Puya - bromeliad exotic giant

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The palette of colors of the puya inflorescences evokes associations with peacock feathers: the play of light green and shining blue looks very attractive. Puiya with its gigantic size, special appearance, but not so specific requirements for the conditions of detention is a real room "wild creature". There is no way to find a more exotic plant in the Bromeliad family. For experienced gardeners to grow such a miracle is a real success and reward. Although the cultivation of pui is a strength for beginners. After all, the most important thing in this matter is the reserve of patience for decades in anticipation of its flowering.

Content:

Puya - a bromeliad giant with a unique flowering
Types of pui suitable for growing in rooms
Conditions for growing indoor poobs
Pooey Care at Home
Diseases, pests and growing problems
Propagation of a roomy pooja

Puya - a bromeliad giant with a unique flowering

Puya is one of the most original plants on our planet. The unusual appearance of the gigantic exot allowed him to become one of the most coveted collection plants and a true rarity. Since the discovery of this plant, or rather, its description in 1782, the puja has not changed the status of the legend. But if a century ago it was possible to read about it only in encyclopedias and see it only in the botanical gardens, today puya has expanded the assortment of crops available for cultivation in indoor format. Valuable, exclusive and still rare, the puiya can become the star of any collection of plants.

Representatives of the genus Puya belong to the number of Chilean exotics from the Bromeliaceae family, although certain plant species are found along the entire length of the Andes and even on Costa Rica. This is a unique rare plant from the number of relics, which is on the verge of extinction in nature and claims to be a living fossil.

The most famous pui, which attracted attention to these plants, in contrast to the species that were widely used in culture, are found only in the inaccessible valleys of Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Climate change has become detrimental to the giant plant, which settles only on the five-thousandth mountains.

Even the name of this plant came to us from its homeland, in the local dialect it denotes a point or pointer. Puyi are especially common in the nature reserves of the highlands of Chile, in particular, some local towns are named after the plant (for example, Puyuuapi).

According to another version, it was in honor of the place where this plant can be admired in particular abundance that the Puyas received a botanical name. This is one of the plants, which is known under one single name both in the homeland, in scientific catalogs, and in everyday life throughout the globe. The pooey has a lot of nicknames - from the peacock ball to the house of the hummingbird and the Queen of the Andes. But the species name of this plant can never be confused with anything.

Puya Raymond - the largest bromeliad plant

Pouilly is primarily associated with a true legend - a giant Raymond puey (Puya raimondii), a plant with which many myths and legends are associated. This is the largest bromeliad, capable of producing inflorescences up to 10 m high.

The appearance of this relict puya is so amazing that it is difficult to compare it with any other bromeliad plant. Shortened trunks are invisible, hiding under a thick rosette of typical, elongated-linear leaves that look quite strict and form almost perfect balls with spikes. They find a hummingbird shelter and hundreds of unique species of animals and birds that protect their home using the natural mechanisms of the pugia.

Only, at least for 80-100 years of development, giant spikelets, consisting of hundreds of thousands of individual flowers, rise from the ball. After flowering, the plant dies and is replaced by daughter crops, which also increase the ball-socket, which blooms only in maturity. Thickets of pugs look impressive and even frightening.

Features indoor room

Indoor pouis - plants are much more modest in size, likewise, and spectacular. But they still remain one of the most original and largest representatives of the Bromeliad family.

In room culture, medium-sized herbaceous perennial species of puys are used. These are super hardy and large bromeliads compared to competitors. They develop in the form of a typical rosette of leaves and an inflorescence rising above it. Rhizomes are powerful, densely branched, they grow mainly horizontally.

Unlike the legendary giant pooey, indoor do not create a spherical outlet. The leaves of the plant are very narrow, lanceolate, needle-elongated at the ends, often folded. In the outlet they sit asymmetrically, bizarrely scattered in a "beam." On the edges of the leaves are multidirectional spikes and spines. Outwardly, young poois are easily confused with pineapples. True, a rigid texture, light green color, scaly surface and spikes noticeably distinguish them from a fruit relative.

Flowering puya should wait, although the plants bloom only at a respectable age. But even with a Chilean puya, it occurs after 8-10, and not 100 years. Usually it begins in mid-autumn and lasts from October to November, but the flowering period may shift, depending on the conditions of detention.

In brushes, panicles or spikelets, most often a complex structure that creates the effect of a branched panicle, elegant flowers of bright blue color bloom, although yellow or red flowers are also found among individual species. The combination of light green with azure, sky blue and turquoise from afar reminds of the game of colors of peacock feathers and garden forget-me-nots. Separate branches of the inflorescence are crowned with sterile flowers and a sharp spine, which look almost like a spike or spire, and they support the "prickly" image of the plant.

