Cryptantus

Kriptantus is a native of Brazil, more precisely, from its eastern part. The plant is very popular and loved by flower growers due to the variety of colors of the foliage of the plant: here you can see reddish-brown shades, green and white, pink and yellow. Leaves can be spotted, transversely or longitudinally striped. Due to its decorativeness, cryptantus looks very impressive in half-closed glass vessels, the so-called florariums. This plant cannot be called demanding or capricious, it is not difficult to care for it. The only rule that you will need to adhere to is to maintain high air humidity, while watering the plant fairly moderately. If you manage to achieve the necessary balance, then you can admire the unusual foliage of the cryptantus all year round.

Cryptantus: description

Cryptantus: photo

The cryptantus flower belongs to the Bromeliad family. Sometimes this plant is called an earthen star because of its appearance - all types of cryptanthus do not have a stem, their leaves are collected in a compact and very beautiful rosette. The leaves are wide near the base, tapering towards the end.

One of the features of the cryptanthus flower is that after the end of flowering, the mother plant dies, nothing can be done about it, since this is part of a natural process. But during flowering "babies" grow - lateral shoots, with the help of which the plant reproduces.

Unlike many representatives of the Bromeliads family, cryptantus is the owner of the root system, therefore, for full growth, it needs a nutritious soil. Also, compared to epiphytic species, its leaf rosettes are smaller, look more neat and beautiful. Yes, it looks unusual in the florarium, but in an ordinary flower pot it will feel great and look no less impressive.

Cryptantus: home care

The plant needs a lot of light, regardless of the season. Cryptantus will not stop growing and will not die from lack of lighting, but its foliage may lose its decorative effect - the pattern on the leaves will become less noticeable, and the colors will fade. Therefore, plants should be placed near a window or illuminated with a special lamp. Cryptantus should be protected from direct sunlight in the daytime, as this is fraught with the appearance of burns.

Indoor air temperature can range from 21-25 degrees in the warm season and from 17 to 19 in winter. Moreover, it is not necessary to specifically lower the temperature; you can maintain it at the same level throughout the year. It is important not to allow sudden changes in temperature, as this is what is detrimental to plants.

The air humidity should be above average, for this you can place the plant next to an air humidifier, indoor fountain, an aquarium - any source of moisture will do. If there is nothing suitable, then it will be enough to regularly spray the cryptantus and place a vessel with water next to it, the evaporating liquid will maintain the necessary humidity.

The root system of cryptanthus is small and easily begins to rot, so watering should be treated very carefully: water often, but little by little. The ground should be constantly moist, but at the same time it should not turn into a swamp. It is also impossible to allow the soil to dry out. In winter, water should be watered a little less often, but at the same time continue to make sure that the soil is a little moist all the time, otherwise the plant will die.Like any other houseplant, you need to water the cryptanthus with settled water at room temperature.

During the dormant period, it is not necessary to fertilize the cryptantus, but starting from spring it is worth carrying out monthly feeding. As a fertilizer, you can use special formulations for bromeliads or liquid complex fertilizers for decorative deciduous plants.

It is very rare to transplant a cryptantus flower, as it grows rather slowly. For this plant, you need to choose a not very deep, but wide enough container so that in case of flowering there is enough space for the formed daughter shoots.

When picking up the soil, the main attention should be paid to its moisture permeability, since it is extremely important to avoid stagnant water. At least a third of the container should be occupied by drainage, and the remaining space should be filled with either a special soil for bromeliads, or a self-prepared soil mixture. For cooking, you need to mix one part sphagnum, earth and peat, 1⁄2 part compost and three parts pine bark.

Cryptantus: reproduction

Cryptantus: photo

As we said earlier, cryptantus is propagated by lateral shoots or "babies". While an adult plant is blooming, such "babies" are formed on the sides, but it is not recommended to separate them immediately, their development begins after the end of flowering and the death of the main plant. After two or three months, the young shoots will grow roots and several leaves will appear, then they can be carefully separated and transplanted into a separate “apartment”. After that, for the first time, it is necessary to maintain a fairly high air temperature, about + 28 degrees. To ensure the desired temperature and humidity, the young plant can be covered with a transparent cover for the first two to three weeks after transplanting to form a greenhouse. But it is important to remember that such a structure needs daily ventilation. As soon as the leaves of the young cryptanthus begin to grow actively, the shelter can be removed and further care for it, like an adult plant.

Possible problems and solutions

Problems with indoor plants occur when care is not taken, in most cases they are associated with insufficient or excessive moisture.

If the tips of the leaves begin to dry out on the cryptanthus flower, then the problem is low air humidity. In this case, watering the plant does not need to be increased, but it should be sprayed more often.

If the leaves look lethargic before and after watering, then the problem is not a lack of moisture, but an excess of it at some point, after which the roots of the plant rotted. Try replanting the cryptantus in fresh soil after removing the damaged roots and disinfecting them.

In addition to the overflow of the plant, a draft can also be the cause of rot.
The appearance of dark drying spots on the leaves may be due to the bright sun - this is what sunburn on the foliage looks like. To avoid this, do not place cryptantus on south-facing windowsills.

Kriptanthus: species

There are many types of cryptantus, but we will focus on the five most popular among domestic florists.

• Criptanthus acaulis is one of the most popular of its kind. The length of its leaves reaches 20 cm, they have slightly wavy edges and are colored in two shades of green: lighter and brighter along the edges and several dark longitudinal stripes in the middle. There is a variety of such a plant with pink-green foliage.

Cryptantus: photo

• Criptanthus bivittatus (cryptantus bivittatus) is a more compact species, the leaves of which do not grow more than 10 cm.The color of cryptantus bivittatus, depending on the variety, can be very different: light green with white longitudinal stripes, red-pink with white or green longitudinal stripes. Cryptantus bivitatus is very often used to design florariums.

Cryptantus bivitatus: photo

• Cryptantus bromelioides is the owner of a very short, but still trunk.Foliage with wavy edges, depending on the variety, can be painted both in a copper shade of red, and in different shades of green, up to the lightest. The most common variety in flower shops is "Tricolor" with stripes of green, white and red.

Cryptantus: photo

• Criptanthus zonatus - unlike previous species, the stripes on the leaves of this plant are located across. Leaves are long, up to 20 cm, stripes of white or yellow are located on a dark green background.

Criptanthus: photo of a flower

• Cryptantus fosterianus (foster's cryptanthus) is similar to the previous species in the arrangement of the stripes. But at the same time, the leaves of foster's cryptanthus are almost twice as long and have a different color: a beautiful color combination of brown-red and silver-gray.