Crassula (Crassula) is a plant from the Crassulaceae family.
Under natural conditions, more than 300 species of this plant grow.
They differ in a variety of forms: ampelous, groundcover, bush, tree-like.
In indoor floriculture, this succulent has become popular for its unpretentiousness and spectacular appearance.
At home, the following species are cultivated:
• Tree Crassula known as the money tree. Subject to the necessary conditions, it can be grown up to 1.5 m in height. After reaching 10 years of age, it can bloom with white or pinkish flowers.
• Spade Crassula has tetrahedral creeping stems on which aerial roots grow. This species needs regular watering all year round.
• Fatty Cooper - a short grassy species of Crassula with thin shoots forming a curtain. Flowering occurs in the summer. Pale pink flowers exude a sweet smell.
• Flood-like Crassula (mucous) is a highly branched shrub. Decorativeness is given to the plant by its small pointed leaves located on the stem in the form of tiles. The shoots of young plants are erect, and with age they die. This krassula blooms with single, nondescript flowers of a pale yellow color. It grows very quickly, easily propagated by cuttings.
• Purslane Fatty known as oval or ovoid fatty. It can grow up to 1 m. It blooms with pink or white flowers.
Although Crassula is not demanding to care for, still knowledge of its biological characteristics will create the conditions suitable for its cultivation.
Money Tree - Home Care: Reproduction
Money tree at home propagated by cuttings and seeds. Vegetative method is the easiest and most acceptable option. You can cut a fat woman all year round. To do this, choose a ripe process or a large leaf, separate it from the mother plant and leave it to wither for 1-2 days.
Cuttings of a money tree
Rooted cuttings in water or in the ground. Charcoal is pre-added to the water tank for disinfection. The stem will take root within 14-20 days.
When rooting in the soil, a drainage is laid in the prepared pot and a substrate of garden soil and sand is added in equal proportions. Planted stalk is covered with a jar or a glass. Every day you need to ventilate the seedling. Water it in small portions or spray the soil from the spray gun as it dries.
Seed propagation rarely used at home due to the high cost of time and painstaking care. This process is performed as follows:
• Earthenware for sowing is selected clay without glaze, which prevents air and moisture exchange;
• Soil for sowing is made of sheet or garden soil and sand in equal proportions;
• Seeds of Crassula are small. After sowing, they are sprinkled with sand;
• A cover with seedlings is covered with a film or glass;
• Ventilate plantings daily (soil should be moist, but not wet);
• Emerging shoots dive and put in a well-consulted place;
• When the seedlings grow to 5-7 cm, they are transplanted into separate pots.
Crassula transplant
A fat woman is transplanted as she weaves a coma of earth with roots once every two to three years. It is better to do this in the spring by transshipment. Pots should be used wide and stable, since the ground part of the plant is quite massive and heavy, and the root system is weak. Be sure to make drainage at the bottom of the new pot to prevent root decay.
Money tree - home care: watering, top dressing, lighting, humidity
Location and lighting
The fat girl, like all succulents, needs bright and diffused light. For this, the plant is placed on the southwestern and southeastern windows. In winter, on the contrary, they rearrange pots with a rosula on the south side or use additional lighting, otherwise, with a shortage of light, the plant will stretch and the leaves will become smaller. In summer, she will enjoy the fresh air on the balcony or terrace. In this case, it is necessary to ensure shading from direct sunlight.
Pots
The root system of the money tree is small and sensitive to waterlogging, and the crown due to the accumulation of moisture in the leaves is quite weighty. Pots should be selected based on these plant characteristics. For stability of the fat woman, the landing containers should be wide, shallow, heavy with drain holes. Drainage from expanded clay or clay shards is mandatory.
Temperature mode
In spring and summer, the optimum temperature for a fat woman will be + 19-25ºС. In autumn and winter, the plant will be comfortable at + 14-17ºС. Therefore, it must be rearranged away from central heating batteries. Maintaining such a regimen stimulates the flowering of the money tree.
