Clusia is a tree or shrub and belongs to the Clusia family, named after Carolus Clusius, a botanist from the Netherlands. The plant has another name - "autograph tree". If you scratch the inscription on the leaves of the clusion, after the leaf surface is healed, the letters will be visible for a long time. This plant is native to the American tropics and subtropics.
Clusia is an evergreen plant. Most of its species are epiphytes. The birds carry seeds, which, once caught in the plexus of branches, begin to grow. First, aerial roots are formed, which help the plant to attach to the bark of the tree; gradually the root system grows, reaches the soil and takes root in it. After a while, the host tree strongly compressed by the clusion dies.
The leaves of the plant are short-peaked, bare, leathery, located opposite; in length reach twenty centimeters, in width - up to ten. The flowers have from four to nine wax petals, which have a faint aroma and are painted in soft shades: white, pink, yellow, greenish-white. The fruit of the clusia is represented by a greenish-brown box, leathery, with a diameter of 5-8 cm. When ripe, it opens in the shape of a star, where inside the seeds are exposed, immersed in red pulp.
Clusion care at home
Location and lighting
Clusia is a light-loving plant and requires bright, but not direct lighting. With its lack, internodes begin to stretch very much. In winter, it is good to additionally highlight the clusion up to 12 hours.
Temperature
The flower feels best at a temperature of 25 degrees; in winter, the indicators can be reduced to 20 degrees. Clusia loves an abundance of fresh air, but it should not be left in a draft.
Air humidity
Clusia needs an increased level of humidity in the surrounding air, so the plant should be systematically sprayed with settled water.
Watering
The overseas beauty clusia absolutely does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil. For this reason, you need to water sparingly and only when almost the entire substrate is dry. The soil is moistened with soft, room-temperature water or slightly warmer. You can monitor the moisture level of the earthen clod using a special electronic meter.
The soil
Clusia needs a light, well-aerated soil composition, which includes leaf and coniferous soil, peat, sand and vermiculite.
Top dressing and fertilizers
Fertilize the clusion in spring and summer at intervals of two weeks. For top dressing, a complex fertilizer with microelements is used, diluting it by 50% more of the indicated dose. In the cold period, feeding is not required, unless with additional lighting.
Transfer
The plant can hardly tolerate a transplant. To do this, use the transshipment method and, preferably, in the warm season. Capacities must be taken by the volume of the roots.
Reproduction of the clusion
Breeding a clusion is not easy.For this, in spring and summer, apical cuttings are used. Root should be at a temperature of at least 25 degrees. It is best to do this in a greenhouse with bottom heating, covering the seedling with foil or glass. The petioles are preliminarily kept in stimulants, for example, Kornevin.
Rooting takes a long time, about 3-4 weeks. In addition, the clusion can be propagated by seeds or aerial roots. It is advised not to hesitate with sowing seeds, as they quickly lose their germination.
Diseases and pests
If a plant is looked after according to all the rules, it rarely succumbs to the invasion of pests and diseases. The mealybug is the most dangerous for the clusion; the spider mite also brings a lot of harm. But plant diseases are most often provoked by excessive watering and temperature drops.
Popular types of clusion
Clusia rosea - pink view of the clusion. It is a perennial, represented by a tree or shrub, whose large leaves reach 20 cm, round or diamond-shaped in shape, with short fleshy petioles, of a dark green hue. Actively growing shoots contain yellowish-green milky juice, hardening, it acquires transparency and firmness.
Flowers are located at the tops of branches, they are pink or snow-white, folded with 6-8 wide round wax petals and multiple golden-yellow stamens. The round capsule-green fruit turns brown and opens after ripening. The seeds are in a red massive shell.
In the third photo, not Clusia, but Peperomia))
Maybe someone knows what causes such brown spots on the leaves of the clusion? Is it sunburn or some kind of disease?
Perhaps this happens when the soil is waterlogged.
Yes, most likely the waterlogging also affected. But I think I know what could be the real cause of leaf decay. This is a banal sunburn. I analyzed the conditions where the clusion was standing, and realized that most of the day it was in direct sunlight with a temperature of more than 30 degrees in the sun. And this is contraindicated for her. As soon as I removed it in the shade with more diffused light, the leaves stopped deteriorating.