Eucharis is a beautiful houseplant that is widely distributed. The bewitching appearance and delicate aroma made it one of the most popular bulbous plants in many countries. Its flowering occurs in mid-autumn, when most of the plants located next to it have either already faded or are just beginning to prepare for this. Blooming eucharis makes a fascinating impression, since several large and beautiful flowers bloom at once on one plant. It is not difficult to grow it at home, because, like most bulbs, it is quite picky and easy to care for.
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plant description
This plant came to us from the eastern slopes of the South American Andes, from where the Amazon begins its course. Hence the other name of the flower - Amazonian lily. The plant came to Europe relatively recently, no more than 200 years ago, but it immediately found a huge number of connoisseurs.
Flowering Eucharis amazonica
By some strange coincidence, eucharis acquired the fame of a mysterious, one might say, fateful flower. It appears in many signs and superstitions. Most of them are related to women; sometimes this plant is also called a female amulet.
Nowadays, far from mystical mysteries, botanists recommend eucharis as a means of purifying the air from harmful insects; to be zealous, however, is not worth it - the alkaloid lycorine contained in the plant is unsafe for humans in large doses.
From the point of view of botany, eucharis belongs to the Amaryllis family, which means that it does not lily, but the common daffodil. The plant is bulbous, which means that it is not only capable of simple vegetative propagation, but is also rarely found in a single specimen. Eucharis bulbs have a dormant period characteristic of many amaryllis; although, in some species, there is only a slight decrease in plant activity (growth rate, formation of new leaves, etc.)
The leaves of the plant are dark green, often glossy, having a length of about 30 cm and a width of 12 to 15 cm. The petioles of the leaves are relatively long - sometimes their length is equal to the length of the leaf. Young leaves look like a twisted tube. Even during the dormant period, the leaves never completely fall off.
Flowering part of eucharis close up
The flowering time of eucharis is approximately 20 days, of which the flower itself retains its freshness for about 1 week. During this week, the aroma of flowering eucharis will fill the entire apartment, even with a large area. Taking into account the fact that the flowers have some delay in the moment of opening, the time of continuous flowering of eucharis without losing the freshness of the flowering parts will be about a month.
Eucharis with simultaneous flowering of all flowers on the peduncle
But that's not all: eucharis, like many bulbs, can bloom twice a season. Of course, it will take some effort to do this, besides, after that he will need some rest after the second flowering. The approximate flowering time of eucharis is two months: April or October.
Flowering ends with the formation of fruits, which in eucharis have the form of a trihedral box containing small seeds. There are 20 species of eucharis, about half of which were found in the wild relatively recently. There is a practice of interspecific crossing to obtain plant hybrids. Currently, there are about 50 hybrids of eucharis and other amaryllis.
The plant has an increased resistance to many pests. The reason for this is the lycorine contained in its stems, bulbs and leaves. This alkaloid is found in many amaryllis plants and serves as a protection for flowers, in addition, it promotes the synthesis of vitamin C in the bulbs.
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Lighting
The plant is able to feel good and bloom even with a minimum of lighting. That is, it can be placed in the house almost anywhere; it may even be the north window of the house. The intensity of the light flux has little effect on the flowering or vegetation of eucharis.
Artificial lighting for indoor plants
This fact is explained by the fact that under natural conditions, eucharis lives on the lowest tier of the tropical jungle and, at best, all the light that it receives is diffused and not bright.
Eucharis white on the north window
Thus, the ideal place in terms of the location of the eucharis is the eastern or western windows of the living quarters. Eucharis can also be placed on the windowsill of the south window, but the distance from the window must be at least 50 cm, and the plant itself must be fenced from the window with tulle or special curtains.
Temperature
- The plant, like most representatives of the tropics, is thermophilic; the preferred temperatures during the summer season are between +25°C and +30°C.
- In winter, the temperature should be somewhat lower - the acceptable range is within + 16 ° С - + 18 ° С.
- The plant does not tolerate temperatures below + 15 ° C, it retains leaves and the ability to grow, however, flowering may not occur within 1-2 seasons.
- Temperatures below + 11 ° C are detrimental to eucharis - at such temperatures, the leaves begin to fall off and the bulbs rot.
Far from windows - a possible habitat for eucharis
You also need to remember that the plant does not like drafts and cooling of the substrate in which the bulb is located. The temperatures given above apply to both air and substrate. If the pot with eucharis is on a cold windowsill, then thermal insulation should be used to avoid cooling the substrate - put the pot on a stand or additionally wrap it with foil insulation.
