Characteristics of hedichium, tips for indoor cultivation, self-propagation of a flower, diseases and pests, interesting facts, species. Often, lovers of home and garden flowers, fed up with the familiar asters, roses and similar plantings, turn their attention to representatives of tropical territories, which successfully migrate to our windowsills or flower beds. Today we will focus on such an interesting plant as Hedychium.
This "green inhabitant" of the planet belongs to the Ginger family (Zingiberaceae), which also includes up to 80 plant species of this genus. The native territories of their natural growth are considered to be lands in the east of India, as well as the northwestern regions of China, you can see this plant in Malaysia and the Philippines. The flower can feel great both on the island of Madagascar and in the foothills of the Himalayas. Due to its unpretentiousness, gedihium is a frequent visitor to island territories in all ocean waters, excluding the Arctic Ocean. Certain areas in the south and center of the American continent and in southern Africa were no exception. In some regions, the plant takes possession of the land so much that it is considered to be a weed.
Gedihium got its name from the fusion of two Greek words, and as a result, "sweet snow" was obtained. But due to its characteristics (since there is a relationship with ginger) and many forms, different types of plants have received quite beautiful and poetic names - spicy lily, January or yellow ginger, as well as longosa. Gedihium is a herbaceous perennial with numerous upright (upright) leafy stems. The height of its stems can approach two meters with a width of up to one and a half meters. And all the variety of species differs from each other in shades of foliage colors and the shape of flowers. They have a rhizome in the form of thick tubers.
The leaf plates on the stem are arranged in two rows. Their contours are elliptical or lanceolate, there are no petioles, an expansion goes to the base, with which the leaf vaginally covers the stem with a high density. They have a light green color and are up to 30 cm long.
The flowering process of "sweet snow" covers the months of August and September, but if you provide proper care, the buds open all year round. From the flowers, spike-shaped and racemose inflorescences are collected, crowning the top of the stem. Their length is 35 cm. The petals of the buds can be cast from snow-white to brick-red shades (salmon, golden and other tones). Flowers have a very pleasant and delicate aroma and are somewhat remotely reminiscent of orchids. Each petal in the bud at the base has a free limb, as if the flower cannot come together because of this. Due to this arrangement of petals, the inflorescences have a disheveled and loose shape. An elongated stamen with threadlike outlines is drawn inside the corolla. At its top is a bright orange anther. It is he who is the source of the strong spicy aroma of flowers.
After flowering, decorative fruits ripen, they are in the form of self-expanding bolls, the inside of which is painted in chocolate brown tones. These fruits are on the hedichium for a long time without flying around to the ground.
Requirements for growing hedichium, watering, care
- Lighting. Loves diffused light, but can also tolerate light shadow.
- Content temperature. The plant loves warmth in the room where it grows. In the summer months, it is important to maintain the thermometer readings within 16-20 degrees, and in the winter they should fluctuate around 10 degrees.
- Watering for hedichium, it is necessary to carry out abundant during active growing season, but it is important to ensure that the water in the pot does not stagnate. With the arrival of autumn and during the winter months, moisture is reduced.
- Air humidity should be normal, although in extreme heat it will be necessary to spray, since in dry air the plant can be affected by spider mites.
- Fertilize "spicy lily" necessary from the beginning of May days to the beginning of autumn. The regularity of fertilizing every two weeks. Full mineral fertilizing complexes are used, as well as organics are used.
- Hedihium transplant and substrate selection. It will only be necessary to change the pot if it has become too small for the plant. This operation is carried out in the spring. A layer of drainage material must be laid on the bottom.
To change the soil, you can take any universal substrate so that its reaction is neutral or slightly acidic. You can also make a soil mixture yourself by mixing sod soil, leafy soil, peat soil, humus (in proportions 1: 2: 2: 1) with the addition of river sand.
Recommendations for self-propagation of hedichium
Since the rhizome grows rather quickly in hedichium, it is possible to get a new "sweet snow" by dividing it when transplanting in the spring (it is better to do this in March or in April days).
