Skutellaria - growing and caring at home, photo species

Skutellaria Kostarikanskaya. A photo

Skutellaria (Scutellaria) - beautiful flowering compact shrub from the family Labiaceae. Develops intensively. In the natural environment grows more than one meter. Indoors, the height of the bush does not exceed 0.5 m. In nature, scutellaria is a perennial plant.

After three years of vegetation, scutellaria needs to be renewed or grown as an annual. In summer, large umbrellas formed from bright tubular flowers form at the tips of the tetrahedral shoots. Under natural conditions, the bush can grow everywhere, although Costa Rica is considered the birthplace of scutellaria. The only species grown at home is called: Costa Rican scutellaria.

Also see how to grow a home coleus.

	They have a high speed of development.
	It blooms in summer.
	The plant is easy to grow.
	Perennial.

Scootellaria - useful properties

Scootellaria is a bright detail in any interior. A flowerpot with a flower decorates the space and attracts the eye. It does not need to be placed in places that I would like to hide from prying eyes. Bright umbrellas create the atmosphere of the holiday, increase the mood.

Skutellaria is recommended to be kept in the living room. The top of the fiery red petals is slightly muffled by the yellow border. But this does not detract from the flow of vital energy that the flower spreads around itself, but only slightly restrains from rash impulses that a pure red color can provoke. The spectacular plant is also used to decorate offices, schools, kindergartens.

Scutellaria: home care. Briefly

Growing scutellaria at home is not difficult, but it is necessary to show respect for the plant, creating elementary conditions for it:

Temperature mode	In summer, + 22 - 25 ° C, in winter - + 12 - 15 ° C.
Air humidity	Above average; It is recommended to spray often.
Lighting	Diffused bright light.
Watering	Avoid the appearance of peel on the substrate; in winter, watered every 10 days.
Primer for ficus lyre	Universal substrate for flowers; a mixture of two parts of sod land and humus with the addition of one part of perlite.
Fertilizer and fertilizer	Every 2 weeks with a universal mineral fertilizer diluted in half.
Ficus Lyre-shaped	After 2.5 years, in the spring.
Breeding	Young cuttings.
Growing Features	Once every 2 years, the plant is radically cut off, leaving shoots up to 10 cm long. Scootellaria loves airing, in the summer it is taken out to the balcony or to the garden.

Scutellaria: home care. In detail

If you create optimal conditions for scutellaria at home, its vegetation will proceed correctly. This means that the flower will delight with its peppy appearance and long elegant flowering.

Flowering scutellaria

If scutellaria is grown as an annual, it will bloom once, from early May to mid-July. But once he sees a flowering bush, he will want to admire it again. Therefore, scutellaria is often grown as a perennial plant. In a warm room, a bush can bloom all year, taking small breaks if it is fed and regularly watered.

A feature of the flowering of scutellaria is its ability to plant flower buds only on the tops of shoots. Therefore, pinch the shoots carefully: the procedure prevents flowering. Bright red, orange or yellow flowers have a tubular shape.

Combining 13 - 15 pieces, they form racemose inflorescences similar to tongues of flame. The edges of the original folded corollas are curved and closed so that they resemble a helmet in shape. The similarity caused the popular name of the plant - Scutellaria.

Temperature mode

Like all tropical plants, scutellaria requires heat at home. In order for the vegetation to take place without unpleasant surprises, it is necessary to maintain the temperature regime. The optimum temperature is considered to be from + 15 - 24 ° C. In winter, it is possible to drop to + 12 ° C.

Further lowering the flower will not tolerate. On cold days, it is recommended to put a wooden or cork stand under the flower pot to isolate the roots of the plant from the cold surface of the windowsill. In summer, scutellaria is comfortable when the thermometer does not rise above + 25 ° C.

If it is warmer, the plant will have to be sprayed more often.

Spraying

A flower with tropical roots does not feel well in a room with dry air. As prescribed by the rules for scutellaria care, at home you need to maintain air humidity in different ways. Dryness helps to cope with spraying.

