Episcia

An episode is an incredibly beautiful indoor flower with amazing flowers and leaves. Of course, the main luxury of this plant is its leaves, because they have not only a beautiful pattern, but also a velvety surface that radiates light, as it were. In order for episcus to bring joy and not hurt, she needs proper regular care.

Lightweight soil is ideal for epification, which must be airy. The plant should be planted in a pot that has small holes, do not forget about the use of drainage! We place the drainage on the bottom of the pot - about 3 cm. Perfectly, instead of drainage, simple claydite, small pebbles and even foam plastic are suitable.

You can easily prepare your own substrate - we take a simple peat mixture of 25% (you can buy at any store), river sand 25% and a mixture of leaves 50%. All mix well. It will be useful to add a bit of charcoal or sphagnum to the mixture. You can also buy ready-made mixture in any store for indoor plants, but in this case it is recommended to add some more foliage mixture.

Once a week it is enough to feed epips in the spring and summer, when the period of active growth comes. In this case, it will be necessary to use any mineral fertilizer, but its concentration should be 2 times less than indicated on the package.

In the fall and winter, feeding is stopped, as it has a negative effect on plant growth. It is advisable to feed in the evening, when the flower will be irrigated. In that case, if the soil is too dry, the top dressing should be postponed for a while, as there is a risk of severe burn of the roots of the epification.

How to properly transplant episi?

A transplant of a plant is carried out 2 times a year, and only a sufficiently wide pot is suitable, at the bottom of which there are holes. It is not recommended to choose containers that have wide sides, since ampillary episodes simply cannot dangle flowers and stems. It is worth remembering that, unlike the old pot, the new one should be 4 cm wider, because the epysis is very fast growing.

Before transplantation, carefully remove the plant from the container in order not to damage the root system. About half an hour before the beginning of the transplant, water the flower abundantly. You can also gently tap the walls of the pot so that the roots are freed from the old soil. Some gardeners prefer to rinse the roots of the plant before transplanting, using warm water and soap.

During transplantation, the most important thing is to carefully inspect the roots of the plant, since it is impossible to transplant the flower with dry and rotten roots. If such were found, they must be completely removed - cut with a knife or scissors, which are pre-boiled for 10 minutes. Cut off the diseased spine at a distance of at least 3 cm from the injured area.

Do not forget that the plant has a fragile root system, so you need to act with extreme caution so as not to injure it accidentally. All cut points are powdered with a small amount of sulfur. At the bottom of the prepared pot for transplanting pour drainage, and then the substrate.

It is necessary immediately after planting to pour a large amount of water over the flower, but avoid getting liquid on the leaves and flowers. After about 20 minutes, remove all drained water from the pan. Over the next week the plant should be placed in the penumbra. Since the flower grows very quickly, you need to periodically cut it to give a beautiful shape. As soon as the epicea blooms, the young stems are cut and transplanted into the same pot, thanks to which the flower acquires additional pomp. It must be remembered that the plant can be cut only with boiled clean scissors.

Rules for watering epicycii and optimal temperature

From spring until autumn, the plant needs frequent watering - 1 time in 3 days. It is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the soil, since it is impossible to prevent strong moisture, as a result of which root rot can begin.

The reduction of watering occurs from the beginning of autumn to spring - watering is necessary only if the top layer of the earth dries out well. For irrigation it is necessary to use only separated water at room temperature. Watering the plant directly at the roots, it is important that the water does not fall on the flowers and leaves.

It is necessary to ensure that the liquid is not hiding in the pan and periodically drain it. In the event that the holes in the pot become clogged, they just need to be cleaned, but the plant itself cannot be reached. Lay the pot on its side and using a simple cotton swab, remove from the holes all the excess substrate.

It is recommended to locate the plant in the western or eastern window, the epice gives preference to both diffused and bright light. But for good growth will be enough and partial shade. Due to the lack of light, the leaves of the plant become longer, while reducing their number, it may not come flowering at all. A very bright light leads to the cessation of growth, the leaves begin to dry strongly. You should not have a flower on the south window.

The episode is one of the heat-loving plants, so the temperature of 22-27 degrees is suitable for it. The plant prefers high humidity - the higher it is, the better the flower feels. But not recommended spraying. The ideal option would be to use a humidifier.

Episcia: breeding features

The reproduction of epification occurs by 3 types - cuttings, leaves, seeds. Most often it is used first 2 options. If you decide to use seeds, then they need to be planted in a large container and lightly watered. For planting seed, a mixture of peat and sand is used, a bit of leaf mixture is added. Good growth occurs under conditions of high humidity, so the seed container is covered with glass, and as soon as sprouts begin to appear, they are transplanted into separate pots, not forgetting to use a special substrate and drainage.

The most common breeding episoia is rooting shoots. In this case, take a glass of water and place it in adult shoots. After the first roots begin to appear, you need to prikopat them at the bend of a couple of cm in a well-moistened soil. You can also prikopat shoots, not cutting them off from the plant, but for this you need to decide next to another pot. In about a week, rooting will occur.

The use and reproduction of leaflets is possible - drop the cut leaf into the soil, create greenhouse conditions (just cover the pot with a lid or glass on top). At a temperature of 25 degrees, rooting occurs quickly.

Regardless of which breeding method will be chosen, the most important thing is that there is a high temperature and humidity.

Epice: popular varieties with photos

Today, there are many different varieties and types of epitsii, differing not only in the shape and color of leaves, but also in flowers. Most often, gardeners opt for the following varieties:

Episcus copper comes from Colombia, has brown leaves, strongly pubescent. In the middle of the sheet pearl shade prevails, which can be poured to dark copper or blue.

Epice Silver Sheen possesses silvery, pubescent leaves with a beautiful greenish-brown border and specks. Flowers have a red-orange shade.

Episcia Silvans Beauty has completely silver leaves, and the flowers are bright red.

Episcia Creeping grows in Brazil, has black and green leaves and rather large flowers. On leaflets silvery streaks.

Epice Choclet Soldier is a richly flowering plant, has brown-green leaves, on which there are silver-blue dots. On one pedicle there are several flowers of a dark red shade at once.

Epice Groundfruit grows in Mexico. This plant has simple green leaves, but its flowers are striking in their uniqueness - they are very large, of a snow-white shade with a soft lace fringe.

Epice - a luxurious plant for home cultivation. It has elegant leaves and attractive flowers. It is difficult to care for a flower, it requires certain growth conditions: humidity, temperature. But all the difficulties more than pay off his magnificent appearance!