Soil and container
As with most plants of this type, eucharis requires moisture-intensive and loose soil.
In addition, bulbous plants prefer nutritious soils. For euharis, you can buy soil in a specialized flower growing store; suitable universal soil for flowering plants. To avoid possible problems with purchased soil, its shrinkage or landfill, you can prepare the soil mixture yourself.
Usually, the following composition is used:
- peat - 1 part
- coarse sand - 1 part
- loam - 1 part
- compost - 2 parts
If there is no desire to contact loams, which can reduce the friability of the soil and thereby worsen the conditions for air and moisture exchange of the roots, you can use the following composition:
- leaf ground - 3 parts
- sod land - 1 part
- peat - 2 parts
- coarse sand - 1 part
After that, the soil will need to restore the microflora, for which it is recommended to leave it for 2-3 weeks in a well-ventilated area, covered with gauze or a fine insect net.
Eucharis bulb without peel
The first planting of the bulb is as follows:
- In the beginning, antiseptic prophylactic treatment is necessary from fungus and hoverflies (the so-called "narcissus fly", an insect that feeds on amaryllis bulbs).
- To fight the fly, you can either soak the bulbs for about 2-3 hours in water with a temperature of + 45 ° C, or soak them for half an hour in the Aktellika solution.
- The second method is preferred because there is no need for such long-term temperature control.
- Treatment of the fungus is carried out by soaking the bulb for half an hour in a solution of 0.2% potassium permanganate.
- The pot should be chosen deep and wide, since the plant has additional bulbs from time to time and there must be enough space for them.
- On the other hand, one bulb accounts for about 100 square meters. cm of the substrate area and the use of pots of too large diameter is impractical, since flowering begins only when the bulb, its root system and its “children” occupy the entire free volume of the pot.
Too tight pot
- The drainage layer should take up about a quarter of the height of the pot. As a drainage, it is recommended to use expanded clay or small gravel.
Eucharis bulb with peel
- A layer of substrate of several centimeters is poured on top of the drainage and the bulb is placed in a pot so that its top coincides with the level of the pot.
- Next, the pot is covered with a substrate in such a way that it does not reach the edges from above by 1-2 cm.
- Due to this, part of the bulb will stick out from the outside of the substrate.
A partially buried bulb of an Amazonian eucharis. Three small daughter bulbs with shoots are visible
This is how it should be at the first landing; firstly, it makes it possible to observe the growth of the bulb, and secondly, it helps to quickly respond to possible problems and diseases of the bulb. With subsequent transplants of the bulb, this can no longer be done - the bulb can be completely buried in the substrate.
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Care
Eucharis in decorative pots
If all the conditions for keeping a plant are met, caring for it is simple and does not require the use of any special techniques or techniques. The main thing in care is strict adherence to the schedule of certain events and constant monitoring of the state of the plant.
Watering
Perhaps the most important part of plant care
According to its physiology, eucharis can remain without water for a long time, however, you should not go too far in this matter. The plant will survive, but will significantly limit its reproductive functions in the form of flowering. The lack of moisture will lead to a noticeable reduction in the size of flowers and a decrease in their number.
Excess water for the plant is dangerous, as the bulb may begin to rot. Therefore, it is necessary to water the plant moderately, but at the same time at regular intervals. Usually monitor the top layer of the substrate, keeping it moderately moist.
With this method of control, on average, one abundant watering is done every 3-5 days.
Almost dry topsoil. Can be watered
Water for irrigation should be used separated or boiled at a temperature of about 3-5 ° C warmer than room temperature. Eucharis loves slightly acidic soils, so it is undesirable to reduce this acidity due to hard water.
The leaves of the plant during active vegetation need to be sprayed. It can be done at least every day, using the same water (and the same temperature) as for watering.
However, from the moment budding begins, spraying is stopped, because water, falling on the buds and flowers, causes brown spots to appear on them, spoiling the appearance of the flowers. Leaves after the start of budding are simply wiped with a damp cloth; this procedure is carried out simultaneously with watering.
Beginning of budding. Spray stop time
During flowering, watering can be increased, but you should not get carried away too much. The plant itself will signal a lack of moisture with a dry top layer of the substrate. In practice, this will lead to an increase in watering up to once every 2-4 days.
