Ficus is a popular plant in the interior of modern rooms, due to its unpretentiousness and ability to quickly build green mass. This prevalence facilitates the task of obtaining planting material. However, a beginner grower who wants to acquire a representative of the rainforest, before propagating ficus, needs to study all the features of this procedure.

How to propagate at home?

Non-flowering plants are bred exclusively in a vegetative way, which includes three methods:

  • cuttings;
  • a stalk with a leaf;
  • air layering.

But regardless of the reception, there are a number of mandatory rules:

  • The optimal time for the procedure falls on the warm season - spring-summer.
  • When placing young specimens, direct sunlight is not allowed: not mature plants react poorly to ultraviolet light.
  • When cuttings are cut, they are washed with water to remove the milky juice that has appeared, and the parent plant is moved to fresh air, which provides quick drying of the injured areas.
  • When cutting cuttings, it is taken into account that the processes are not able to quickly take root.

Propagation by cuttings

Growing ficus in this way involves the following:

  1. Cuttings of 15 cm long are cut from the tops of the shoots, and the cut is made at an angle 1 cm lower from the internode.
  2. The leaf in the node is completely removed or shortened by 1⁄2 of the total size, if the view is with large sheet plates. For large-leaf species, cuttings from the middle of the shoot with two internodes can also be cut.

If rooting is carried out in water, then:

  1. Darkened dishes are selected, which will prevent the development of blue-green algae that negatively affect root formation - inhibiting the process.
  2. The temperature is maintained within 25-27C to ensure an increased level of humidity, which can be achieved when constructing a mini-greenhouse from the aquarium or using polyethylene.
  3. After a month, during which the cuttings must take root, the processes are transplanted into separate pots with soil.

In case of rooting in the substrate:

  1. While the cuttings are aged for 2 hours in the fresh air, the soil mixture is prepared from peat, sand, vermiculite in equal parts and calcined in the oven for half an hour.
  2. The shoots are placed in the soil substrate to the second node after the cut.
  3. When using a substrate for rooting, a mini-greenhouse is also used.
  4. After the appearance of new sheets, which indicate the formation of roots, the cuttings are seated in separate containers.

Important! For cutting, a sharp knife is used, the “purity” of which cut directly affects the rate of formation of the root system.

Scion with leaf

When it is said that ficus is grown from a leaf, the phrase should not be taken literally: a stalk is also used for such a breeding technique - part of the shoot with one leaf plate.

For a successful result:

  1. Cuttings are cut at an angle, but directly along the knot.
  2. The processes are placed in the soil mixture prepared according to the above instructions, to the leaf petiole.
  3. The sheet plate is folded into a tube and fixed with tape or other improvised material.
  4. The temperature and humidity level of the air are provided in the same way as in breeding with stem cuttings.

Air layering

This technique is mainly used to rejuvenate ficuses that have lost their decorative effect. In the case when the plant has lost its lower leaves, the stalk is exposed, giving the plant a groomed appearance.

To implement such a reception, the following steps are performed:

  1. A strip of bark 2 cm in diameter is removed from the central shoot with a ring, or incisions along the oblique are made on the stem.
  2. A wet sphagnum is applied to the injured area, which is fixed with polyethylene.
  3. The moisture level of the moss is constantly monitored to prevent it from drying out.
  4. After some time, roots develop from damaged areas.
  5. After that, the upper part of the ficus is cut off and transplanted into a separate flower pot, selected according to the size of the flower.

It is interesting: shefler's flower at home

Plant care

To create conditions under which the ficus will delight the grower for a long time, it is necessary to observe a number of requirements:

  • Lighting - a young flower needs a bright but diffused light.
  • Temperature - in summer, the ficus is provided with a temperature regime of 25-28C, and in winter - the value should not go below 15C.
  • Watering - ficuses require moderate and systematic watering: the culture does not tolerate both overdrying and waterlogging of the substrate. An excellent option would be the alternation of irrigation with plain water, rain and water solution with fertilizers, which will reduce the amount of salts in the soil.
  • Humidity - a tropical plant at any age loves an increased level of humidity and the systematic wiping of leaf plates with a wet sponge, which allows you to simultaneously perform a hygienic function - remove accumulated dust.
  • Transplanting - young specimens are transplanted each spring in a pot one or two sizes larger than the previous one. Older plants, whose height exceeds one meter, are subject to transplantation less often, and without exposing the rhizome - with the preservation of an earthen coma.
  • Soil - ficus feels good on light and nutritious soil, which provides free access of air and moisture to the root system.
  • Fertilizing - for feeding, liquid complex mineral fertilizers are used for ornamental plants, which can be purchased at specialized flower shops.

Subject to the above simple rules, the ficus will thank the owner with the rapid growth and development of the vegetative mass, as well as a long period of preservation of decorativeness.

Features of propagation of ficus: Benjamin and Rubber-bearing

The genus has about 2000 species, which in turn are divided into three types:

  • ampelous;
  • shrubby;
  • tree-like.

The choice of the method of reproduction and its features largely depend on the type to which the culture belongs: ampelous plants, due to their ability to quickly root, reproduce more easily, but require increased humidity of air and soil. However, the most popular species, including the ficus Kauchukonosny and Benjamin, are representatives of the tree-type, long-rooted and requiring special care during this period.

The reproduction of ficus Benjamin and Rubber-bearing are distinguished by the fact that stem cuttings can be used for their breeding and the development of roots from callus tissue formed on the wound surface is very slow. Therefore, to speed up the process, it is recommended to treat the cuttings with growth stimulants - the processing method will depend on the rooting environment and the chemical preparation itself.

 

Thus, for the cultivation of ficuses there are several vegetative techniques, the mastery of which is possible even for a beginner grower.

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