Zebrina is an unpretentious houseplant with beautiful leaves. Ask for an apical stalk or shoot from friends and breed this flower in yourself. Zebrina is a houseplant loved by many. With it, you can find out if you have geopathogenic zones in your apartment. In such places, she will look stunted, even if you take good care of her. This is a unique plant, the leaves of which contain phytoncides that have anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, zebrin is used in folk medicine, with its help they treat tumors and wounds. Also used for colds, diabetes, gynecological diseases. Leaves are added to food for domestic hamsters, cats, birds, turtles, as they contain many vitamins that are useful for animals.
Description of the flower
Shows what a zebrin photo looks like. This perennial plant is undersized, it belongs to the commeline family. Its leaves are oblong with pointed ends, the shoots are hanging or creeping. Zebrina, or as it is called in the common people, the golden mustache, is often planted in hanging pots and grown as ampelous. Zebrina naturally grows in Mexico and Central America. And it is called that way, because its leaves are striped and can be:
- pale green;
- silvery;
- red;
- green;
- white.
When the plant is still young, its shoots are erect, with age they bend down, and the flower turns into ampelous. Therefore, it is placed in hanging pots, in which the golden mustache looks great. Blossoming is infrequent, mainly in spring or summer. At this time, the buds open, which can be lilac, pink, purple in color. Zebrina flowers are small, rather inconspicuous.
To make it look decorative, the tips of its branches are pinched off, since the stems age quickly and their lower part is exposed due to the drying out of the foliage. Pinching helps the bush to be lush and look good. The golden mustache has a decorative function. Since its stems take root in the places of the knots, if the zebrin grows in sufficient space, it turns into a beautiful carpet. Therefore, at home, in winter gardens, you can create interesting compositions, the main focus of which will be this particular plant.
Zebrin species
There are 4 of them, but 3 of them are most often used in indoor floriculture, this is zebrina:
- purple;
- flocculosis;
- hanging.
The latter is often referred to as a dangling or tradescantia zebra. This variety has large leaves, each of which has 2 light stripes on a reddish background.
The purple zebra leaves do not have clear stripes, they are green-reddish, purple above, and pubescent below. What this photo zebrina looks like will tell you.
Zebrina flocculosis has fleecy whitish soft leaves.
Growing a golden mustache
A perfect substrate for growing zebrins, consisting of taken in the same proportions:
- sand;
- peat;
- leafy land;
- humus.
This plant loves good lighting, but direct sunlight should not fall on this place. If you place the zebrin in shade for a short time, it will tolerate it, but it will become paler, it will lose its bright color.
If possible, then it is better to grow in the summer zebrin in the fresh air. At this time of the year, she will feel comfortable at home at room temperature. In winter, it needs a cooler content, so lower the temperature to + 13 ° C.
In summer, the golden mustache is watered moderately, in winter - only as needed. Spray the leaves of the plant, sometimes give it a shower, washing off the dust from the leaves. From spring to autumn, zebrina is fertilized once every 2-3 weeks, using complex fertilizers for decorative deciduous plants.
Transplantation and reproduction of zebrins
Propagated by apical cuttings, they take root well. You can propagate the golden mustache and the shoots that you have left after the spring pruning. They are placed in the water when the first roots appear, planted in spilled soil, shallowly buried.
For this, not only the above soil composition is suitable, but also the next one, consisting of one part of sand, taken in 2 parts of sod and leafy land. Zebrina is also successfully grown in hydroponics.
Different florists have their own tips for replanting this plant. Some recommend doing this annually by transferring to a larger pot. Others replace the aging plant with a new plant every 3 years. They do this because the flower ages quickly and loses its attractive appearance due to damage to the leaves. Helps to get a more lush bush, pinching shoots and annual rejuvenating pruning.
Here is such a zebrin flower - decorative leafy and not very whimsical to care for.
Zebrina can heal
In folk medicine, the medicinal properties of this plant are widely used. Zebrin can be used to treat warts. It has been proven that these skin growths are of viral origin. The sap of the striped plant can fight this type of virus. To get rid of the wart, you need to cut a few leaves of the plant and squeeze the juice out of them through cheesecloth. Soak a cotton swab in it, and then smear the skin growth. This procedure must be performed twice a day - in the morning and in the evening.
The plant also helps from thrombophlebitis. You will learn more about this by watching the video. In short, you can tell that you need to cut off 10-15 leaves of the plant, knead them with your hands into a gruel until the juice appears. Then you need to put the resulting mass on the inflamed area, tie it not tightly with a bandage and change the bandage 3 times a day.
Zebrin also helps against other diseases, but before using folk remedies, you need to consult with your doctor.
For more information on the treatment of thrombophlebitis with a golden mustache, see this video:
