6). For planting, use a special substrate for cacti and succulents or prepare it yourself. To do this, peat, garden or garden soil are mixed in equal proportions, loosening components are added: coarse sand, fine expanded clay, perlite or vermiculite. You can add a handful of charcoal to 1 liter of soil.
Zamioculcas - home care: watering, top dressing
Watering
The main motto for watering Zamioculcas is not to overflow! The tuber and succulent roots of this plant have sufficient moisture reserves, which it uses as necessary. The appearance of yellow spots on the leaves indicates an excess of soil moisture. If the process is not very running, then let the soil in the pot dry. With severe inhibition of the plant, it is transplanted into drier soil. In the spring-summer period, the dollar tree is watered once a week, and in the autumn-winter season - 1 time per month with the earthen coma completely dried out. Watering a dollar tree can only be done with water at room temperature that has been left standing for 24 hours. Beginning gardeners will be helped to determine the period of watering by sound meters of soil moisture: they show the moisture content not only in the upper soil layer, but throughout the depth of the earth coma (for example, Raco, Rapitest). 10 minutes after watering, the excess water draining into the pan is drained.
Fertilizer
Zamioculcas is fed during the growing season with fertilizers for succulents and cacti once every 3-4 weeks (for example, a series of Agricola, Zdrazen, Flower Paradise, Master, GrowUp). Such preparations contain trace elements in chelated form, vitamins balanced for NPK succulents (with a reduced nitrogen concentration). You can also use fertilizers for decorative and deciduous plants (a fertilizer line of the Etisso, Pokon, Biomaster, Bona Forte, Good Strength, etc. series), but in the half dose indicated on the package. Top dressing is made on the next day after watering in order to avoid root burn. From September to March, the plant is no longer fertilized.
Support
Large adult bushes need ring support in order to avoid leaf obstruction and tearing from the tuber.
The main problems when growing Zamioculcas at home
Due to its endurance and poisonous juice, zamioculcas is rarely sick and affected by pests. The main harm to the plant is caused by improper care.
The leader among the major mistakes of gardeners when growing a dollar tree is over watering. Together with low air temperature, excess soil moisture leads to decay of the roots and petioles of leaves. If this situation happened, then the plant should be removed from the pot, all rotted roots should be removed, the sections should be dusted with activated carbon and dried, and then planted in new soil without watering.
Why does zamioculcas not bloom? At room conditions, only adult (5-7 years old) plants can bloom. Their flower is inconspicuous and is a cob with a pale greenish veil on a short peduncle.
Dark stripes and spots on petioles of leaves (without physical changes in plant tissue: rot, weeping) - this is a feature of the dollar tree. But the appearance of such spots on the leaves is characteristic of excessive watering, coupled with cold drafts. In this case, it is necessary to adjust the irrigation and thermal conditions.
Putrid spots on a leaf of Zamioculcus
Yellowing leaves may be a consequence of the natural aging process. If at the same time new young leaves grow on the plant, then everything is in order. In other cases, yellowing of the foliage indicates an error in the care: a sharp change in air temperature, drafts, lack of moisture, damage by pests.
In case of defeat spider mite leaves wrinkle, turn yellow and fall. It is removed by washing off with soap and water, tobacco infusion. If these measures do not help, the plant is sprayed with acaricides (Akarin, Sunmayt, Apollo, Actellik).
When aphids, thrips, mealybugs apply contact or systemic insecticides (Admiral, Aktara, Biotlin, Confidor Extra).
