How to feed the money tree and how to use fertilizers correctly?

A fat woman or Crassula, a native of South Africa, can be found in almost every home. How to create comfortable conditions for the plant, what and when to feed, what fertilizers to choose in winter - read in this article.

The indoor fat woman is known as the "money tree". Its round-shaped leaves resemble coins. It is believed that the plant brings profit and prosperity to the house. An ancient African legend says that a poor aborigine, who began to grow and sell fat women, became rich and became happy. Thanks to the belief, decorativeness and unpretentiousness of Crassula, flower growers love the flower and carefully grow it at home.

As a plant that came from hot countries, the bastard has its own characteristics, the knowledge of which helps to properly care for the flower.

Distinctive features of the fat woman.

• The fat woman is a representative of the succulent family, loves warmth, but not heat. The living temperature in summer is from +20, but not higher than + 30 degrees, in winter - from +10 to 12 degrees of heat.
• It is better to place the plant on the southern and southeastern windows, but be sure to shade. The flower loves partial shade, is afraid of bright sunlight, which leaves burns on the leaves.
• The tree does not tolerate dry air, especially during the heating season. Do not keep it near heating appliances.
• The fat woman is a succulent, it grows slowly, it does not need enhanced growth stimulation.
• Watering the plant: autumn - once a week, winter - 2 times a month, spring - 1-2 times a week, summer - 2 times a week.
• The flower loves good watering and spraying, but stagnation of moisture in the pot is dangerous for it. Pour water from the pan of the pot 15–20 minutes after watering.
• The plant accumulates nutrients in the leaves. If the leaves of the bastard have lost their elasticity, turned yellow, the plant needs moisture and vitamins.

Even the most picky plant needs timely feeding. The fat woman is no exception. For fertilizers to be beneficial, you need to consider the following:

• do not apply fertilizer immediately after transplanting the tree: damaged roots will still not absorb the fertilizing;
• like all succulents, the bastard grows slowly, therefore, it needs less nitrogenous fertilizers, which actively stimulate the growth of the aerial part of the plant;
• excessive nitrogen damages the plant, and deficiency affects the growth of leaves - they can look sick.

The best means for feeding a plant are those that have been tested by experienced plant breeders. Fertilizers include fertilizers produced by manufacturers and folk remedies, the benefits of which have been studied and tested in practice.

These are special balanced fertilizers for cacti and succulents containing the following components:

• potassium;
• calcium;
• nitrogen;
• phosphorus.

When purchasing a fertilizer, carefully study the annotation to it. The content of chemicals should be in the following proportions:

• nitrogen - 1 part;
• phosphorus - 2 parts;
• potassium - 4 parts.

You can use universal flower fertilizers if they do not have a predominant nitrogen content, but there are vitamins that are useful for the plant. Humus-based fertilizers contain large amounts of nitrogen. It is not recommended to purchase them for a fat woman.

Folk remedies can be just as helpful. Some of them contain a good half of the valuable macro- and microelements of the periodic table:

• iron;
• copper;
• calcium;
• potassium;
• zinc;
• magnesium;
• manganese;
• selenium;
• B vitamins.

Among the special fertilizers there are fertilizers for succulents and universal compounds.

• Etisso - liquid balanced product is perfectly absorbed by all types of succulents and cacti. Strengthens the immune system, makes flowering longer and more luxuriant.
• Bona Forte - a liquid fertilizer containing all the necessary substances for a fat woman. Includes succinic acid. It stimulates flowering and growth, makes the plant resistant to adverse conditions.
• "Pocon" - a top dressing preferred by many flower growers. In addition, it contains vitamins B1 and PP, which contribute to the growth and strengthening of the root system, helps the culture to efficiently assimilate nutrients from the soil.
• "Uniflor-cactus" - the ideal ratio of trace elements for cacti and succulents. Increases resistance to various diseases, improves intercellular metabolism, helps to gain strength before flowering.
• "Gilea" - a classic fertilizer for home and garden crops, contains a full range of nutrients necessary for a healthy plant. Under this brand, the drug "Strong Leaf" for foliar feeding and fertilizer "Mister Color Universal" are popular.
• "Effekton DC" - has a beneficial effect on the soil, improving its air exchange, saturating it with the necessary enzymes, which is valuable for the root system. Has no property to accumulate in shoots and leaves.
• "Gumisol" - a fertilizer rich in phytohormones, essential amino acids and minerals valuable for the fat woman. The elements necessary for flowering and growth of the culture are produced faster, the process of photosynthesis is accelerated, and the flowering time increases.

