General features of acanthostachis, origin and care advice, recommendations for transplantation and reproduction at home, diseases and pests, species. Acanthostachys (Acanthostachys) belongs to the monotypic genus of representatives of epiphytic plants that settle on the branches or trunks of tall trees. This genus is included in the Bromeliad family, which sounds like Bromeliaceae in Latin and is a fairly popular indoor culture. Acanthostachis can consider the territories of Brazil and Argentina (that is, the lands of South America), where the tropical climate reigns supreme, as its native habitat.
This plant got its name from the merger of two words in Greek: "acantha" and "stachys", which translate as "thorn" and "ear", respectively. This name is associated with the appearance of leaf blades and inflorescences. According to some reports, the genus Akantostachis includes from one to four species represented by bromeliads.
The plant has a herbaceous form of growth and it is a perennial with evergreen foliage. The height can reach meter indicators. In acanthostachis, the leaves are narrow drooping cord-like shoots that taper towards the top. Often their dimensions do not exceed one centimeter in width, but their length approaches a meter. The color of these shoot leaves is dark emerald, and there is a thin reddish stripe along the edge. Often there is a whitish undertone, as if the leaves are sprinkled with flour. The edge of the leaf plate is decorated with small teeth and is protected by thorns. These spines are located along the entire length of the leaf and are sometimes cast in bloody tones. Their height can be up to half a centimeter. A plant often develops a small number of additional lateral shoots-processes.
The flowering period extends from July to October. At the same time, beautiful inflorescences are formed on acanthostachis, which characterize all varieties of representatives of this family. Flowers emerge from a leaf rosette. As soon as flowering stops, the fruits begin to ripen, in the form of a cone-seed, which in appearance is very similar to the outlines of a pineapple. The color of this fruit is orange-reddish.
Most often, it is customary to grow this exotic plant in large, cool rooms - for example, halls and terraces, as well as conditions of greenhouses or conservatories, may be suitable. Due to drooping leaves, it can be cultivated as an ampelous plant. However, on the territory of Russia, this thorny herbaceous bush is not so loved by flower growers as in the countries of the West.
Acantostachis is not capricious and does not require much effort to grow. And since the plant can lead an epiphytic way of life, then wooden baskets, medium pieces of wood or small pots are used for planting.
Growing, watering and care of acanthostachis
- Lighting. The plant is not too demanding on the level of light in the room where it is grown. But it will still give preference to diffused soft lighting, and can grow well in partial shade. Server location windows, or east and west directional window sills will do. If you install a pot of acanthostachis on the sill of a window facing the south, you will have to carefully shade the grass bush, since direct sunlight will inevitably lead to sunburn, and as a result to the formation of brown spot on the leaf plates.
- Content temperature. That's what acantostachis doesn't like, it's changes in the temperature regime. He likes moderate heat readings. It is optimal to maintain the temperature in the spring-summer months in the range of 20-24 degrees, and with the arrival of autumn and until the end of winter, it can be lowered to 15-18 degrees. If these conditions are maintained, then during the absence of vegetation, it is necessary to water the plant extremely carefully in order to avoid rotting of the root system.
- Air humidity. The plant, as a resident of subtropical and tropical areas, prefers high humidity. It will be necessary to spray the grass bush in the spring-summer period with a frequency of once every one or two days, especially if the heat indicators began to grow. Even in the autumn-winter period, such procedures are also recommended, only the water must be at room temperature and not hard, otherwise the plant will have brown spots on the leaf plates.
- Watering acanthostachis. In the summer months, the bush must be watered regularly, as soon as the top layer of the substrate has dried in the pot (or if you take a pinch of earth, it will crumble). Roughly moisturizing can be every ten days. With the onset of winter, especially with a cool content, it is required to moisten the soil moderately. The main thing in this is to prevent soil from flooding, as this will cause the root system to decay. An important role is played by the liquid with which watering is carried out - it must be soft, since solid water will dry out the ends of the acanthostachis leaf plates. Naturally, harvested rainwater or river water is best suited, but not everyone has this opportunity. In this case, it is necessary to take tap water, pass it through a filter, and then subject it to boiling and settling for several days. Only in this case can you be sure that harmful lime compounds will leave the liquid intended for irrigation.
