Hamedorea palm - description, reproduction, transplantation and home care (30 Photos & Videos) + Reviews

Chamedorea homeis is a plant belonging to the Palm family. Therefore, it is not surprising that when their number exceeds 3-5 pieces, there is a desire to create at home not just a collection of potted plants, but a whole tropical corner in a separate room or room. Moreover, the conditions for keeping all plants of this type are almost the same.

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general description

It's kind of like a creature in a garden. rock garden - a piece of mountainous terrain with characteristic plants and rocky soil. And if rock garden plants in our climate feel great outdoors and tolerate winters remarkably without any shelters and transplants, then tropical plants, of course, cannot exist outside warm rooms.

tropical greenhouse

There is another interesting detail. A large percentage of plants in the tropics are tall giants like palm trees, dipterocarpus or bamboo. These are not just plants of the highest tier. They are also the main producers of oxygen in the tropics, they are also a support for parasites and epiphytes, after all, this is a kind of "calling card" of the tropical forest.

Tropical jungle with diptera in the upper tier and palm trees in the middle.

In other words, it will be impossible to create a miniature tropical corner at home without this kind of plants. It will be anything but a tropical corner. The main problem with these plants is their gigantic size and growth rate, and their root system covers the same area as the foundation of several high-rise buildings.

Therefore, florists have found a wonderful way out - to use dwarf varieties of these plants. Plants of higher tiers in dwarf forms, unfortunately, do not exist. Any bamboo has no limits in growth, so it will have to be regularly updated, cut, and in general, in every possible way to restrain its growth. There is only one option left - the use of dwarf palms. One of them is a miniature bamboo palm - hamedorea.

Hamedorea plants of a tropical climate are widely used in home floriculture. Its homeland is the Western Hemisphere; it is common in South America and the Mexican peninsula. For more than one hundred years, this plant has been grown at home, due to its decorative effect: in content, it is very unpretentious, and its beautiful oblong leaves are able to attract the eye for a long time.

Hamedorea in a pot

But even a dwarf palm is still a palm. Therefore, some enthusiasts, bringing the conditions of its maintenance as close as possible to natural ones, achieve the growth of these trees up to 4.5 m.Even if you do not apply all the necessary requirements to the home hamedorea, it grows up to 1.5 - 2 m in height. At the same time, the plant remains quite slender and graceful - in diameter, the palm tree rarely exceeds 60-70 cm.

Since chamedorea is a flowering plant, once a year it blooms, moreover, it bears fruit.There is no clear binding of the time of flowering and fruiting to the time of year, since in natural conditions it depends on many factors, including the presence or absence of precipitation, temperature, and so on. In fact, flowering begins at 3-4 years of plant life.

The size of the flowers is a few millimeters, but their number is quite large - up to several hundred. They are usually bright yellow. After some time, berries appear on the plant, similar to sea buckthorn, but black. They are edible, moreover, they are included in the national cuisines of the inhabitants of Latin America, but, one might say, there is nowhere to use them in our latitudes.

Blooming chamedorea

In addition, it is believed that the process of formation of flowers and berries not only inhibit the growth of the plant, but can also cause its diseases, therefore experienced Hamedorea breeders recommend removing flowers along with flower stalks immediately after they appear.

It is believed that chamedorea is able to filter the air, ridding it of harmful substances, carcinogens and heavy metals. Therefore, flower growers appreciate the plant not only for its decorative functions.

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plant care

Despite its tropical origin, this palm tree is quite unpretentious and feels great in our apartments. Of course, some efforts will have to be made, however, they are not at all burdensome and will not take much of the owner’s time.

The soil

It is best to use ready-made palm mixes

As a rule, these are neutral or slightly acidic soils with a moderately loose consistency. The root system of the chamedorea is quite developed, but it does not like too hard soils and stagnant water, so you will need to think about drainage.

If there is a desire to make the soil yourself, you can use the following recipe:

The composition must be calcined in the oven for half an hour, and then left for 2-3 weeks for ventilation and regeneration of the microflora.

For some varieties, in particular Chamedorea, the metallic composition may be as follows:

This composition is less loose, but more nutritious.

