Bocarnea
Content:
Bocarnea: description of the plant
Indoor flower Bokarneya (Nolina): plant photo
Bokarney is grown as an ornamental-leaved plant. As you remember, this culture does not bloom in indoor conditions. However, plants need fairly bright lighting, so in partial shade the bokarney will not feel very good. In the spring-summer period, the air temperature should be approximately + 20-22 degrees, and in winter - no higher than +12. That is why bokarney is considered seasonal, but in room conditions it will not be necessary to lower the temperature immediately, gradually, otherwise the plants will react poorly to the arrival of such frosts. Shrubs are watered by means of bottom watering. As you remember, it is in the lower part of the trunk that moisture accumulates, so plants may not need water for a long time. However, it is still necessary to moisten the soil in the spring-summer period, but in winter the intensity of watering should be limited. The humidity in the room should be medium, and the plants should not be fed at all. Usually, gardeners apply fertilizers in very rare cases, and they use complex mineral compositions. However, their concentration should be reduced at least 4 times from what is supposed to be. Bocarnea grows in its natural habitat on rocky ground, so the bush does not need a lot of nutrients. From November to March, nolina (bokarnea) is at rest, in April the bush can be transplanted, usually for the first four years this is done annually - every spring, but adult plants are transplanted once every few years. It is best to plant bokarney on moderately fertile soil, often a little sand and peat are added there, as well as leafy soil. This culture propagates with the help of shoots and seeds. If we talk about diseases and pests, then nolina has a fairly high immunity, so plants rarely get sick.
Bocarnea (Nolina): home care
Bocarnea (Nolina): home care
As you remember, the bokarnea needs diffused but bright light. Therefore, if you grow this crop at home, then the sun's rays should not directly hit the foliage and trunk of the plant. Therefore, it is best, if there is free space, to place the plant pot on the west or east window. If free space is limited, place the plant on the south window, but it is best for her to create an openwork shadow. But in winter, bright light has a beneficial effect on the development of the plant, so at this time it is recommended to build an artificial lighting system. In spring and summer, it is not necessary to monitor the temperature in the room, but in winter it is best to keep the plant cool. Therefore, already from September you will need to gradually reduce the temperature to plus 12 degrees. During the rest period, the heat of the bokarnea is not needed. If you do not move the plants to a cool place in a timely manner, then the arrival of autumn and winter of bokarney (nolin) will not be felt, which means that the culture will grow throughout the year. This does not have a favorable effect on the development of the bush, therefore it is so important to monitor the temperature regime in the autumn-winter period.
In the summer, you can completely expose the nolina pots to fresh air. However, you will need to ensure that the soil is not waterlogged, this culture also does not like drafts. As you remember, it is not necessary to water the plants too intensively, often gardeners simply immerse a container with shrubs in water, and when the soil gets wet well, take it out.Then you will need to place the flower pot on some kind of fabric in order to get rid of excess moisture. Thus, the bush will take as much water as it needs. And this procedure is repeated as necessary, make sure that moisture does not form in the substrate, because of this, the lower part of the trunk may rot.
In winter, plants are watered even less intensively. Therefore, you will need to limit the flow of moisture into the soil mixture. If your room temperature is too high, you will need to water the plant more often. In winter, the soil should be moistened very carefully and carefully. If the flower hibernates in a room with a low temperature, then there will be no need to water the plant until spring. Be very careful about the watering regime, since very often with an excess of moisture, the lower part of the trunk, its water reservoir, rots, and the plant dies.
If you will grow bokarney (nolina) in room conditions, then you do not need to use spraying. Since the soil is thus moistened even more, but in its natural habitat, the foliage of this culture intensively collects dew, which flows down the leaves to the core of the trunk. But you can still try to spray the foliage of the plant so that dust does not accumulate on them, for the same purpose you can wipe them with a damp cloth. It is best to water the plants with boiled water, you can use melt water for this. However, there is no fundamental difference. If you take proper care of the plant, the bokarnea will grow normally even without fertilizing the soil.
However, sometimes everything is already fed to the bokarney, for this in spring or summer one or another nutrient solution is introduced into the soil, while the concentration will need to be reduced several times, as you remember, the plant does not need intensive feeding. Usually the dose is reduced by two or four times the recommended dose. It is best to use complex mineral mixtures, the bushes should be fed infrequently, about once a month. Moreover, fertilizers should be applied to the soil immediately after you water the bush, sometimes these procedures are reversed. However, there is no fundamental difference. And it is not at all necessary to feed the culture.
Bocarnea: transplanting a houseplant at home
Indoor flower Bokarneya (Nolina): plant photo
We promised to tell you how to properly transplant Bocarnea. In order to grow this crop, you should use low, but wide enough containers. The fact is that the rhizome in plants is short, but very thick, and the root system itself is located almost on the surface, therefore, in its natural habitat, bokarnea often grows on rocky hills. It is recommended to lay drainage at the bottom of the pot. This is done so that excess moisture leaves the soil, which means that the rhizome and trunk of the plant do not rot. For the preparation of drainage, crushed stone, pebbles and medium-sized stones are used. Plants are planted and transplanted into soil containing peat, sand and leafy soil. Sometimes humus is added there. Coarse sand picks up moisture well, makes the soil structured and loose. It is not necessary to buy ready-made soil mixtures for plant transplantation; you can also use ordinary garden soil for this. The plants are transplanted annually for the first four years. And then the procedure is repeated once every several years. It is advisable to transplant nolina together with an earthen lump, so the plants adapt better, deepen the rhizome in the same way as usual. To the level at which the plant previously grew. The first time to water the transplanted culture should be almost a week after this procedure. The pot with each new transplant should be slightly larger than the previous one.