Many flower growers use folk recipes for feeding the fat woman with minerals.

Eggshells are a natural source of calcium. According to proven recipes, it can be used as a nutritional tincture, dry dressing, drainage. For use in any form, the shell must first be thoroughly rinsed and then calcined in a pan or oven.

Tincture:

• prepare 10 eggshells;
• grind them to a powdery state in a coffee grinder or mortar;
• pour the powder into a liter jar, pour boiling water;
• leave the solution in a dark place for 2 weeks;
• use instead of regular water to water the plant.

Dry dressing: Place 1-2 teaspoons of ground shells in a pot and sprinkle with soil before planting the plant.

Drainage:

• the shell is mixed with ready-made drainage and poured into the bottom of the pot;
• small pieces of shell will serve as an additional drainage layer of at least 3 cm in the planting container.

You can feed the plant with ash no more than once every two weeks.

Wood ash obtained from burning deciduous plants is suitable for fertilization. It is poured into a pot on the surface of the earth and mulched with earth, or an infusion is prepared for irrigation.

Infusion:

• prepare ash after burning birch or linden logs;
• Pour 200 g of ash with clean hot boiled water;
• insist a week in a dark place;
• after 7 days the infusion is ready for use.

Bone and fish meal is an organic fertilizer containing not only phosphorus and calcium, but also copper, zinc, cobalt, manganese, and iron. For 1 kg of soil, 1 g of bone meal is used for feeding.

Raw materials are made from the bones of fish and cattle by digestion, degreasing and grinding. The plant is fed once every three years during the period of active flowering.

Sugar serves as a top dressing for the fat woman in the winter.Glucose is a source of energy, promotes the regeneration of plant tissues and the growth of new shoots. You should not be zealous with sweet feeding. This will rot the soil and attract insects.

Sugar dressing: 1 tbsp. a spoonful of sugar per liter of warm boiled water.

If your plant grows well, develops and blooms, any universal fertilizer that has the main components: potassium and phosphorus is suitable for it.

If you see certain problems in a flower, choose a fertilizer that can become a medicine for Crassula, which can cure a disease or eradicate an undesirable phenomenon.

The appearance of the plant will tell you about the need to choose certain minerals.

• The fat woman stops blooming or blooms very poorly, drops the leaves - lack of phosphorus. It is necessary to select a fertilizer containing phosphorus.
• Phosphorus oversaturation - the appearance of very small foliage, seemingly weak. Fertilizers containing zinc and copper will help fix the problem.
• With a lack of potassium, the leaves of the plant turn yellow, their edges become thinner and dry, the skin covering the leaf plate becomes very vulnerable. It is necessary to make a top dressing with potassium.
• A red or brown border around the edges of the foliage indicates a possible excess of potassium. We fix it with a fertilizer containing magnesium.
• Calcium deficiency - yellowing and leaf fall. I need a calcium supplement. The flower uses it actively, but oversaturation with this mineral leads to a lack of potassium.
• Do not risk fertilizing the bastard with a composition where the nitrogen content is higher than other components.
• The use of nitrogenous fertilizers will disrupt the natural growth process of the tree and cause rotting of the roots and leaf disease, and attract harmful insects.
• Watch the plant carefully and you will determine what exactly is required for it in a given life period.

Feeding a fat woman at home is easy. The main thing is not to disrupt the natural life cycle of the plant, but to act in accordance with it.

In the spring, the fat woman begins to build up the green mass. In late March - early April, with the onset of warmth, you can apply a balanced fertilizer. After the top dressing is applied until the end of August, once every four weeks. By getting enough minerals, the plant will feel well and can delight you with flowering.

With the onset of September, the activity of the plant decreases, the growing season is coming to an end, the amount of dressings must be reduced to give the plant a rest. Over the summer, the flower has made all the necessary reserves of nutrients in the leaves, from the end of October Crassula will retire. Before that, you need to feed the flower in September. The next feeding can be done only after two months.

With the onset of cold weather, the plant prepares for the next active period of life, all vital processes in the plant's body slow down and it does not need abundant nutrition. Some breeders are convinced that there is no need to fertilize a tree in winter: its own accumulations of useful minerals will help it survive until spring. Others recommend fertilizing Crassula once a month, diluting the fertilizer in an amount of ¼ of the dose indicated by the manufacturer.