Tara

As a pot for a palm tree, any stable structure is suitable; The material from which it is made does not matter. The main requirement is stability, since the height of the palm is quite large, and the leaves are not very spreading. For small palms no more than 50 cm high, you can use pots with a diameter of 12-15 cm, for taller ones - with a diameter of 16 to 25 cm.

In the bottom of the pot, it is desirable to have several holes, since the roots of the chamedorea will grow through them. The bottom of the pot is about a third filled with drainage. Small gravel or expanded clay is used as drainage. In some cases, sand or a mixture of expanded clay with sand is used. Be that as it may, the drainage should be soft enough, as the palm roots will grow through it.

Decorative pots for chamedorea

It is believed that the roots of the dwarf palm in pots in the normal state first grow throughout the volume of the pot, and then grow down. The appearance of roots outside the pot indicates that the root system has completely occupied the entire available volume and the plant needs a transplant.

temperature and light

As a representative of the lower tier of the tropical jungle, Hamedorea is not demanding on lighting. For normal growth, it is enough light obtained when it is located in the shade or partial shade. In addition, direct sunlight for this palm tree is detrimental.

On the other hand, no matter how small the plant's need for light, it is still there. Therefore, it is advisable to turn the plant along with the pot around its axis by 180 ° weekly (however, it is possible once every two weeks) for uniform illumination and, as a result, uniform development of the green part of the plant.

Chamedorea near a light diffuser

If the plant is in a shaded area of ​​​​the house or greenhouse, artificial lighting of low intensity can be used. Do not put the plant under dazzling lamps for several hours: it would be more correct to use low-power lamps, but illuminate the plant evenly and for a time corresponding to the actual daylight hours.

• The temperature regime of the plant is quite simple.
• The first rule to remember is: hamedorea home will not be able to live at temperatures below + 10 ° C.
• When the temperature drops to + 12 ° C, the plant sheds part of the foliage and becomes lethargic, as if falling into hibernation, and when the temperature drops by another 2 ° C, it dies.
• Normal temperature conditions for this palm depend on the season.
• In summer, the temperature should not exceed + 27 ° C, and in winter the most comfortable conditions for the plant will be temperatures ranging from + 16 ° C to + 22 ° C.
• These temperature values ​​apply not only to the air, but also to the substrate.
• Tropical soil warms up quite well, so the temperature of its upper layer is almost always equal to the air temperature.
• In our conditions, this is sometimes difficult to achieve due to drafts or cold floors or window sills, especially in winter.

Therefore, you should take care of your tropical pets and, if possible, insulate the pots, at least by placing them on a heat-insulating foam or polyurethane foam mat. Some flower growers recommend wrapping the pots with a heat insulator with foil, but this is quite an extreme option; when it comes to such precautions, isn't it easier to move the plant to more comfortable conditions?

Like all tropical plants, chamedorea is very negative about sudden changes in temperature. If within a few hours the temperature changes even within the natural temperature range by more than 7°C, the plant may lose some of the leaves.

Watering and humidification

Proper watering largely determines the life span of the plant and the rate of its development.

The main thing for home chamedorea is sufficient soil moisture: it should be moderately moist, neither overdrying nor excessive moisture should be.

• Watering in the summer should be plentiful, but they need to be repeated after the topsoil dries out.
• This usually happens once every 3-4 days. In winter, the situation is slightly different: not only the top layer of soil should dry out, it should also dry out to a depth of about 3-5 cm.
• This can be achieved by watering the plant once every 5-6 days.
• The water should be soft, free of carbonates and sulfates.
• Distilled or boiled water is recommended. Its temperature in the summer should be equal to the temperature of the substrate.
• But in winter it is advisable to alternately water the plants with water of different temperatures: one watering is done with water at room temperature, and the second (repeated after 5-6 days) - with water with a temperature of + 30 ° C.

One of the features of chamedorea is its love for high humidity. That is, in fact, we achieve a quick passage of water (without stagnation) through the root system, but maintaining a sufficient amount of it in the air. This, in fact, is not surprising, since most tropical plants are able to absorb water not only with the help of roots, but also with leaves.

Therefore, it is recommended to spray the plant daily with warm water (5-10 ° C higher than room temperature) using a spray gun capable of creating very small drops of moisture. In some cases, it is recommended to use stationary humidifiers in a room with chamedorrhea.Once every 10-15 days, the leaves are wiped from dust with a damp cloth.