After the end of flowering, they switch to the usual irrigation scheme. During dormancy (November to February), some flower growers recommend reducing watering to once every 10-12 days. The criterion for the end of dormancy in eucharis is the beginning of the growth of new offspring, as a rule, emerging from new, recently formed bulbs.
fertilizers
Until the moment when the bulbs have sprouted, it is forbidden to apply any top dressing to the eucharis. As soon as the first sprouts from the bulb appear, you can begin the process of fertilizing. Both during the growing season and during flowering, the composition of the applied mixture and the frequency of application do not change.
Starting from March, you can apply standard mineral fertilizers (preferably in liquid form) for indoor plants
The concentration is taken about a third less than recommended; you can find it on the packaging. Fertilization is carried out once every 2 weeks.
Usually, such fertilizers have a low concentration of nitrogen, since an excess of nitrogen during the budding and flowering period inhibits these functions. Therefore, some flower growers do not recommend doing such top dressing all the time, but limiting their application only to the period of budding and flowering.
Abundant vegetation of eucharis
During the active growing season, organic fertilizers rich in nitrogen should be used. It can be either store-bought products (Dynamis, Buton, etc.), or self-made. For tropical plants, a decoction of marine fish waste is recommended.: This is a strained broth made from fish giblets, boiled for about an hour.
It is applied once every two weeks in the amount of 20-30 g per plant. At the end of flowering, the application of any fertilizers stops for at least 1-2 months in order for the plant to rest.
Transfer
It is believed that a large number of bulbs is good, as the decorative properties of the plant improve. The number of peduncles in one pot is large, the plant looks thick, lush and blooms profusely.
On the other hand, such a "dense settlement" does not have a very good effect on the health of the plant. Sometimes it comes to the point that the bulbs become cramped in the pot, and they even begin to deform. In this case, the plant needs a transplant.
Dense planting of eucharis bulbs
On the other hand, the plant does not tolerate the transplant procedure very well. With significant damage to the root system, it is able to shed flowers and leaves and go into hibernation until the next season.
Therefore, many are in no hurry with a transplant of eucharis. But even here there is a “deadline”: for more than 5 years the plant cannot be in the same pot - the space will be so densely packed with new bulbs that they simply do not have enough space for normal nutrition.
Technically, the transplantation procedure is designed to preserve the integrity of the root system of the plant as much as possible and is carried out by the method of transshipment - transplantation together with an earthen clod into a new pot of larger diameter.
Extraction of an earthen clod with a plant during transshipment
The best transplant time is the end of the dormant state of the plant, which occurs in February or March. The new pot should be larger than its predecessor, but not by much. A 2-3 centimeter increase in diameter is enough. Earlier, it was also mentioned that pots with too large diameters should not be used.
The height of the pot should remain the same as it was, since it is not worth stimulating the plant to form new bulbs at great depths. All procedures associated with the first planting of the bulb are also applied during transplantation (drainage, soil level, and so on).
- A lump with a plant in an old pot is loosened around the perimeter, after which it is carefully removed and placed on the drainage in a new pot.
- In this case, it is recommended to turn the old pot upside down, holding the plant by the main bulb and its stems.
- After that, the missing soil is added to a new pot. In this case, you can either completely fill the bulbs with soil, or leave everything as it is.
- After a transplant for a month, it is recommended to water the plant half as often and less so as not to cause damage to the bulbs that have not yet strengthened.
- It is possible to compensate for the lack of moisture by spraying the leaves.
Rest and care after flowering
- In order for the plant to feel normal (and possibly bloom in six months), it needs rest after flowering, which lasts for several months.
- During this period, the accumulation of nutrients for the formation of future leaves and flowers.
- The quality of vegetation and flowering in the next season depends on the quality of care during this period.
- Such care begins with the complete removal of all faded flowering parts and peduncles at the end of flowering.
- The leaves are not cut off. After that, the plant is transferred to a colder place (from +16 to +18 ° C) and its watering is either significantly reduced or completely stopped.
- Top dressing and spraying at this time are strictly prohibited.
- During dormancy in eucharis, some leaves may turn yellow.
- This is the norm, they should not be cut off, because after a while they will fully recover.
Yellowing of plant foliage during dormancy
- The dormant period ends when new shoots begin to grow in baby bulbs.
- As soon as the first shoots appear from under the soil layer, you can resume watering and fertilizing the plant in full.
