What does a cicada look like and how to care for it?

Cycas or cycad is a beautiful tropical flower, a distant relative of the fern. The flower culture is often similar to the palm tree, but the similarity is only superficial.

The native places of the cicassus can be considered Asia, India, Australia. Some varieties are found in the Crimea and the Caucasus. The cycad can rightfully be attributed to the most ancient plants. Sometimes you can find a comparison with a palm tree due to the similarity in appearance. Indeed, under natural conditions, the so-called sago palm tree has a trunk diameter of 80 centimeters and a height of 7 meters. The leaf plates are lush, located at the very top. The name comes from the Greek, and means - palm. Of course, there is a resemblance to a palm tree, but the plant looks more like ferns. But scientists have not identified any relationship. The cycad grows rather slowly, an increase in growth occurs by 3 centimeters per year, and its life cycle is 100 years.

The trunk looks like a kind of shell, which consists of the remnants of dead plates. The leaves are pinnate. At a young age, they are dark green, soft, with a delicate downy. And as they mature, they become hard, naked and shiny. The height of an indoor flower is up to 80 centimeters, the leaves are long and wide. Blooming at home is extremely rare. The reason is clear - there is no way to create full-fledged conditions for development. Beautiful flowers can only be seen in a greenhouse or in their natural environment. At the top of a female tree, seeds up to 50 millimeters long are formed in cones.

Let's consider some types of cicas.

• The drooping one is cultivated at home. Huge leaf plates are collected in a kind of bundle at the top of the trunk. Leaves can grow in length from 50 centimeters to 2 meters: it all depends on the surrounding conditions. The leaf is narrow, with a characteristic narrowing at the base, with one vein. The sheet is, as it were, bent outward, and hence its second name - Bent. Leaves are light green, darken with age.
• Cochlea or curled. An armful of leaves at a young age looks up, and with age, they take a semi-horizontal position. The stem of the flower culture is columnar, up to 30 flat-pinnate leaves are collected at the top.
• Rumfa is one of the largest varieties. Sri Lanka and the islands are considered her homeland. Grows up to 15 meters. The leaf plates have the shape of a lancet, 2 centimeters wide and 30 centimeters long.
• Siamese - the shortest variety with bluish leaves on spiny petioles. The trunk is thick in the lower part with a gradual tapering upward.
• Average. It is a bush, on the top of which green foliage is grouped into a bunch. Ripe seeds are used to prepare various dishes.
• Tsikas Tuara. His homeland is Madagascar, where the height of the tree reaches 10 meters. The crown is often branched. The seeds are the size of a goose egg.
• Cycad is sickle-shaped. The name of the variety speaks for itself: the leaf plates have a characteristic shape. The appearance of the leaves is glossy on the outside, and matte on the inside.
• The comb grows in Southeast Asia. Its seeds and young green leaves are used for cooking, and the crushed stem is used as a hygiene product.
• Cycad unscathed grows in Japan in the depths of the forests, on the slopes of hills at an altitude of 300 meters above sea level. Its stem is similar to a pineapple, and there is enough water inside to hold out during a dry season. The leaf plates have thorns, divided into needle-shaped leaves.

Acquiring an exotic plant is a serious business. After all, what you bring home depends on a careful choice. In the store, you need to carefully examine the plant.

• The buds should be smooth and of the correct color without any damage.
• You need to take a flower that has at least three full leaves.
• The tuft should be firm with no signs of decay. The trunk should also be dense, strong and firm, especially at the base of the leaf blades.

When the plant is purchased, what to do next? Here are some tips.

• Take your time, take your time, be careful.
• It is not necessary to immediately remove the packaging from the culture. Let the cycas adapt to new temperature conditions. To do this, place the container in the coolest place for about one hour.
• After that, once again carefully examine the exotic: it is better to remove the damaged leaves immediately, and dust the cut area with activated carbon. It is no longer possible to restore such a plant, but it will require nutrition.
• The first watering after two days, unless, of course, the substrate is completely dry.
• Two to three weeks after the purchase of the flower will be considered quarantine. Do not send cicas to the friendly company of their healthy flowers, let it stand in splendid isolation.

Judging by the slow growth of the plant, it does not need frequent transplantation. Young shoots are transplanted depending on the need, and an adult plant is transplanted no more than 4 years later. After purchase, the scheme is the same, it all depends on the age of the plant. The culture can be transplanted by transshipment while preserving the earthen coma, the topsoil is renewed, and the side parts are covered with it. The pot should be up to 30 millimeters across the diameter of the trunk, and the depth should be 2.5 times the diameter.