Spraying dwarf palm leaves

In winter, both spraying and wiping the leaves should not be carried out in order to avoid infection of the plant with a fungal infection.

Fertilizer use

To create conditions close to natural for chamedorea, top dressing must be applied to the soil. It can be either ready-made mineral or organic Palma complexes, or various combinations of standard fertilizers for the garden. In principle, any complex fertilizers containing simultaneously compounds of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium are suitable.

Plant fertilizers

The frequency of fertilization depends on the season. For example, in the warm season (from March to September), it is recommended to feed weekly. And in winter (from October to the end of February) - no more than once a month.

In some cases, to increase the growth rate of green mass, it is recommended to produce two complementary foods during the week.

However, it has a number of features:

Sometimes nutrition can be given to a plant in another form - by spraying its leaves. In this case, in order to avoid burns of the leaves of the plant, the recommended concentration of top dressing is taken 8-10 times less than the usual one.

It should be noted that chamedorea should not be fertilized after transplanting for 3-5 months, since the new soil, as a rule, has a sufficient amount of the necessary mineral and organic substances.

pruning

Daily spraying of the plant also implies a daily inspection of its leaves. It is necessary to constantly inspect the palm for the presence of old, injured, yellowed and dried leaves. They must be immediately disposed of so that the plant does not waste resources on maintaining the growth of obviously superfluous parts that will die anyway. For this purpose, it is best to use sharp scissors treated with alcohol.

Circumcision is made around the boundaries of those areas where yellowing has already begun; it should not be brought to complete drying or dying off.

Another important target for pruning is inflorescences, ovaries or objects that could potentially be them.. Palm flowers cannot boast of attractiveness, however, the lion's share of the plant's resources is spent on their formation. If flowering is not allowed, the palm tree will have much more strength for its growth and development.

Well, and, of course, do not forget about the aesthetic side of the issue: Hamedorea pruning is needed not only for prevention. Giving it the necessary forms is one of the tasks of room design. At the same time, you should not worry about the plant: its regenerative functions are quite strong, and the palima can easily recover even from excessive cutting.

Transfer

Plant transplant

Plant transplantation is best done in late or mid-spring. The intensity of transplants depends on many factors. The main thing is to increase the size of the plant's root system to such an extent that it already becomes cramped in a pot. It is also recommended to replant the chamedorea to update the composition of the soil so that it retains its fertility for a longer time. And from the point of view of plant health, this is also important: in the new soil, the likelihood of a life form harmful to the palm tree is much lower.

• Young plants are transplanted on average once a year.
• Plants older than 3-4 years - on average once every two years.
• In general, the older the plant, the more time it can spend without changing the soil.
• However, botanists recommend replanting even old plants at least every 3 years, at least in terms of sanitation.

It is recommended to transplant by the so-called "transshipment method".

Its essence is as follows:

Next, the old substrate is removed from the roots, the plant is placed in a new pot and the soil is topped up to the required level. In this case, you should carefully handle the roots, do not injure them, and in no case should you wash them.

Chamedorea root system with a clod of substrate, taken out of an old pot

• For young plants, the size of the new pot should be such that the root system of the plant is located at least 2-4 cm from the edges of the pot.
• In practice, this means that its diameter should be 4-8 cm larger.
• Adult plants can be transplanted several times into the same pots, which must be disinfected during transplantation.
• This can be done with potassium permanganate, or with a 70% ethanol solution, after washing the pot with water and completely removing the remains of the previous substrate from it.

In order to properly clean the substrate from the roots, you can use a plastic stick. It is not advisable to use a wooden one, in order to avoid mold on the roots of the chamedorea. And one more rule: never use old drainage; and a new one is desirable to ignite a place with new soil in the oven.

At the end of the procedure, the substrate is compacted and the pot is placed in a shaded place for rooting for 3-4 days. Watering is not performed. In the first days, partial wilting of the leaves is possible, they will look washed or wrinkled - this is not a problem, at the initial stage of rooting this is normal.

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reproduction

Like any flowering plant, chamedorea has three main methods of reproduction: seeds, offspring or "children" and the classic division of the bush.

