Kataranthus: reproduction, cultivation and care in the open field, description of varieties with photos

Kataranthus is an ideal plant for the garden, planting and caring for it will not take too much time. This is a low shrub, lush and leafy, abundantly strewn with phlox-like flowers. The quarantus does not stretch upwards, it looks good near the border or in the foreground of the flower garden. It can be planted in a pot and grown as an ordinary indoor flower.

Description and features

Kataranthus is an ornamental culture that feels great in a pot and in a flower bed. Belongs to the Kutrovye family, originally from Madagascar and India.Cataranthus are called periwinkle, cayenne jasmine, Madagascar vinca. In a street flower bed it is grown as an annual, and at home in a pot it can grow for several years. It is a poisonous plant that is used to treat cancer.

The catharanthus has a tap root up to 35 centimeters long. An upright, but flexible and highly branched shoot forms a bush 35-65 centimeters high. The stems are covered with green bark, which later turns brown. Sometimes the shrub grows up to 1.45 meters.

Leaves - opposite, short-petiolate, oblong, with a roundish or sharp end. The length of one leaf is up to 8 centimeters, the width is up to 3 centimeters. The surface of the leaf is smooth, shiny, greenish, a light vein runs through its center.

Flowers are located in the axils of the leaves and at the top of the stems. The buds bloom alternately, so the flowering of the catharanthus is long.A flower with a diameter of up to 3-4 centimeters consists of 5 petals fused at the base. Yellowish anthers peep out from the narrow oblong central part. Flowers appear after 65 days.

Blooms all summer, pollinated by insects. After pollination, sickle-shaped leaflets up to 5 centimeters in length are formed in place of the flowers, with small dark seeds inside.

Landing in open ground

Kataranthus is a heat-loving crop native to the tropics, cultivated in Europe as a houseplant. True, in summer a flower can be planted in a flower bed. Before planting a catharanthus, you need to choose a suitable place for it. The plant prefers sunny areas or partial shade. You can plant a catharanthus near a pond or at a fountain.

When to plant

The plant is planted in a flower bed when the temperature rises to 20 degrees Celsius. Seeds are sown in the garden in mid-May, and the finished seedlings are transplanted only at the end of May. Seedlings are prepared in advance: seeds are sown in boxes with a substrate back in March.

Seed preparation

Seeds are soaked in water with a growth stimulator for 23 hours. Then etch for 30 minutes in potassium permanganate. Then they are dried and sown immediately in a flower bed or in boxes with a substrate for seedlings.

Soil Requirements

Kataranthus can grow on loam and sandy loam non-acidic soil. 3 weeks before planting, it is recommended to dig the soil, dilute it with sand and peat, and fertilize it with rotted humus. Garden, leaf or sod land is suitable for catharanthus. At the bottom of the flower bed, it is advisable to pour some stones or expanded clay for drainage. In too waterlogged soil, catharanthus can rot. The earth should not be acidic, to normalize acidity, you can add a little ash to the soil.

Plant pattern

Seeds are poured into shallow grooves at a distance of 3 centimeters from each other, and sprinkled with earth 1 centimeter thick.Then the plantings are watered, covered with a film, after a week the seeds germinate. The grown seedlings are thinned out, leaving larger sprouts. If pre-grown seedlings are transplanted into a flower bed, then a separate hole is prepared for each plant to the depth of a glass or pot in which there is a small bush. The plant, together with a clod of earth, is planted in a hole. Be sure to keep your distance. There must be a distance of at least 25 centimeters to the neighboring flower.

Care

Kataranthus is an unpretentious culture. However, this plant will bloom profusely and for a long time if properly cared for.

Watering young growth

A growing plant needs to be watered regularly, and in the heat - irrigate the leaves with water. If the catharanthus does not have enough moisture, it signals this very eloquently - its leaves are folded into a tube. The bushes are watered daily with soft, settled, better rain water.

Loosening and weeding

The earth after watering needs to be loosened, the resulting hard soil crust should be removed. This procedure will saturate the earth with oxygen. Emerging weeds must be removed from the flower bed so that they do not take away nutrients.

Mulching

The ground near the catharanthus can be mulched, for example, with sawdust, small pebbles, sand. Mulch will protect the soil from evaporation and prevent weeds from breaking through.

Feeding

Karanthus need to be fed from spring. The first time they make top dressing 3 weeks after the emergence of shoots. During the growth period, nitrogen fertilizer is added to the soil. Before flowering, the bushes are fed with phosphorus and potassium preparations. You can use complex fertilizers for flowering plants. Quaranthus are fed 1 time in 3 weeks.

