Distinctive features of agapetes and place of origin, cultivation features, transplantation, selection of soil and fertilizers, advice on reproduction, species. Agapetes is a member of the genus of shrubby evergreen representatives of the green world of the planet, which belong to the Heather family (Ericaceae). There are also ranked up to 150 of the same varieties. In this plant, long-term family ties can be traced with Erica and heather, blueberry and oleander. The homeland of agapetes is considered to be the territory of northeastern India, and it also huddles in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, habitats extend from Nepalese lands to the southern borders of Bhutan, can be found on the island territories of the Pacific Ocean and mountain coastal shores in the north of the Australian continent.
Basically, green perennials that are part of this family have a shrub form of growth (in rare cases, these can be creeping vines). The leaf plates are mostly hard-surfaced and never fall off or change their green color. Representatives of heathers reach a height of 60 cm to 3 meters.
And the number of Agapetes continues to grow, for example, not so long ago, in 1998, in Tibetan lands, a Chinese botanist discovered the species Agapetes subsessilifolia, its flower inflorescences, corymbose form tend to grow on last year's branches, but his photo is almost impossible to find even in the vast The Internet.
How was this interesting plant found? For the first time, the English-born gardener David Don, whom he lived in 1799-1841, spoke about him. He was the younger brother of the famous flora collector George Don (1798–1856) and the son of the director of the royal garden, who was based in Edinburgh. Also, David Don was fond of not only the rarities found in those days among the green spaces, but he also loved to study conifers. Among the many green inhabitants that this scientist naturalist and botanist described was Agapetes, a copy of which was brought to him as a gift from China in 1881.
Agapetes got its name thanks to this very person, who tried to reflect all his emotions to the gift in his name - the translation of the Greek word “agapetos” means “desired” or “beloved”. So they began to call this plant, which turned out to be so successful that it reflected the problems associated with reproduction and many growers wanted it in their collection. People often call Agapetes the "Himalayan Lantern" - Himalayan Lantern.
The plant has a rather decorative appearance and is used to decorate backyard areas and large premises. Its height varies from one meter to 3 meters. The shrub is distinguished by a thickening at the base of the trunk - caudex, liquid collects there, which helps to survive periods of drought and heat. Its branches are long, curved, and flexible enough, they hang beautifully to the ground. Their surface is covered with glandular setae colored in brown tones. Beautiful flowers hang from these branches.
The leaf plates are arranged on the shoots in the next order or whorled. Their shape is oval, ovoid, obovate or elongated ovoid. The surface is very dense, leathery, glossy, there is a sharp point at the top. Their sizes rarely exceed 1–1, 5 cm. They are attached to a short petiole, completely covered with glands.
Flowers at anapetus grow singly or from them are collected inflorescences in the form of a brush or umbrella. The color of the petals is mainly pinkish, scarlet-red or red, sometimes white-pink. The tube-shaped corolla of the bud reaches 2–2.5 cm in length. It has five ribs, it is colored orange-red or bright orange, but the pattern is darker on the edges (this color reminds the famous "Chinese lanterns"). From a distance, the inflorescences look like highly decorative wreaths or fiery flower garlands.
After the flowering process, a fruit with a spherical shape, in the form of a berry, ripens, it has a bluish tint and reaches 8-10 mm in diameter. But in culture, agapetes bears fruit extremely rarely.
Most often, it is customary to grow this plant in greenhouses or cool rooms, as an ornamental flowering culture. Due to the great flexibility of the stem and branches, it can be grown as an ampelous crop.
Agapetes growing conditions
- Lighting and site selection. "Chinese flashlight" is very fond of good and bright lighting, but direct sunlight is harmful to it. Therefore, it is recommended to choose windows facing east, west, southeast and southwest. On the southern ones, you will have to hang translucent curtains for shading, and on the northern ones, you will need additional lighting with artificial light sources.
- Content temperature. Since agapetes grows in conditions where the air is cool and not very humid, then in winter it feels normal when heat indicators vary within 12-15 degrees. Only in this case, it will pick up many flower buds and bloom for a long time and profusely. In summer, the shrub may well withstand a temperature rise of up to 30 degrees, but it is still preferable to withstand room rates (22-25 degrees). If you do not arrange a cold "wintering", then the "Chinese flashlight" rarely lives more than a year in the warmth of city apartments.