Skutellaria is often sprayed, in hot weather - several times a day. But during flowering, they abstain from the procedure: moisture can adversely affect the flowers, and it is difficult not to touch them when spraying. When scutellaria blooms, humidifiers are used, a flowerpot with a plant is placed on a pallet with wet pebbles. The leaves are wiped with a damp cloth.

Lighting

The plant will develop harmoniously if lighting is properly organized. On the north window, a bush prone to rapid growth will stretch. Its shoots will be thinned, the leaves will become small, and there will be no flowers at all. A flowerpot with home scutellaria should be placed on a window looking east or west.

Here the diffused bright light needed for the plant will be enough. In cloudy weather you need to turn on the backlight. On the south window, scutellaria shade at noon.

Watering

One of the important procedures in caring for a plant is watering. Moisture-loving home scutellaria is watered when the substrate dries. But you can’t wait until the crust appears on it. In summer, watering is carried out often, approximately every three days.

In winter, less moisture is required, the flower is watered once every 10 to 12 days. Use lukewarm, settled water. The trunk circle is mulched with sphagnum to retain moisture.

Scooter pot

During transplantation, considerable importance is attached to the pot for scutellaria. The development of the root system, the brightness and duration of flowering depend on the right choice. The diameter of the container should be at least 2/3 of the height of the bush.

Its height should exceed 1/3 of the height of the flower along with the rhizome and a layer of drainage. At the bottom of the pot you need a hole for draining water and air access to the roots.

Priming

You can prepare a substrate of two portions of humus and sod land and one portion of sand. Also suitable is a universal soil for flowers purchased at a store that has a slightly acidic or neutral reaction (pH 5 - 6).

To make the soil more loose, brick crumb, crushed sphagnum, coconut substrate are added to it.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

To ensure that scutellaria does not lose its decorative properties, it needs to be fed and fertilized once every 15 days. In a diluted form, a universal mineral product is used containing a complex of necessary elements. The procedure is combined with evening watering, after which the plant is shaded for two days.

Transfer

If the plant is grown as an annual crop, a scutellaria transplant is not needed. A perennial bush is replanted every 2.5 years, when the roots cover the entire earthen lump.

Along the way, change the capacity to a large one; brick crumb or vermiculite is added to the substrate; reinforce the drainage layer. The plant is transplanted without deepening.

Pruning

In the spring, every two years, pruning of adult shoots is carried out so that they do not become thinner. Pinch the tops of several shoots. This will help the bush become lush.

But you do not need to pinch all the young shoots: you can lose flowers. It is necessary to remove dried inflorescences in time, so that the bush has a neat appearance.

Rest period

If you grow scutellaria in the form of an annual culture, you can not arrange a rest period. In winter, they continue to feed, watering is reduced to once every 10 days. The temperature of the content is not reduced. When the bush is grown for many years, they give it a rest from the end of October to mid-February. They are placed in a cool place, do not feed and are rarely watered.

Propagation of scutellaria by cuttings

Scutellaria propagated by cuttings remaining after spring pruning. Strong cuttings are left with a length of at least 15 cm. The lower leaves are removed. The cut site is treated with a root stimulator.

The cuttings are planted in moist soil, deepening approximately 0.7 cm. Top covered with a film. Contain in a warm room. When rooting occurs, new leaves will appear. After that, the film is removed. After 14 days, the plant is transplanted into a larger pot.

Diseases and Pests

If scutellaria is poorly managed, pests can attack it, and diseases will begin to manifest themselves:

• leaves turn pale - from a lack of nutrients and a lack of light (feed, rearrange in a brighter place);
• scutellaria blooms poorly - the plant does not have enough light (rearrange in a bright place);
• leaf edges dry - dry air in the room (spray more often; put a flowerpot with a flower on a pallet with wet pebbles, keep an open container of water near it).

Sometimes scutellaria is affected by scale insects, aphids, whiteflies, spider mites. Insecticides are used against pests.

Scootellaria is popular due to its bright flowering and unpretentiousness. The emerald leaves of the plant seem to be pulled together by a net of hard veins. It seems that joy comes to the house when red flowers appear on their background, similar to bright flashes of fireworks.

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