Acokanthera is a flowering plant that belongs to the Kurtovaya shrub family. Belongs to the class of evergreens, has strong grayish-green shoots. Its oval-shaped elongated leaves have a shiny skin-like surface and are attached to the branch with short thick cuttings. The size of the leaf from the branch together with the cuttings in length is from 3 to 5 cm. Sufficiently lush floral half-umbrellas, collected at the top of the shoots in beautiful spherical inflorescences.
The snow-white branches of acokantera have an unusually fragrant aroma, similar to the scent of jasmine. And the grown fruits are similar in shape to olives. As they mature, their color changes from pale pink to bluish black.
Under natural conditions, the plant grows in the western regions of South Africa, where it blooms from autumn to spring. If you grow the acokantera at home or in a winter garden, then it will bloom, subject to proper care, from January to March, at best, until the April heat.
Home care for acokantera
Temperature
Acokantera is a very thermophilic shrub plant. Therefore, the temperature regime in the room where it is grown must be maintained at least 15 ° C, even in the cold season.
Watering
Experts recommend that Acocanter be watered with soft water, which should be boiled or allowed to settle. During the intensive growth of the bush, watering is carried out twice a week after the surface of the substrate dries up. At the same time, it must be remembered that too dry soil, which happens with poor watering, leads to leaf fall.
Air humidity
Acokantera is a moisture-loving plant, therefore, an air humidity of about 60-70% is required. To do this, the foliage should be regularly sprayed or placed in a tray with pebbles poured into it and pour water.
The soil
For akocantera, a soil mixture is suitable, which includes leafy humus earth, turf, sand, peat in equal proportions. For the youngest plant, the sod soil changes to a leafy, looser one.
Top dressing
Acocanter needs to be fertilized twice a month, during flowering and ripening of the fruit. As a fertilizer, organic and mineral mixtures are used, which, alternately, are introduced into the ground.
Reproduction of acokantera
Acocantera is propagated in two ways: using seeds or semi-lignified cuttings from the top.
The seeds are taken from a ripe fruit, washed well and dried. Then they are laid out in loose neutral soil: peat mixed with leafy soil. The first shoots are visible after 3-4 weeks. They will need systematic spraying, as well as airing the room. As the plants grow, they need to be transplanted into larger containers. To get seeds when growing acokantera at home, pollination will need to be done artificially.
The second method of propagation, rooting by cuttings, is very long and rarely successful, since the inside of the apical cuttings contains milky juice. As cuttings for propagation, take the tops of the shoots, on which there are 2-3 nodes.The leaves are cut off from the bottom, and the top is shortened in half. Immersed in a container with warm water, and only the bottom of the cutting should be immersed in the liquid. This is done so that as much milky juice as possible flows out of the crown. Then the bottom must be cut off a little and immersed for a day in a special solution for accelerated root growth.
After that, the cuttings prepared in this way are transferred to the sphagnum substrate with sand. For rooting to be successful, you need a miniature greenhouse with heated roots. It is necessary to ensure that the temperature is kept at 25 ° C. Until the roots appear, watering the soil mixture is not necessary, and the leaves should be sprayed regularly. Once the plant is rooted, it's time to transplant it into a pot. The soil should be loose and rich in nutrients. At the same time, the crown is formed. To do this, pinch the buds at the very top and remove excess shoots.
The acokantera plant looks spectacular all year round, regardless of whether it blooms or not, there are fruits or not. We must not forget that this is a poisonous plant, in which the poison is contained in any part of it. Therefore, it is better to refrain from growing acokantera in a house with small children.