- Fertilization for this representative of the Bromeliad family, it is carried out with the beginning of the activation of vegetative processes, that is, during the time from spring to mid-autumn. In winter, you should not bother acanthostachis with top dressing. Any universal complex fertilizer solutions that are applied in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations are suitable.
- Transplant and selection of suitable soil. Since acanthostachis often grows as an epiphytic representative of the flora, small containers with holes along the entire surface of the pot or wooden baskets can be used to grow it. They carry out a change of container and substrate with the arrival of spring, but it is necessary to select the container carefully - it should not be too large for the root system, otherwise you can wait for flowering for a very long time, since acanthostachis begins to release buds when the entire earthen lump is completely mastered by the root system …
The substrate for this plant is mixed from the following options: humus, spruce bark and leafy soil, fine expanded clay or fine gravel (in a ratio of 2: 1: 4: 1). So that the soil mixture has a greater capacity for air or moisture, chopped sphagnum moss, pieces of charcoal and sod land are added to it.
Interestingly, it is possible to grow acanthostachis on a piece of wood. To do this, you will need to remove the herbal bush from the pot, carefully wrap a lump of earth with a root system with moistened sphagnum moss and attach it to a piece of bark with a wire.
Self-propagation of a plant at home
To obtain a new grassy shrub with elongated leaf blades, it is necessary to use the sowing of seed material or the vegetative method.
From the mother bush of acanthostachis, a young, fully formed process is neatly separated - a baby. This operation is combined in spring with a plant transplant in order to less traumatize the root system. If possible, then manually separate the roots of the baby from the common root ball, but if it does not work out, then you will have to use a well-sharpened and disinfected knife and cut the root system. The cut of the cut is powdered with activated or charcoal crushed into powder and dried a little. After that, the "young" can be planted in a soil mixture based on peat soil, leafy soil and river sand, taken in equal frequency. After that, it is necessary to maintain room temperature, constantly spray and moisten the plant as the soil dries. As soon as the acanthostachis delenki show signs of rooting (new shoots begin to appear), then you can put the pot in a permanent place of growth and take care of the plants as usual.
For propagation with the help of seeds, a soil is compiled on the basis of chopped sphagnum moss or peat soil, mixed with river sand in equal parts. Before planting seeds, they must be washed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (it should only slightly stain the water pinkish) and then dry slightly. Seed material is sown on the surface of a moistened substrate laid in a container, slightly covered with soil. The container with seedlings is placed in a warm place and covered with a piece of glass or wrapped in a plastic bag to create greenhouse conditions. It is necessary not to forget to air the landing for 15 minutes every day and spray with a fine spray of a spray bottle. As soon as the seeds hatch and a couple of real leaves grow, then you will need to accustom young acanthostachis to indoor air, lengthening the airing time. When there are 3-4 leaf blades, then a pick is carried out into separate pots with a substrate suitable for planting plant children.
Difficulties in growing acanthostachis at home
Most often, if the conditions of detention are violated, the plant can be bothered by a mealybug or scale insect. These pests are clearly visible on leaf plates and in internodes. With its proboscis, the pest pierces the surface of the leaf and begins to suck the cell sap. After that, the leaf plate begins to turn yellow, deform and dry out. The discharge of a harmful insect is also visible - a sticky sugary bloom on the leaves or cotton-like lumps of a white hue (these are the waste products of the pest).
If the listed symptoms are noticed, then it is necessary to immediately start pest control, otherwise the plaque can further provoke the appearance of a sooty fungus, which feeds on sugary secretions and the whole plant will turn black and die.
