The description (it is also a peacock flower) refers to indoor ampel plants, the distinguishing characteristic of which are large leaves with bizarre patterns, as well as small but bright flowers that complement the overall picture. It is for this feature that many flower growers appreciate this plant, and so that it always pleases with high decorativeness, it is important to choose the variety correctly and provide it with proper care. How to do this and what you need to know before buying a flower - read on.

Features of the types of description

Each variety of indoor plants has its own species characteristics, which distinguish it from the rest. The description also has a description, so all lovers of this flower will be interested to know about them.

In this case, the botanical features include:

• fibrous, moderately developed root system;
• soft, thin, creeping stem, with densely placed leaves on it (it can be either long or shortened, depending on the plant variety);
• small-bark, oppositely located and highly pubescent leaves, with a shiny or matte smooth surface (depending on the variety, their color may be different);
• leaf shape - elliptical, broad-leaved or broad-egg;
• flowers - axillary, single, tubular, can be scarlet, orange, lavender, lilac, blue, yellow, pink, sometimes interspersed (4 stamens in each flower).

Almost any variety can be grown both as hanging flowers, from hanging flower pots, and in the form of ordinary indoor plants, only in the latter case, a regular forming pruning of long, very pubescent stems will be a prerequisite for leaving.

Did you know? The main distinguishing feature of the description is a large color variety of leaves, and a pure green color is rare. Marsh, light green, tiger-gold and even dusty pink shades will be more characteristic here, but the leaf plates themselves are often distinguished by a thick pubescence of scarlet color.

Varieties and their description

Today, many varieties of peacock flower are known, each of which can be considered unique.

Consider the main features of the most popular options:

1. Carnation (dianthiflora). In this variety, 2 plant species are distinguished at once - with short shoots and leaves closely spaced on them or with long thin processes that become darker with age. Three-centimeter dark green leaves have an elliptical or ovoid shape, and in the zone of the middle vein are characterized by a purple overflow. The flowers are pure white, but purple blotches are clearly visible on the pharynx.
2. Copper (or copper red). In size larger than the previous variety, with creeping shoots that are easily rooted in the soil. Leaves - elliptical or rounded elliptical in shape, up to 13 cm long, with dense pubescence (in the upper part the color varies from brown-green to copper, and a white strip always runs along the middle vein). Flowers are single, often fiery red, with a corolla tube 2–2.5 cm long.
3. Creeping (episcia reptans). Leaf plates with thick but soft bristles, silver-green (more gray in the light). Flowers are red with wavy petals.
4. Northern Lights (episcia northern light). Leaves are not pubescent, glossy, with pearly shimmer. Flowers are red, solitary.
5. Emerald velvet (Emerald Velvet). Leaf plates - dark olive color, quite large, densely pubescent, with green veins. The flowers are pale lilac, with a white middle. Sometimes this variety is called a blue flower description, because it seems that way they seem from afar.
6. Silver shine (episcia silver sheen). Leaves - pubescent, silvery with green or dark brown bordering. Flowers are solitary, mostly red, often with an orange tint.
7. Lilacina viridis. Large, emerald green leaves are complemented by silvery veins, densely pubescent. Flowers - lavender or lilac, with a border from a white line.
8. My precious. The leaves are large, smooth, with a slight tuberosity, usually green-light green in color, with pearly veins. The flowers are painted yellow, but the outer edge is slightly lighter than the middle.
9. Kee wee. Leaf plates are quite large, rough to the touch, with a slight brown dusting. The flowers are orange-red, the pharynx is yellow.
10. Yellow mist. The leaves are large, with a smooth surface and a silver tint along the leaf veins. Flowers are solitary, bright yellow.
11. Silver dust. Dark green leaves with an olive tint, usually medium in size, with mesh veins. Flowers - carmine, orange, with a bright rim of bordering.
12. Gray lady. Leaves are medium sized, well pubescent, serrated, mostly olive in color (of different shades). The flowers are red, with an orange tint and small yellowish dots.
13. Faded jade. Light green leaves have a characteristic pearly pollination along the central veins. The flowers are orange-red with a yellow throat.
14. Chocolate cream. Leaf plates - a beautiful, chocolate-brown color, with wide streaks of pink. Single flowers are pure white, fringed around the edge.
15. Silver skies. This variety belongs to miniature varieties, with green leaves (may have a crimson hue) and carmine flowers.
16. Tiger stripe. Already from the photo it is noticeable that the leaves of the plant have a characteristic marsh hue, and the veins are similar to the pattern of tiger skin. Flowers - scarlet color.
17. Pink acajou. This variety is characterized by medium-sized leaf blades, with small teeth and a silvery green color. Chaotic pink blotches are scattered all over their surface. The color of the flowers is carmine.
18. Sea foam. The leaves are rounded in shape, fairly pubescent, olive in color with a pink border. Flowers - an orange-red hue with a yellow throat.
19. Sun gold. Leaf blades are small in size, olive in color with a predominance of brown tones. The surface is shiny with a herringbone pattern on top. The plant blooms with bright yellow flowers.
20. Pink panther. Leaves - pubescent, dark green with a herringbone pattern. Flowering - bright pink, with slightly jagged edges of flowers.
21. Moon light. Leaf plates - light silver in color, with a border of brown-pink hue. It blooms in red, single, small flowers.
22. Aloha mauna loa. The leaves are rounded, with a slight pubescence, dark brown with a texture resembling a turtle shell. Flowers - orange-red color.
23. Strawberry mist. The leaves are medium, quite embossed with a rich dark pink color (sometimes they seem reddish). The central veins are gray-green, and the entire surface gives off a mother-of-pearl overflow. Plants of this variety bloom in orange-red flowers with yellow throat.
24. Strawberry patch. Leaf plates are medium, with a standard pubescence, textured, bright red, but with a characteristic pink tint (it is more saturated along the edge of the sheet). Flowers - red-orange, with a yellow "neck".
25. Country clown. The leaves are medium sized, shiny, bright pink in color and have a glossy surface. A characteristic feature of the variety is a metallic sheen of the surface of the sheet plates and an olive green edging. Flowering - scarlet.
26. Ronnie. The leaf plates are of medium size, dark marsh, with a distinct silver-olive color of the veins. Blooms in bright red flowers.
27. Tricolor. It is characterized by the impressive size of the plant itself, the leaves grow up to 8 cm in length and in good light have a pleasant, slightly yellowish tint. In the shade, it seems that the olive bordering completely passes to the whole leaf. Flowering is regular, with standard red flowers.
28. Silver moon. Leaves are glossy, shiny, light green in color, with a gray tint and dark brown bordering. Flowers - standard red color.
29. Show time. One of the most popular varieties, which is characterized by relatively long, silver-pink leaves (up to 10-12 cm long). All of them are moderately pubescent, and young specimens shine well. Blooms in red and yellow.
30. Degas. The leaves are embossed, glossy, usually brown-green in color, with a very bright mesh pattern, which consists of deep emerald veins. Blooms in red flowers with yellow throat.
31. Blue nile. The leaf plates are medium in size, with pointed ends and a rough surface. The color of the leaves is dark green, with a variety of brown fringes and a light green central part. It blooms with lavender-blue flowers, with a white throat and a slight undulation of the petals at the edges.