Foliage can be sprayed with Epin-Extra fertilizer solution. Wood ash can be used as top dressing. When fertilizing the soil, it is necessary to strictly observe the proportions and not exceed the permissible norms. No more than 30 grams of top dressing is taken per square meter of the plot.

Diseases and pests

In cool weather or during prolonged rains, this heat-loving plant can get sick. Most often, catharanthus are affected by a fungal infection, yellow, brown, light spots appear on the leaves. To prevent possible diseases, plants are sprayed with fungicides (Fitosporin) in the spring.

In the heat, catharanthus are attacked by insects (spider mites, scale insects). Spraying with insecticides (Aktellik, Phosbecid) will save you from pests.

Cutting

The tops of bushes 15 centimeters high need to be pinched to form more lateral processes. Strongly protruding shoots are shortened to give the bush a compact spherical appearance. Be sure to cut off weak and yellowed shoots. Varietal (hybrid) catharanthus independently form a low bush. In such plants, only yellow leaves and stems are cut.

Winter care at home

Some gardeners grow catharanthus in the garden in the summer, and take them into the room for the winter. The bush is carefully, together with a clod of earth, transplanted into a deep and narrow pot, watered all winter and cared for like an ordinary indoor flower. The stem with leaves can be cut before wintering. In this case, the root remaining in the ground is not watered, but kept in a cool place until spring. You can immediately sow the seeds in a container with a substrate and grow a catharanthus as a houseplant, and take it outside in the summer.

Humidity

Kataranthus grows in conditions of high humidity. In a hot room with dry air, the plant develops slowly, and its leaves curl and dry.

Spraying

Daily, the leaves of the catharanthus should be sprayed with water. In the heat, the bushes are irrigated several times a day.

Irrigation

Water the catharanthus with soft and settled water. Watering is carried out daily. The liquid collected in the pan must be poured out. In winter, plants are watered less often than in summer, but make sure that the soil does not dry out.

Lighting

Kataranthus prefers diffused lighting. A flower pot can be placed on the windowsill. From the midday rays of the sun, the plant needs to be shaded.

Temperature

In spring and summer, the catharanthus provide a temperature of 20-25 degrees Celsius. In autumn and winter, the air temperature can be slightly lower, and equal to 18 degrees above zero.

Feeding

Kataranthus is not fed in winter. Fertilize this flower only in spring and summer. Usually top dressing is applied twice: in spring - during the growth period and in summer - before flowering. The bushes are first fertilized with nitrogen substances, and then with potassium and phosphorus.

Pot

For catharanthus, a deep and not too wide pot with a drainage hole at the bottom is suitable. At the bottom, pour some small pebbles for drainage, and then fill the container with the substrate.

Pruning and shaping the bush

The branches of the catharanthus are cut in the spring. The upper shoots are shortened by a third. This method helps to rejuvenate the plant and form a spherical low bush. Cut cuttings can be put in a jar of water for later rooting.

Transfer

Kataranthus grow quickly, so they are transplanted into a larger pot every year. If the roots are crowded and there is not enough room for development, the culture will stop blooming, and the leaves may turn yellow. Transplantation is carried out in the spring, by transshipment, so as not to damage the roots. In a new pot, the plant quickly comes to life and begins to grow actively. Some gardeners transplant catharanthus from a room pot to a flower bed in the spring.In this case, you must first prepare the soil and dig a hole.

Reproduction

Kataranthus are propagated by seeds, cuttings or dividing the bush. The right time for breeding is spring. Seeds of varietal and hybrid catharanthus are best purchased at a specialized store.

Growing from seeds

In March, seeds are sown for seedlings, and at the end of May, grown plants are transferred to the street. For planting catharanthus, small containers (boxes) and soil for geraniums are taken. You can independently prepare the substrate from sod (leaf) soil, humus, sand and peat. Seeds are soaked in water before sowing, then disinfected with potassium permanganate. Spread evenly over the surface and sprinkle with earth. Containers with seeds are watered and covered with glass.

After a week shoots appear, the optimum temperature for keeping seedlings is 20-25 degrees Celsius.Seedlings are regularly watered, and after 3 weeks, when 3-4 true leaves appear, they dive into separate plastic or peat cups. Before transplanting, containers with seedlings are taken out for several hours to get used to the street temperature. Quaranthus are transplanted to a flower bed at the end of May, when the threat of night frosts has passed.

