General characteristics and tips for growing nidularium in rooms, recommendations for reproduction, getting rid of pests and diseases, facts, types. Nidularium (Nidularium) is a plant belonging to the large and well-known family of indoor flora, the Bromeliaceae family, which has a herbaceous form of growth. The native area of distribution of nidularium is in the territory of the state of Brazil. This genus includes, according to information from various literary reference books, from 20 to 80 varieties.
This representative of the flora received its scientific name thanks to the Latin word "nidus", which means nest. In all likelihood, this is due to the structure of the inflorescences, which are located inside the leaf rosette.
Nidularium can reach parameters in height varying from 40 cm to 1 meter 20 cm. These are mainly epiphytic plants that prefer to grow on the trunks and between tree branches, where it is possible to collect natural debris (leaves, bird droppings, etc. similar). This bromeliad specimen does not have a stem, or it is very shortened, like many other plants from this family. The leaf plates form a dense rosette, the shape of which resembles a glass. At the same time, the leaves have a hard and leathery surface, linear or belt-like, spiked serration is present along the edge. The color is always deep green, but depending on the variety of nidularium, many of them have reddening of the inner leaf plates before the flowering process begins.
There are also species of this plant, in which on the reverse side the leaf plates have a purple tint with a metallic sheen, on the upper side the leaf is greenish-brown. Also, botanists have described varieties in which the leaves differ in color, changing from a pale greenish to a dark rich emerald hue, along the surface of which there are stripes of whitish or cream color. By themselves, the leaves of the nidularium are quite dense and fleshy.
During flowering, an inflorescence is formed in the form of an ear, which takes capitate outlines. The inflorescence takes its origin from the center of the leaf outlet. The flowers in the inflorescence are placed very densely, their size is large, the buds themselves are sessile, stipules with a very bright color, which includes shades of red, green and lemon yellow. The flowering process occurs at the end of autumn. Only the bracts are remarkable in this action, and the flowers have no decorative value, they are mainly of a whitish tone.
Basically, nidularium is usually used as a single plant, but it is often grown in flower arrangements. It is good if a place is selected for him, where it is always warm and humid, which reminds the plant of its native areas. The growth rate of this one is low, and on average, the nidularium can please its owner for 3-4 years. Usually, when the flowering process ends, the mother outlet can continue to grow for another year or two, but then it completely dies off. It is not worth waiting for this time, but it is necessary to carry out the separation of young outlets ("children") for reproduction, so as not to lose this decorative representative of the flora.
Cultivation is simple in principle, but there are some nuances to keep in mind, and they are described below.
Tips for caring for nidularium at home
- Lighting and choice of place in the room. The plant requires bright but non-directional light. An east or west window will do if the light is bright - the bracts turn pale.
- Content temperature should be in the range of 18-25 degrees in the summer, and with the arrival of autumn and throughout the winter (when the dormant period begins) should not go beyond 12-15 units. It is desirable that the temperature does not fluctuate sharply; this representative of the bromeliad action of drafts is also afraid.
- Air humidity when growing nidularium should be 60–70%. In the spring-summer period, it is recommended to spray the leaf outlet daily, with the exception of the inflorescence. Water must always be poured in the leaf outlet, and the surface of the substrate in the pot must be covered with moistened sphagnum moss - this will reduce moisture evaporation. Often, flower growers even place a pot with a plant in a special pots with moistened moss. With the arrival of autumn-winter time, it is necessary to move the nidularium away from heating devices and central heating batteries.
- Watering the nidularium. In the summer, water is poured into a leaf outlet at least once a week, but when flowering begins, the soil in the pot is moistened with the same frequency. The water is used soft, otherwise decay is inevitable. In winter, watering becomes very moderate and only moistens the soil, water is not poured into the outlet if the heat indicators reach less than 20 degrees. Between watering at this time, the earth should dry out.
- Fertilize the plant from the beginning of the growing season to autumn with regularity every 14–20 days. Fertilizers are used for orchids in a highly diluted form, it is desirable that the drug is liquid. The composition is poured directly into a leaf outlet.