Features of care and growing

Like any other plant, the plantation needs good lighting, a suitable temperature and humidity level in the place of cultivation. It is also worth paying attention to the features of caring for a room flower, providing for timely watering, top dressing, pruning and transplanting. Let's find out exactly what you need to know about the competent cultivation of a peacock flower.

Did you know? The description is recommended for growing people with problems in family relationships, because it is believed that it makes them more harmonious and prevents the development of any conflict situations.

Optimal conditions

The main criteria when choosing suitable conditions for growing an epistemia are the level of lighting, temperature and humidity indicators at the location of the pot. This should be a bright room, providing the plant with continuous exposure to diffused light fluxes for 12–16 hours a day.

With regard to suitable temperature conditions, then it is worth focusing on the time of year. The description is a thermophilic flower that feels great in high humidity, so make sure that in winter the thermometer does not fall below + 15 ° C, and in summer does not rise above + 33 ° C.Ideal night temperatures will be within + 18 ... + 25 ° C, and during the day it is better to keep them at + 24 ... + 26 ° C. To increase humidity, a pan with wet pebbles is placed next to the pots, so that this figure always corresponds to 65–75%.

Watering and fertilizing

The description requires regular, but moderate watering using well-maintained room temperature water. A few hours after making the liquid, its residues must be drained from the pan. Irrigation regularity is determined based on the state of the upper soil layer: as soon as the earth dries 1-2 cm, it is advisable to immediately make up for the loss of moisture.

On average, a peacock flower is watered three times a week in the summer and twice a week in the winter. You can spray the leaves only in the summer, and then, if other ways to increase the humidity in the room do not bring the proper result.

Important! The possibility and features of spraying the description depend largely on the type of flower, therefore, before performing the procedure, you should make sure that a particular plant can normally transfer it and will not respond by twisting the sheets or the appearance of spots on them.

Trimming and shaping a bush

Most varieties of peacock flower belong to fast-growing shrubs, so forming pruning is an integral part of plant care. Usually it is performed immediately after flowering, shortening the shoots at its discretion.

Among the most acceptable and simple options is the creation of a small bush or ampel, which provides for partial or complete removal of side shoots. With uncontrolled growth, the plant becomes untidy and can hardly be called decorative.

