Dreamiopsis is an excellent indoor plant for those who want to bring more greenery and freshness to the interior. It does not bloom brightly, but is unpretentious in leaving and has a long life span. These characteristics make it especially attractive for beginners who are just gaining experience in floriculture.
Main types
Dreamiopsis is an East African bulbous plant whose second name is “Ladeburia”. This genus belongs to the family of Asparagus, a subfamily of Hyacinths.
Dreamiopsis has a unique leaf color
The height of the flower reaches 10-50 cm, depending on the growing conditions and variety. It has elongated long leaves with a pointed end, forming a dense, but compact bush. The color of the leaves can be either monochromatic, saturated green, or spotty.
This plant blooms nondescript - on the peduncles brushes are formed from small flowers of a light shade. Flowering looks, though not bright, but unusual.
note! "Drimiopsis" means "similar to Drimia," that is, the so-called sea onion.
The biological name of this flower is ledeburia, in honor of the researcher Karl Frindich von Ledebour.
A brief description of the main types of dreamiopsis:
- Drimiopsis Kirk (Butrioid). It has hard, smooth lanceolate leaves of green color with spots of a grayish or darker shade. They can reach a length of 40 cm, while the petioles are short. At the base of the flower is a white rounded bulb. Peduncles 20-40 cm long, few flowers on them, painted in milk or white;
- Dreamiopsis Spotted (Maculata). The leaves are wide, oval in shape (up to 12 cm high, up to 7 cm wide), located on long (up to 15 cm) petioles. The edges of the leaves are slightly corrugated, many large dark spots are scattered on a light green background. Spots in the autumn become less noticeable, and in the spring - brighter. The inflorescences are pale yellow, cream, white or gray. During dormancy, the flower discards part of the foliage;
- Dreamiopsis Striped (Variegated). It looks like a pickaxi pickaxi in appearance, but instead of spots, it has dark longitudinal stripes on the leaves. It multiplies and grows rapidly in almost any environment, which makes this species attractive for growing at home;
- Dreamiopsis Purple. Has broad shallow-walled leaves at the edges with pronounced dark spots on the surface and a pointed end. It differs in a purple shade of petioles at the base of the leaves, for which it got its name;
- Dreamiopsis Dolomiticus. It stands out against the background of other species by its miniature size - small heart-shaped leaves with spotted color have no petioles, are located close to the ground. During flowering, the leaves wrap around peduncles, at the end of which a tassel of light flowers blooms. Separated flower stalks with leaves look unusual and beautiful.
This species can be a great gift for a fan of unusual plants.
Most often, amateur flower growers meet primitive psychedelics Kirk and Spotted. Home care is simple for them, while the varieties have a good decorative effect.
Additional Information! Blooming ledeburia at home can last almost the whole year except for the dormant period.
Peduncles with tassels at the ends do not look bright, but unusual
Home Care
The first thing you need to pay attention to before buying a plant is recommendations for its placement in the room. You need to put a pot with ledeburia on the south, southwest or southeast window. In the depths of the room or in the north, he will survive, but over time will become less decorative.
Watering
Drimiopsis should be watered in a moderate mode, as the substrate dries. Excessive moisture can lead to decay of the bulb of the plant and, consequently, to its death.
Water for irrigation should be at room temperature, settled for at least a day or driven through a quality filter. Water features in different regions can affect leaf color in different ways - spots may become paler or white plaque will appear on the leaves.
Top dressing
As a top dressing for this plant, complex fertilizers for cacti are suitable. You can apply them once a month or once every two weeks, if the flower has a change in the color of the leaves (not seasonal) or a delay in flowering. During the rest period, no additional feeding is necessary.
Lighting
Dreamiopsis is a photophilous plant. But it is important to provide not only bright, but also diffused light in the room, otherwise direct sunny bows will “burn out” the leaves. Compensating penumbra with constant artificial lighting is not worth it, this will lead to the gradual death of the flower.
Important! Note that the leaves of the plant are drawn to sunlight. So that it has a neat shape, it must be periodically rotated around its axis.
