Pleasure yourself: Galatea is an exceptional flower

With the advent of spring, most lovers of indoor flowers update their "garden", preparing it for the pore of intensive growth and flowering. Some also think about expanding the range - the acquisition of new plants, which in the future will decorate their windowsills and delight with unusual colors, shapes and nuances of care (after all, taking care of green pets is so nice). Such enthusiasts should definitely pay attention to the plant Galatea - the flower is unusual, beautiful and attractive.

Origin and appearance

The family of maranthives pleases the flower growers with their "offspring" for a long time. Among them, and kerhoven, and masjazha, and the earrings themselves, who have become habitual inhabitants of our apartments. The same family belongs to the Galatea - a capricious flower, not too easy to keep, but clearly worth the trouble of taking care of it.

Like the rest of the representatives of the Maranta, it originates from the South American tropics. The adult plant grows to a height of 80 cm, and in some cases - a meter. Especially attractive is the coloring of the leaves. Usually, flower growers choose species with mottled leaves, on which the stains, spots and stripes can be yellow, red, and almost brown. But even purely green varieties are not at all monotonous: the edges and veins of the plate are always of a different, lighter shade than the main background. Thanks to this, Galatea - the flower is always elegant. And large leaves (centimeters thirty in length) make it also very catchy. In addition, they have an interesting feature: in the evening they rise, almost folding together, and in the morning they again diverge.

By the way, our usual name is not really correct. If you follow the transcription from Latin, the plant, rather, should be called kalatei.

The most popular species

In nature, this plant has more than 130 species, but not all are suitable for room keeping. The most common is a painted galatea, a flower with light veins and an edge strip on a dark leaf background.

Also often bred houses saffron subspecies - the only one that blooms in the home. This plant has dark green leaves with a slight brown glint and a purple underside. Flowers red-orange, in order for them to appear, in October-December they put kalate in a room where artificial light never turns on.

Correct content

As already mentioned, the plant is quite choosy. First of all, it is thermophilic, because it still comes from the tropics. To survive in the winter your flower-flower-flower, care must first of all be to keep the temperature at least 18 degrees. Even minor drafts and a sudden change in temperature are also contraindicated. In this case, the plant likes moisture and requires regular spraying. Therefore, experienced flower growers are advised to put it, for example, in an aquarium, if you do not have a greenhouse. But the best recommendation is to buy an air humidifier, then on the windowsill the plant will feel great.

Lighting for kalatei needs moderate. If the place is heavily shaded, the leaves lose color saturation, the stains merge with the general background. If the sun is too much - they brown and get burned.

Water flowers in the warm months need a lot, and in the winter - medium. Although he does not express a period of rest, the watering in the cold is still reduced.

Spring worries

Every year, kalatelia should be transplanted into a slightly larger pot. You can buy ready land for the maranthives, you can make it yourself. In the latter case, the soil mix will consist of leaf, peat, humus and coniferous earth in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 1 plus a bit of sand. For the plant it will be useful to add a little charcoal to the prepared soil.

If you want to share your treasure with your friends, the planting is also done in the spring. The division of rhizomes - the procedure is not too complicated, just do not forget to add slices to charcoal. The first seven weeks should be watered a little and carefully, so that the damaged roots do not rot.

If you do everything without mistakes, give the plant a little attention and tenderness, your flowers galatea (the photo demonstrates this clearly) will please your eyes and your guests. And for quite some time!