Ludisia (Ludisia) refers to an evergreen plant from the orchid family. The habitat of Ludisia is quite extensive: it grows in the humid tropics of China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra. The orchid got its name "precious" due to its unusual beauty of decorative leaves.
Ludisia lives mainly on the ground and is rarely more than 15 cm in height. Creeping stems, each has 5 leaves, soft to the touch, iridescent olive or purple shades. Each leaf contains streaks. Its dimensions are about 3-4 cm wide and 7 cm long. Ludisia produces a stem with flowers about 30 cm tall. It blooms with inconspicuous flowers of white with a yellow tint. One peduncle contains about 20-30 flowers with a diameter of 2 cm.
Ludisia orchid care at home
Location and lighting
Ludisia is one of the few orchids who prefer shade to light. Diffused light is suitable for growing it. It is better to close the plant from burning sunlight, otherwise the leaves will receive serious burns. Bright light is allowed only in the morning and evening hours. The duration of daylight hours should be at least 12-14 hours, so it is important to resort to the use of additional artificial lighting. An excess of lighting affects ludisia - the orchid loses its decorative effect, and the leaves fall; with a lack of lighting, the leaves stretch out.
Temperature
Throughout the year, the daily temperature of the content of ludisia should be in the range of 20-22 degrees. At night, the temperature should not drop below 18 degrees. It is very important to observe small temperature differences between day and night: the difference should be 2-4 degrees.
Air humidity
Ludisia can be grown without problems in dry air, but the flower will still grow better with regular spraying of the leaves with water. To do this, you need to use soft, settled water at about room temperature or slightly higher. Hard water will leave streaks on precious leaves.
In spring and summer, when ludisia is actively growing and developing, it is important to arrange for it some kind of tropical rain - the leaves are washed under warm shower jets. Then the leaves are wiped with a soft cloth or napkin and only after that they put the pot with the plant in its original place in the room.
Watering
When watering ludisia, you need to proceed from the ambient temperature in the room. The higher the temperature, the more often and more abundantly watering should be, and vice versa. However, it is important to avoid stagnation of water in the pot or sump, the constant moisture condition of the soil can lead to rotting of the roots. But the substrate should not dry out either, since this can harm the orchid leaves.
The soil
The optimal soil composition for growing ludisia can be made from the following components: leafy soil, chopped fern roots, peat, charcoal and small pieces of pine bark.The largest pieces of the substrate should be at the bottom, and smaller ones closer to the surface. This prevents moisture from retaining in the pot. The top of the substrate must be covered with sphagnum so that it does not dry out too quickly.
Top dressing and fertilizers
Ludisia is fed up only during the period of active growth and flowering - from spring to autumn. For this, a universal fertilizer for orchids is used. At every third watering, use a dressing diluted in water in 1/3 of the recommended concentration according to the instructions.
Transfer
Frequent transplantation of ludisia is not needed. It is placed in a new pot only after the plant has grown too large and the old pot becomes too cramped. The new pot should be wide and shallow, and the best time to transplant is in spring.
Reproduction of ludisia
Ludisia can be propagated both by dividing an adult overgrown bush, and by apical cuttings or stem segments. When dividing a bush, at least 2-3 shoots should remain on each plant.
When propagating by apical cuttings, there should be 2-3 nodes on each shoot. Sprinkle the cut with charcoal and dry it slightly. Young shoots are rooted in sphagnum, deepening along the base of the leaf. Can also be rooted in water by adding activated carbon.
Diseases and pests
With improper care, ludisia is affected by pests such as spider mites, mealybugs, whitefly and scale insects.
Types of ludisia
The most popular type of ludisia is ludisia multicolored... It is also a precious creeping orchid species. Each stem ends with a bunch of 3-5 leaves. Each leaf is streaked with a distinct color. The length of the peduncle is about 20 cm. The flowers are white with a yellow tint, inconspicuous.
Under natural conditions, there are a huge number of varieties of ludisia:
- Multicolored ludisia alba - has beautiful leaves with silvery or golden veins.
- Multi-colored ludisia condorensis - has large enough leaves and high peduncles.
- Multi-colored ludisia dawsoniana - has leaves of impressive sizes of a dark green color, closer to a black shade with veins of a scarlet hue.
