Crossandra

The Crossandra plant is a representative of the Acanthus family. The flower grows in the Indian jungle, on the island of Sri Lanka, as well as on the African continent. There are about fifty species in the genus. The name of the flower, translated from Greek, reflects one of its features - fringed stamens.

When the plant was first brought to European countries at the beginning of the 19th century, it was grown only in greenhouses, but gradually the crossandra could be adapted for growing at home. Wave-leaved became the first cultivated in this way. This species is considered to be the most common to this day, and often becomes the basis for obtaining new hybrids.

Description of crossandra

Crossandres are medium-sized dwarf shrubs. These are evergreen perennials with straight branchy shoots. At home, the height of the crossandra reaches half a meter, but in nature they can reach a meter height. Young stems are covered with green bark, but as it grows, it acquires a brownish tint. Bushes have shiny dark green or variegated foliage, located opposite. Each plate is distinguished by a pointed tip and a wavy edge. The length of the leaf is 3-12 cm, and the shape can be cordate or ovoid. The leaves contain a few short villi.

During flowering, inflorescences are formed on the bushes, resembling 4-sided spikelets up to 15 cm long. The buds begin to bloom from the bottom of the spikelet. The flowers are pinkish-orange, red, white or yellow in color, and each is approximately 2.5 cm in size. Due to the bright color of the flowers and their location on the spikelet, the crossandra is sometimes called the "firework flower". Flowering can last almost all year - from spring to late autumn, in winter the bushes most often rest.

When buying a crossandra, you need to carefully examine it. The branches of the bush should be strong, and the foliage should be firm and healthy, without spots. When buying flowering plants, they try to choose specimens that have more unopened buds.

Brief rules for growing crossandra

The table shows brief rules for caring for a crossandra at home.

Crossandra care at home

Lighting

Indoor crossandra requires abundant, but diffused lighting. This flower will grow best on an east or west window. If you keep the plant on the south side, it will have to be shaded in the afternoon. Bright, direct light can burn foliage and flowers. In winter and autumn, when the sun becomes less active, it is not necessary to shade the flower.

The north side for growing crossandra will be considered too dark and will not allow the bush to develop properly. So a lack of light can lead to flowering problems.

Temperature

During the development of the crossandra, a room temperature of 23-25 ​​degrees is suitable. In extreme heat (28 degrees and above), the flower slightly slows down the rate of development. Avoid sudden temperature changes, otherwise the bush may shed its foliage. Daily temperature fluctuations are not considered mandatory, but the crossandra can spend summer on the balcony or in the garden. The main thing is to protect the flower from drafts.

In winter, the room with the crossandra should not be cooler than 18 degrees. This plant winters successfully in warmth, but moderate coolness from October to February will help give the flower time to rest.

Watering

During the active development of the crossandra, abundant watering is required, but it is carried out only after the top layer of soil in the pot dries out.

The plant is able to bloom literally all year long, without retirement, but the absence of rest breaks leads to a weakening of the bush and the loss of its decorative effect. To give the crossandra time for a break, with a decrease in daylight hours, from autumn, the number of waterings is gradually reduced. This will slow down the growth of the shoots. But you should not completely dry out the soil lump in this case.

For irrigation, use only soft, settled for at least a day or filtered water. It is desirable that its temperature be slightly above room temperature.

Humidity level

Native to tropical rainforests, crossandra needs a humidity level of around 60%. The hotter it is in the room, the more often you have to humidify the air in it. You can do this by spraying, but for the crossandra, a fine spray is used, and the jet is directed not at the plant itself, but at the area next to it. No drops should remain on the foliage and flowers of the bush. It is important not to overdo it with spraying. Excessively high humidity often leads to the development of rot.

Other methods can be used to humidify the air - placing the flower on a pallet with damp pebbles, moss or peat, or using humidifiers.

The soil

The soil for growing crossandra should be loose, sufficiently nutritious and slightly acidic. To prepare the substrate, you can mix humus with peat, sand, turf and leafy soil. Good drainage is laid at the bottom of the pot to prevent the risk of moisture stagnation at the roots. Charcoal can be added to the substrate to help protect the plant from root rot. The container must also have drainage holes.