Bocarnea: plant propagation
Indoor flower Bokarneya (Nolina): plant photo
You can propagate Bocarnea at home in different ways.First of all, you can just plant the seeds. To do this, you will need to be patient and time-consuming, as this method is considered quite difficult. The seeds are planted in a sand and peat substrate. For a few days before planting seeds in the ground, they should be soaked in a growth stimulator, if you do not have anything like this, then you can simply leave the seeds for a couple of days in plain clean water. Observe the distance during sowing, there should be approximately a distance of 2 cm between the seeds. They are evenly distributed over the soil surface and only after that they are covered with earth. However, the seeds should not be planted too deeply, otherwise the sprouts simply will not hatch. It is recommended to place containers with seeds in a warm, well-lit place, sometimes at night planting is even illuminated with special lamps.
In order for the bokarnia (nolina) shrub to grow and develop normally, the air temperature in the room should be about plus 25 degrees. In order to create a favorable microclimate, you will need to cover the box with a special film and, if necessary, ventilate it. This is done so that condensation does not accumulate on the glass or film. But the plantings should be watered very carefully, you remember, the stagnation of the liquid adversely affects the growth and development of seedlings. However, the lack of moisture also badly affects the development of plants. Therefore, everything should be in moderation. Usually, seedlings appear after 4 weeks. After the seedlings get stronger, several real leaves will form on each plant, they can be dived into separate containers. It is best to fill new pots with the same substrate. They take care of new plantings in the same way as for mature bushes. You can propagate this plant with the help of shoots.
To do this, you should cut off a small side part from the mother bush, and then transplant this cutting into a separate container. A little sand, peat and vermiculite must be added to the container. Of course, ordinary garden soil is considered an integral part of the soil mixture. It is best to dig a small hole in the container, and place the process there. Do not forget to compact the soil well around the stem, after which it is recommended to put the pot in a well-lit place, it is desirable that the temperature is quite high there. In order for the process to begin faster, it is recommended to cover it with a glass jar. However, do not forget to periodically remove this device, the plant needs fresh air, while airing, moisten the soil with a sprayer. When leaf plates grow on the scion, the glass jar can be completely removed. It is recommended to care for new plants in the same way as for mature bushes.
Possible problems
Indoor flower Bokarneya (Nolina): plant photo
Of course, in the process of growing Bocarnea (nolina), you may encounter various problems, often they arise due to the fact that the plant is not properly looked after. If the foliage is too small, it will grow poorly, which means that there is a problem with lighting in the room where the pot with the plant is. The foliage becomes faded when they lack light, so it is better to change the location of the plant. Sometimes brown spots form on the tips of the leaf plates, this is due to the fact that the humidity in the room is too low, so spray the plants with a spray bottle more often. Sometimes even this giant's trunk becomes quite thin. This suggests that the plant no longer needs such a reservoir, moreover, due to the fact that the soil contains too much moisture. This means that you overdid it with watering, stop moistening the soil for a while, wait until the soil is completely dry. Adjust the watering regime, it is in this case that the plant will return to its usual forms, and the decorative effect will again become wonderful.If you overdo it with watering, then the trunk of the plant may begin to rot. This means that there is an excess of liquid in the soil, so do not handle the watering can for a longer time. The bush will return to its usual bottle form only when you moderately moisten the soil. This culture is considered quite resistant to garden pests, but sometimes scale insects and spider mites settle on the trunk of these plants. Therefore, in order for the plant to always be strong and healthy, the air in the room should not be too dry, so it is advisable to wipe the foliage with a damp cloth. But again, usually this culture is not sick with anything.
Bokarnia varieties
The bokarnea (nolina) has many varieties.
The first plant we want to introduce you to is Long-leaved Bocarnea. It grows in various greenhouses, so you won't be able to grow it in your room. The fact is that it needs special conditions for growing, the tree has a fairly strong trunk, which is covered with cork elastic bark. When the old leaves begin to dry out, they go down, thus, a kind of skirt appears at the tree. This plant blooms with creamy white flowers with a characteristic paniculate shape.
Another interesting subspecies is Nolin Lindeimer. This plant also has an unusual shape. The tree has practically no trunk. The leaves are thin, but strong. Sometimes this plant is also called the devil's cord. The tree is very low, and the inflorescences are formed at the top, while the flowers are quite small, as you understand, this tree is also grown only in greenhouses and special gardens. Therefore, in your apartment, you are unlikely to grow this unusual culture.
Matapskaya nolina very similar to a low palm tree. However, the tree is medium in height rather than short. In this variety, the lower leaves also often dry up, forming a semblance of a skirt. The leaf plates fall beautifully to the ground, and at the top form huge paniculate inflorescences, whitish yellow in color. And you will not be able to grow this species in indoor conditions either. Usually, the tree does not grow more than 2 m in height. The folded nolina has the same bottle-shaped trunk, and it expands noticeably towards the base. In its natural habitat, this tree can reach a ten-meter mark in height, but in greenhouses, the tree usually grows no more than 2 m. Beautiful leaves are formed at the top, which also gently hang down. The foliage is very massive, voluminous, slightly leathery. The leaf plates have a characteristic dark green color. The lower part of the trunk is usually bare, sometimes foliage is even used to make some kind of basket. Naturally, you cannot grow this tree in your apartment either. The inflorescences are paniculate, the flowers are soft cream.
In fact, there are many varieties of bokarnei, we have described only the main ones. Nature is truly unique, which only plants are not found in the wild. And you may well be able to grow some of them in your apartment, for example, an exotic bokarney.
