Aichrizon (Love Tree)

The plant aichryson (Aichryson), or "tree of love" - ​​succulent from the Fat family. There are only 15 species in the genus. Some of them are herbaceous perennials, while others delight with their beauty only for one season. In its natural environment, Aichrizon grows in rocky terrain, namely, in rock crevices. The plant is found in the Canary and Azores Islands, Madeira, Portugal and Morocco. The name of the flower consists of two words, which in translation into Russian mean "always" and "golden".

Aichrizon is ideal for those who do not have enough time to pay attention to their indoor flowers. This is not a capricious plant at all, which belongs to succulents from the Fat family. Due to their external similarity, aichrisons are often compared to a money tree.

By tradition, aikhrizon is given for housewarming, so that mutual understanding and material well-being always reign in the new house. It is believed that his presence in the house of the young will be a guarantee of love and fidelity, peace and understanding between the spouses. The flower is definitely worth buying for lonely people. The popular name of the plant is "the tree of love" or the name "tree of happiness" is also found, as you like.

Aichrizons are very decorative and unpretentious to care for. Ideal for making phytocompositions, mini-gardens and take up little space, and this is a great opportunity to collect a large collection on a small area of ​​the windowsill.

Description of aichrizon

This is a low-growing succulent up to 40 cm high, has straight, weakly branched shoots without signs of lining. Dark green rosettes are composed of fuzzy leaves in the shape of hearts, which is why the plant got its popular name. They sit in opposite order and grow at the ends of the stems. Often, small yellowish or whitish spots are visible on the surface of the leaves. The root system is poorly developed, since in nature the “tree of love” grows on stony soil.

If the integrity of the leaf is violated, the succulent begins to smell unpleasant. The plant blooms with small yellow flowers, but there are so many stars that the flower turns into a yellow cloud. At home, aichrizon is grown in the form of a compact tree or shrub.

It is important to remember that plants belonging to the Fat family are poisonous. If particles of this succulent enter the stomach, there is a high probability that food poisoning will occur. Therefore, Aichrizone should be kept away from pets and children.

Brief rules for growing aichrizon

The table shows brief rules for caring for aichrizone at home.

Aichrizone care at home

Caring for a tree of love will not cause difficulties even for a novice grower. The main requirement is not to get carried away with watering. The flower grows best in tight pots. And in winter, he needs to organize rest at a temperature of 10-15 degrees, otherwise he will lose his foliage.

Lighting

The love tree prefers a well-lit place. However, the light falling on the leaves should be scattered, not direct. At noon, curtain the window next to the plant pot, or lower the blinds. The optimal location for aichrizon is a window sill on the west or east side. To build up the green mass evenly, do not forget to regularly change the position of the pot on the windowsill.

Temperature

In spring and summer, Aichrizon is grown at a normal room temperature of 25 degrees. But with the arrival of winter cold and a decrease in daylight hours, the pot is transferred to a room where there is cool air (about 8-10 degrees). If you leave the flower to winter in a warm room, the succulent will stretch in length or lose some of the leaves.

Watering

Aichrizon is absolutely not demanding for watering, the main rule is to underfill rather than overflow. In dense leaf plates, moisture accumulates, which is necessary for full-fledged life. Moistening the soil is done only when the elasticity of the leaves is disturbed due to the loss of turgor. This fact indicates that the soil mixture in the pot is dry.

In the heat, watering should be moderate, but frequent. Too wet soil can affect the development of root rot. In the summer, watering is made more abundant, and a warm shower is also arranged for the tree. In the autumn-winter period, soil moistening is carried out less often, and the procedures associated with spraying are completely stopped.

Humidity level

It is not necessary to spray aichrizon, since the plants thrive at normal humidity levels. In spring and summer, you can wash the plant with a warm shower, in other seasons this is strictly contraindicated, as it can harm.

The soil

Aichrizon is quite unpretentious to the composition of the soil mixture, for this reason, you can not worry too much about the soil and calmly choose, for example, a mixture of sand and turf, into which, if desired, you can add leafy soil and humus in a ratio of 1: 4: 1: 1, respectively. It is also a good idea to add pieces of common charcoal to the soil. Even if you plant aichrizon in regular garden soil, it will easily take root, but there will be fewer roots and you need to water more carefully.

For a more effective fit, use the following techniques:

• Plant aichrizon in a group - several cuttings will easily fit in one container, succulents are not afraid of dense plantings, they grow in breadth, creating a common crown. In the future, some of the bushes can simply be dug up and planted separately, while the composition will not lose its decorative effect.
• The pot should be wide and not deep, becauseAichrizone has a superficial root system. In addition, the plant grows very quickly in breadth. In a narrow and tall pot, there is a high risk of rotting and "falling" of the plant on its side.
• It is worth placing the pot only in a well-lit place, in which case the bush will turn out to be thick, and over time it will bloom with yellow "stars", which will increase its decorative effect.