Reproduction by seeds

The procedure itself is performed as follows:

Shoots will appear no earlier than in 3-6 months. After that, polyethylene shelters are removed from the pots, but the plants are transferred to a common greenhouse, where they stay for another 2 months until they are ready for independent growth.

Reproduction offspring

The method is more common than the seed. At the same time, young palm trees are separated, as a rule, already at the spring stage of plant care, during the next scheduled transplant. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that the separation of the “baby” without a basal area is impossible, since it will not be able to take root normally, and, most likely, will die.

offspring of chamedorea

In addition, this plant has fairly developed aerial roots, often formed simultaneously with offspring. In this case, there is simply no better option for reproduction.

Reproduction by dividing the bush

It is usually used in cases where several plants grew at once in large pots. It is produced at the end of spring, while the earthen ball is completely removed from the pot and the plant is completely freed from it.

Reproduction by dividing the bush

After that, the large bush is divided into several more or less equal smaller ones, each of which is transplanted into its own container according to the standard scheme. It is advisable to treat the instrument with an alcohol solution before cutting the roots.

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Diseases

Although this plant is easy to care for, it can also be attacked by diseases and pests.

Consider the main symptoms of plant diseases that a grower may encounter:

Chamedorea is often attacked by fungal diseases. Usually, they develop against the background of either some kind of disease or invasion of some pests. Also, the cause of the fungus can be stagnant water or poorly ventilated soil. In these cases, the use of fungicides helps, however, you should definitely pay attention to the reasons that caused the deterioration of the plant's immunity.

Sunburn spots on hamedorea

Of the pests, it should be noted the spider mite that appears on the plant when the air is too dry, as well as scale insects and aphids. In the event of an insect attack on the plant, the first step is to wipe the stems and leaves with a soap solution using a piece of cotton wool, and then treat the plant with an insecticide. Although, in general, it should be noted that chamedorea - plants are quite hardy, and if you follow all the rules for its cultivation, it will cope with pests on its own without any outside help.

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Varieties

There are several varieties of chamedorea that are grown at home. They are very similar in terms of growing and care, but they have some differences in appearance and slight features in growth and development.

Consider the most popular varieties of homemade hamedorea:

Hamedorea graceful

Hamedorea graceful

• It is the most popular in the post-Soviet space, since it appeared with us one of the first. This is a relatively small plant, having a maximum growth of no more than one and a half meters.
• It has pinnate leaves, for which a characteristic feature is the ability to bend. These arc leaves can be 50 to 100 cm long.
• They fit snugly to the trunks, the number of which is small.
• The plant cannot boast of beautiful flowering. The inflorescences are a kind of panicles, at the ends of which are yellow flowers of a spherical shape.
• Sometimes their shade can reach yellow-green, and the petals are velvety.
• As noted earlier, it is recommended to get rid of flower stalks so that the plant does not waste resources on essentially useless flowering, but uses them to grow and increase the number of shoots.

Hamedorea high

Hamedorea high

• This variety fully justifies its name.
• With proper care, high chamedorea can grow from 3 to 5.5 m.
• Growing up, the plant loses leaves and they, leaving marks on the trunk, make the trunk very similar to a bamboo plant.
• In fact, this variety is a long trunk, at the top of which grow from 5 to 7 large leaves.
• Flowering, as well as that of the graceful chamedorea, is discreet, but the color is slightly different - instead of yellow, it is orange.

Hamedorea metallica and Hamedorea Ernest-August

Hamedorea metallica

• Similar varieties, quite rare in our tropical market. They have wide leaves, the segments of which are not divided. The color of the leaves is dark green, has a metallic sheen.
• This appearance makes the plants very decorative and attractive to potential owners.
• It has a number of features, for example, a low growth rate - no more than 1-2 leaves per year.
• But the root system develops surprisingly quickly, once every 2 years the plant needs to be transplanted.
• It can grow even on heavy soils dominated by loams.
• It blooms quite late - 4-5 years after transplantation. It blooms almost the same as the "graceful" variety, with the only difference that the flowers are rich yellow, they are slightly larger, and are located more densely in the panicle inflorescence.

HAMEDOREA - unpretentious shade-tolerant palm tree.

Features of purchase and care