They use folk remedies to harm your beloved green pet less. These can be the following of the listed drugs:
- Oil solution, made on the basis of rosemary essential oil, a couple, drops of which are dissolved in a liter jar of water.
- Soap detergent - it is necessary to dissolve up to 40 grams in a bucket of water. grated laundry soap (any detergent or dishwashing detergent). The solution is infused for several hours, and then filtered through cheesecloth and ready to use.
- Alcohol tincture - use pharmacy alcohol solutions of calendula or wormwood.
These funds are applied to a cotton pad, or moistened with a cotton swab and manually remove pests from the leaves. You can spray the grass bush and also treat the place where the pot is located. However, it will be necessary to repeat the treatment after 5-7 days, since these solutions may not immediately affect the insects.
If sparing means do not give the desired result, then treatment with insecticidal preparations should be applied - Aktara, Fitoverm, Confidor and others with a similar spectrum of action will do.
Other unpleasant symptoms include the following:
- With increased dryness of the air or watering with hard water, acanthostachis has a brown spot on the tips of the leaf plates, and they subsequently dry out.
- If sunburn occurs, the plant will react with light brown spots on the leaves.
- Shoots and leaves rot with excessive watering.
Types of acanthostachis
Acanthostachys pineal (Acanthostachys strobilacea, Klotzsch & Otto). Grown in culture since 1840. A perennial herb with a leaf rosette and a rhizome buried in the ground. The height can vary between 90-100 cm. It spreads from the territories of eastern Brazil, Paraguay or northeastern Argentina. He prefers to settle in areas with subtropical and tropical climatic conditions, mainly in forests, at an altitude of 750–800 m above sea level. You can also find his epiphytic type of growth, when he used the trunks and branches of spreading trees for life, or he could choose rocks for his residence, and grow as a lithophytic plant.
A loose rosette is assembled from narrow, elongated leaves drooping to the ground. On the leaf blades along the entire length, there are spines of a red tone. The color of the leaves is silvery green. Length measurements reach meters with a width of less than one centimeter. Often there is the formation of a certain number of lateral branches.
It begins to bloom from July to the end of October days. The inflorescence appears dense and simple, rounded or cylindrical in shape. In length, it reaches 3–7 cm, with a diameter of 2–4 cm. The flowering stem of acanthostachis is also distinguished by the outlines of a cylinder, it is thin and covered with scaly formations. Its top is crowned with two peri-flower bracts - it is a modified leaf, in the axil of which a flower bud or inflorescence appears. This representative has wide-oval bractea with triangular ends, which are bent and have sharp points at the tops, rather dense and convex. The color of the bractea is most often light orange or red-orange. As soon as the bractea dries up, it acquires a chestnut shade with veins that cover the scales. Over time, they get a glossy sheen and are not pubescent.
The flowers that open on the acanthostachis are sessile, with a compressed shape, measure up to 2–2.5 cm in length. They are distinguished by sepals that remain not fused, they are triangular in shape with a pointed end. They can grow to a length of 8-11 centimeters. They also have deadrise and are covered with scales of a bright yellow color scheme. The petals of the flower also do not grow together, they are straight in appearance and measure one and a half centimeters. They have two scales at the base, a yellow tint. The stamens of the flower do not look out of the corolla, the ovaries are strongly compressed, almost round.
After that, pineal fruits are tied, which resemble a miniature pineapple or a small cone, their color is bright orange. They can be up to 2.5 centimeters in size. Their color is not lost for 3-4 months. This plant is one of the most resilient representatives of the flora, which is suitable for indoor cultivation and is rarely affected by diseases and pests.
Acanthostachys pitcairnioides (Mez) Rauh & Barthlott). May be found in literary sources under the name Aechmea pitcairnioides Mez Monogr.). Perennial herbaceous representative of the Bromeliad family. It differs from the previous variety in that the leaf plates have a dark emerald sheen and along the edge are whiter than large spikes painted in a reddish color. The flower petals are shaded with a pale blue tint and originate from the center of the base of the leaf rosette.
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