Stefanotis: care at home for the Madagascar jasmine

Evergreen curly flowers Stephanotis in naturegrow on Madagascar and parts of the Malay Archipelago. They received their name from the Greek "stephanos" (crown) and "otos" (ear), because the petals-ears form a crown on the buds of this plant.

Scientists had a good time to study the beautiful Stephanotis. Care, reproduction and the characteristics of growing it are now well described in various manuals on room floriculture. Let's highlight the most basic provisions that will help us to please ourselves with the original species of this semi-shrub liana.

Stefanotis: home care

Despite the fact that the plant can boastattractive bright green, it is grown for the most part for the sake of beautiful flowers. The snow-white buds with which they sprinkled stephanotis are so elegant that they are deservedly popular among the compilers of wedding bouquets. Each small corolla has five petals and exudes a pleasant aroma. Blossoms from June to early October, adult stephanotis. Care at home implies a skillful regulation of the temperature regime and care of lighting. With proper care, the plant blooms in winter. Stephanotis is suitable for western and eastern windows.

Lighting should be bright, but diffused. In the autumn-winter period, highlight stephanotis - home care at this time will be incomplete without additional fluorescent lights. When the plant starts to form buds, do not turn it and in any case do not change the habitual place. Otherwise they can fall down or just weaken and wilt. Recommendations for the desired temperature are as follows: in spring and summer keep it at eighteen to twenty-two degrees Celsius, and in winter, reduce by about six to eight degrees. If you have a draft in your room, or if there is a sharp warming or cold snap, it can kill stephanotis, so try to exclude it. In addition to abundant watering as it dries upsubstrate, you need to regularly spray the leaves with warm water with a low content of lime. You can put a pot on a pallet with moist peat, making sure that the bottom does not touch the water. In winter, spraying is done carefully and the plant is dried in a warm place. But this is not all that one should know about caring for such a plant as Stephanotis. Care at home for this plant also includes fertilizing.

Fertilizing and transplanting plants

Often, there is no need to feed. Only occasionally Stefanotis needs potassium fertilizers. From nitrogen plants, the plant will unnecessarily build up the leaves and cease to bloom. Stimulate the appearance of buds can be mineral fertilizing, solutions of potassium salt, superphosphate - if you make these substances in mid-May. The nutrient ground mixture must consist of three parts of a hardwood substrate, two parts of clayey sod, one part of humus earth and one part of sand. If you want to transplant Stephanotis, be sure to trim it first. Adult plants are transplanted as the capacity becomes small, but it is best every two years. Propagation of stephanotis can be cuttings and seeds, using necessarily phytohormones to overcome difficulties in rooting.