Air humidity
Crassulaceae are not demanding on air humidity, but its sharp fluctuations affect the appearance of the plant: the leaves turn yellow and begin to fall off. Crassula is sprayed on hot summer days with hygienic goals - to wash off the dust. In other seasons, you can wipe the leaves with a soft, damp sponge.
Watering
Money tree easily tolerates rare watering due to moisture reserves in fleshy leaves. Excessive soil moisture causes the root system to rot. In the spring-summer season, the grass is watered with a frequency of once every 3-5 days. In this case, the earthen lump should dry to half. In winter, 1-2 single watering per month is sufficient. Water for irrigation is used at room temperature.
The soil
Crassula can grow even on nutrient-poor soil. For its cultivation, a ready-made mixture for cacti and succulents, which can be purchased at a flower shop, is best suited. If this is not possible, then it is made of turf or sheet land, sand and humus (4: 1: 1).
Top dressing
Crassula is fed monthly in spring and summer with fertilizers for cacti. Do this only after watering, otherwise it is likely to burn the roots. In the cold season, top dressing is reduced to half the dose recommended in the instructions.
Pruning and pinching
In order for the money tree to please with its magnificent crown, it is necessary to pinch the shoots. This procedure is quite simple: 3-4 pairs of leaves are left on the stem of a young fat woman, the rest is pinched off. At this point, branching will begin later.
If pruning is carried out for an adult overgrown plant, then the slices are made straight along the knot (in the place where the leaves grow) and treated with charcoal. To evenly develop the crown, the pot with the fatty is rotated from time to time.
Money tree - home care: why doesn't it grow and die?
With proper care, the fat woman is rarely affected by pests. Among them, the most common uninvited guests of Crassula are the insect shield, mealybug, spider mite, and aphids.
Scab characterized by the appearance of yellow-brown spots on the leaves. The affected areas are wiped with an alcohol solution with an interval of 5-7 days.
When spider mite the leaves turn yellow first, then a brown crust forms on them. The insects themselves are noticeable - these are small reddish-brown spiders. To combat them, plants are sprayed with soapy water, and with a strong defeat by insecticides (Fitoverm, Fufanon, Karate).
Mealybug wash off the leaves with a sponge dipped in garlic tincture or alcohol. If the roots are damaged, then the plant is shed with Mospilan, Fitoverm or Vermitek.
Improper care causes much more harm to the money tree.
If the money tree has stopped growing, then you need to find out the reason: examine the root system for rot, pests. When growth is stopped in a young plant, it is transplanted into a small pot: until the whole earthen lump is mastered by the roots, the ground part of the fat will not grow.
Lack of lighting causes the plant to stretch, its stems are bent, the leaves become smaller and fall off.
If the fat woman is standing in direct sunlightthen leaf burns are inevitable - they turn black.
Excessive soil moisture - One of the most dangerous factors in the death of Crassula. The leaves at the same time change their color (darken), become lethargic, fall off. Rotting of the roots begins, the signs of which are the appearance of a white-pink plaque on the root neck and softening of the trunk. In this case, you need to examine the root system of the plant. If it is not completely damaged and healthy roots are preserved, then the plant is transplanted into a new pot. In this case, the rotten parts are removed to a healthy tissue and sprinkle wounds with charcoal. If the plant all withers away early, then the only option is to cut the cuttings and grow the plants again.
Moisture deficiency and prolonged heat also cause leaf fall of the Crassula. At the same time, the leaves wrinkle and dry, become flat, brown spots appear on them. When resuming the correct watering regime, the plant is restored.
Did the leaves turn red or did they have a clear red border? This phenomenon, with the exception of varietal features, is characteristic of prolonged and bright lighting (often observed in spring). In order for the plant to turn green again, it must be removed away from the window.
Crassula does not bloom? For a home plant, this is normal. When grown indoors, the fat woman rarely pleases with its flowering. To do this, she must be at least 10 years old. It is also necessary to provide a winter period of rest with lowering air temperature and limiting watering. Some gardeners, using the well-known fact that when the threat of death the plant begins to multiply intensively, to stimulate flowering, arrange it under stressful conditions (inappropriate air temperature, prolonged lack of watering).
