Description of the signs of a palm tree, conditions for growing hovea, recommendations for transplanting and reproduction, cultivation problems and ways to solve them, interesting facts. Hovea (Howea Benth. Et Hook f.) Belongs to the numerous Palm family (Arecaceae). The homeland of the plant is considered to be the island territories of Lord Howe, as well as areas of Oceania and the Australian continent. This evergreen beauty carries its second name "Kentia" in honor of the capital of the native island. Since the early reign of Queen Victoria, these palms have been cultivated in homes as a tub plant. If you look closely at films, for example, based on the novels of Agatha Christie, you will see this exotic plant with a spreading crown of green leaves in the decoration of every house. Yes, this palm tree is not the most magnificent of the representatives of the family, but its refined and graceful appearance was very suitable for the style of the aristocrats, and in our time it continues to attract the eyes of people.
The plant can stretch at home to a height of one and a half to two meters with an almost two meter diameter of the crown. Kentia has a low growth rate, but in a year it can add a few centimeters and acquire a couple of new young leaves. In adult specimens, their number can reach 15–20 units.
The trunk of the hovea is rather short and long leaf stalks originate from it. Sometimes it is covered with fine hairs. The leaf plate itself is pinnately dissected and can reach a length of two to two and a half meters. A distinct venation appears on the surface. The leaf bends slightly towards the ground. The root system is cordlike and quite delicate.
The flowers look very much like "balls" of yellow mimosa, from which racemose inflorescences are collected. After the fruiting process, a fruit ripens, which is similar to a date. It measures 4 cm in length, has a reddish color and is distinguished by an ovoid shape.
Usually, for greater decorativeness and sale in retail chains, it is customary to plant several kentias in one container. Usually then the plant is rarely planted, although an adult hove needs a personal pot. It is used to create exotic flower arrangements by designers, or if you want to decorate a large room with greenery - a hall, terrace or hallway.
Important! No leaf polish required.
Tips for caring for a palm tree at home
- Lighting and location selection. Feels great, both in good lighting (but without direct sunlight) and in shade. Therefore, you can put it on windows with an east or west orientation. If this is not possible, then in the room of the southern location the pot with the hoveia is installed in the back of the room, but on the windows of the northern location it will be necessary to provide supplemental lighting with phyto lamps. It is also necessary to highlight the palm tree in the autumn-winter period.
- Kentia content temperature. Most of all, the palm tree loves moderate room temperatures. During the spring-summer period, the thermometer indicators should be within no higher than 25 degrees, if hot days come, then frequent spraying of the plant will be required so as not to provoke pest damage. It is better when the temperature floats within 14-18 degrees throughout the year. In winter, for Belmore's hovei, heat indices should not fall below 16 degrees, and for Forster's hovei - no lower than 10 degrees. With the arrival of constant heat, you can take a pot with a plant to fresh air in a garden or terrace, balcony. However, it is necessary to choose a place with protection from ultraviolet fluxes at noon and the action of drafts. If the palm tree is constantly kept indoors, then it must be regularly ventilated, protecting the plant from cold streams.
- Air humidity is very important for Kentia. If the palm tree is kept in rooms where the temperature does not rise above 25 degrees, then there is no need to increase the moisture in the air, you can only periodically shower to remove dust from the leaves or wipe the leaf lobes with a damp cloth or sponge. In this procedure, the leaf is supported by the hand from below so as not to damage it. When the heat indicators grow, you will often have to spray the hoveya, put vessels filled with water next to it, or use air humidifiers. It is also recommended, if the pot is not large, install it in deep trays, at the bottom of which a layer of expanded clay or pebbles is poured (you can put chopped sphagnum moss) and pour a little water, but its surface should not reach the bottom of the flowerpot, so that this does not provoke root rot systems. The water for spraying is taken soft, since otherwise all the leaves will be covered with a whitish coating of lime.
- Fertilization. To make your feathery beauty feel good, you need to carry out regular feeding and preferably organic. You can use special commercial solutions "Palma" or conventional mineral complexes in the concentration specified by the manufacturer. In the summer, this procedure is carried out twice a month, and the rest of the time once every 30 days. Mullein diluted in water is introduced as organic matter. You should not fertilize the palm tree in the year of transplantation, this is done the next spring.