To carry out the procedure, you will need to carefully remove the "spicy lily" from the pot and gently shake off the soil, which itself has not separated from the root system. Often, the roots have a rather powerful look and it will not be possible to separate them carefully by hand, so a sharpened and disinfected knife is used. Usually the rhizome is divided into 2-3 parts. Then the divisions are planted in separate containers, which do not exceed 23-30 cm in diameter. The substrate is made up on the basis of peat moss, river sand and clay soil, taken in equal parts.
After that, the planted parts of the hedichium must be watered and the pots must be placed in a shaded place, maintaining the heat indicators in it within 20 degrees. As soon as the first young shoots appear on the parcels, it is necessary to transfer the "spicy lily" to a lighter room, but you just need to avoid direct streams of sunlight. It is recommended to carry out top dressing with a regularity of 10-14 days. In the future, you will need to water the flower abundantly, but make sure that the substrate is not waterlogged. It is also recommended to maintain high air humidity by spraying every day. In the future, it will also be necessary to update the hedichium by dividing the rhizome.
There is an option to try to propagate the plant by sowing seed. It must be sown in a peat substrate to a depth not exceeding 2–5 mm. Before planting, the seeds must be soaked in a warm and weak solution of potassium permanganate or in any growth-stimulating preparation (for example, in Epin or Kornevin). Soaking time should not be less than 2 hours. The container must be covered with glass and placed in a warm place at a temperature of 21-24 degrees. It is important that the direct rays of the sun do not fall on the crops. Airing and spraying the seedlings will be required daily. As soon as the sprouts become strong, a pick is carried out in separate small pots. Such plants can begin to bloom only in the 3rd year from the moment of planting.
Problems in the cultivation of hedichium
Most often, the spider mite can be distinguished from the pests that annoy the "spicy lily". The insect settles on the back of the leaves and sucks the vital juices from the plant. In this case, the leaves begin to turn yellow, deform and fall off, the plant stops growing and may die. This harmful insect is noticeable on a thin cobweb, which will wrap up leaf plates and internodes. To begin with, you will need to increase the humidity of the air and rinse the flower under shower jets or spray it repeatedly. You will also need to wipe the leaves and stems of the plant with a soapy (oil or alcohol) solution, but if the infection is very extensive, then an insecticide treatment is carried out (for example, Aktellik or Aktara).
The problems associated with the cultivation of hedichium begin when the conditions of detention are violated, namely:
- With overdrying of the soil or insufficient nutrition, yellowing and discoloration of the foliage begins, to solve it, you will need to water the substrate abundantly in the pot and transfer the container to a place with greater illumination, and fertilize with mineral fertilizer complexes.
- The edge of the leaf plates also dries out with a lack of moisture in the air and overdried soil.
- The plant begins to rot when the water stagnates in the pot holder and the substrate is constantly flooded.
- Yellowing of the leaf blades may indicate an increased level of light - the plant needs to be shaded or transferred to the shade.
If the substrate is not allowed to dry out, then hedichium is often affected by various fungal infections, and it will be necessary to treat it with fungicides.
Interesting facts about Gedihium
The thick tuberous rhizomes of "sweet snow" contain a large amount of valuable essential oils. They have a specific spicy smell and are used in folk medicine. Basically, hedihium found its application in the territories of its natural growth, for example, in Southeast Asia, where plant seeds are also used. If you can raise your appetite with the help of rhizome-based products, then the seeds help to improve the entire gastrointestinal tract and the stomach as a whole. Also, if the rhizome is thoroughly crushed, then you can use it to cure colds and fevers, or to stimulate and tone the whole body. In China, in folk medicine, chronic nephritis is successfully treated with drugs that include hedichium.
In Nepal, where the "spicy lily" is found in the wild, its flowers are used during important religious ceremonies. Every year, girls weave garlands from the buds and then decorate the statues of their gods with them. Interestingly, in the 19th century, gedihium was very popular when grown as a greenhouse crop.