The pot for this plant needs a low and wide enough
Temperature and humidity
Dreamiopsis flower is an unpretentious plant so that it calmly tolerates both heat and cooling. The critical minimum temperature for it is 8 ° C, the maximum is 30 ° C. The optimum during the vegetative period will be a temperature of 20-25 ° C, which is the usual room rate.
During the rest period, the temperature can be lowered to 15-16 ° C. The flower can be taken out at this time on a glazed balcony or loggia, the main thing is that the amount of natural light does not decrease.
Any humidity is suitable - the flower tolerates both dry air and normal. Spray and wash the leaves only when they become dirty or in extreme heat, while preventing moisture from getting on the bulbs.
The soil
A substrate suitable for this indoor plant should be saturated with nutrients, well moisture and water permeable. A mixture of turf and leafy soil with the addition of humus is suitable.
In stores, you can find universal soil mixtures for bulbous plants, which are suitable, including for dryiopsis. Caring for a flower will be easier when using a suitable substrate, it will also exclude the appearance of many diseases.
Breeding methods
The propagation of ledeburia is carried out in several ways - seed, bulb and cuttings. Unlike other complex species, the seeds of this plant can be found in ordinary flower shops.
Seeds
The process of planting seeds looks like this:
- Small containers with moist permeable soil are prepared.
- Seeds deepen into the ground a couple of millimeters.
- The container is placed in a mini-greenhouse (you can use cling film, a plastic bottle, glass, etc.).
- The temperature in the room should be from 22 ° C, it is important to provide access to light.
- After half a month seedlings will begin to appear, after which the greenhouse is removed.
- Already matured sprouts (with the advent of the first additional leaflets) can be transplanted into a constant container.
Interesting fact! Reproduction by seeds requires a lot of effort and time. Germination of the material is low, and therefore have to be patient to get healthy sprouts.
Bulbs
Bulbous reproduction is considered a simpler and more effective option.
It is carried out as follows:
- An adult plant is carefully removed from the ground.
- One or more small onions are separated from it.
- Places of cuts are processed by crushed charcoal.
- Bulbs are rooted immediately in a pot individually each.
Indoor flower, called Drimiopsis, grows quite quickly, and quickly gives off shoots.
Bulbs need to be separated carefully without damaging the plant.
Cuttings
For ledeburia, the classic method of propagation is also suitable - cuttings.
It is carried out as follows:
- A suitable young leaf is cut off at the very base.
- A slice on a plant is treated with coal.
- The leaf is placed in warm, settled water for 2-3 days.
- After dried in a natural way and placed in a substrate.
- Rooting occurs in a couple of weeks, after the appearance of new leaves, the plant can be transplanted.
The temperature regime should be the same as in the case of planting seeds. In each of the ways, good lighting and warmth are important.
Interesting fact! There is a plant with which this species is often confused - spathiphyllum. Unlike dreamiopsis, it has a bright flowering in the form of white flowers on high pedicels.
You can confuse these two species only during the rest period
The period of rest and transplantation
Ledeburia rest period begins in winter. This can be determined by the completion of flowering and dropping part of the foliage.
Care at this time is slightly different - you need to moisten the soil no more than once every two weeks. No need to spray and wash the leaves. The lighting mode must be left unchanged.
At home, this flower can live for many years. At the same time, it constantly grows and develops, so it requires transplants after a certain time:
- Dreamiopsis under the age of 3 years is transplanted annually;
- a plant aged 3 to 5 years is transplanted every two years;
- older specimens are transplanted every three to four years.
The diameter of the pot in growing flowers needs to be increased each time by a couple of centimeters. Suitable material is ceramic or plastic, but drainage holes are important. Drimiopsis should be transplanted in the spring, when the young leaves have not yet had time to get stronger.
Dreamiopsis, which is easy to care for at home, will be an excellent decorative plant for both living quarters and office. Its greens will be pleasantly pleasing to the eye, and the barely perceptible aroma of flowering will not be intrusive.
