Several types of Crassula are grown in pots. In addition to the popular Ovata and Tree-like, there are creeping, moss-moss-like sedums. The plant is called decorative deciduous in reference books. Most flower lovers have only seen how Crassula blooms in photographs. In nature and countries with warm climates, where crops grow right on the street, this phenomenon can be observed every year.
Does Crassula bloom at home?
It is not difficult to achieve flowering of the money tree, you just need to ensure proper maintenance and care. And they are somewhat different from those to which both people who do not pay attention to the fat plant at all and who carefully form the crown are accustomed.
If the owners want to see a blooming money tree, they will have to postpone pruning the crown and straightening the trunk for some time. Or wait until the plant is fully formed.
Flowering of common Crassula species - Tree, Ovate - begins at the age of 5 years or more. Owners who do not care for the plant are unlikely to see the fat plant bloom.
Often the buds do not appear indoors, but when the pot with the money tree is taken outside, or planted in the ground for the summer. Often, owners living in apartment buildings take shoots and place the plant, which has lost its attractiveness, on a sunny window between floors. And after a while they are surprised to discover that it begins to bloom.
Why Crassula does not produce buds and what to do about it
How to save a money tree that is drying up and dying
Often the owners of a money tree wonder why it does not bloom. It is possible to make Crassula bloom, but first you need to understand the reason for this behavior of the indoor plant. Most often, the owner himself, due to inexperience, makes mistakes in care, which provokes the appearance of various problems and diseases in the plant.
Money tree diseases
Improper care, diseases and pests
Frequent problems associated with lack of flowering that arise from improper care of the fat plant:
- rotting of the roots and root part of the trunk due to waterlogging of the soil or overcooling of the bush;
- withering and tarnishing of the ground part of the tree due to lack of watering and low indoor humidity;
- falling leaves and buds due to watering with cold water and hypothermia from cold drafts;
- burns on leaf blades and bud petals in the form of local yellow and light brown spots due to prolonged exposure to direct sunlight.
If the money tree gets sick, it is almost impossible to achieve flowering. Crassula is affected by the following diseases:
- Silvery coating. It appears on the leaf blades, and if not treated, over the entire bush.
- Fungus. It infects the root part, expressed as a dark soft spot, which, if left untreated, rises up the trunk, infecting the entire plant.
- Chlorosis. The leaf blades take on a dull whitish-yellow hue. Occurs due to impaired chlorophyll formation and iron deficiency.
Crassula pests:
- Spider mite. It appears and lives on leaf blades, spins a thin web and eats the succulent parts of the plant. It deprives the tree of vitality, causing growth to stop and flowering not to occur.
- Mealybug. Appears as a white powder around the root collar and trunk.
Additional Information! To combat parasites, it is necessary to treat the bushes with fungicides or wash the plant under a warm shower and soapy water.
When and how does the money tree bloom?
It is difficult to name the exact time when the fat plant will form and open its buds. Some lovers claim that they appear in the autumn-winter period, while for others the crop blooms by the end of summer. The first usually occurs indoors, the second - outdoors, but not necessarily.
From a distance, a flowering money tree planted in the ground for the summer can be mistaken for a collapsed Vidny sedum bush. But upon closer examination, it turns out that the Crassula has looser inflorescences, and the color of the buds is much paler.
Crassula flowers are small, star-shaped, usually with five pointed petals. In Ovate and Tree-shaped, they are white with a slight pink or purple tint, collected in umbrellas, located at the ends of the shoots, where not a growth bud, but a flower bud is formed.
Other species can form yellowish, bluish, red buds, rarely solitary, more often grouped into racemes, panicles, umbrellas emerging from the axils of the leaves or the tip of the branch.
When the crassula begins to bloom, a sweet, not very pleasant aroma spreads. A pot of a budded money tree should not be kept in the bedroom.
Replant as needed
If the plant pot becomes small, it needs to be replanted. The fat woman takes root very well, so there is no need to worry about it. The overgrown plant is replanted together with the lump, with the addition of new soil, laying a drainage layer on the bottom of the new container. The best pot for indoor succulents is a clay pot; it will absorb excess moisture, which will allow the soil to dry out faster and reduce the likelihood of waterlogging. Crassula will thrive in a soil mixture consisting of coarse sand, special soil for succulents and perlite.
Why doesn't Crassula bloom?
Often care at home is correct, the plant feels good, the trunk is straight, the internodes are short, the leaves are beautiful, thick, but there are no buds. There are several reasons why the money tree does not bloom.
Insufficient lighting
In countries with a warm climate, the Crassula grows outdoors or in nature under the bright sun and produces buds every year. Indoor Crassulas have adapted to home conditions after repeated cloning; they can grow in partial shade, but still love good light.