- Transfer nidularium is held every couple of years. After flowering is complete, you can change the container without burying the plant in the soil - this usually happens after purchase, when you need to change the shipping container to a regular pot. The next time you transplant, you can separate the children. At the bottom of the pot, a good layer of drainage material is necessarily laid in order - medium-sized expanded clay, broken shards or pebbles. It should be at least 1/3 of the total volume of the flowerpot. The soil for nidularium is selected light, it is mixed from deciduous humus, coarse-grain sand, high-moor peat, to which a little chopped sphagnum moss is added. Peat and river sand are taken in one part.
How to propagate nidularium with your own hands?
To get a new plant, they usually resort to planting "children", the so-called daughter outlets, or share an overgrown nidularium bush. Seed propagation is rarely used.
Over time, a certain number of children are formed in the maternal specimen, and when their size in diameter is 15 cm, then they can be separated. For this, a sharpened knife is used, which is recommended to be sterilized. Slices on both plants should be sprinkled with crushed charcoal or activated carbon. Before planting, the daughter outlet should be slightly dried, then wrapped in sphagnum moss or sprinkled with peat. Then you can plant in a pot filled with basic soil suitable for nidularia. There, the baby is germinated, not forgetting to spray every day. The container with the landing is placed in a shaded place. Plants obtained in this way will bloom for 2-3 years.
If there is a division of an overgrown bush, then this process is combined with a nidularium transplant. The bush is removed from the pot, the root system is freed from the soil as accurately as possible, and division is performed using a sterile sharp knife. They try to divide so that each division has a sufficient number of roots, otherwise the plants take a long time to take root or may die. Planting is carried out in pre-prepared pots with drainage and soil mixture. The first time after planting, until the delenki take root, they are kept in the shade, regularly sprinkling.
For seed reproduction, it is necessary to use a mini-greenhouse, where the temperature will be maintained at 25 degrees. Sowing is carried out in a mixture of river sand and chopped sphagnum moss. Seeds are only slightly sprinkled with substrate. After 2-3 weeks, you can see the first seedlings. When 2-3 leaves are formed on young nidularia (no earlier than 3-4 months), they are dived and planted in separate pots with selected soil.
Difficulties associated with growing nedularium indoors
If there is a long-term violation of the above rules for growing a plant, then it may be damaged by harmful insects, such as a scale insect, as well as occasionally a mealybug or spider mite. In the first case, brown-brown dots are visible on the back of the leaves, in the second, whitish cotton-like formations not only on the leaves, but on the stem and peduncle, the third pest is characterized by the appearance of a thin cobweb on the leaf plates. In any case, to fight, you will have to treat with a systemic insecticidal agent.
It is also fashionable to note among the general difficulties:
- drying of leaves and their tops at low humidity in the room;
- if the temperature in the room is too low, then the leaves droop, and the development of putrefactive processes can be observed;
- also watering with hard water is accompanied by rotting;
- if the substrate is constantly in a waterlogged state, then the root system and the base of the stem begins to rot and the nidularium will soon die;
- with a lack of nutrients, daughter outlets are not formed;
- when the plant is affected by fungal diseases, gray spots appear on the leaves - an urgent transplant into a sterile substrate and container is required, but before that all affected areas are removed and treated with a fungicide;
- if the nidularium is in direct sunlight, then sunburn is possible, in which brown or pale brown spots form on the foliage;
- when the level of illumination is low, then the plant is strongly elongated, and begins to increase in height, if there is enough light, then usually the growth goes in breadth.
Curious facts about the nidularium
If the grower does not have sufficient experience, then for him the external features of the nidularium resemble neorehelia, however, when faced with the first representative of the bromeliad family, one will have to admit that the conditions for its cultivation are more complicated. Since nidularia are more demanding on the moisture parameters during cultivation, terrariums, humid greenhouses or "flower windows" will need to be used for success. In such devices, it is possible to maintain constantly the necessary humidity and temperature indicators.
Types of nidularium
- Nidularium billbergioides is a native of the territories of Brazil, namely from the forests growing on the plains. It is an epiphytic or semi-epiphytic plant. The number of leaves can vary from 10 to 16 units. They form a rather dense funnel-shaped rosette. The shape of the leaves is broadly linear, sharpening goes to the top, and the leaf is slightly narrowed at the base. The color of the foliage is bright green. The length of the plate reaches 30–70 cm with a total width of 2–4 cm. There is a fine serration along the edge. During flowering, a flowering stem is formed, but its length is small, it is straight and thin. Spike-shaped inflorescences consist of flowers, but the number of buds in them is small. A compacted, complex, capitate inflorescence is collected from these spikelets; it contains 5–6 such spikelets. The length of the inflorescence is 8 cm. The spikelets grow sessile, and the number of flowers in them does not exceed 5-6 pieces. Spikelet inflorescences completely hide the axils of large inflorescences (bracts). Their size is much larger than the inflorescences, their color is lemon-yellow, the length is 6-7 cm. After flowering, they change their color to green. Flowers vary in length within 2, 5-3 cm. The sepals are green in color; they have splicing up to the middle. The petals in the buds are whitish, equal in length to 2 cm. The flowering process occurs at the end of spring, and stretches until the beginning of winter. The plant has been cultivated since 1883.
- Nidularium brilliant (Nidularium fulgens). The native habitat falls on the lands of Brazil, where there are moist forests in a tropical climate. Epiphyte, the leaves of which are collected in a leaf rosette. There are 15–20 of them there. The leaf shape is belt-like, the location in the outlet is dense. The length of the leaf reaches 30 cm with an average width of 3 cm. The surface on top is smooth and bright green in color, there is spotting. On the reverse side, the leaf is slightly lighter, along the edge there are thorns reaching a length of 4 cm, directed upwards and having a bend. The color of the thorns is brown; in the central part of the leaf plate, they become much smaller in size. Before the flowers bloom, the leaves acquire a fiery scarlet color. The flower petals are lilac-violet or bluish. It is the combination of blue flowers and scarlet bracts, as well as foliage of rich shades of greenery, that make up all the decorative beauty of this variety.
- Nidularium innocentii. This type of plant can be found in the wild, growing in the rainy forests of Brazil, if you rise to a height of 850 meters above sea level. Prefers to settle in trees as an epiphyte. The number of leaf blades is large, they vary in length from 20 to 60 cm with a width of about 4 to 5.5 cm. The rosette of leaves is spreading. The leaf shape is lingual, it can either have a gradual sharpening or be rounded, but only a sharp end is present at the top. The color on the upper side is dark emerald with a reddish tint, and the lower side is shaded with the dark color of beets. The surface of the leaf is bare; spiny and hard denticles are set along the edge. The inflorescence looks deeply embedded in a leaf rosette and is composed of multiple sessile spikelets, composed of 5-6 flowers. These spikelets are also located deep in the inflorescence leaf sinuses. The bracts are large in size, colored orange, they are much higher in height than the flower ears. There are thorny denticles along the edge of the inflorescence leaves. The length of each flower is 6 cm. The cups have a whitish or light reddish tint, their surface is bare, the length varies within 2, 2–3 cm. The petals in the bud are fused, their color is white. The flowering process stretches from the beginning of summer days to December. In culture, this species has been known since 1860. A variety of this nidularium is also known, bearing the name - lineatum, in which the leaves are painted in green color, and they are completely covered by a pattern of multiple longitudinal stripes of a whitish hue, and the tops of the bracts are decorated with red.
- Nidularium purpureum (Nidularium purpureum). The native area falls on the lands of Brazil, prefers to "settle" at an absolute height of up to 800 meters. It is quite similar to the previous species, but differs in a more elongated and narrowed leaf plate, the surface of which is covered with small whitish scales. The shape of the inflorescences is broadly oval, their color is brownish-red, there is a fine serration along the edge, they quite strongly cover the spikelets consisting of flowers in their axils. The length of the flower is 5 cm. The outlines of the sepals are keeled, the color is red, they have one third of splicing. The petals in the corolla are 3 cm long and they are left free only by one third of their length, their apex is dull, the color is the same saturated, red. The flowering process occurs from early spring to July. In culture, a variety with whitish petals is known called - albiflorum.
You will learn more about the nidularium in the following story:
