Euphorbia belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. There are a lot of representatives. These are almost 2000 types of crops, they grow in almost all countries. So in the Russian Federation, about 160 different species grow in natural conditions.
And there is still a large number of cultivated plants located in summer cottages and gardens. Also now, many types of home milkweed are grown in apartments.
All these cultures are similar in that they produce poisonous milky juice. Another similarity is the shape of the inflorescence, it grows sympodially, that is, the young part grows out of the old one.
Content:
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Euphorbia indoor
Euphorbia in a pot
Griffith's Euphorbia is gaining more and more popularity. This perennial. A large number of its species grow in the house as indoor flowers.
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Euphorbia home and garden
The following describes the most popular types of milkweed that grow in the house. This spurge is white-veined, ribbed, Mile, trihedral.
Belozhilkovy
- In the wild, it grows on the island of Madagascar. The height of the shoots is up to 1.5 m. Its core rhizome is located at a great depth underground. When the stem grows, it begins to branch weakly. Its bottom is woody. And above the stem has five ribs.
- On the surface of the shoot, scars left from the fallen leaves are visible. Scars are visible in the form of oval pockmarks on a darkish green surface. On the tops of the ribs, one can see a covering of fibrous dark brown fringe, it is rather thick and short (40 mm).
- The foliage is planted on petioles, it grows in the form of a spiral along the shoot. The foliage dies off as the plant grows, and as a result, it can only be seen at the top of the stem. Petioles reddish green. The foliage is leathery, thick, has an obovate shape. The leaves are 200 mm long and 80 mm wide. The upper part of the leaf is green in color, whitish veins are visible on it. And the inside of the leaf is pale green. The growing inflorescences are medium-sized, white-green bracts are visible on them.
- The culture grows very quickly, when the fruits ripen, seeds pour out of them onto the surface of the earth, from which new shoots grow. If the sprouts are not weeded, they can quickly grow over the entire surface of the soil in the container.
Ribbed
- Growing in Mexico. It has an outward resemblance to white-veined milkweed, the stem is the same in height. The difference in it from white-veined milkweed is that its veins are green, however, they are perfectly visible.
- And the growths on the five ribs near the stem look like a flat spiked comb. Bracts pale pink.
Akalifa
- These are evergreen shrubs. The leaves are small, and the flowers are collected in inflorescences that look like a fox's tail, but they are bright scarlet in color.
- The buds open from early spring to October.Euphorbia prefers direct sunlight. It is propagated by cuttings.
Euphorbia Mil
- Grows on the island of Madagascar. It has stems up to 2 m high. Tubercles are visible on the stem, it gives off gray. It has many spikes in the form of cones, they are up to 30 mm long. The leaves grow on short petioles, they are elliptical or obovate. The leaves are up to 15 cm wide and 3.5 cm long.
- As the culture grows, the foliage falls off from below, as a result, it remains only at the top of the stem. The diameter of the limb of the bracts is 12 mm. They can be of various shades: scarlet, snow-white, reddish, bright yellow, pinkish.
Euphorbia triangular
- Grows in southwest Africa. This is a succulent in the form of a strongly branching shrub. The height of the stems is up to 2 m. Its stems grow vertically, they are closely pressed against one another. The stem has 3 ribs, the diameter of each of the 3 sides of the stem is 6 cm.
- At the top of the ribs there are many red-brown claw-shaped spines 5 mm long.
- In the axils of the thorns, small spatulate leaves are visible, they are 3–5 cm long. Flower growers especially liked the variety with greenish stems and scarlet leaves.
poinsettia
- It grows in Central America and in the tropics of Mexico. Another name for poinsettia is "Christmas Star". This name is given to the flower, as it blooms in December. Its thin and seemingly broken stems are about 4 m high.
- It is a highly branched shrub. The leaves are located on short petioles, they are oval-pointed or broadly lanceolate. They have a border in the form of large teeth. Relief veins are visible on the surface of the leaves. The length of the sheet is 160 mm, and the width is 70 mm.
- Euphorbia has its bright decorative appearance due to bright bracts, which resemble leaves in size and shape.
- At first, a species with scarlet bracts grew. But now many varieties have been bred with bracts of very different colors: red, faded green, bright yellow, pinkish.
Euphorbia "Head of Medusa"
- It grows as a strongly branching grass at the base in South Africa. This is a perennial. It has a large number of horizontal shoots.
- They are greyish green and show layered conical tubercles, which makes them look like a tangle of snakes.
- Uzkoremnevidny medium-sized foliage remains only at the top of the shoots. Also, small flowers bloom on top of the shoots.
Euphorbia obese
- This succulent grows in South Africa. It looks like a cactus. It has a stem with 8 faces, does not branch.
- Young plants are ball-shaped, while in adult plants the shoots are elongated and resemble baseballs.
- The stem is 20–30 cm high and 9–10 cm in diameter. At the tops of the ribs, a large number of tubercles are visible, with brownish spots from scars remaining from fallen off inflorescences.
