Ceropegia - home care, photo species, reproduction

Ceropegia (Ceropegia) - flowering creeping shrub plant of the family Goreceae, having thick lanceolate leaves and axillary, umbellate, or racemose inflorescences with fused stamens. The homeland of ceropegia is the tropical forests of Asia and Africa. This is a perennial flower that is grown in indoor floriculture as an ampel, climbing ornamental plant.

It shows an accelerated pace of development - in less than a year, shoots can reach up to two meters in length, easily grows. Thanks to the tuberous root system, it has its own moisture reserves and is resistant to drought.

Also be sure to pay attention to the guernia and hoya plant.

	High growth rate. up to 50 cm per year in length. It also grows in breadth due to new shoots.
	Mostly blooms in summer.
	The plant is easy to grow indoors.
	Perennial.

Useful properties of ceropegia

Ceropegy of Wood. A photo

This is a surprisingly flexible liana-shaped flower, which with the help of supports and decorative stands can be given absolutely any shape that successfully complements the interior. In addition to decorating properties, ceropegia is a natural air purifier that absorbs harmful toxic compounds.

Zeropegy of Sanderson. A photo

Ceropegia: home care. Briefly

Ceropegia at home is an unpretentious plant that easily grows even among beginner growers. The main parameters of the content of lianas:

Temperature mode	From 21 ºС on summer days, wintering - at a temperature of 10 ºС.
Air humidity	Moderate, not higher than 50%.
Lighting	It tolerates both partial shade and sunny location.
Watering	Watering once a week is sufficient, even in the summer.
Primer for ceropegia	Permeable, not too fertile soil.
Fertilizer and fertilizer	Fertilizer formulations for succulents are preferred.
Ceropegia transplant	Only if necessary, about once every 4 years.
Breeding	Carried out by cuttings, layering, seeds or division of the mother plant.
Growing Features	The shoots of the plant are very elongated and often tangled, because the flower needs support or suspension. Liana does not like stagnation, prefers frequent airing and open areas in the summer. It adapts well to dry air and sparse watering. Not susceptible to pests.

Ceropegia: home care. In detail

Bloom

Ceropegia translated from Greek means - "candelabrum." The plant received this name due to the shape of its inflorescences, resembling a candlestick, jug or parachute with a length of 2 to 7 cm, depending on the species. Flower petals have cilia that can hold insects for a short time. In the wild, after an insect gets out of a flower, a natural reproduction of the liana occurs.

Ceropegia blooms at least twice a year, abundantly and continuously. With sufficient lighting - all year round. The tuberous root system allows the plant to bloom under any, even adverse conditions. Inflorescences are formed on old shoots, and in place of freshly faded buds.

Temperature mode

Home ceropegia easily tolerates a hot climate, high temperatures, dry air. But for successful development, it is recommended to keep the flower at 22-28 ° C in the summer months. And in the winter, clean for the winter in a cool place with a temperature of 10-15 ° C.

Spraying

Ceropegia does not require spraying. This flower belongs to the genus of succulents and does not tolerate excess moisture. This is the case when it is better to allow arid conditions than waterlogging.

Lighting

In a well-lit place, the vine is not equal in growth rate. Over the summer, her lashes can reach one and a half meters. But at the same time, ceropegia does not like the prolonged exposure to direct sunlight. She needs some shading, even if it will be an ordinary window curtain.

The plant will actively develop in partial shade, because the location can be any - not only southern, but also western, northern windows.

Watering ceropegia

Caring for ceropegia at home involves regular, but moderate watering. On the stems of the plant under the leaves, small bumps-swellings (nodules) are formed, which contain a certain amount of moisture. This feature allows ceropegia for quite a long time to do without water.

That is why even in the summer period it is recommended to water the liana no more often than once a week. In winter, watering is reduced, but if the tuber of the plant is not more than a centimeter in size, moistening is continued in the previous mode to avoid drying out.

Ceropegia pot

Given the ampelic type of growth of ceropegia, as well as its tuberous rhizome, a rather wide and at the same time low container is selected for the plant, which is most often placed in a hanging planter.

You can take more elongated flowerpots, but it is worth considering the general rules for choosing containers for flowers: from the roots to the walls of the pot, in this case, from the tuber of the flower, the distance should not exceed more than 2-3 cm.