Shanks

Kataranthus can be propagated using green cuttings. To do this, in the spring you need to cut off the apical stems 10 centimeters long and root them in well-moistened sandy-peat soil. During rooting, the cuttings are covered with a transparent plastic bottle. Every day they need to be aired and irrigated with water. After rooting, the cap is removed, and the plant is looked after as usual. The grown bush can be transplanted into a flower bed in 3-4 weeks.

Dividing the bush

During transplantation, the catharanthus bush can be divided into two parts, and each division, together with the stem and root, can be planted in separate holes or in different pots. It is better to divide the bush in early spring.

Popular species and varieties

The genus of catharanthus consists of 8 species and several ornamental varieties. Cultivated mainly pink catharanthus. This is a small, branched bush with greenish, oblong leaves and five-petalled flowers of snow-white or various shades of pink.

Burgundy

Low, lush flowering bush (up to 40 centimeters). Flowers - medium size, with 5 petals, crimson, with a light center.

Pacific White

Compact lush bush up to 25-35 centimeters high. Against the background of dense foliage are white five-petal flowers with a red eye in the center.

Epricot

This catharanthus has cream flowers with a raspberry center. The bush grows up to 35 centimeters in height.

Ice pink

The catharanthus has small pale pink flowers with a red eye. Bush - compact, up to 35 centimeters in height.

Grape Cooler

Low bush with oblong shiny greenish leaves. Flowers are light pink with a raspberry centre.

Peppermint Cooler

Snow-white flowers with a bright red center. The branching bush reaches 40 centimeters in height.

Red Cooler

Kataranthus with bright scarlet flowers. The diameter of one flower is up to 5 centimeters.

First Kiss Blueberry

Bush 35-45 centimeters high. Flowers - lilac with a dark center.

Cascade

Ampelous catharanthus with falling shoots. This lush bush has stems up to 75 centimeters in length. The leaves are small, oblong, rounded at the end. The entire bush is strewn with delicate, five-petalled raspberry or lilac flowers with a white center.

Titanium

Ampel culture with stems up to 75 centimeters long. Flowers - five-petalled, red.

Deep Rose

Pink catharanthus with 5-petal, medium-sized flowers. Bush - compact, up to 40 centimeters in length.

Grape

This culture has lilac flowers with a pink eye. The plant itself is low (up to 40 centimeters in height).

Edit

Plant with a lush bush, abundantly strewn with red flowers. The height of the culture is 30-40 centimeters.

First kiss

Abundantly leafy, branching bush 30-40 centimeters high. It has oblong, shiny, dark green leaves and delicate flowers up to 6 centimeters in diameter. The petals are light at the edges, the middle of the flower is darker. Flowers may have a lilac, coral hue.

Reproduction

Kataranthus can be propagated by seeds, cuttings or dividing the bush. The ideal time to breed is early spring.

Shanks

For propagation, take the upper stems obtained during spring pruning. The length of the handle should be 10-12 centimeters, the lower leaves are cut off. Sprigs are placed in a jar of water or in a moist substrate and rooted for 3-4 weeks.

Seeds

Seeds for sowing are better to buy in a specialized store. After all, in a flowerbed, catharanthus do not have time to ripen over the summer. You can dig these plants in the fall and grow them in the room. In this case, the seeds will ripen by spring. They are soaked for a day and planted in boxes with a substrate in March, and at the end of May, the grown seedlings are transplanted into a flower bed.

Dividing the bush

In the spring, when the bush is transplanted from a pot to a flower bed, you can divide it in half. The catharanthus is divided into 2 parts, the stem is cut at the very base with a knife, and then each part of the bush, together with a piece of the root, is planted in separate containers or holes.

Features of growing at home

Qataranthus love water. You should always remember this and do not leave the flower for a long time without watering. In the heat, the bush can be sprayed with water. Once a year it is advisable to transplant it into a larger pot. In spring and summer, catharanthus is given complex top dressing for flowering plants. In early spring, the stems are slightly shortened. For the summer, flower pots can be taken out to the veranda or outside.

Medical use

Kataranthus contains 65 different alkaloids. Most of them are in the roots. Alkaloids have antitumor activity.For the treatment of malignant neoplasms, leaves and stems are used. They make tinctures, decoctions, extracts. Raw materials are harvested closer to September, during the period of seed ripening. Leaves and shoots are dried in a dark and hot place. Dried herbs are used during the first year, then they lose their medicinal properties.

With the help of catharanthus, leukemia, breast cancer, uterine cancer, sarcomas, varicose veins, stomach ulcers, prostatitis are treated. The plant normalizes blood sugar levels, lowers blood pressure, cures psoriasis, and is used as an anesthetic. For treatment, well-dried raw materials are used, since fresh leaves and stems are very poisonous

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