- Watering hovea. It is necessary to water the soil regularly and abundantly, it should always be in a moist state, but moisture stagnation should not be allowed. In the summertime, the drying up of the topsoil will serve as a signal, but with the arrival of winter, humidification is significantly reduced, especially if Kentia is kept at low heat and light indicators. The palm tree does not tolerate watering with hard and cold water; it is better to use rain, thawed snow or distilled water at room temperature.
- Transplantation and selection of a substrate. While the plant is young, it needs to be replanted annually using the transshipment method - without destroying the earthen ball so that the root system is not injured. When the palm tree grows up, then you should limit yourself to adding the substrate over the old soil. It is recommended to loosen the old substrate annually with a wooden stick, but very carefully so as not to damage the root system. In the pot, holes are necessarily threaded for the drain of excess moisture and a layer of drainage material is poured onto the bottom, it can be a medium fraction of expanded clay or pebbles.
The substrate does not play a big role for hovea, it only requires that it be loamy. You can use hydroponic material for planting. But some growers make up a soil mixture of the following components:
- light clay-sod soil, humus-leaf soil, apical peat, rotted manure, river sand (in a ratio of 2: 2: 1: 1: 1), sometimes a little crushed charcoal is mixed into the substrate;
- turf, leafy soil, humus, hand sand (4: 2: 1: 1).
Recommendations for choosing a plant before buying
Before you buy a palm tree, you should carefully examine it, the color of the leaf lobes should be dark green on the upper side, and slightly lighter on the bottom. Also, on the back of the leaves, brown scales are clearly visible - this is natural for kentias. If large brown spots are visible on the leaf lobes, then this means improper watering and such a plant should not be bought, since in this case a disease of the root system is possible.
In winter, during transportation, it is required to carefully pack the palm in several layers of paper, as it is sensitive to low temperatures. But even in the summer, it is required that the plant is not in the car for a long time, since the hovea can "cook" from the heat.
Having brought a palm tree home, you need to inspect it for pests, rinse the leaves under shower jets and then treat with any insecticide (for example, "Aktara").
Self-breeding hovea indoors
You can get a new feathery beauty only by planting seed or dividing a bush.
The first method is not very easy for novice florists. The plant has a very slow growth rate and it will take 5-7 years for Kentia to grow noticeably. Seeds can germinate for a very long time, some hatch for 2-12 months, and many can be expected from a year to three !!! Perhaps the reason is that seed germination disappears after 8-16 weeks after harvest. Since the seeds ripen for a very long time, and they could have been harvested in an insufficiently ripe state.
It is necessary to plant seeds in February or March. Seed material needs to be soaked in water at a temperature of 30 degrees for 5 days, it is better to use a thermos for this. If there is a dartos, then it is removed. Using a file (abrasive stone or file), it is necessary to destroy the hard shell of the seed. The pots are filled with a sand-peat mixture pre-treated with fungicides. The substrate level should be 15 mm below the rim of the container. The seeds are sown one at a time in a pot, pressing a little into the soil - it is not recommended to sprinkle them. The part that was filed should be in the ground. The pot is wrapped in a plastic bag or covered with a piece of glass.
When germinating seeds, it is important to maintain temperatures of 25-30 degrees and humidity of 100%. It is necessary to place the seedlings in a place with diffused soft lighting and regularly ventilate, not forgetting to moisten the soil a little.
When the first leaf appears on the seedlings, you can dive into separate pots with a diameter of 7-9 cm. It is important not to tear off the seeds when transplanting seedlings, as they supply the young palm with nutrients for a long time.
If you propagate hovea by planting a bush, you will need to do this in mid or late spring. The container or pot must match the size of the root system of the cut. Usually 15 palm stems are placed in one container.
The mother's kentia must be carefully removed from the pot, the earthen lump must be shaken to loosen the substrate, it is necessary to manually remove the soil between the roots of the palm tree. It is recommended to divide the root system as quickly as possible, preventing it from drying out. A soil mixture is poured into the pots, composed of 2 parts of perlite, the same amount of leaf humus (not sifted) and a part of sod soil. The soil is pre-sterilized. Delenki are planted in pots and watered. Then the plants are placed in a place with partial shade, at a temperature of 20-25 degrees. The air humidity should be at least 50%, watering is carried out when the substrate has dried out 2 cm deep. Seedlings are required to be protected from drafts. Rooting occurs after a week or two. Once this time has passed and the plant is signaling normal growth, you can fertilize with a half dose of fertilizer.