The composition of the soil should be loose, neutral or slightly acidic, and it should be water permeable. This means that the composition should contain peat, pumice, perlite, sand. As for the soil mixture, it should be as follows: 1 part of bone meal and part of peat, pebbles, slag, perlite, charcoal, wood bark. All this is thoroughly mixed and sterilized. The transplant is carried out at any time, but more often it is done in the spring. Before transplanting, the leaf plates are cut by one third. Transplant carefully, without injuring the roots, in order to avoid the formation of rot.

Let's talk a little about caring for an exotic at home. There is no flowering in the form we are accustomed to; it has specific organs for such purposes. There are female and male plants. In the female plant, cones ripen, similar to the nest. Their male plants are fertilized in the form of oblong growths.

After the end of the fertilization process, seeds are formed up to 5 centimeters of an elongated shape in scales. To obtain seeds at home, artificial pollination is necessary, and the plant will be ready for this in 15 years, not earlier.

Tsikas is a capricious plant in terms of temperature. In the summer, he needs +28 degrees for full development. It is recommended to take it out into the fresh air during the summer. The cycad needs to be sprayed with warm water in the morning. Leaves often need to be wiped with a damp cloth. It is not necessary to spray during the flowering period and during the cool season. In order to retain moisture in the plant, its trunk is wrapped in moss and watered.

The cycad will need bright, full lighting. Direct sunlight is not needed, and daylight hours should last 12 hours. If you take the plant out into the fresh air, then only in the shade. In order for the crown to develop evenly, the container must be constantly turned over.

Watering in the right regime is the key to the development of a healthy cicada. It is from illiterate watering that many problems arise in an exotic culture. The frequency of watering depends on many factors, such as air humidity, temperature fluctuations, season, and other indicators. An approximate irrigation scheme is as follows: in the summer - up to twice a week, and in the winter - once every 10 days. The water must first settle, warm up and be soft. It is recommended to drain the water from the pan 30 minutes after watering.

From spring until the end of the autumn period, we recommend feeding the cycad every two weeks. And during the dormant period - from the end of autumn to the end of winter - reduce the application of fertilizers to once a month, and halve the dosage. For example, in January it is not worth feeding the plant at all. After the transplant procedure, fertilization is resumed only after a calendar month.

Fertilizers marked "for palm trees" or "for decorative deciduous houseplants" are suitable as top dressing. Florists claim that you can apply fertilizers "for cacti", "for orchids."

As such, the plant does not need pruning. But for sanitary purposes, it must be done. It is just that from time to time it is necessary to remove damaged and old sheet plates.

The plant propagates by seeds and side shoots. It is unlikely that you will be able to obtain seed on your own, so it is better to purchase it in the store. Fresh seeds germinate well under certain conditions.

• Seeds need to be poured with warm water - 35 degrees for 12 hours.
• The best option for the soil mixture will be considered a composition of sand and perlite.
• The seeds are spread over the surface of the substrate, gently pressed down, and covered with a small amount of the mixture.
• All are poured with a small amount of water, covered with polyethylene.
• The temperature should be within +25 degrees, the soil should be moist, and the film should be periodically opened for ventilation.
• A month later, shoots can be expected, the shelter is removed, and the containers with shoots are rearranged to a more illuminated and warm place.

As soon as two full-fledged leaf plates appear, the plant is transplanted to a permanent place. It is a good idea to use side bulbs in the lower section of the trunk for propagation. With the onset of spring, such processes are cut off with a special knife without damaging the main trunk. Places of cuts are sprinkled with charcoal and treated with fungicides. Day onions need to be dried, and then they are sent to wet perlite. A temperature of +25 degrees and moderate humidity are maintained until small roots appear, which is 4-5 months. With the beginning of growth, the cutting can be transplanted into the ground to a permanent place.

Let's say it again - the cicas is a capricious plant. Therefore, with improper care, exotic animals have problems. The plant grows slowly, does not release new leaves - lack of mineral and nutrients. Fertilization, soil change are required. In the summer, the leaves began to turn yellow and curl - not enough moisture. It is recommended to pay attention to the frequency of watering.The brown color of the leaves indicates a lack of trace elements. Feed the plant.

The root system is rotten - the cicada is uncomfortable. Reconsider temperature conditions. If the leaf plates are covered with a white coating, the scabbard has settled. Use fungicides. A yellow edging appeared on the leaf plates - a lack of moisture in the air and soil. The main pests of the cycad are the scabbard, thrips, and spider mites. It is they who draw out all the juices and nutrients from the plant. Tsikas is a beautiful and original plant. But in order to have such an extraordinary exotic at home, you will have to fulfill all the conditions for growing it.