Adromischus spotted (Adromischus maculatus) - a miniature houseplant native to hot Africa

Succulents can maintain a water supply in the tissues of their leaves for a long time. This makes them even easier to care for.

Therefore, when choosing indoor plants, you should not lose sight of these representatives of the flora, since their unusual appearance will be able to bring many positive emotions to their owners.

And spotted adromiscus, as a direct representative of this species, will completely win your hearts.

Description

There are many species of adromiscus, in order to distinguish spotted adromiscus, you need to study a number of its characteristics and features.

Botanical characteristics, homeland and prevalence

Adromiscus is a dicotyledonous succulent plant of the Crassulaceae family. The homeland of succulents is South and Southwest Africa. The name of the genus comes from the Greek words "adros" - thick and "mischos" - the trunk.

The habitat of adromiscus is desert rocky terrain. But still, these succulents have long been ubiquitous. They have proven themselves as indoor plants. And they are successfully grown at home by flower growers of all countries.

Appearance

Spotted Adromiscus is a perennial herbaceous or shrub plant. Short, reaches 10-15 centimeters in height. Has succulent, dark green, dense, watery, rounded, variegated leaves, which are covered with beautiful reddish-brown spots. The stems are short and thick, covered with reddish-red aerial roots. Flowers are gathered in spikelets on a rather long peduncle. The corolla petals are a narrow tube.

Similar varieties of succulents

The spotted adromiscus is similar in appearance to plants of a kind and family.

• Pachyphytum. A plant with a creeping or lodging stem. The leaves are convex, watery, dense, collected in whorls. Sepals and leaves are covered with a waxy coating.
• Cotyledon. A plant with thick and short stems. The leaves are juicy, dense, fleshy, oppositely located. Flowers drooping in the form of a bell, white.
• Tree Crassula. A plant with a squat, thick trunk. The leaves are elongated, watery, dense, greenish-bluish in color, on their surface there is a layer of whitish plaque.
• Graptopetalum. A plant without a stem. It has dense, watery, heart-shaped leaves, dark green in color, matte, with a sharp end. Blooms with pink flowers in the shape of a lily.
• Oskularia. Shrub succulent. The leaves are succulent, gray-gray-green, symmetrically opposite, trihedral, fused at the base, expanding upward. All these flowers are similar to hadromiscus in the structure of dense watery leaves.

Is it easy to grow as a houseplant and how long does it live?

With proper care, there are practically no problems with the cultivation of spotted adromiscus. This plant is demanding in its own way, but knowing all the subtleties, caring for it will not be difficult for an experienced florist.

Unequivocal there is no answer to the question about the life expectancy of adromiscus spotted, everything will depend on proper care. And also do not forget about the simplicity of rooting the leaves of the plant, which will allow you to create many new small adromiscus.

Care

Features of spotted adromiscus care can be presented in a simple table:

Lighting	Adromiscus loves bright lighting, feels good under the influence of direct sunlight. In young plants, burns can occur.
Temperature	The temperature of the plant in the summer should be about 25-30 ° C, and in the winter 10-15 ° C, but not lower than 7 ° C. If the room has a high temperature, it is important to give the plant access to fresh air.
Location	It is necessary to place the plant on a window with bright light. If put on the south window, then succulent is better to shadow. If the pot with the plant will be on the western or eastern window, then shading is not necessary, and sometimes on the contrary artificial lighting is necessary.
Watering	In spring and summer, moderate watering is recommended with complete drying of the soil composition of the plant. In autumn, watering needs to be made as rare as possible, and in winter you can do without it at all, depending on the air temperature in the room. For irrigation use soft (settled, filtered or boiled) water at room temperature.
Air humidity	He feels comfortable in a room with dry air. In spraying the ground does not need.
Top dressing	Adromiscus need to be fed from March to September, with a frequency of 1 time per month. Fertilizers for cacti are applicable to the plant (Agricola, Agro Master, Uniflora). In autumn and winter, feeding is not carried out.
The soil	The composition of the land mixture: peat, sand, small expanded clay (proportions of the soil composition 1: 1: 1), a ready-made substrate for cacti is also suitable. Acidity (pH): neutral (6.0-7.0).
Pruning	Adromiscus does not need periodic pruning. Trimming is needed only in case of root rotting. In this case, the plant is removed from the soil, rotted roots are removed and the succulent planted in a new soil composition.

Breeding

Adromiscus is propagated by leafy cuttings. To propagate succulents you need:

1. In May-June, from an adult plant, cut a healthy leaf externally.
2. This sheet must be slightly dried before planting. To do this, just place it for several hours in a dark, warm and dry place.
3. A dried leaf should be placed on moistened soil and moved to a dark, warm place.
4. Somewhere in 5-7 days, small roots begin to appear at the leaf.
5. Next, young succulents should be lightly sprinkled with earth.
6. When rooting is more pronounced and the plant grows, it is planted in a small pot in coarse river sand or vermiculite. And you can also use a mixture of soil for cacti mixed with part of the sand.

Reference! Full rooting in a new pot and soil composition occurs within a month.

Transfer

Plants are recommended to transplant in the spring. The transplant is carried out in small pots with loose moisture-permeable soil and good drainage. The soil must be mulched. When planting, it is important not to bury the plant’s neck in the ground, it should look a little above the surface of the soil. Young plants are transplanted annually, adults - after 2-3 years as necessary. After transplanting within a week, do not water the soil.

Content difficulties

When growing succulents, you can encounter a number of difficulties:

• the plant is susceptible to attack by pests - scale insects, aphids, mealybugs, spider mites;
• with waterlogging of the soil, root rotting is possible, the plant can become watery, soft, and the disease also begins - gray rot;
• due to insufficient lighting, the plant stem stretches, the leaves become loose and dull;
• if water enters the leaf outlet, the plant rots;
• with the aging of the plant, the lower tier of its leaves becomes yellow and they fall;
• when the ground part of the succulents receives a sunburn, the leaves begin to turn yellow and dry out;
• when the soil dries, the leaves of the adromiscus begin to crack.

Adromiscus spotted is very easy to grow at home. Subject to a few simple rules, this African inhabitant will be able to please the grower with his unsurpassed appearance for a long time.

Watch the video: How to Grow Adromischus, a rare and fascinating group of succulents (April 2024).