A general description of the plant, tips for caring for ficus crater-leaved at home, methods of reproduction, possible diseases and pests and ways to destroy them, curious to note. Ficus crater-leaved is not too demanding on the selection of the composition of the soil mixture, but it is important that it has weak or neutral acidity, be loose, and allows moisture and air to pass through to the roots well. You can use ready-made commercial substrates intended for ficuses or palm trees, but for greater looseness, charcoal crushed into small pieces is added to them. But plant connoisseurs compose the soil on their own from the following components:
- sod soil, peat, leafy soil (it can be collected in a park or forest from under deciduous trees, taking also a little rotted foliage) and coarse sand, taken in equal parts;
- leafy soil, turf, river sand (in a ratio of 1: 1: 0, 5) with the addition of a small part of crushed charcoal.
For such plants, a transplant is recommended by the transshipment method, that is, a simple transfer of an earthen coma, braided by the root system of a forest ficus, into a new container and adding fresh soil on the sides. When the ficus craterostomy is grown using the bonsai technique, then when removing it from the flowerpot, it will be necessary to shorten the length of the roots by 10%, and sprinkle the sections with powder from crushed activated charcoal or charcoal for disinfection.
Since after transplanting the ficus crater-leaved is stressed, you should not water it abundantly or put it in a brightly lit place. It takes at least a couple of days to adapt.
Breeding rules for ficus katerolistny in room conditions
You can get a new plant of ficus craterostomy by sowing seeds or rooting cuttings.
For seed propagation, the material should be selected from ripe, ripe syconia (when they ripen, they fall to the ground). The fruit is opened and dried during the day. It is recommended to sow immediately, but the seeds do not lose their germination for several months if they are stored in a cool dry place. Sowing seeds is best in spring. Before planting, it is necessary to treat the pots and soil with fungicides so that infection with putrefactive bacteria does not occur. To carry out planting, you need to break the dried fruit and distribute the seeds over a moistened substrate of peat and sand (peat and perlite or leaf earth and sand). Then the crops are slightly "sprinkled" with the same soil.
The container with seeds is placed in a well-ventilated, warm (temperature about 25 degrees) and bright place. When caring for seedlings, bottom watering should be applied or moistened with a thin stream along the wall of the pot, so as not to wash the seeds out of the soil. To create greenhouse conditions, the container is covered with a plastic transparent bag or a piece of glass is placed on top. Requires daily ventilation for 10-15 minutes and do not allow the soil to dry out. The first shoots with proper care can be seen in 10-12 days.
Then the shelter is removed, and young crater-leaved ficuses are accustomed to indoor conditions. The first feeding is carried out with half-diluted fertilizer and the pot is moved to a brighter place. After 14 days, the seedlings are transplanted into pots one at a time, picking up a well-drained and humus-rich soil. When roots appear from the drainage holes, a new transplant should be carried out.
In spring or early summer, cuttings are cut from the apical or semi-lignified branches. Their length is at least 8-10 cm and there should be a pair of healthy leaves, the rest are removed so that moisture does not evaporate from them. The cut must be well rinsed under running water so that milky juice does not ooze from it. Then the cuttings are planted in wet sand or placed in a jar of boiled water, in which a root formation stimulator is diluted. Then the container with twigs is covered with transparent plastic wrap and placed in a warm place. Care is practically the same as for crops (airing and watering the soil). When a month has passed, the cuttings should take root and then the shelter is removed, and the seedlings are transferred to separate containers with drainage and a more fertile substrate.
Often, the method of rooting layers is also used for reproduction.
Possible diseases and pests when caring for ficus crateroliferous
Like other representatives of the genus, the ficus craterostoma reacts very negatively to the substrate gulf - there is an almost instantaneous discharge of all the foliage, only bare branches remain, but drying of the earthen coma is undesirable. If the leaves are constantly exposed to direct rays of sunlight, then the surface will begin to be covered with brown spots. But with too much shading, the shoots are stretched, and the size of the foliage becomes smaller. If the rules of care are violated, it is possible to damage the scabbard, spider mite or mealybug - treatment with insecticidal and acaricidal preparations is carried out.
Interesting facts about ficus crateroliferous
Although the fruits of the ficus crateroliferous are edible, their size is small and they are practically devoid of taste. Under natural conditions, they are eaten only when the food of the nation is rather scarce. There are often wasp larvae inside, so it is recommended to open the fruit when eating.
You can use a root tincture soaked in water overnight to help cleanse the blood. Compresses and poultices are made from the leaves for wounds, boils, warts and other skin problems.
