Family of lastovnevye. Homeland Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands. In nature, there are about 150 species. The name ceropegia comes from the Greek keros - wax and pege - spring, fountain (from the shape of the flower). Ceropegia is a relative of the well-known hoya.
The most common species is Ceropegia woodii - a herbaceous plant with a tuberous rhizome. The stems are thin, threadlike, creeping, with few branches. The leaves are opposite, on short petioles, round-heart-shaped, fleshy, about 2.5 cm in diameter. The surface of the leaf is bare, with a silvery marble pattern on a green background on top, and with a purple tint on the bottom. Ceropegia forms a few-flowered umbellate inflorescence. The corolla of the flower is about 2.5-3 cm long, fused, pitcher-shaped, swollen at the base, lilac-pink with dark purple, double petals along the edge.
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| Ceropegia forms a few-flowered umbrella-shaped inflorescence. |
CARE TIPS
Temperature: Moderate, cool in winter, preferably not higher than 17°C, minimum 10°C.
Lighting: Bright sunlight, shading on a southern window at midday. With a lack of color, the leaves of the plant become even smaller, the shoots are sparse and sparsely foliated, and flowering may not occur.
Watering: Moderate from spring to autumn. The top layer of soil should dry out well before the next watering. In winter, watering is rare, only when the soil dries out almost completely (depending on the temperature). Water for irrigation should be soft and settled.
Fertilizer: From May to August, feed once a month with liquid fertilizer for indoor succulent plants. The fertilizer dose is taken half of that recommended by the manufacturer - this is a very minor fertilizing, although you can do without it.
Air humidity: Ceropegia is undemanding to humidity, does not need spraying.
Transplantation: Once every two years, in the spring. The soil should be loose, coarse structure - 1 part turf, 1 part leaf soil and 1 part sand, pH 5-6. Good drainage is a must, and not only at the bottom of the pot - add fine (2-3 mm) expanded clay or gravel chips directly to the soil mixture. When transplanting, the tubers are deepened into the ground.
link : String of Hearts (Ceropegia woodii).
Reproduction: Stem cuttings, axillary tubers and layering. In the leaf axils of Ceropegia woodii, you can find small tubers.
Thus, in nature it reproduces - Ceropegia grows on rocks. Shoots spread along the surface and where there is fertile soil, tubers germinate, form roots and give new shoots. After some time, a whole carpet grows from one plant.
Important
Ceropegia easily tolerates drying out, but from over-watering, especially in cool weather, tubers can rot. This should be taken into account if the plant is on the balcony in summer - in rainy weather, with a drop in night temperature, the soil dries out much more slowly. And it is better to water in the morning.
In winter, the plant is dormant and is not demanding of lighting, but this is very conditional - it all depends on the temperature. If you cannot provide a cool wintering and reasonably reduce watering, the plant will grow slowly, but the lack of light will lead to disfigurement
The concept of ceropegia's light-loving nature is also a controversial point - in nature, ceropegia grows in open areas of rocks in hot countries, but at the same time their appearance is far from beautiful - some of the leaves burn out in the sun, which does not prevent it from continuing to grow and form new shoots, i.e. feel great. In our country, any yellowing of the leaves causes anxiety and slight panic, and the appearance of the plant does not bring satisfaction. Therefore, ceropegia should be shaded on southern windows.
By the way.
As with any other ampelous and small-leaved plant, difficulties may arise when transplanting ceropegia. The fact is that the delicate petioles of the leaves easily break off, and when removing the rhizome from the ground, shoots can be broken. However, if the plant is not replanted for several years, the soil accumulates mineral salts, which leads to an imbalance in its composition and the plant ages (loses leaves, becomes smaller, stretches out, does not bloom). In nature, the plant is not limited by the walls of the pot and calmly "crawls" to a more suitable substrate. In this case, to facilitate the transplantation of ceropegia, you need to plant it in a very loose substrate that can be easily shaken off the roots (small expanded clay, gravel chips, pieces of pine bark are added to the soil). You can not replant the plant, but rejuvenate it with layering. It is better to do this at the beginning of summer - just place another pot with fresh dry substrate next to the pot, lay the ceropegia shoots on the surface, pressing them in several places with a small pebble or an ordinary paper clip. You can moisten the soil occasionally, preferably from a spray bottle. After some time, the axillary tubers will start to grow and the plant will take root. Then you can cut off the shoots from the mother plant and get a new one, but with already developed shoots.
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