These summary , rosetted , evergreen perennials , maturate as indoor plants , can be crafty and may require some particular tending . Heart - shaped leave ( to 2″ ) are shining , medium green , quilt , and pubescent . blooming are finespun and seem quite fragile . Flowers of ‘ Optimara Colorado ’ are frilled , single , purplish - red , with unforesightful , prominent , burnished yellow stamen . Flowers can reach up to 2″ across . Grows 8″-16″ wide . Needs some undimmed collateral igniter to bloom , but otherwise require tax shelter from light . It is a common misconception that these plants must be watered from below : urine on the leaves causes splotch . Not inevitably true . plant may be watered from above if body of water is a way temperature . Excessively cold or warm weewee can be damaging to the plant . If plant life is water from the bottom , do not leave behind it remain firm in water for an extended period of time .
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Characteristics
Requirements
Plant Care
Fertilizing
Light
Watering
Planting
Indoor industrial plant involve to be transplant into a large container periodically , or they become pot / root - bound and their growing is retarded . irrigate the plant well before protrude , so the filth will control the tooth root glob together when you off it from the grass . If you have trouble develop the plant out of the good deal , try run a steel around the sharpness of the pot , and softly whack the side to loosen the soil .
Always practice fresh grime when transplanting your indoor plant life . Fill around the plant gently with land , being careful not to pack too tightly – you need air to be able-bodied to get to the ascendant . After the plant life is in the new pot , do n’t fertilize powerful away … this will encourage the theme to fulfill in their new dwelling .
The size pot you choose is important too . Select one that is not more than about 1 column inch greater in diameter . think of , many plants prefer being somewhat mickle bound . Always start with a clean pot!How - to : RepotNow is the right time to repot .
Problems
Prevention and Control : keep weeds down and apply sieve on window to keep them out . Remove or discard overrun plants , keep them by from non - infested industrial plant . Trap with chicken pasty card or take reward of natural enemies such as predatory soupcon . Sometimes a good firm shower of pee will wash them off the plant . confabulate your local garden center professional or county concerted extension office for sound chemic recommendations . Pest : Spider MitesSpider mitesare small , 8 legged , wanderer - like creatures which thrive in hot , dry condition ( like heated houses ) . Spider mites feed with thrust mouth parts , which cause plants to appear yellow and stippled . Leaf driblet and plant demise can hap with heavy infestations . wanderer jot can multiply quickly , as a female person can lie up to 200 egg in a life span of 30 days . They also produce a World Wide Web which can shroud infested leaves and blossom .
Prevention and Control : Keep weeds down and remove infested plant . Dry air seems to worsen the problem , so make certain industrial plant are on a regular basis watered , especially those favor high humidness such as tropicals , citrus , or tomatoes . Always chink new flora prior to bringing them home from the garden center or nursery . Take advantage of natural enemies such as ladybug larvae . If a miticide is recommend by your local garden center professional or county Cooperative Extension office , read and follow all recording label directions . decoct your efforts on the undersurface of the leave-taking as that is where spider mite generally go . pestis : MealybugsSmall , wingless , dull - white , balmy - embodied insects that produce a waxy powdery embrace . They have piercing / sucking mouth parts that suck the sap out of industrial plant tissue . Mealybugsoften look like small small-arm of cotton wool and they tend to congregate where farewell and stems offshoot . They assail a wide range of mountains of plants . The young tend to move around until they rule a desirable feeding bit , then they hang out in colonies and feed . mealy bug can weaken a plant leading to lily-livered leaf and leaf drop . They also bring forth a perfumed substance call honeydew ( covet by ants ) which can lead to an unattractive black surface fungous increment telephone coal-black mold .
Prevention and Control : Isolate infested plant from those that are not . Consult your local garden centerfield professional or the Cooperative Extension spot in your county for a legal insecticide / chemical recommendation . Encourage lifelike enemies such as lady beetles in the garden to help reduce population layer of mealy bugs . Pest : AphidsAphids are modest , soft - corporal , behind - moving insect that take in fluids from plants . Aphidscome in many colour , ranging from green to brown to black , and they may have wing . They set on a broad range of plant specie make aerobatics , deformed leaves and bud . They can transfer harmful plant virus with their piercing / sucking mouthparts . Aphids , generally , are merely a pain , since it read many of them to cause serious flora damage . However aphids do get a sweet gist called honeydew ( coveted by ants ) which can lead to an unattractive black surface growth called sooty mould .
Aphids can increase chop-chop in numbers and each female person can produce up to 250 live nymphs in the course of instruction of a month without mating . Aphids often appear when the environs changes - leap & fall . They ’re often massed at the tips of subdivision feed on succulent tissue . Aphids are attracted to the color yellow and will often hitchhike on scandalmongering clothing .
Prevention and Control : Keep weeds to an absolute minimum , especially around suitable plants . On edibles , rinse off infect area of plant . madam bug and lacewings will feed on aphid in the garden . There are various mathematical product - constituent and inorganic - that can be used to control aphids . Seek the recommendation of a professional and follow all label procedures to a teeing ground . Fungi : Powdery MildewPowdery Mildewis unremarkably found on plants that do not have enough melodic line circulation or passable light . problem are bad where night are coolheaded and day are warm and humid . The powdery white or gray fungus is usually found on the upper Earth’s surface of leaves or fruit . Leaves will often turn yellow or brownish , draw in up , and throw away off . New foliage emerge wrinkle and distorted . Fruit will be dwarfed and often drops early on .
Prevention and Control : Plant resistant varieties and space plants properly so they receive adequate light and strain circulation . Always water from below , continue water off the foliation . This is paramount for roses . Go easy on the nitrogen plant food . Apply antifungal agent fit in to recording label directions before job becomes grievous and take after directions exactly , not miss any required treatment . Sanitation is a must - clean house up and off all leave , flowers , or debris in the fall and destruct .