- Air humidity. Since agapetes grow on the slopes of mountains in their natural environment, and there the humidity is not at all the same as in the tropical zone, then with the arrival of spring days and until the end of summer, it will be necessary to spray the bush with soft, warm water.
- Watering. The soil in the pot should be moist, but not waterlogged. After watering, the liquid from the sump is drained. It is recommended to use rain, river, melt or artesian water. Hard water with lime deposits is dangerous. In the spring-summer period, moderate moisture is needed, and with the arrival of autumn, their number and volume decreases, in winter it becomes scarce.
- Fertilizers agapetesu is applied every 2-3 weeks. Fertilizers are used for citrus fruits, but they are diluted before fertilization, and complex mineral solutions are also used.
- Transfer and composition of the substrate. It is necessary to carry out an operation to change the pot and soil in the spring. It is recommended to choose a transshipment method when the earthen ball is not deformed, and the roots of the plant will be least injured. The container for transplantation is selected wider and with a low height, since the root system of agapetes is superficial. As a pot, you can use a draped basket, planter pots or a container with side holes - this will provide good air circulation.
The soil for replanting needs light and nutritious with good air and water permeability. The mixture is made up of the following options:
- leafy, coniferous soil, humus, peat soil and chopped sphagnum moss (in the ratio 1: 1: 0, 5: 1: 2);
- leafy rotted earth, coniferous substrate, humus soil (in proportions 1: 1: 0, 5);
- coniferous substrate and sour peat at a rate of 2 to 1;
- ordinary soil for indoor plants with peat (equal parts).
It is possible to introduce perlite into the soil mixture, this will increase the possibility of greater air penetration into the soil.
Recommendations for self-propagation of agapetes
The opportunity to get a new plant of the "Himalayan lantern" is by planting seed or semi-lignified cuttings. Since in closed rooms agapetes practically does not bear fruit, the collection of seeds becomes a serious problem and the only successful and most common method is cuttings.
If, nevertheless, it is decided to carry out sowing of seeds, then they try to perform this operation with the arrival of spring days. The substrate is mixed from equal parts of peat soil and river sand. Having planted the seed, you will need to cover the container with a piece of glass or wrap it with plastic wrap - this will help create conditions with high humidity and heat (mini-greenhouse). The temperature for successful germination is maintained within 21 degrees. At the same time, it is recommended to carry out daily ventilation and ensure that the soil is always moist. As soon as two new leaves grow on the sprouts that have appeared, agapetes can be dived - transplanting in separate containers with sandy-peat soil.
In the spring, it is necessary to harvest cuttings, which are cut from the tops of the shoots. The length of the cutting should not be less than 10-15 cm. The substrate for rooting is mixed with light peat soil and chopped sphagnum moss (in proportions 1: 2). Temperature indicators should not go beyond 16-18 degrees. It is necessary to regularly ventilate the cuttings and moisten the soil. The appearance of root shoots with this care can be expected after one and a half to two months. If you want to speed up this process, then you will need to carry out the bottom heating of the substrate and create the conditions for a mini-greenhouse - the cuttings are placed under a glass jar or covered with a plastic bag. As soon as the main roots are formed, the plants should be transplanted into the main soil and container for further growth. The soil is taken the same as for adult specimens.
Young agapetes will be able to bloom only in the second, and possibly in the third year of their life. To form a beautiful bush with the arrival of spring days, you will need to regularly pinch and lightly trim the ends of the branches.
Problems when cultivating a plant indoors
Most often, the plant is annoyed by a mealybug or spider mite, which are clearly visible on the leaves and shoots of agapetes. Also, pests are manifested by the release of a whitish cotton-like bloom and a thin cobweb that accumulate in internodes. To combat them, you will need to take laundry soap, foam it with a sponge and wipe the leaf plates and bush branches. You can then cover the entire plant with plastic wrap. Or just leave it on for a few hours. The soapy film will create an airtight shell and the pests will die. But if this method does not work, then you will need to treat agapetes with insecticidal solutions, for example, "Fitover", "Aktellik" or "Aktara".
