Indoor plants Euphorbia

Description

Characteristic Features of Euphorbia

Euphorbia is the most extensive genus in the family Euphorbiaceae. The family comprises at least three hundred genera and at least 800 species. There are alternative opinions about the number of species (over 1,600, 2,000, around 2,000, beyond 2,000). The species types are extremely diverse: annuals, biennials, perennials, evergreen, deciduous, semi-deciduous, trees, shrubs, grasses; with leaves and thorns, leaves and no thorns, thorns and no leaves similar to cacti. More than a hundred species are succulents and contain special tissues (thickened trunks, stems, shoots, and underground organs) to store moisture, which helps them to survive a prolonged drought. There are two common signs that allow placing these different plants to the same genus:

1) The form of the inflorescence, the so-called "pseudanthium".
2) Sap that is irritant to skin and can cause a serious inflammation or burn of the mucous membranes (eyes, nose, and digestive tract).

The sap seeps from the damaged (cut or broken) stems and / or leaves. It is a sticky milky white fluid, giving the plant its name of "milkweed" in Russian. The sap contains amino acids, rubber, sugar, resins, and essential oils. The poisonous substance, euforbin, is found in resins. It irrevocably reduces the quality of latex, otherwise all large-sized Euphorbia species would be considered perfect rubber plants and cultivated commercially. The only species that produces high purity rubber is Euphorbia intisy. It is endemic to Madagascar's spiny forests that are currently almost destroyed in the pursuit of super gain and super profit.

The Latin name of the genus was given by Dioscorides (see Allium Siculum) after his colleague Euphorbias, a physician of king Juba I of Numidia (Numidia was an ancient country located to the south of the Balearic Islands) in the 1st century BC. Euphorbias was said to able to prepare a variety of healing potions from these plants. Some historians say that it is not Juba I but his son Juba II, King of Mauretania (not to be confused with the modern Mauritania, although geographically close), a lover of botany, wrote a treatise about the Euphorbia and gave it a Latin name after Euphorbias, his personal physician. So who was the person to give the name to the plant, Dioscorides or Juba II? It does not matter now. What matters is that the useful medical properties of different Euphorbia species have long been known and indisputable. They were used (and are still used in China and Mongolia) to treat warts and corns, rabies, impotence, uterine bleeding, witches' spells, skin cancer, colon cancer, syphilis, urological diseases, eczema, as well as to purify the blood, prolong youth, remove facial moles, accelerate healing of suppurating wounds, make the body stronger, or as an emetic or purgative.

Appendix II to the CITES Convention (see Dendrobium) contains all of the genus Euphorbia succulents. The Red List of IUCN (see Tuya) includes Euphorbia abdelkuri), Euphorbia wakefieldii, Euphorbia kamerunica. Euphorbia handeniensis is regarded an endangered species. The following South African native species are considered rare species even in their habitats: Euphorbia waterbergensis, Euphorbia meloformi, Euphorbia curvirama, Euphorbia grandidens, Euphorbia horrida, Euphorbia mammillaris, Euphorbia virosa, etc.

The extinction of the Euphorbia genus, as well as of other genera, under the onslaught of environmentally unfriendly civilization, continues. However, the growers of Euphorbia do not seem to suffer from any strict limitations because of it. The choice is wide enough, at least fifty unique species, as well as varieties and cultivars. Below you will find 10 of them selected at random:

- Euphorbia leuconeura has an attractive circular stem cross and 4-8 longitudinal ridges and large beautiful leaves up to 15 centimeters long, with light veins the upper sides of leaves and reddish veins on the underside, and reddish like petioles. The lower leaves die off and the crown remain;

- Euphorbia caput-medusae (Medusa's head) has thin snake-like branches to 75 centemeters long that grow from the short central caudex up to 30 centimeters wide. The plant is indeed resembles the head of a mythical female monster called Medusa who had terrible poisonous snakes for her hair.

- Euphorbia cyparissias (the cypress spurge) blooms twice a year, in May-June and in the autumn. It has fragrant flowers, varying in colour from yellowish with purple veils to greenish yellow to pink. The stems are 15-40 centimeters tall and covered with dense foliage. It is considered a noxious weed because of its unique drought and frost resistance in addition to its aggressive growth. What is more, you should be cautious when smelling it and keep it away from as it can cause severe chemical burns.

- Euphorbia pulcherrima (Poinsettia pulcherrima) has a number of synonyms: Poinsettia, Christmas Star, Christmas Flower, Painted Leaf, Lobster Plant, and Mexican Flameleaf. The plant has wide, green, pointed to the tips, 15 centimeters long. The flowers are inconspicuous but the brightly colored bracts are very showy.

- Euphorbia grandicornis rarely blooms in the rooms. It has impressive huge (up to 5 centimeters long) spikes on the edges of its succulent stem with almost no leaves.

- Euphorbia milii, or Euphorbia speciosa, is valued for its abundant yellow, red, lilac, or orange flowers, with half-opened rosettes of green leaves and spikes, which earned it a nickname of the Crown of Thorns. It blooms all year round; in the winter, the flowering intensity decreases slightly.

- Euphorbia lacteal has a light pattern on the stem and smaller spikes, with 3-4 millimeter leaves on young shoots. It is unpretentious. The plant is also known as Mottled Spurge, Green Good Luck Cactus, Candelabra Spurge, Candelabra Cactus, or Milkstripe Euphorbia.

- Euphorbia tirucalli is classified as an evergreen tree but has no leaves or spikes. It has thin, pencil-like, bare stems, growing and branching into a delicate shrub up to 3-4 meters tall. Avoid placing it in a children's room.

- Euphorbia trigona has dark green triangular fleshy stems, with rows of drop-like green leaves up to 4 centimeters long with light streaks. There is a variety with a reddish stem and crimson leaves.

- Euphorbia obesa resemples a spherical greenish brown stone or carefully shaved Echinocactus and grows to 10 centimeters across. It is sometimes called the Baseball Plant.

The Secrets to Successfully Growing Euphorbia

All indoor Euphorbia species like light. It can be direct sunlight or diffused light. Place your plant on the southern or southeastern exposure window. In the summer, you may place the pot on the balcony or in the garden.

If you intend planting it in the open ground, you should know that in the active growth period from March to August, it will grow in partial shade or in full sun. In a shadier place, it will produce more shoots but fewer flowers. The place should be warm and well ventilated but drafts need to be avoided.

Take a note that every Euphorbia species without exception thrives in hydroponic cultivation without soil.

Some experts claim that Euphorbia can grow well in any cultivated soil type. It is not quite true because in heavy and wet soils it can develop rot in the winter. Use lightweight, loose, fertile, weakly acidic or neutral (pH = 5.0-7.0) soil. You make prepare it from humus, leaf mold, sand, and peat at 1: 1: 1: 1, adding a pinch of fine brick chips. Alternatively, you may use commercially available succulent-specific or even all-purpose soil mix. For outdoor cultivation, you may add compost to the soil. Ensure that the pot or the flower bed has good drainage. The soil should dry out before the next watering. Do not allow it dry out completely, especially during the growing season.

For the same reason, water regularly, twice a week but limit water volume, even in the summer. Decrease watering in the autumn and water sparingly in the winter (once a month, for example, for succulent species).

Euphorbia tolerates low air humidity but it will benefit from occasional misting with warm water.

The best temperatures are 20-26 ° C in the summer and 12-17 ° C in the winter. Take care not to allow it to get any colder than 10 ° C.

Feed the plant from spring to autumn. The recommendations are as follows:

- Use compound mineral fertilizer at less than half strength or houseplant fertilizer every two weeks.

- When in bloom, feed with potassium.

- When not in bloom, use cactus fertilizer once per month.

Repot younger plants every year or on even years and older plants once 2 or 3 years. It is best to repot in the spring. A new pot should be no more than 2 centimeters larger.

You might want to try a simple mixture of clay loam, leaf mold, and sand at 3: 2: 2.
Euphorbia is propagated by:

- Division of the shrub in April or early September. Each part should have at least 1-2 buds.

- Ingrafting (in hot weather).

- Seeds. Sow annual species in a greenhouse in early spring or in the open ground in late April or early May; perennial species are sown in the autumn. Seedlings will appear after 10-12 days.

- Cuttings in July. Powder the cuts on the mother plant with charcoal. Allow sap to drain from the planting material before potting into a mixture of sand and perlite, sand and peat, or just sand).

Almost all the bushy species (for example, Euphorbia macroceras, Euphorbia polygona, Euphorbia polyacantha, Euphorbia epithymoides, Euphorbia griffithii, Euphorbia resinifera, Euphorbia squamosa, etc.) need pruning. It increases the number of shoots and / or encourages a nice compact shrub. Prune in the spring; remember to wear gloves. Wear gloves when preparing the plant for the winter by cutting dry shoots and chopping large shoots using a spade. After handling the plant, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water!!!

Potential Problems

Although Euphorbias are light-requiring, start gradually training them to the sunlight in the spring sun to avoid sunburns.

More serious problems are usually triggered by failure to comply with care requirements:

- The leaves turn yellow, droop, and fall off due to wrong temperature mode, underwatering, or low light in the resting period in the winter.

- If a flowering species develops lush foliage but does not bloom, it is caused by an excess of minerals in the soil (overfeeding).

- Soggy soil can cause root rot.

- Сold air significantly reduces resistance to pathogenic fungi. Even toxic juice can not help.

Sap does not guarantee complete protection against pests, either. Euphorbia can get whitefly, root mealybugs, spider mites, aphids, scale insects, though rarely. Inspect carefully and apply insecticides.