Types of hedichium
- Crowned Hedychium (Hedychium coronarium). It is a herbaceous perennial. Its native habitat is considered to be the territory of the Himalayas, as well as the lands of East India and Nepal. A flower can grow along the banks of waterways and along the edges of roads, "gathering" in group plantings. The stem of a plant can grow up to 1–2 meters in height. Large rhizome. The leaves on the stem are arranged in a regular sequence. The leaf plates are oblong-oval in shape, there is a tip at the top, the length reaches half a meter with a width of 10 cm. The color of the leaves is green, and there is pubescence on the reverse side. From the flowers, spike-shaped inflorescences are collected, reaching 10–20 cm in length, the color of the petals is whitish, eventually becoming creamy yellowish. The corolla tube is thin, measuring 9 cm long. The aroma of the flowers is fragrant and strong. The bracts are cast in green color. The flowering process lasts from mid-spring to the end. When ripe, a seed capsule with an oblong shape is formed. It has an orange hue and contains multiple red-colored seeds that are covered with an apricot-colored shell.
- Hedychium bright red (Hedychium coccineum) the main places for his "residence" chose the leap areas of Sri Lanka and the East Indian lands. Its stem can reach a height of 2 meters, originating from the rhizome in the form of tubers. The leaf plates differ in a linear-lanceolate shape, and their length varies within 30-50 cm, and their width reaches 3-5 cm. Their surface is hard, but smooth, the color on top of the leaf is greenish or saturated emerald color, and on the bottom side - gray, due to dense pubescence. Long spike-shaped inflorescences are collected from the flowers, the length of which is measured 20–25 cm. The diameter of the bud reaches 6 cm. The color of the petals is scarlet-red or purple-red. The scent of the flowers is strong and pleasant. The flowering process occurs at the end of summer and lasts until mid-autumn.
- Hedychium gardneranum also called "Spicy Lily". It is a herbaceous perennial plant that can approach a height of one to two meters in the wild. The leaf plates have an oblong-oval shape, with a sharpening at the top. Their length ranges from 20–45 cm, and their width reaches 10–15 cm. On the reverse side of the leaf, pubescence occurs. The flowers are collected in long spikelet inflorescences, not exceeding 20 cm in length. The color of the petals of the buds is golden yellow, the aroma is strong and pleasant. From a distance, the flowers resemble butterflies. A dark red stamen can be seen inside the rim. The flowering process occurs in August-September, a large number of buds bloom.
- Hedychium long-horned (Hedychium longicornutum). The plant is an epiphyte (grows on trees) and has a long life cycle. The height of the stems can be measured 60–90 cm. There is a possibility of the formation of shoots. The leaf plates vaginally cover the stem with their base. They are broadly lanceolate in shape, with a wavy edge. Leaves are painted in medium saturation green color, their surface is glossy. At the tops of the shoots, spike-shaped inflorescences are located, in which multiple red and yellow flowers gather. Long filaments with white and yellow anthers protrude from their middle.
- Gedihium spicate (Hedychium spicatum). A perennial herbaceous representative of the ginger family, whose pseudostems reach a height of one meter. The leaves have short petioles (up to 1, 5–2, 5 cm long) or grow "sitting" on the shoots, webbed. In shape, the leaf plates are oblong or elongated-lanceolate, there is a sharpening, both at the base and at the apex. Their sizes vary in length within the range of 10–40 cm with a width of up to 3–10 cm, their surface is bare. The inflorescences, in which the flowers are collected, differ in spike-shaped outlines, grow no more than 20 cm in length. Due to the structure of the flowers, they are loose, there may be few buds in them or, on the contrary, a large number. Bracts in flowers are elongated, measuring 2.5–3 cm in length, while the calyx of the bud reaches 3.5 cm in length. The corolla at the bud is colored in a light yellow tint, in shape it resembles a tube. Its length does not exceed 8 cm, sometimes at the top, as well as at the base, there may be a purple-red color. Stamens with a light reddish tone peep out of the corolla. When fruiting, rounded capsules ripen, reaching 2.5 cm in diameter. Flowers have a strong aroma. The flowering process stretches from early summer to mid-autumn.
- Gedihium spicate pointed (Hedychium spicatum var.acuminatum). It is a variation of the previous form. Spike inflorescences are distinguished by a small number of buds and increased friability. The flower petals are yellow. The corolla of tubular outlines is lobed, staminodes (underdeveloped and antherless stamens, mainly in female flowers that can no longer produce pollen and have become sterile) are located on the sides. They have a lip-like shape and are colored purplish red. The flowering process occurs in August and lasts until mid-autumn.
More about gedihium in the following video:
