All room types of kalatei belong to a largefamily of maranthives, the homeland of these elegant flowers with exotic variegated coloring - South America. This is a group of perennial plants, they are especially appreciated among plant growers for the original spotted or striped color of the leaves. It can be from simple green to various variegated shades of red and yellow. There are species whose leaves resemble the feathers of tropical birds, so they are unusually beautiful and colorful. Flowers are small plants. In different varieties of kalatei, their color is so different that if they plant plants nearby, they will resemble a fairy tale with orange, white, yellow, purple flowers. The flowering period is spring and summer.
Like all exotic South American roomplants, kalatea, indisputably, a very beautiful flower, but at the same time - very capricious. This heat-loving plant, which is extremely sensitive to drafts and does not tolerate sharp temperature changes. To grow kalatei, good 14-hour lighting is necessary. But this should not be direct sunlight. From lack of lighting, leaves very quickly lose their brightness and attractiveness. They become just green. It is noticed that with an excess of illumination and with a long light day, on the contrary, they acquire a rich brownish-red color. All kinds of indoor kalatei species multiply in two ways: by seeds and by dividing overgrown rhizomes.
To water this capricious house plant it is necessaryabundantly. After drying of the surface soil layer, repeated watering is carried out. Although there are species of kalatei, extremely sensitive to waterlogging. The most striking example is the Makotei kalatei. In summer, on hot days, the flower is watered twice, in the morning and in the evening. In rainy weather, one watering will be enough. If the rains do not stop, then you need to navigate the speed of drying the earth in the pot. In autumn and winter time, the plant is watered twice a week. Also it is necessary to watch carefully, that the soil is not over-moistened and not swamped. But it is not recommended to dry the earth too much.
Very sensitive are all specieskalatei to excessive fertilization. It will be enough to feed it twice a month with universal mineral complexes for indoor plants. This bright exotic flower needs high humidity. It should be at least 90 percent. To achieve this, you need to spray the leaves all year round. Also, as an option, a cuvette with pebbles filled with water is used. When spraying the plant, it uses deferred water at room temperature, or even better if it is filtered.
Undoubtedly, these ornamentalistic roomthe plants, the photo catalog of which can be viewed in many books on plant growing, are the most vivid and catchy, their original leaves will please their inimitable grace all year round.