Top dressing

Potted crossandra should be fed regularly; lack of nutrition often leads to a decrease in decorativeness.Top dressing is carried out in spring and summer at intervals of a couple of weeks or less. Complex formulations for flowering species are suitable for crossandra. They are brought in after watering.

In winter, the bushes are not fed, but if the crossandra still continues to bloom, the feeding does not stop.

Transfer

Crossandra bushes must be transplanted periodically. Young, more actively developing specimens are transplanted annually. Adults, already formed, less often - about once every 2-3 years.

The plant is carefully transferred into a new container, filling the empty spaces with fresh earth. After transplanting, the crossandra must be watered, and then a little soil must be poured into the pot so that there is definitely no void near the roots. But you should not tamp the soil too much - enough air must penetrate to the roots.

Pruning

The growth rate of the plant is quite high - up to 25 cm per year. To prevent the crossandra from being exposed, it must be pinched and periodically trimmed. The pruning procedure is carried out either after flowering, or at the very beginning of spring growth. All shoots of the bush are shortened by a third of the length. When the bush begins to develop rapidly, the tops of its shoots can be pinched to form a more neat and lush crown. Regular pruning will make the flowering more abundant and lasting. But even with appropriate care measures, crossandra over 4 years old begin to bloom weaker and weaker and need rejuvenation.

If after flowering on the spikelets of the crossandra seeds are tied, they are left on the bush until they are fully ripe. When wet, its boxes will open by themselves, shooting seeds around them. If there is no need for seeds, the wilted inflorescences are cut to stimulate the formation of new buds.

Breeding methods for crossandra

Crossandra growing in a pot can be propagated vegetatively - by cuttings or seeds.

Growing from seeds

Despite the regular flowering, it rarely forms fruits with seeds, and its seeds are not always found on sale. If the seed still managed to get, it will not be difficult to use it.

Fresh seeds do not need additional preparation, but purchased seeds can be soaked in water for several hours if desired. Then they are placed in small containers filled with peat-sandy soil, deepening only slightly. From above, the container with crops is covered with glass or foil, and then put in a warm place (about 23-24 degrees). Caring for seedlings during this period will consist in regular ventilation and removal of condensation, as well as periodic moistening of the substrate.

The seeds germinate within 2-3 weeks. With the appearance of sprouts, the shelter can be removed. When the crossandras form 4 true leaves, they are dived into separate small containers. When young plants begin to develop actively, they are pinched to form a beautiful lush crown.

Cuttings

If the crossandra is already growing at home, the easiest way to get new specimens is by cuttings. For this, segments with a length of about 10 cm are used. They are harvested in early spring or summer. The two lower leaves are removed from the segments, and then put into a vessel with water to form roots. When the cuttings form roots about 2.5 cm long, they are transplanted into peat-sandy soil. You can plant the segments in a wet substrate immediately, bypassing germination in water and treating the lower cut with a root formation stimulator. To accelerate engraftment, lower heating is used. The root formation takes about 3-4 weeks. Rooted seedlings are looked after in the same way as adult crossandra. You can plant several young plants in one large pot.

Diseases and pests of crossandra

Diseases

Because of their love for high humidity, crossandra often suffer from mold on the leaves. In this case, a gray fluff appears on them. Such areas of the leaf should be cut off, slightly capturing healthy tissue, and then treat the bush with fungicides.To restore the health of the plant, it is necessary to follow the rules of watering and spraying.

If you carelessly look after the crossandra, other troubles may arise:

• Root rot can develop due to too frequent watering. The foliage of such a plant will be yellow and lethargic. The diseased bush must be cleaned of the affected areas, treated with a fungicide and transplanted into fresh soil.
• Yellowing of leaves while maintaining elasticity - lack of nutrition and the need for feeding.
• The foliage withers and falls off due to overdrying of the soil or a sharp change in temperature.
• Spots on foliage can be a sign of drafts.
• Darkening of the tips of the leaves - the air in the room is too dry.
• The foliage turns red from too bright light. This is sometimes thought to be a natural consequence of leaf aging.
• Weak flowering in young bushes is observed due to improper or untimely pruning or lack of lighting.