Bracts broadly oval and membranous. The structure of the puya flower is unusual, somewhat reminiscent of tulips or gladioli, only in the three-petalled version. The flower consists of three triangular petals, free, with a blunt ending, and three triangular sepals twice as small in size. Six stamens with bright anthers are clearly visible in the throat.

The abundance of nectar is one of the reasons why poois attract so many insects, and in nature - birds with animals. After flowering, the perianth curiously spirals. In place of the flowers, capsule-like fruits with winged seeds form, which also look very impressive on the peduncle.

Types of pui suitable for growing in rooms

Out of almost a hundred natural types of poohis, only six plants use room culture. All of them are durable perennials, medium in size, with a maximum height of one and a half meters. The average height of indoor puys ranges from 30 to 90 cm, the plant gradually increases the size and number of leaves in the outlet.

Puiya is amazing (Puya mirabilis) - A beautiful view, starting from a 30 cm outlet and gradually growing in height. Thick, sprawling, but not strict rosettes consist of fairly light, decorated with yellowish spikes, long leaves. Peduncles up to 1 m in height and above are covered with straight oval leaves and crowned with a faded inflorescence brush with a tuft at the top and pointed bracts, emphasizing the beauty of large, up to 10 cm, flowers with narrow petals and light green color, somewhat reminiscent of a lily.

Puya Burteron (Puya berteroniana) - A very popular species in our country, which is also grown as a greenhouse or tub-cut garden plant for cutting. This is a very spectacular perennial with a rosette of narrow, almost meter-long leaves with a prickly edge and amazing ears of inflorescences with bluish-emerald flowers resembling sea foam or turquoise in the shade of color, which create luxurious candles.

Alpine puiya (Puya alpestris) - similar to the previous view with bluish-green flowers, on the petals of which an emerald strip is visible. The leaves are long, stiff, with spikes, brightly colored. Direct peduncles are crowned with a pyramidal panicle inflorescence with filmy oval bracts and surprisingly beautiful five-centimeter flowers with three dull, free petals.

Pouille Chilean (Puya chilensis) - one of the largest indoor bromeliads, reaching a height of 1 m at the peak of flowering. Large, meter-tall in nature, and in rooms half as small, narrow-linear leaves less than 1 cm wide are folded around the edges, very stiff, decorated with gray spikes. Pouis rosettes are rarely simple, often branching like candelabra into multilevel structures. A rusty edge emphasizes the beauty of a hard peduncle and the massiveness of stunningly thick spikelets of inflorescences with flowers up to 5 cm in diameter. Bright yellow color distinguishes this pui from other species.

Pouya is lovely (Puya venusta) - a plant with narrow, spiky, very pointed leaves up to 30 cm long, forming a sprawling original rosette. This plant blooms, producing spectacular and large multi-flowering ears that seem too massive for such a crop. Inflorescence up to 40 cm long collected sky-blue flowers up to 3.5 cm long.

Pugia (Puya spathacea) - stemless bromeliad with a stunningly sloppy rosette of large, up to 40 cm long, narrowly linear leaves (the width of the leaf plate does not exceed 2 cm). The finely-pronged edge enhances exoticism, although the appearance of curved, asymmetrically scattered leaves in the bundle is also very unusual. Inflorescences panicles flaunt bright blue flowers with a diameter of up to 7 cm.

Conditions for growing indoor poobs

The status of an exceptional legend among exotics does not prevent the puye from remaining an easy-to-care plant. To achieve flowering from it, you just have to wait - from 10 years, at best, to 20 years in not ideal conditions. The cultivation of a pui can be done even by beginner gardeners. She needs a cool wintering and bright lighting, but no other difficulties with the selection of conditions should arise.

Exotic queen of the Andes puya rightly ranked among plants that can become a highlight in the collection of original rarities. It can be used in the design of winter gardens and flower shop windows or greenhouses, large indoor rockeries or florariums, in ordinary pot culture.

In winter gardens, pugia, in addition to other plants with similar requirements for conditions, in particular, cereals and cacti, which are similar to its natural habitat, fully reveals its special beauty. But in the interior, especially when it comes to modern styles or the pursuit of unusual solutions, it can become a real star.

Lighting and placement of pugs in the interior

The alpine origin of these plants also requires bright lighting in the rooms. They are not afraid of direct sunlight, but in summer the leaves may look undecorative in too bright a place, starting to dry out at the tips. The scattered light for this exotic can be considered ideal.

Pouilly is placed either on the windowsill or in the immediate vicinity of the window. Partially south oriented or south windows are ideal for them. Artificial illumination for this culture is usually not used. Due to the long leaves, Puyi require a lot of space. If they are not planted in complex compositions with other plants, then it will not work to place containers with cultures close to them.