For the money tree to bloom, you need several hours of direct sun a day; shade should only be applied during intense heat at midday. But you need to gradually accustom the plant to light, otherwise, instead of blooming, the fat plant will get burned.
In winter it is cloudy, even the money tree standing on the south window does not have enough sun. Need artificial lighting.
Warm content during the dormant period
Crassula can be made to bloom only if in winter the temperature is between 10-14° C. As some sources advise, it cannot be lowered to 5° C - perhaps the authors confused Crassula with another succulent.
In an ordinary apartment it is not easy to maintain such a temperature regime. The plant can be placed on an insulated balcony, but it is necessary to provide lighting.
Trimming
Photos showing how Crassula blooms at home usually depict varieties of the most popular Ovata in culture. There you can clearly see that the peduncle comes out from the top of the shoot, as if it were its continuation.
When the owners carefully shape the plant, constantly plucking out the growth point on the branches, at some point the planted flower buds will be removed.
In good light, they can survive on the lower shoots, left to expand (thicken) the trunk. But if the crassula blooms, the plant becomes exhausted, and the central stem stops rapidly increasing in diameter.
Incorrectly selected fertilizers, pot and soil
These reasons are best considered together. If Crassula is planted in a peat or soil-containing substrate, the pot should be tight.
The root system of the crop is small, it cannot master the earthen lump; if there is any mistake in watering, it will turn sour and the sucking shoots will rot. The plant will not bloom.
An excess of nutrients is more dangerous for a fat woman than a deficiency. Many owners who annually replant Crassula in soil for succulents, containing macro- and microelements in a balanced form, do not fertilize it at all. Excess nitrogen causes the internodes to stretch out, makes the vegetative organs loose, and prevents them from blooming. You can only use fertilizers for cacti.
The soil should be slightly acidic, poor in nutrients, permeable, with a stable structure. It’s better not to prepare it yourself, but to use a store-bought cactus mixture diluted with perlite, brick chips or other leavening agents.
Professional cactus growers grow crassula in a substrate of pure gravel. It allows water and air to pass through without problems and does not sour. A pot can be of any shape and volume; a large one, for example, makes it easier to disperse the trunk. The main thing is that there are several drainage holes in the bottom.
But the gravel substrate contains no nutrients at all. The fat plant will have to be fertilized regularly, and not once a month, but as recommended by a recognized authority in the field of floriculture, breeder Jan Van der Neer, every 2 weeks. Only during the transition period (March and September) is it enough to feed the money tree once.
You may not expect rapid flowering if the roots were stripped or severely damaged during replanting. The fat woman will require a recovery period.
Other reasons
The money tree does not bloom when the owners make mistakes when leaving:
- If the root rots due to frequent watering, or the leaves shrink due to infrequent watering, Crassula spends all its energy on survival and restoration. It won't bloom.
- The fat woman responds well to an influx of fresh air, but does not like drafts. When ventilating, the tree should be covered with newspaper and not placed under air conditioning.
- The plant does not produce buds if it is sick or damaged by pests. How long it will not bloom depends on how early the problem is detected and the effectiveness of the measures taken. Folk remedies do not always help; it is better to immediately use fungicides or insecticides.
We create optimal conditions for the flowering of Crassula
Almost any soil is suitable for this flower. The tree reproduces very simply - a full-fledged plant can grow from an ordinary small leaf. The plant takes root very quickly, immediately putting down roots into the soil.
Proper care of the money flower will help you achieve its flowering. It consists of the following:
- Maintaining temperature conditions . Money flowers must be taken out into the fresh air. However, it must be taken into account that a sharp change in temperature can have a detrimental effect on the flowering of the tree. The best time of year to let the flower “breathe” is late spring and summer. The optimal temperature for the growth of Crassula is 15 – 30 degrees. Some flower growers believe that Crassula should be kept cold in winter, then it will definitely bloom in the spring:
- Proper watering . There is no need for excess moisture in the soil. With an excess of water, flower growth slows down significantly. Also, due to oversaturation of soil moisture, rotting of the root system of the fat plant is possible. The tree should be watered when the surface layer of soil dries 0.5 cm deep. When watering, you need to achieve slightly moist soil. However, during periods of tree flowering, especially at the very beginning, the volume of water to moisten the soil can be slightly increased.
- Feeding . The money flower needs timely feeding; this should be done a couple of times a month. It is better to choose fertilizers that are intended for cacti and other plants belonging to the class of succulents.
- Transplant . Growing a fat plant involves its subsequent transplantation. This home tree can be classified as a fast-growing type. In order to choose a pot of the correct volume, pay attention to the top of the tree - it should correspond to the volume of the pot chosen for replanting. During the replanting process, try not to damage the root system. Replant the tree together with most of the earthen ball. However, some lovers believe that they know how to get Crassula to bloom - the new pot should be no more than 1 cm larger than the previous one, see:
- Shaping the trunk . Many gardeners advise cutting off the top of a plant that has reached a height of 35 cm. This circumstance contributes to better tree growth, the formation of a strong trunk and a beautiful crown.