Pests

Dry air unusual for plants can lead to the appearance of spider mites. These pests are almost invisible to the eye, so they have time to multiply until they are found. The presence of ticks is indicated by a thin cobweb on the leaves of the bush.

A small focus of ticks can be eliminated by washing the crossandra bush with warm water. Before water procedures, the ground is covered with a film. If there are too many pests, it is necessary to use the appropriate acaricide.

Types and varieties of crossandra with photos and names

Funnel-shaped crossandra (Crossandra infundibuliformis)

Either orange or wave-leaved. This crossandra is also called orange. Crossandra infundibuliformis forms shrubs from 30 to 90 cm in height, but in potting conditions their size is usually no more than 60 cm.The length of the leaf is about 12 cm.The leaves have a wavy edge, dark green color and a pointed tip at the top. During flowering, a tetrahedral inflorescence-spikelet up to 10 cm long is formed on the bush.Tubular flowers with green bracts are located on it. The flowers are pinkish-orange in color and have a yellow center. Each flower contains 5 petals. Among the popular varieties of this type:

• Mona wellhead Is the oldest variety that remains one of the most widespread. Its bushes are about 45 cm high and have salmon-colored flowers.
• Tropic - American cultivar group of compact hybrids up to 25 cm in height and about 20 cm in width. Such crossandras can also be grown as garden annuals. The varieties that make up the group differ in the color of the flowers. For example, for Tropic Splash they are yellow with a lighter color at the ends, for Tropic Yellow they are bright yellow, for Tropic Red they are red-pink, and for Tropic Flame they are painted in a rich pinkish-orange color.
• Orange marmalade - bushes up to 60 cm tall are decorated with bright orange flowers.
• Queen of the nile - inflorescences of this variety have an unusual terracotta color.
• Fortune (or Queen Fortune) - neat bushes up to 30 cm in height form quite powerful roots, making the variety more resistant to insufficient air humidity and temperature extremes. The flowers are salmon-colored and bloom lasts longer than usual.

Crossandra pungens

East African view. Crossandra pungens forms bushes up to 60 cm high. The foliage is lanceolate and is located on petioles. The color of the leaves is variegated: silvery-white veins are located on a green background. The size of the sheet plates varies depending on the location. The lower leaves reach 12 cm in length with a width of about 2.5 cm.The upper leaves are about 2-3 times shorter, and their width is no more than 1.5 cm.The inflorescences of the species are yellow, located on low (from 5 to 10 cm ) inflorescences. The green bracts have serrations that give the species its name.

Red crossandra (Crossandra nilotica)

Or Nile. Kenyan species also found in Mozambique. Crossandra nilotica reaches 60 cm in height. She has strong glossy leaves of a deep green color. They are elliptical.Inflorescences are located at the tops of the shoots and are small in size. They are made up of red or salmon tubular flowers, whose corolla is divided into 5 lobes.

Stem crossandra (Crossandra subacaulis)

A rare species of crossandra for home floriculture. Crossandra subacaulis is native to East African countries. Its bushes are miniature - only up to 15 cm tall. Inflorescences up to 10 cm long are formed by rich orange flowers.

Crossandra guineensis

Another rare species. Crossandra guineensis forms bushes up to 20 cm tall. The leaves are arranged on small petioles and slightly pubescent. Each leaf is colored green, and there are noticeable veins on the inside of it. Flowers up to 2 cm in size form spikelet inflorescences from 5 to 15 cm long. Their color can be lilac or white.

Sometimes this genus includes the so-called blue (or turquoise) crossandra, as well as the type "Green Ice" with aquamarine or greenish flowers. In fact, such flowers have a relative of the crossandra - ecbolium. Ecboliums live in the same corners of the world. They form bushes up to 70 cm tall and even at home are able to bloom all year round. But the flowers of such plants live only a day, while the flowers of the crossandra stay on the plant for several days.