Top dressing

Aichrizon needs podkomrkah in spring and summer, especially during an intensive set of vegetative mass - once every 2 weeks. It is recommended to use ready-made solutions of complex fertilizers intended for succulents and containing a small amount of nitrogen.

Transfer

Aichrizon needs an annual transplant. A new pot is selected in such a way that the roots do not dangle in the air, but sit tightly in the soil. The container is filled with leaf and turf soil, sifted sand and humus. The first layer should be drainage material, for example, expanded clay. Plants should be transplanted only by the transshipment method, while preserving the native lump of earth.

Pruning

To grow a slender, beautiful tree with a neat crown, aichrizon is periodically pruned. If you pinch the tops of young shoots, the bush will look more magnificent. After the plant has overwintered, those shoots that are very elongated can be cut off.

Bloom

Subject to the rules of cultivation, the love tree will delight with its flowering for several months. The budding process occurs in April-May. The color of the inflorescences is different, there are white, red, and cream types.

After flowering, dried peduncles and stems are pinched off at aichrizon, and the soil is watered abundantly. The succulent is given a little time to recover. Sometimes it happens that after most of the flowers wither and the appearance of the plant loses all attractiveness, new green shoots appear on the stems. And soon aichrizon will again turn into a fluffy green tree. So, if you come across such a situation, do not rush to write it off.

Aichrizon breeding methods

Archrizon is a very effective and at the same time unpretentious plant, for reproduction it is enough to cut or break off cuttings (in fact of any size), leave to dry for a while (a couple of hours is enough), after which you can immediately plant it in the ground. Aichrizon is also successfully grown from seeds.

Growing from seeds

For sowing seeds, use a mixture of sand and leafy earth (1: 2). Crops are placed under glass and stored until sprouts appear in a bright place. They are systematically ventilated, watered with a sprayer. In a couple of weeks, the first shoots will appear. Now you can start picking at the boxes. A distance of at least 1 cm is maintained between young rosettes. The strengthened seedlings are re-planted in separate pots with a diameter of up to 7 cm. The temperature range for succulents grown from seeds should vary between 16-18 degrees.

Cuttings

The cuttings remaining after cutting the "tree of love" can be rooted. Before that, they are dried in a dry and dark place. Prepared cuttings are buried in a mixture of sand and vermiculite, which is filled into a pot. Or you can use any other soil mixture that is suitable in composition. An obligatory component is clean sand. Cuttings take root relatively quickly. When the roots are formed, the plants are planted in pots. Instead of a container with soil, it is allowed to root the shoots in a glass of water, into which charcoal is poured.

Diseases and pests

If you follow the basic rules for caring for aichrizon, then there will be no problems with growing a love tree. It is about watering frequency, placing the pot under diffused light and ensuring a cool wintering place. If the conditions of detention are violated, the plant will be vulnerable to scale insects, nematodes, spider mites and mealybugs. The appearance of rot on the roots indicates gross errors in watering, namely, an excess of water.

The shedding of foliage, characteristic of the spring-summer period, can provoke direct rays, drying out of the soil, stagnant water at the bottom of the flower pot. To save the succulent, it is transferred to a bright room, you can go to the veranda, where the air is cool.

Types of aichrizon with photos and names

There are 15 species in the genus. All of them are represented by annuals, perennials and shrubs, of which only five are cultivated in indoor floriculture.

Aichryson punctatum

Succulent tree that grows up to 15-40 cm. Stems are brownish-green, covered with fluffy white hairs. The foliage is diamond-shaped, holding onto the stems with long petioles. Round weakly pubescent rosettes are formed from the leaves.

Aichryson tortuosum

The shrub reaches 30 cm in height. Leaves are fleshy and juicy, slightly pubescent. Their length is up to 1.5 cm, and their width is up to 1 cm. The surface of the sheet plates on both sides is fleecy to the touch.

Aichryson laxum

The maximum height of this adult succulent can reach 30-40 cm. The diamond-shaped foliage is attached to long stalks. The culture blooms with large racemose panicles up to 30 cm in diameter. They are formed from variegated golden flowers.

Aichryson sedifolium

Bulky, fleshy succulent in the form of a semi-shrub. Height ranges from 15-40 cm. Straight stems bear sticky, clavate leaves, the length of which does not exceed 1.5 cm. The ground part is colored green with a yellow tint. The surface of the plates is excised with red strokes. The inflorescences attract with a golden yellow color.

Aichryson domesticum

This hybrid succulent is obtained by crossing two species. At home, the shrub has a compact size of 15-30 cm. Leaf rosettes are formed from fluffy leaves covered with hairs. Fragrant flowers are yellowish.