Difficulties in growing Kentia and ways to solve them
When cultivating a palm, the following troubles can be noted:
- Yellowing and drying of the lower leaves means a natural aging process, but if this happens with a large number of leaves, then it is a sign of excessive soil moisture or sometimes a lack of light. Solution: normalize the watering regime or move the plant closer to the light.
- The leaves are covered with brown spots. The problem is either the regular flooding of the soil, or its frequent overdrying. Solution: if the substrate has been poured, then it is necessary to carefully remove the palm from the pot, examine the root system, remove all rotten roots and sprinkle the slices with crushed activated charcoal or charcoal. Then the earthen lump is dried, the hoveya is placed back in the flowerpot and the irrigation regime is leveled. If the substrate was overdried, and the leaf lobes have lost turgor, then it is necessary to spray the crown and water the soil. In order for the root system to recover faster, it is recommended to treat the palm with Zircon (at the rate of 4 drops of solution per liter of water), then it is required to water and spray the plant more than once a week.
- Whitish spots appear on the leaves. Spider mite or thrips infestation. Solution: insecticide treatment.
- Turn yellow leaf plates can also be exposed to direct sunlight. Solution: Move the pot to a shaded area or hang light curtains over the window.
Of the pests that infect hovea (as mentioned earlier), spider mites, thrips, aphids, mealybugs, caterpillars are isolated. Some pests are clearly visible with the naked eye (caterpillars or aphids), but others should be recognized by yellowed leaves, their drying out and falling off, the appearance of punctures along the edges of leaf lobes, growth arrest or the appearance of a sticky sugary bloom, or plaque in the form of small cotton wool lumps. In case of detection of the listed symptoms, it is required to immediately treat the palm tree with soap, oil or alcohol solution, applying it to a cotton pad and removing insects by hand. However, if non-chemical agents do not work, then Kentia will have to be sprayed with systemic insecticides. The operation is repeated after 10 days until the pests are destroyed.
Interesting facts about hove
Connoisseurs use this type of palm not only for landscaping premises; hovea can successfully work as a natural filter. It has the ability to purify the air in the room where the pot is installed, saturates it with moisture and can eliminate harmful chemicals in the environment.
Kentia maintains a strong energy of kindness in the house, enhances the atmosphere of kind-heartedness, gives everyone present vigor, inspires optimism and does not let the spirit drop. The plant helps to reveal to a person the sociable qualities in himself, helps to increase enthusiasm. Suitable for people born under the signs of Pisces and Gemini.
Types of hovea
Usually in home floriculture it is customary to grow two types of hovei: Belmora and Forster.
- Howea belmoreana. The plant loves to settle on the shores of Lord Howe Island, in the coral sands. The trunk can vary in height from 6 to 10 m. At the base there is an expansion and ring marks that remain from wilted and fallen leaves over time. The leaf blade is dissected in the form of a feather, arched on a strong petiole with a length not exceeding 40 cm. The shares of the dissected parts reach 40–60 cm in length and 2–2.5 cm in width, although the entire leaf can grow from one and a half to four meters. The leaf lobes are very densely located on the sides of the rachis, straight. The color of the leaves is matte, rich emerald color. The inflorescence is simple, not distinguished by branching, measured in length 0, 6-1, 3 mm.
- Howea forsteriana. This palm tree can grow on rocks, preferring 300 meters above sea level. The plant reaches a height of 12 m under natural conditions. In a palm tree, the trunk does not have an extension at the base, it grows upright. The leaves are pinnately dissected, measuring in length from 2 to 2.5 meters. Those that grow below the stem are horizontal. The petioles are long, ranging in size from one meter to one and a half meter indicators. Compared to the previous type, they have practically no curvature. The inflorescence is distinguished by its branching and meter length. If a palm tree is cultivated in greenhouse conditions, then it blooms and the fruits ripen.
More about hoveia care in this video:
