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Kira Stoletova
Ficus belongs to a diverse and numerous genus of plants. They are very popular as an indoor plant. Before purchasing a plant, you need to figure out how to water a ficus. Watering schedule is a key factor influencing healthy tree growth.
How to water a ficus at home
In summer, the tree is irrigated frequently; in winter, the amount of watering is reduced. It needs to be grown in a warm and bright room with sufficient air humidity. The rules for the care and maintenance of indoor ficuses of different types differ insignificantly.
How often to water a ficus
The need for water is individual for each plant. It depends on the following factors:
- age - the tree needs moisture more than cuttings;
- time of year - in spring and summer, ficus should be watered more often than in winter or autumn;
- substrate - light, permeable, dries faster than dense, spoiled or salty, absorbs water worse;
- volume and material of the pot - in plastic and glazed containers moisture is retained better than in “breathable” clay - watering will be more frequent there;
- how long ago the transplant was made - before rooting, the suction capacity of the shoots is reduced;
- depending on whether the ficus has completely entwined the earthen ball or has just begun to take root;
- size and number of leaves - the larger the area of the plate, the faster it evaporates moisture, the plant must be watered frequently;
- air temperature;
- how fast the flower grows;
- lighting intensity - under bright sun the ficus should be watered more often than on cloudy days;
- Are the crowns sprayed regularly?
A sick plant has a reduced ability to absorb moisture. Especially when the roots are damaged.
You need to water your ficus as needed, not on a schedule. In summer, water demand should be checked daily, in winter - once a week. But if the pot is located next to heating devices or the temperature in the room is too high - more often.
To find out whether the ficus needs moisture, you should immerse your finger in the substrate along the first phalanx:
- if it is wet, you need to leave the plant alone;
- dry - it's time to water;
- the finger does not enter the soil - the substrate needs to be replaced.
Large tubs should dry out by 3-4 cm. The soil there may be denser than that of young plants; you will have to use a stick rather than a finger.
In summer, lack of moisture is more dangerous, in winter – excess.
Various ficus plants are grown in pots; sometimes they differ not only in appearance. Plants should be cared for, including watered, taking into account their species characteristics.
Benjamin
Ficus Benjamin and its varieties (Kinky, Natasha, Daniel, Anastasia, etc.) need to be watered as the top layer of soil dries out. This is a fairly resistant variety. Binnendijka with long narrow leaves is slightly inferior to it in endurance. Short-term drying or accidental overwatering will not lead to loss of decorativeness or other negative consequences.
Most indoor flowers that are trees are the most durable. They may drop their leaves and become unsightly, but before the plant dies, the owners usually have enough time to correct the situation.
Rubber-bearing
The stem of this ficus does not become woody, and it needs to be watered especially carefully - if it starts to rot, there is nothing left to do but re-root the top. When it dries out, it loses leaves, and new ones do not appear in their place. The trunk will remain bald.
Elastica requires more moisture than Benjamin or Ali (Binnendijka). But the consequences of overwatering in this species are more serious.
Lyre-shaped
Ficus could be included in the previous paragraph, but its watering should not only be correct, but strictly controlled. This fantastically beautiful species has not received the popularity it deserves because it reacts to any disruption to the usual schedule by increasing or decreasing the leaves.
The size of successive plates may differ by 2-3 times, which looks even more ridiculous due to their original shape. Most often this happens with uneven watering.
It is impossible to calculate how many times a week you should moisturize Lyrata or create a schedule. It is necessary to constantly and carefully monitor the condition of the soil.
Bonsai
A low pot, cut roots, a small amount of substrate - all this determines frequent, often daily watering of ficuses formed as bonsai. The soil surface should never become completely dry.
Moisten the soil using a small-volume watering can with a long narrow spout through a fine sieve. Sometimes it is useful to water your bonsai using the dipping method. But they are left in the water for a very short time.
Microcarpa
How to water this ficus depends on the growing method:
- when planting in a standard pot, forming a regular tree, watering is the same as for Benjamin;
- if Ginseng is grown like a bonsai, which the species resembles without any tricks, and care should be appropriate.
Dwarf
This ficus loves frequent watering. Its stems are creeping, take root easily, and the sucking shoots are located close to the surface of the substrate. And they die from dryness.
Crown formation
Ficus benjamina is used in the Japanese art of creating living flower sculptures, bonsai. But even when growing an ordinary shrub, it is necessary to give it a beautiful shape; to do this, prune it in the spring, removing dried out branches and shortening overly elongated branches. Cut off all shoots whose growth is directed inside the crown at the base, so you can thin out the branches, which will allow the ficus to grow foliage more actively. The decorative nature of the flower will only benefit from this.
Photo: prostayaferma.ru
How to water ficus
It is believed that for the rapid growth and well-being of indoor plants, it is better to water them with rainwater. This is only true for regions with good ecology. In the rest, you can use regular tap water. In order for the chlorine to come out, you should leave it in an open container overnight and then drain it from the sediment.
Well or artesian may be too hard, the impurities depend on the region. It is also recommended to defend it so that a crust does not form on the surface of the substrate.
It is better not to water ficus plants with boiled or purified water. It is considered “dead”, containing almost no oxygen and useful minerals.
The temperature of the liquid should be the same as in the room, or a little warmer. The cold causes shock to the roots of ficus trees.
Ideal location
Ficus benjamina is a very heat-loving and light-loving plant. Choose an eastern or southern window for your green pet. The shrub will feel good on the south side of the house, but not on the windowsill, but, for example, on a coffee table a meter from the window opening. Tulle or curtains should cover the flower, dispersing the direct midday rays of the sun.
The air temperature in the room where Ficus Benjamin grows should not deviate too much from +20 degrees. In summer, water and spray the bush more often to help it survive the heat. In winter, be sure to move the flower to a heated room. At air temperatures of +16 degrees and below, the plant may die.
Keep the ficus away from drafts, they are destructive for it. It is also undesirable to place the pot in the plant near central heating radiators or heating devices. Too dry air will contribute to the appearance of insect pests on the flower.
Photo: stocvetov.ru
Dracaena: home care, propagation and transplantation
How to water plants correctly
There are several ways to moisten the soil. All of them are correct, but the simplest and most common is the first.
Top watering
The soil in the ficus pot should be loosened. It is recommended to use a watering can with a long thin spout. Water the substrate from above, slowly, until water begins to protrude through the drainage holes.
After 30 minutes, excess moisture is removed from the pan. In tub specimens, excess liquid can be collected using a rubber bulb. It is recommended to add it to your inventory for caring for indoor plants.
How to water a ficus in a tray
This method is usually used for Ficus pumila, which grows in a separate pot - wide and low. For other species it is recommended in winter.
Fill the pan with water. The liquid is gradually added as it is absorbed. When its volume stops decreasing and the surface of the substrate becomes wet, the remaining water is removed.
Ficus tubs cannot be watered this way. It will take so long to completely moisten the soil in large pots that it is better not to start.
Irrigation method
Dried ficuses, in which water does not linger in the substrate, but slips between the walls of the pot and the earthen lump, require immersion watering. In other cases, it is better not to use this method for ficuses.
A flower is placed in a bucket. Carefully add water so that it is 1-2 cm below the edge of the pot. When the surface of the substrate begins to shine from moisture, the ficus is removed, the liquid is allowed to drain, and returned to its original place.
Reproduction methods
Ficus benjamina can be planted by cuttings, layering appearing on the trunk, or grown from seeds.
The easiest way is to plant cuttings: this is the method that is most likely to be successful. It is best to do this in the spring.
Cuttings
To do this, we cut off a lignified cutting 10-12 cm long, wash off the juice from the cut and dry it, then make a notch on it to accelerate root germination.
Place the cutting in water so that the leaves do not get wet. To avoid rotting, you can dissolve ½ tablet of aspirin or activated carbon in water.
The root should emerge in 1-2 weeks. You can make a greenhouse by covering the plant with a glass jar.
After the roots have sprouted, we plant them in the soil and cover them with a plastic bag.
