Lashenalia

Lashenalia is a relative of the familiar hyacinth and has about a hundred species. The homeland of Lashenalia is South America. It should be noted right away that growing lashenalia requires experience, since the plant will need to create certain conditions for comfortable growth and regular flowering. In this regard, novice florists may have some difficulties. But if, before purchasing a plant, you carefully study all the information about it and recommendations for care, then difficulties can be avoided. It is important to know that lachenalia requires clean, fresh indoor air, moderate watering and an obligatory dormant period, which the plant will spend at a cooler temperature than usual.

Lashenalia: flower description

Lashenalia: photo of a flower

The most popular among our florists has become aloe-like lashenalia. The name of the plant reflects its appearance - it is a rosette of long leaves that have a lanceolate shape and do not exceed a length of 20 cm.The leaves are dark green in color, and small brown specks are visible on their surface. Inflorescences of lashenalia aloevidnaya rise on peduncles by about 25-28 cm, they have flowers of a rich yellow color with small red blotches, the size of each flower is about 3 cm. Some varieties bloom with bright red or olive green flowers. Flowering occurs during the winter months.

Lashenalia flower: care secrets

Lachenalia aloe: a photo of a flower

Air temperature and humidity

Lachenalia aloe very badly tolerates hot weather, especially when, due to the lack of rainfall, the air becomes very dry. If possible, then at this time it is necessary to place the plant on the balcony, providing it with protection from direct sunlight, if this is not possible, then it is necessary to ventilate the room as often as possible and maintain high humidity by spraying the plant from a spray bottle and wiping it with a soft damp cloth.

In the autumn months, it is necessary to ensure peace for the lachenalia, accompanied by a decrease in temperature to +12 degrees. In January, the temperature gradually starts to rise, the plant wakes up and soon blooms. The flowering period of aloe lachenalia can be shifted if you have the opportunity to provide a dormant period with a decrease in temperature at another time.

In direct sunlight, aloe lachenalia can be found only in the morning and in the evening, the rest of the time the plant needs diffused light that does not harm the leaves. But there should be a lot of light - this is a necessary condition, without which flowering may not come. The most suitable place would be north-east or north-west windows.

Watering and feeding aloe lachenalia

Lachenalia aloe: a photo of a flower

Lashenalia equally poorly tolerates both the complete drying of the earthen coma and excessively abundant watering. During the growing season, the plant should be watered sparingly, only after you make sure that the top layer of the soil has dried to a depth of 2 cm. And during the dormant period, the plant is not watered.

Lashenalia needs additional feeding, but reacts negatively to too much fertilizer, so only half or a third of the recommended dose of the complex composition for flowering indoor plants should be used. Fertilize lashenalia only during the period of budding and flowering, feeding is carried out every 7-10 days, adding fertilizer to the water when watering.

How to transplant lashenalia

Lashenalia requires an annual transplant, which is usually carried out in the fall. You can buy ready-made soil for bulbous plants or prepare a soil mixture from leaf and turf soil, sand and peat.The planting container should not be very large and must have a drainage hole. For example: 6-8 lashenalia bulbs should be planted in a pot with a diameter of 15 cm, only in this case you will get a beautiful and fluffy bush. The main feature of planting lashenalia is that the drainage layer must be laid not only on the bottom of the container, but also on top: the bulbs are half deep into the soil, and the rest of them is covered with expanded clay. This planting helps to avoid the appearance of various types of rot on the planting material.

Lashenalia: flower reproduction

Lachenalia aloe: a photo of a flower

Aloe-like lashenalia is propagated by sowing seeds or daughter bulbs.
The bulbs are separated from the mother plant during transplantation and planted in a separate container, buried in the ground a couple of centimeters. The bulbs will bloom only in the second year, but this still gives a faster result than when growing lashenalia from seeds - in this case, the plants bloom only in the third year. For sowing seeds, you need to prepare a low container, fill it with sand and moisten it, deepen the seeds by 3-5 mm. After the emergence of shoots, the aloe-like lashenalia is looked after like any other seedlings.