Monantes

Monantes (from Lat. "Monanthes") refers to plants of the succulent type. Their peculiarity is that these plants have a special type of tissue that has the ability to store water. This type of plant does not require frequent watering and special temperature conditions.

The succulent monantes is a perennial that belongs to the jungle plant family. The Canary Islands are considered to be his homeland. The plant probably got its name from a combination of two Greek roots "mono", that is, "one, piece, singular" and "anthus", which translates as "flower, flowering".

Monantes: description

Monantes: photos

Succulent monantes is outwardly a small shrub with short, upright or recumbent shoots, on the tops of which small rosettes of leaves are formed. The leaves of the plant are juicy, fleshy, most often ovoid or clavate. The leaves are arranged alternately, one after the other. Despite its small size, the plant blooms regularly. There are inflorescences of several forms, most often it is a brush or an umbrella. The inflorescence consists of 5-7 flowers, on a long peduncle, light pink or light green in color, and brown tones are also often found.

Succulent monantes: plant care

The most important factor in caring for Monantes is good lighting. Only with enough sunlight or artificial light does the plant develop steadily. It is recommended to grow this plant on windowsills located in the south. Lack of lighting is immediately noticeable by the plant's appearance. The leaves become lethargic, soft, and lose their visual appeal. Therefore, if there is a lack of sunlight, it is recommended to use additional artificial lighting, especially in winter.

The plant is not picky about the temperature and grows well at room temperature + 18-22 ° C. And in the summer, it is not afraid of the long heat, due to the peculiarity of the water supply in the leaves. Despite the fact that the Cannary Islands are the homeland of this plant, the plant divides its life cycle into summer and winter. For the winter season, it is advisable to choose a place for the plant with an air temperature of + 13-15 ° C and well lit. If the temperature indicators during this period are higher, then with a high probability the leaves will begin to turn yellow and eventually fall off.

As for the quantity, frequency of watering, as well as air humidity, the plant is extremely undemanding in this. It grows well at room humidity and requires no effort to raise or lower it.

Watering the succulent monantes should be moderate throughout the year. The need for watering should be judged by the degree of soil drying. Once the soil is completely dry, only then the plant needs to be watered. In the autumn-winter period, the amount of watering is automatically reduced. But do not completely forget about watering Monantes, since from a very long lack of water, the foliage begins to change color to a yellow palette, and then dry out. The plant can be fed twice a year. As a top dressing, you should use a top dressing for cacti.

Monantes reproduction and transplant

Monantes: photos

Succulent Monantes is also undemanding in the matter of transplantation. It needs to be transplanted if the pot becomes cramped for it. When transplanting, you need to pay attention to the soil, it must be loose, preferably the presence of coarse sand in its composition. You can make the soil yourself. To do this, it is necessary to displace the sheet earth, sand with small pieces of charcoal. When transplanting, it is important not to forget to put drainage on the bottom of the flower pot.It is advisable to choose a pot with low sides and a wide bottom.

Monantes can be propagated in several ways.

• Cuttings.

The top of the shoot with a leaf rosette is used as a cutting. The cuttings must be air-dried for 2-3 hours and then planted in the ground. It is recommended to plant them in moistened peat, sprinkled with a sandy layer on top. For cuttings to be well accepted, they must be placed in a warm place with good lighting. When the cuttings take root, they can be transplanted into permanent pots one at a time or several plants at once.

• Layers.

This propagation method is recommended for use in the spring, since this is the beginning of the active period of plant growth. It is advisable to take layering from plants that have many outlets. If you see a monantes with rosettes hanging over the edges of a flower pot, this is a sign that you can take cuttings from the plant for propagation.

The process of reproduction by layering looks like this: pots filled with soil mixture are placed around the donor bush. Leaf rosettes are placed on the surface of these pots, sprinkling and rooting them into the ground. Some gardeners recommend using wire to press the rosette to the ground to speed up rooting. Once the rosette is rooted in the new pot, it is cut from the donor plant. This is the process of reproduction of monantes by layering.

• Division of the bush.

Probably the fastest, easiest and most straightforward way to propagate a plant. So, when the plant has grown and has already outgrown its pot, it must be carefully pulled out and divided into several parts of the earthen lump with roots. Take your time, it is important to damage the root system of the plant as little as possible. After dividing, the plant needs to find a place with good lighting. This will help the plant recover faster.

Diseases and insect pests

In addition to its unpretentiousness, the succulent monantes is resistant to a large number of diseases and pests. The most common disease in this plant is the mealybug, as well as the spider mite.

When the succulent monantes falls ill with a mealybug, it practically stops growing; white lumps appear on the leaves, in the interleaves, on the shoots, similar in consistency to cotton wool.

With a spider mite disease, a cobweb appears on the plant, and the leaves begin to turn yellow. It is very simple to deal with these problems, it is enough to spray the plant with specialized products that can be found in any flower shop.

Varieties

Monantes has several main types. Now we will briefly describe each of them.

Monantes multifoliate ("Monanthes polyphylla") is a perennial herb with dense pillow-like shoots. At the ends of the multifoliate monantes there are oval leaf rosettes, no more than 2 mm in diameter. The foliage, saturated with moisture, is dense, most often wedge-shaped, the leaves are located very close to each other. If you look at the many-leaved monantes from above, you can find the similarity of the pattern formed with the roof of the house, which is covered with tiles. The leaves of Monantes multifoliate grow less than 1 cm long and less than 0.3 cm wide.

Monantes multifoliate: photo

Monantes multifoliate has one peculiarity. Small papillae are located along the edges of the leaf plate and at its end. Most likely, they perform the function of collecting water for plants from the air and their soil.

Monantes multifoliate also has inflorescences in the form of a brush, in which 5-7 flowers are collected. Which, in turn, despite the fact that they are extremely small and bloom in diameter only up to 1 cm, nevertheless have a division into 6-8 parts. The peduncle grows from the center of the leaf rosette up to 8 cm in length. The color of the inflorescences of Monantes multifoliate varies from pale to dark green with a brown tint.

Monantes muralis wall ("Monanthes muralis") grows to a height of no more than 8 cm.Monantes muralis is a perennial with dense oval-shaped leaves, which are alternately arranged one after another. In length, the leaves of monantes muralis grow up to 10 mm, in width no more than 40 mm. The inflorescences of monantes muralis also have a racemose shape, which collects 4-6 flowers of a light green color.

Monantes muralis: photos

Monantes thickened ("Monanthes subcrassicaulis") is also a bushy perennial plant. Due to the close arrangement of the leaves, this species often coalesces, forming a kind of grass rugs. At the tops of the stems, leaf rosettes up to 10 mm in diameter are located. The leaves are arranged alternately and have an oval-shaped dark green color with a glossy sheen. They also grow in length up to 10 mm. The inflorescence is standard, the raceme usually has 5-7 purple flowers. Peduncle length up to 4 cm.

Monantes amidrian ("Monanthes amydros") has a large number of shoots, on the tops of which are leaf rosettes. This perennial species, leaves grow up to 70 mm in length and up to 40 mm in width, which have slightly pointed or rounded ends. Inflorescence is a brush, which gathers up to 5 flowers. The flowers are red-brown or light green in color, grow up to 15 mm in diameter.

Monantes: photos