When a new shoot hatches, we remove the greenhouse. The cutting can be rooted directly in the soil, bypassing the stage of root germination in water.
How to propagate by layering
We make a round cut on the trunk and remove the bark, after which we apply wet sphagnum and wrap it with polyethylene. When roots grow in this area, you need to cut off the top and plant it in the ground.
Growing from seeds
The seeds can be soaked in water for a day, or they can be planted directly into the substrate in a dry form. The soil must first be wetted and the seeds must be buried to a depth of one and a half centimeters.
You can put the seeds on a radiator to speed up germination. The ficus should sprout in a couple of months.
Combination of fertilizing and watering
Between moistenings, the substrate in the flower pot should dry thoroughly. And fertilizing the ficus is done only on wet soil, at least half an hour after watering, when the water has been removed from the pan.
Even a weak fertilizer solution can burn roots in dry soil. And then gardeners receive a completely predictable “surprise” in the form of yellowing or falling leaves.
This may not happen, but it is better to feed the ficus in the traditional way: first watering, after 30 minutes - fertilizer.
Suitable soil mixture
A neutral or slightly acidic substrate with high fertility is best. You can purchase a universal soil for decorative foliage plants; a substrate for palm trees or mulberry plants is also suitable.
Or prepare the soil mixture yourself. To do this, you need to mix equal parts turf and leaf soil, add sand and peat or charcoal.
To check the acidity, sprinkle a damp lump of soil with soda: if gas is released, then the soil is highly acidic. Moisten another lump of earth with vinegar: if the substrate hisses, the environment in it is alkaline.
Neutral soil will not give any reaction to any of the manipulations. You can put ash to eliminate the acidity of the substrate. Line the bottom with a layer of expanded clay for drainage.
Spraying ficus
For the normal functioning of a crop at home, it is not enough to water correctly and regularly. Air humidity should be at least 50%, and preferably 70%. Otherwise, the leaves will turn yellow and fall off.
The care package must include daily spraying with warm soft water. Ficus plants especially need surgery in the hot summer and during the winter heating season, when the air in the house is dry.
In addition to spraying, you can increase humidity in different ways:
- place vessels with water between the pots;
- place a large number of plants close to each other;
- place expanded clay on a tray and water it regularly;
- place the pot in a flowerpot and fill the free space with wet acidic peat or sphagnum moss;
- buy an air humidifier or mini fountain.
It is very useful to give ficus plants a warm shower. Elastica leaves are regularly wiped with a clean, soft cloth dampened with water.
Not recommended:
- lay expanded clay, pebbles, decorative filling on the surface of the substrate - it looks beautiful, but it blocks the access of oxygen to the roots, does not allow moisture to evaporate, the soil in such pots often turns sour;
- Wipe the leaves of ficus with milk or special polishing agents - they clog the stomata, the plant looks very beautiful for a while, then it begins to wither.
Features of the procedure in cold and warm seasons
Experts divide the time of procedures into winter and summer, the features are associated with changes in temperature and humidity levels.
Winter
How to water dracaena for proper growing at home
The countdown of the period begins in late autumn, when the first frosts arrive. At this moment, plants experience a slowdown in the rate of passage of juices through the trunk and foliage; they do not need the same volumes of nutrients as in the hot season. To prevent the development of diseases and insect pest attacks, water the crop twice a month.
In addition to the usual soil irrigation, spraying of the green part and a contrast shower are often used. In winter, they are removed from the mandatory program - during implementation, accidental injury to the foliage may occur.
Additional Information! A replacement for spraying and bathing is wiping the sheet plates with a damp cotton pad. The procedure helps to clean them of accumulated dust and nourish them a little.
Summer
With the arrival of spring warmth and until the last warm days of autumn, low air humidity is observed in the apartment. Plants require frequent moistening of the substrate and a sufficient amount of minerals. During this period (especially in spring), there is an increase in growth and development - the crop needs to increase the frequency of watering, at least once every seven days.
Important! In addition to the standard moistening of the substrate, take a warm shower (monthly) and spray every 20 days.
Shower for ficus
