Monantes is a succulent perennial houseplant belonging to the Tolstyankov family. The homeland can be considered the Canary Islands. The name Monantes is of Greek origin, where the root "mono" is one, "athus" means "flower".
Description of monantes
In nature, they are herbaceous perennials, small bushes, their stems are low and mostly straight, less often - creeping along the ground, crowned with rosettes of leaves, can often form rather dense clumps. The leaves grow on the trunk alternately, very rarely - against each other, they are juicy with a watery pulp, oval or ovoid in shape. The inflorescence is umbellate, it grows with a brush. The flowers are also collected in racemose inflorescences, grow on long legs, the color is from light green, greenish-brown to pink.
Caring for monantes at home
Location and lighting
Monantes thrives and grows actively only in bright light. In dark corners and rooms, the plant can thin out and even die. Loves south windows and direct light. In winter and autumn, it is important that the plant receives additional lighting.
Temperature
In the spring-summer period, monantes grows well at normal room temperature, in summer the plant can even cope with the heat. In winter, well-lit and cool rooms are suitable for him, the main thing is that the temperature does not drop below 10-12 degrees. If the temperature rises above 12 degrees in winter, the leaves of the plant may turn yellow and fall off.
Air humidity
Monantes, like any succulent, tolerates sufficiently dry air; additional moisture is not required.
Watering
During the period of growth activation (in spring and summer), monantes is watered moderately, but regularly, after waiting for the soil in the pot to dry out, not only from above, but preferably to the bottom. During the dormant period (autumn and winter), the amount of watering is gradually reduced, making sure that the leaves do not begin to fall and wither.
The soil
It is better to choose a light and loose soil for monantes with a sand content. Leafy soil, which is mixed with charcoal and coarse sand, works well. A drainage layer is needed at the bottom of the pot.
Top dressing and fertilizers
Monantes is fed with conventional cactus fertilizers 1-2 times a year.
Transfer
Transplant Monantes as needed. This happens when the rosettes grow to such an extent that they no longer fit in the pot. Wide, shallow containers are suitable for the plant.
Reproduction of monantes
Most often, Monantes reproduces by dividing overgrown bushes, layering or cuttings. You can divide and plant plants at any time of the year, regardless of its condition.
Stems with rosettes are suitable as cuttings.Having cut off the cutting, it must be left in a cool place so that the cut is slightly dry and preserved, after which it can be immediately rooted without additional germination in pots with a mixture of wet peat and sand. You need to place such seedlings in a warm and bright room. Once the cuttings have taken root, they can be transplanted into wide, low pots.
It is best to root the cuttings in the spring during the period of active growth. For reproduction, take those sockets that hang on the stems from the pots, set pots with nutrient soil under them, on which the mother's sockets are laid, you can lightly attach the stems with wire to the ground. After the rosette has taken root in new soil, it is cut from the mother's stem.
Dividing a plant is the easiest to do. When the plant grows, it is dug up, the bushes at the root are divided into separate seedlings and planted in prepared containers.
Diseases and pests
Monantes is quite resistant to all kinds of diseases. But it is susceptible to mealybugs. The stems and the space between the leaves can be filled with a cotton-like spider web, at which time the plant stops growing. Also, monantes can infect a spider mite, the leaves will begin to turn yellow and become covered with a thin web. The plant can be cured with special means from pests, clearly observing the proportions.
Growing difficulties
- Due to the very dry air, the leaves can wither. But this happens very rarely.
- The lower layer of leaves that form rosettes can turn yellow and fall off, this happens due to abundant watering.
- From sunburn, the plant becomes covered with dry brown spots.
- If the foliage turns pale and the rosettes lose their symmetrical appearance, this means that the plant does not have enough lighting.
Types and varieties of monantes with photos and names
Botanically, Monantes is divided into several main types with slight differences from each other.
Monantes multifoliate
A small perennial shrub with herbaceous leaves, growing in groups, forming clumps. The branches are crowned with large and dense ovoid or cone-shaped rosettes of leaves, the diameter of which is up to 1.5 cm. The leaves are fleshy, have juicy inner flesh, resemble small wedges in shape, and are densely arranged, which makes them look like tiled masonry. Each sheet is small in size, the maximum size is 8 mm in length and 2.5 mm in width. The leaflets are framed by the smallest papillae. From the center of the leaf rosette, a peduncle grows, at the end of which a brush of 4-8 small flowers, green or greenish-brown in color, about 1 cm in diameter, is formed.
Monantes wall
A small perennial, it is a shrub up to 8 cm in height. The leaves are ovoid, growing alternately, juicy and fleshy, like any succulent. The leaves are up to 7 mm long and 3-4 mm wide. They bloom in inflorescences of 3-7 small flowers, light greenish in color.
Monantes thickened
A perennial in the form of a shrub, creeping like a rug, has a herbaceous structure. Shoots are crowned with dense leafy rosettes up to 1 cm in diameter. The leaves overlap each other, are arranged in dense tiled rows, are club-shaped, glossy, dark green in color. The arrow of the peduncle is formed from the center of the rosette, at the end of it there is an inflorescence brush of 1-5 flowers, often purple in color.
Monantes amidrian
Unlike other species, this shrub has highly branched stems. Herbaceous perennial, whose branches invariably end in leaf rosettes. The leaves are small in size, ovoid or drop-shaped in shape, with a narrow end attached to the trunk. The size of leaves in an adult plant is 4-7 mm in length and 2-4 mm in width. Inflorescences also grow from leafy rosettes, with a maximum number of flowers of about 5 pieces, the color of the inflorescence is either brown-green or dark red.