The plant also needs constant care. Regular ventilation of the room and ridding the tree of dried leaves are encouraged. If the tree grows intensively, you need to use supports for gartering the branches. It is also necessary to wipe the leaves from dust with a damp cloth.
By following the above recommendations, you will provide the best conditions for the intensive growth of the plant, but also for its flowering.
Planting
Growing a beautiful tree requires proper care, as well as competent planting. The pot needs to be small and shallow, but wide and heavy. It is important that the container is stable. In a deep container, the root of the plant will tend downward, and the Crassula will stretch upward, so the trunk will be thin and weak.
What kind of land is required? The soil should include equal parts of leaf soil, turf soil and sand. Suitable soil includes turf soil, humus, leaf soil, sand, brick chips or fine gravel. The first component is taken in the amount of 3 parts, and the rest one at a time. After planting, the fat plant requires a temperature of 16-18 degrees, and watering once a day.
Crown formation
In order for the plant to form into a beautiful tree, the young shoot must be pruned correctly.
For symmetry, remove double leaves and make sure that the branches of the fat plant are not too elongated.
When the money tree has already formed, strongly branching or crooked shoots are cut off. This way it looks more decorative, will not tip over under the weight of the thick crown and will direct its forces to the formation of flower ovaries.
Wide pot
Crassula belongs to the succulents. In such plants, the roots are located close to the soil surface and grow in width.
Succulents do not extract moisture and nutrients from the lower levels of the soil, but accumulate them in their fleshy stems and leaves.
Therefore, the wider the container for planting the plant, the more opportunity the money tree has to develop.
The pot needs to be changed when the crown becomes wider than its diameter. Only a tree that has favorable conditions will be able to please you with abundant flowering in a few years.
Reproduction of the Crassula
The most common method of propagating Crassula is cuttings. At the same time, there are no specific dates for cutting cuttings - they can be propagated at any time of the year. This allows you to use the material that remains after the crown is formed as cuttings.
Interesting! It should be noted that cuttings planted in the warm season bloom much less frequently than those planted in autumn or winter.
To get a full-fledged plant on a cutting, it will be enough to have one internode, but when planting, they need to be buried 4-5 centimeters. Based on these considerations, cuttings are prepared.
Keep the cuttings in water until roots appear or immediately plant them in a pot. At the same time, they do not require any additional care at all; they are treated like an adult plant.
Often large healthy leaves are used instead of cuttings. They are slightly buried in moist soil and watered as it dries. Within about two to three weeks, tiny bushes appear at the base of the leaves and are planted in separate pots. They are treated in the future in the same way as adults.
Crassula is also grown from seeds. They are scattered over the surface of the soil, moistened, and covered with film or glass.
Important! The soil for seed germination should be light and not retain moisture.
Before sprouts appear, this usually occurs after 10-15 days, the pots with seeds are ventilated daily for half an hour and the soil is moistened with a spray bottle as needed.
Transfer
Judging by the photo, the flowers of the money tree are very beautiful. In this case, the plant periodically requires replanting. It is performed every 2-3 years, and if necessary, for example, when there is a strong growth of the flower. The transplant should be done in the spring into a pot that is slightly larger than the old one. You can use regular purchased soil, which is used for planting cacti and succulents.
You can prepare this soil substrate yourself if you mix turf soil and sand, as well as leaf soil in a ratio of 1:1:3. If there is a handful of humus, clay, or ash in the ground, the nutritional properties of the soil will improve. In order for the tree to grow, do not forget about drainage - expanded clay or crushed shards are needed.
In a pot, which is filled with drainage material and ¼ of the earth, you need to place the roots of the tree with a lump of earth. Then the voids are filled with a new substrate. After transplanting, the flower must be watered well. The soil should be loosened periodically to improve oxygen supply to the roots, and if the soil sags, then the top layer should be added to the pot. When the root is very long, it is shortened.
Best place in the apartment
The health of the fat woman largely depends on the level of illumination in the room.
Crassula loves diffused sunlight. She will feel best near a window facing southeast. It is always sunny on this side, but there is no danger that the sun will get too hot.
If the windows in the apartment face south, then it is necessary to darken the glass from the light. It is better to place the plant not on the windowsill itself, but on a stand just below the level of the window sill.
If the only suitable place faces the north, then it is better to place the Crassula on the windowsill. The light deficit can be compensated with special lamps.
For flowering to occur, the room must be cool.
The fat woman loves fresh air very much, the room needs to be ventilated often. The plant should not stand in a draft.
In the summer, it is better to take the fat plant out onto the balcony or into the garden.