Priming

Ceropegia at home is not demanding on soils. It can be light, permeable soil, both universal and special for succulents. Also used is a mixture consisting of garden soil (2 parts), peat (1 part), coarse river sand (1 part). At the bottom of the dishes, a drainage layer of fine pebbles or expanded clay is necessarily laid.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

It is necessary to fertilize only an adult overgrown plant. To do this, use liquid mineral complexes for cacti and succulents, which are introduced in half of the dose recommended on the package.

Transfer

Transplantation of ceropegia is carried out only if the plant has grown rapidly and the pot has become cramped. This happens after about 3-5 years.

During transplantation, carefully shake off the old soil from the shoots, since the shoots of the plant are quite thin and brittle.

Young plants with small tubers are planted together at a distance of 4-5 cm in one flat container.

Pruning

The ceropegia branches extremely reluctantly, even after pinching the branches. But the planned pruning of the plant is required annually, since the liana shoots are often ugly stretched and without the formation of lashes it will not be possible to aesthetically wrap them around the pot or lay them in the right form.

Rest period

The ceropegia plant at home can bloom and develop year-round. But in regions with a harsh climate during the winter months, the flower significantly slows down in growth, and in this case it is advisable to arrange a liana for a rest period.

For this, the plant is no longer fertilized and watered several times during the winter, avoiding dehydration and waterlogging.

Growing ceropegia from seeds

With home cultivation, collecting seeds of ceropegia is not possible. Most often, it is possible to get only purchased material, prone to decay. Preventing disinfection of the soil will help prevent this problem.

Then the seeds are planted in the prepared substrate, 3 things per glass and germinated in greenhouse conditions with mandatory ventilation and subsequent dive.

Propagation of ceropegia by cuttings

It is recommended to start chereping of ceropegia no earlier than March, having previously prepared a light soil consisting of sand and wet peat, taken in equal parts. For planting, apical cuttings 10 cm long with kidneys or, if it is a ceropegy of wood, with nodules, are selected.

The shoots are dried, the two lower leaves are removed, the branch is treated with a growth stimulant and rooted in pots with a diameter of 7 cm. Three such cuttings can be rooted in one bowl at a time. Rooting occurs at a temperature of 20 ° C.

Thin-leaved varieties of ceropegia can be propagated in water. When rooting in the ground to accelerate the process, it is desirable to organize soil heating, otherwise the formation of roots will be delayed for a month and a half.

Propagation of ceropegia by air layers

The easiest and fastest way to reproduce. The flower shoots are laid horizontally on the surface of the soil and are lightly pressed by a pebble, one or several, depending on the size of the shoot. In places of close contact with the ground, adventitious roots and tubers are formed quite soon.

Reproduction of ceropegia by division

With this method, at least three new creepers can be obtained from one adult ceropegia. For this purpose, the mother plant is dissected so that each separated part has two or more shoots, as well as its own root system. Slices of the flower are treated with charcoal and the plants are planted in pots into a light permeable substrate.

Diseases and Pests

The cultivation of ceropegia can be associated with the following difficulties:

• stems of ceropegia are stretched with prolonged lack of lighting;
• ceropegia leaves are twisted after placing the flower in a dark place;
• leaves turn red-violet as a result of excessive exposure to the sun;
• rot roots due to abundant and frequent watering of the plant;
• ceropegia leaves turn yellow and fall due to overflow.

There are practically no pests on this flower. But in rare cases, the appearance of a spider mite or aphid.

Types of home ceropegia with photos and names

In total, in the wild, there are more than 150 species of ceropegia. But for indoor cultivation, only a few types are used. The most common ones are:

Ceropegia Wood (Ceropegia woodii)

It has a length of up to 4 meters. The shape of the leaves of such a creeper resembles a heart with "marble" veins, and the reverse side of the leaf is painted in purple. For flowers of an unusual form, the ceropegia of wood got its second name - "Martian."

Ceropegia Sanderson (Ceropegia sandersonii)

This is a succulent plant with very dense, fleshy, flexible, rich green shoots with only 3-5 leaves on each of the branches. Flowers 7 cm in size resemble small umbrellas with awl-like petals, yellowish-green, spotty color.

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