For the splendor of the bush, you can plant the remaining rosettes after trimming the pot, which in the future will serve as an excellent material for further propagation of the bush.

Transfer

Given the high growth rate of epitia, it is not surprising that the plant needs an annual transplant in a large capacity. Wide, but low products that it is desirable to fill with soil for violets will be an excellent solution when choosing a pot (when preparing the substrate yourself, mix 2 parts of leaf soil and one peat and sand, with the addition of a small amount of crushed charcoal or sphagnum).

The description prefers only light soil mixtures, with a high ability to pass air and a pH level in the range of 5.5. A plant transplant into the prepared soil is performed in early spring, when the flower has just begun to move away from the state of winter dormancy.

The procedure itself is simple and consists of several generally accepted steps:

1. Preparing the pot, placing the drainage layer and the substrate itself.
2. Extracting plants from an old planting tank, pruning damaged roots (possibly with treatment in a disinfecting solution).
3. Transplant into a new pot, filled with a new nutrient substrate.

At the end of the transplant, you can water the plant and take the pot to the most suitable place in the apartment for it.

Video: Episode Transplant

Breeding methods

The description can be propagated in several ways at once: seeds, daughter sockets or leaf cuttings, and in most situations it is worth paying attention to the latter options, since seed propagation often leads to the loss of varietal characteristics of flowers.

The easiest way to root cut, well-developed lateral shoots, with 3-4 nodes. After separation from the mother bush, they are placed in water, but not more than 3-4 cm, and after the appearance of their own root system, they are planted in a separate pot with soil.

Important! Even when the cuttings create optimal conditions for growth and development, the young plant obtained from them will bloom no earlier than 2-3 years after rooting, therefore it is advisable to harvest several cuttings at once, which will increase the chances of obtaining a flowering and healthy plant.

When the bush is propagated by using affiliated rosettes, it is not even necessary to cut them off immediately: it’s enough to start by dipping the shoot into moist soil at the bend, and after the appearance of its own roots on it, completely separate from the mother plant. In most cases, there are no problems with rooting the stem parts, and the whole process takes no more than one week.

To increase the chances of success of the process of reproduction of the epistemia, it is important to follow some simple recommendations:

1. The temperature in the room with rooted cuttings should not be lower than + 18 ° C, although the optimum values ​​are + 25 ° C or slightly higher.
2. At least once every few months, young plants must be moved to new planting containers, 2-3 cm more than each previous one. The maximum pot size for adult use is 20 cm in diameter.
3. Stem cuttings can be rooted in the substrate, previously separated from the mother plant and planted in a pot with a diameter of 7–9 cm.
4. To accelerate the germination of new roots, it is advisable to cover the cuttings with a jar or stretch the film, creating the effect of a greenhouse.

Sowing seeds is relevant only in the case of rare varieties of description, when it is not possible to get a stalk from a healthy mother plant of the desired species. It is advisable to deepen the seed no more than 1 cm, only lightly sprinkled with a nutrient substrate. For better germination, you can arrange a small greenhouse by covering the box with glass or pulling the film, but in this case the main thing is to regularly air the seedlings. After the first leaves appear on them, you can pick them in different pots.

Dormancy and flowering period

There is no pronounced dormancy period in the description, because if there is enough light, the plant continues to grow in the winter period, except that flowering is unlikely.Flowers appear on the bushes in late spring or early summer and adorn them until the onset of steady colds in November.

At home, decorative-flowering plants are also grown, such as:

Plant diseases and pests

Many flower pests bypass the described plant, but some still settle on exotics. Most often it is a mealybug, aphid and root nematode, the traces of the presence of which are not immediately visible.

If you still notice sticky traces on the leaves of the plant or the pest colonies themselves, then the first thing to do is to wipe them with a damp cloth dipped in soapy water or alcohol. By removing the insects mechanically, it remains only to treat the plant with insecticidal preparations, and so that, after passing through the entire soil, the liquid spills out through the drainage holes.

In the modern market, such compositions as Aktara, Aktoverm, Biotlin, Fitoverm proved to be quite good, which it is advisable to breed only in the dosages indicated on the package. After the first treatment, it is advisable to carry out two more, with an interval of 8-10 days, and if the plant does not recover after that, then it is likely that it will have to be transplanted.

As for the diseases, only root rot poses a serious threat to the episode, but it will not harm the plant if the care is properly organized. If infection has already occurred, then in the initial stages the bush will be saved by transplantation into a new, disinfected soil, with further treatment with fungicides (for example, “Skor”, “Fundazol”, “Topaz”, “Alirin-B”).

In general, care for the description is not very complicated, so even a beginner grower can cope with the task. The main thing is to determine the plant variety and immediately create suitable conditions for growth and development.