Euphorbia enopla
- Grows in South Africa. The culture is like a cactus. At the base, the plant branches strongly. The height of the stem is 0.3–1 m. The bright green shoots have 6–9 ribs. Stem diameter about 3 cm.
- At the tops of the ribs, many thick brownish-red spikes 1–6 cm long are visible. Inflorescences form at the top of the shoot.
- At first they resemble thorns, but after their top they open into small cups of dark scarlet bracts.
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Care
Euphorbia loves the sun very much
As a rule, spurges are grown in the house succulents.
Therefore, we will consider how exactly to care for them:
Air temperature in the apartment.In summer, the air temperature in the room should be + 20-25 degrees.In winter, milkweed has a dormant period, so you need to lower the temperature in the apartment to +14 degrees, since at this temperature milkweed lays flower buds. The plant does not tolerate drafts, so ventilate the room very carefully.
Watering and air humidity.The less the flower resembles a cactus, the more often it is watered. Water abundantly only after the top layer of soil has dried ¼ deep. The plant does not tolerate stagnation of moisture in the soil, as well as the oxidation of the earth. If it has a thick stem, then it can quickly rot. Euphorbia Mil also does not tolerate the drying out of the earthy coma in which its roots are located, it can begin to shed its leaves. In winter, it is required to water the culture less often, to provide it with a dormant period. Euphorbia withstands low humidity
.
How to prepare the substrate.Mix the same parts of sod and leafy soil, peat, brick crumbs, sand. Or you can purchase cactus substrate from the store. Pour expanded clay at the bottom of the container for drainage.
Feeding and transplanting.In nature, culture grows on depleted lands. Therefore, the plant is fed once a week with fertilizer for cacti. In winter, they do not feed at all, since the plant is in a dormant period. The plant is transplanted when its roots grow too large and no longer fit into the container.
Pruning and reproduction.Cut those varieties that are strongly branched, for example, Euphorbia Mil. He pinches the tops of the stems. Then the crown will grow. Euphorbia - "cacti" are propagated by children. But varieties with foliage can be propagated by seeds and cuttings. First, the cuttings are cut, then they are washed from the milky juice, and then they are slightly dried. Then the lower tip of the cutting is treated with Kornevin. After the cuttings are planted in wet sand or peat.
Pests and diseases.Euphorbia is quite resistant to diseases and attacks of parasites. If a lot of leaves in the crown turned yellow in the summer, then this is from a draft or stagnant water in the ground. If a small amount of lower leaves turn yellow in summer or a large amount of foliage turns yellow in autumn, then this is a natural process. If you find large brown spots on the shoots, then these are burns from the sun's rays. But if there are a lot of brownish spots on the shoots, then the plants rot from stagnant moisture.
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Euphorbia in landscape design
Garden spurge grows like a shrub. Its flowers are mostly yellow, and the buds look like balls. With the help of plants decorate the garden, planting them in flower beds. Euphorbia varieties grown in the garden are unpretentious to the ground and weather changes.
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Types of garden milkweed
There are many types of milkweed that are planted in the garden: bordered, variegated, almond. Also, a weed may appear in summer cottages and garden plots - cypress spurge. It has tender stems with dense foliage.
Banded Euphorbia
- This is an annual, it is unpretentious to the soil and climate. It has leaves that look like drops, having a thin light border. And it also has lacy bracts, so it looks very decorative.
- True, in spring, small greenish-gray bushes are not particularly beautiful. But in August, snow-white bracts grow, having a greenish stripe in the middle of the leaves.
- The flowers of the culture are tiny and snow-white. But all together it looks like snow-capped peaks, which is why this spurge is also called "mountain snow".
cypress spurge
- This is a perennial, shoots up to 50 cm high. All shoots are covered with needle-like leaves.
- Inflorescences emit a pleasant smell.And the flowers are small, they are scarlet, yellowish or beige.
almond spurge
- Also a perennial. It has thin, lanceolate leaves and scaly stems.
- The rosette consists of 10 peduncles, and the flowers have a greenish-yellow wrapper.
mediterranean spurge
- The stems are about 1.5 m high. Green foliage is visible on them, oblong in shape.
- Shrub when flowering gives blue.
Capitate
- It has sprouts 10 cm long, it spreads along the soil. On the sprouts you can see a lot of ovoid leaves with a bluish-green tint.
- In June, bright yellow or reddish-red flowers bloom at the ends of the sprouts.
myrtle
- This is an evergreen plant. In winter, its foliage becomes almost round. And in the spring it becomes oblong, similar in shape to flower petals.
- Plants bloom in late spring for almost 2 weeks with yellow flowers.
- More rarely, red or scarlet flowers appear. Stems up to 40 cm high.
Griffith
- These are tall lush bushes with oblong leaves in the form of lancelets. They are green in summer and turn reddish-orange in autumn.
- They bloom in early summer with red or scarlet flowers.
Altaic
- It is a low crop with many green leaves. Blooms bright yellow flowers.
- Flowers blooming at the end of May have a broadly bell-shaped involucre.
stone-loving
- Culture grows on stones and rocks. Therefore, in the garden it is planted in alpine slides. She has shoots up to 20 cm high, which are woody at the base, they show scars from leaves that have fallen off last year.
- And in the middle and at the top of the shoots, leaves grow in the form of lancets, having a border in the form of small teeth. In early summer, yellowish inflorescences appear, surrounded by a burgundy wrapper.
rocky
- Euphorbia also grows on rocks. It has stems 20 cm high. The culture has very beautiful bluish-green foliage with whitish veins, which has an exquisite shape.
- There are few leaves, because of this it seems that the bushes are lacy. True, plants have a drawback - shoots grow from seeds that attract ants.
Scaly
- The bushes look openwork. It has pale green, oval-shaped foliage.
- And in July red or yellow inflorescences grow.
Bolotny
- Plants feel great in marshy soil, near ponds and lakes. These are erect bushes with reddish shoots. They have leaves in the form of lancets, decorated with light veins.
- In June, yellow flowers appear on the plants.
Longhorn
- Shoots up to 0.6 m high. Euphorbia blooms with red flowers. It has large bright green foliage.
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milkweed seeds
In order for the plant to reproduce itself, it is required to plant male and female bushes near. When flowering, you can determine which plant it is. Male flowers are narrow and long, have large pistils, while female flowers are wide with a large number of stamens.
Reproduction by seeds. If you purchased seeds at the store, then sow them in September on the site, then place sawdust or humus mulch on top. These plants grow better. But you can put the seeds in the soil at the end of April, when the air temperature is + 18–20 ° C.
Propagation by cuttings. At the end of May, pick up young stems, cut them off. Be sure to rinse the juice with warm water. Next, sprinkle the wounds with crushed activated charcoal. And place the cuttings for 2 days in heat so that they dry out. Then plant them in the soil in pots.
At the bottom of the pot, pour expanded clay with a layer of 3 cm. After mixing the same proportions of earth, sand and peat, pour in a little coal. Plant cuttings in slightly damp soil, as the plant cannot tolerate excess moisture. After 30 days, the cuttings will have roots and you can plant them on the site.
Reproduction by dividing the bush. The bush can be divided in April or May, when the buds begin to grow. It is required that at least 2 buds remain on each bush. Plant bushes in the area.
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All garden plant species feel great in the sun. In some shading, they bloom less intensively. In a shaded area, only euphorbia scaly and long-horned feel good.
Euphorbia seedlings
The soil culture requires loose. Humus is poured into the ground when digging. You can not plant plants in too fertile soil, because then the culture grows very quickly, it has fragile stems that break from inflorescences. The earth should have drainage, be slightly acidic with pH = 6–7.
Dig planting holes 30 cm deep and 50 cm in diameter, keep the distance between the holes so that there is a distance of 1 m between the plants. Then pour expanded clay, pieces of broken brick. Drive in pegs to tie plants to them.
When you fill the hole 1/3 with expanded clay and bark, then place a seedling with soil on the rhizome there, and then sprinkle it with soil consisting of identical parts of leafy soil, peat and sand. Next, water generously and lay down the mulch from the cut grass.
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Pruning dead branches
Immediately after planting, water the plants regularly from a watering can for 4-5 weeks. When they grow up, then know that the culture calmly endures drought.
How to care for plants:
- Mature plants are watered only during extreme heat and drought. This is done early in the morning or late in the evening.
- Feed the plant three times per season: spring, summer and early autumn. As a fertilizer, you can buy Fertika Lux. Be sure to pull out the weeds. Loosen the ground constantly. Mulch the culture in spring, autumn and summer with humus. Feed the crop twice a year.
- Pruning is done as soon as the sprouts and flowers dry. Wear gloves when pruning as the plants are poisonous.
- Still the culture calmly endures low temperatures. But for the winter, warm the young bushes by sprinkling them with fallen leaves.
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Mealybug
Plants are often affected by mealybugs and nematodes. They appear due to the sale of plants infected with pests.
In length, the worms are 3–5 mm, but can be up to 15 mm. They have a round-oval body, a large number of legs of a gray, red or pink hue. The worms look like wood lice, but at the top they have a whitish coating - fluff.
Sick plants are sprayed with insecticides and nematocides - carbation, chloropicrin, methyl bromide.
The plant can become ill with fusarium. In this case, the disease first affects the rhizomes, and then the shoots. The shrub fades, it has few flowers, it sheds foliage. If you notice this disease, then spray the culture with special preparations.
If the soil is too moist, the plant may develop root rot. Dig up the diseased crop and burn it.
If you find yellowish spots in the form of rings on the plant, then this is a ring spot. It affects the culture in heat and too high humidity.
After the foliage wrinkles and falls off. Remove any diseased leaves and stems.
Euphorbia is quite unpretentious in care. But you need to properly care for him, to prevent waterlogging of the soil, then he will not get sick. And do not forget that the plant has a poisonous milky juice, so all procedures must be done while wearing gloves.
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