- In this case, the plant is placed in warmer conditions corresponding to the "summer" period (from +22°С to +25°С).
- In some cases, if all conditions of detention are met, it is possible to achieve three blooms of eucharis during the year.
- In this case, the dormant periods of the plant should be three - after each flowering. Their duration is reduced to 1 month.
The advantage of eucharis over other bulbs is that outwardly the plant practically does not lose its decorative properties (unless it has no flower stalks). Most of its leaves remain bright green without losing their glossy hue.
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Eucharis does not cause any particular problems in caring. However, sometimes a situation may arise when the plant does not want to bloom for a long time. Basically, this is due to the wrong temperature or too large a pot., which a relatively small bulb is not able to fill with its "children" and roots in a time acceptable to the owner.
Too big pot
A separate problem is either the lack of a dormant period in the plant, or its interpretation is incorrect; that is, when, for example, during the winter the plant continues to be watered and fertilized.
The solution to the problem is very simple - you need to change the mode of life of the flower. You should carefully consider the process of watering and feeding the plant, you must try to create rest conditions for it at the right time (in winter - from October to February, in summer - from May to September). These conditions have already been described.: poor watering, lack of fertilizing, low temperature.
If the pot is too large, then the plant can either be transplanted into a larger one, or wait some more time until its root and bulb systems develop sufficiently.
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reproduction
Reproduction of eucharis is carried out mainly by vegetative means and is traditionally performed during its transplantation.. In this case, the method of dividing the bush is used. For reproduction, it is recommended to use only daughter bulbs that are completely separated from the mother bush.
At the transshipment stage, attention should be paid to the condition of the earthen clod and visually determine whether separation is possible. If the number of daughter bulbs requiring separation does not exceed two and their sizes are small, division should not be made; it is better to do this at the next transplant.
If there is a clear "collapse" of the earthen coma, it should be divided. At the same time, young bulbs are very carefully separated from the mother plant and transplanted into separate pots. In this case, you can plant not one, but several small bulbs in one pot.
Several daughter bulbs transplanted into a separate pot
In this case, the substrate in the new pot should be moistened a little more than usual. After transplantation, both daughter plants and mother plants cannot be watered for 1-2 weeks. The growth rate of the green mass of daughter bulbs in a new place in the first season will be somewhat faster than that of the mother plant.
Growth of green mass in several daughter bulbs
At the same time, flowering will begin later, or will not begin this season at all, since their root system is not yet sufficiently formed.
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Consider the most popular types of eucharis recommended for growing at home.
Eucharis grandiflorum
Eucharis grandiflorum
- The most popular type.
- The size of the bulbs is 3-5 cm.
- The leaves are dark green in color.
- Peduncles quite high (up to 80 cm), having 3-6 white flowers.
- The flowering parts themselves are large, 10-12 cm in diameter.
- The aroma is strong and pleasant.
- Flowering time is May, August or December.
Eucharis white
Eucharis white
- The bulbs are elongated, measuring 2.5-3 by 5 cm.
- The leaves are oblong, 40 cm long and 12-15 cm wide.
- The leaves have a characteristic shape, they taper at the end of the leaf and at the petiole.
- Peduncle 40-50 cm long has a greenish-brown tint.
- On it are located up to 10 flowers of medium size (up to 6-7 cm).
- The petals are pointed and oblong.
- Flowering time is March and October.
Euharis Sandera
Euharis Sandera
- The bulbs are large, up to 7 cm in diameter.
- They have a large number of leaves; on average, there are three leaves per peduncle.
- Peduncles are straight and relatively thick, their height reaches 50 cm.
- The number of flowers depends on their size.
- If the flowering parts are large (up to 8-10 cm), their number rarely exceeds two.
- If the size of the flowers is small (up to 5 cm), their number can reach up to a dozen.
- The petals are perfectly white, with yellow stamens and pistils inside.
- Flowering occurs in February and September.
Why does Eucharis NOT FLOWER?
Eucharis at home: description, types, cultivation and care (70 Photos & Videos) + Reviews
For a long time, my plants did not want to give new leaves. I decided to pour them with a solution of the Vympel growth stimulator at the rate of 4 ml / 1 liter of water. The result was very surprising. Literally a day later, anthurium released 3 new leaves, and euharis (Amazon lily) - 1. I advise everyone. Bomb effect!