Also, if the lesion is insignificant, then you can use an alcohol solution of calendula or spray the leaves and branches with a strong infusion of garlic. They also use tinctures of tobacco or horsetail, unlike chemicals, these agents act more sparingly on the plant. But first, you still need to remove the pest with a soap swab of cotton wool.
It happens that on agapetes the leaf blades turn pale, and the veins are highlighted in a rich emerald color. This means that the plant does not have enough iron preparations - chlorosis has begun. It is necessary to increase the acidity of the soil by adding a little citric acid to the water for irrigation (at the tip of a knife) or using products such as "Mr. Color".
Types of agapetes
Agapetes serpens, found under the name of creeping agapetes or even Pentapterygiym serpens. In the lands of the "old woman" of England, it is customary to call this plant "Flaming heather" or "Flaming heather". The homeland has long been considered the eastern Himalayas or western Chinese lands. Despite the fact that its shoots have "creeping" properties, it turned out to be easier and more interesting to grow it indoors than other varieties. Its size is more modest, but it, like other varieties, blooms profusely and beautifully. The height rarely exceeds 90 cm, and then the shoots of the bush begin to lean towards the soil surface and take on creeping outlines, they cling to any protrusions and surfaces. The branches can be up to 2-3 meters long. However, when growing this plant in a winter garden and a greenhouse, the height can approach 3 meters.
Agapetes at the base of the trunk has a natural reservoir in which a liquid - caudex - is accumulated and stored. It looks like a large tuber.
The leaf blades cover the branches very often and are arranged alternately. Their length does not exceed 2 cm, the color is green, the surface is leathery and shiny. The leaves are oval or lanceolate in shape, differing in sharpening at the top and at the base. The petiole is so short that the leaf blade practically sits on the shoot.
The plant is especially proud of its bright flowers. They differ in funnel-shaped or tubular outlines. If you look at their shape, given the receptacle, they look very much like an arrowhead. Their location is the base of the leaf plates and they hang from the underside of the branches on pedicels with long and thin parameters. In the inflorescence, which has the shape of a brush, several pieces of buds are collected. The bottom of each flower is bordered by a beautiful medium-sized serration.
At the beginning of flowering, the color of the petals of the buds is thick and bright red, and over time their color brightens and turns into pinkish. At this time, a zigzag pattern appears on the surface of the flower, which, in combination with the general background, looks quite decorative.
When they look at the flowering flexible shoots of agapetes from the side, they somehow begin to resemble Christmas tree garlands with bright Chinese lanterns or unusual bulbs. But there is a variety of this variety with buds painted in a snow-white color scheme.
The flowering process of the "Chinese lantern" is very extended in time, its duration can be up to 5 months, the beginning of flowering falls on November or December. But if this does not happen, then agapetes can bloom 2-3 times a year, for one and a half to two months. It bears fruit with fleshy blue berries with a round shape. However, the plant does not bear fruit in indoor conditions.
- Agapetes buxifolia. The native habitat is the foothills of the Himalayan mountains and the territory of Bhutan. The plant is a shrub that grows to a height of one and a half meters. His shoots droop to the ground. The leaf blades are painted in green color, have an obovate shape with a length of 3 cm. It blooms with buds of a bright red hue, reaching a length of 2.5 cm. Usually the flowering process occurs from March to May.
- Agapetes subsessilifolia (Agapetes subsessilifolia). Shrub plant with bare shoots. The branches grow slightly obliquely and reach 2 mm in diameter. Leaves are sparse, oppositely located, practically devoid of petioles (their length is approximately 2-3 mm), we can say that they are sessile on a branch. The leaf blade is distinguished by an oval-elongated shape or broadly elliptical, with a length of 7, 5-14 cm and a width of 3-5, 5 cm. Their surface is leathery and they are slightly pointed at the ends. In corymbose inflorescences 3-5 flowers are collected. The peduncle measures 2, 5–3, 5 cm. The calyx of the tube reaches 4 mm, there is a division up to 2/3 of the length of the petal. The blades are distinguished by an elongated triangular shape of 5 mm. The color of the corolla is reddish with purple zigzag stripes, its shape is tubular, the length reaches 2.5 cm.
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