Temperature and ventilation

When growing both in the winter garden and in the room culture, it is necessary for the pugia to imitate the natural temperature difference between the stages of active development and rest. Plants should winter in cool, and this is the most difficult in selecting the conditions for this crop. The minimum air temperature is 5 degrees heat. Above 12 degrees, the temperature should not rise in winter.

From spring to summer, puys will adapt to any conditions. They feel good both in cool rooms, at a temperature of about 18-21 degrees, and in ordinary room temperatures from 22 to 25 degrees, and in the heat, without losing their decorativeness, even if the air temperature exceeds 30 degrees.

Puya loves fresh air. Even in winter for the plant you need to carry out periodic, but very neat airing. From spring to autumn, if the temperature does not drop below 15 degrees at night, the plant can be placed on an open balcony, veranda, terrace or taken to the garden.

Pooey Care at Home

Hardy by nature, steady, non-capricious puya in room culture almost does not change. It tolerates drought, but is very sensitive to dampness. Rare top dressing, accurate transplantation and periodic cleaning - that’s all this plant needs.

All poois, without exception, fully justify the reputation of a dangerous plant. And although we are not talking about the wild thickets of pugia, when handling this crop at home, you should be careful. Hook-shaped spikes, turned on different parts of the sheet in different directions, complicate both normal care and transplantation. You can work with the pooi only in tight gloves and as accurately as possible. This plant is strictly forbidden to grow those who have small children or pets.

Watering and humidity

Puyya is not afraid of droughts, and this is her main feature - tolerance for almost any departure. The plant will endure both underfilling and a prolonged lack of watering. But on the other hand, poois can not stand the waterlogging of the upper layer of soil in tanks. In spring and summer, the plant is watered nevertheless quite abundantly. When watering a plant, it is easiest to use the combined method - combine conventional watering with typical bromeliad procedures for filling the outlet with water, keeping the humidity level stable.

Often a puga is grown by saturating the soil with water, and then waiting for the substrate to dry completely, but it is better to carry out regular “medium” watering only with drying. Caution in watering for this plant should be shown only during cold wintering. Watering at this time is rarely, gently, only slightly soaking the substrate and maintaining the viability of the roots.

For the pooi, they choose defended, soft water. It is advisable to use water at the same temperature as the air in the room.

The puya reacts favorably to increased air humidity, but it will also put up with dry conditions. During the period of operation of heating appliances, it is easiest to install the plant on a pallet with wet expanded clay or gravel. But you can also carry out periodic spraying, install special moisturizers or do without regular measures, including them in the care only when the plant shows signs of depression and drying of the ends of the leaves.

Fertilizing and fertilizer composition

Crusts for plants are regularly introduced only during the period of the most active growth - from May to October. For a pooey, it’s not the classical frequency of dressings that is suitable, but an interval of 3-4 weeks between these procedures. Conventional top dressing can be replaced by foliar.

This plant can be fed with universal fertilizers and organic preparations. The optimal balance of macro- and microelements is typical for special fertilizers for bromeliads or orchids.

Cropping and shaping

For indoor pool cleaning and trimming procedures are reduced to the removal of damaged and dry leaves, which stand out very strongly in the outlet of adult plants.

Transplant and substrate

Puyu is transplanted only when the plant literally has nowhere to develop. Young plants grow quickly, powerful roots require annual replacement of containers.But older pui pass over into new pots only when the roots have nowhere to grow.

The selection of the substrate for the puya does not require any tricks. The plant loves light, infertile, loose soils with a high sand content. You can buy special soil for succulents and large bromeliads or mix universal soil with sand in equal parts. Before transplanting, it is desirable to improve the substrate by adding brick chips or small expanded clay.

For this plant, it is desirable to select flat, shallow and fairly wide containers. A rigid rosette of a pui at an advanced age becomes unstable, therefore, heavy natural ceramic vessels are preferable for it.

When transplanting, the plant must be handled very carefully, protecting hands from injuries on hard spikes. Puyu neatly handled. At the bottom of the containers must lay a high layer of drainage.

Diseases, pests and growing problems

Puyi are resistant plants. The only thing that threatens them in indoor and greenhouse culture is decay as a result of waterlogging. Rot spreads fast enough when watering is too plentiful without drying out the soil between these procedures.

Propagation of a roomy pooja

The main method of multiplying puya in rooms, a culture that almost does not form daughter plants until the death of the mother bush, is growing from seeds. Of course, if after flowering, the mother outlet releases more than one baby, then each of them is used as a separate plant.

Sowing of seeds is carried out in disinfected soil, consisting of a universal substrate or in equal parts of deciduous soil and sand. Seeds are scattered on the surface, gently moistened and kept under glass or film at a minimum temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, possibly creating a difference of 5-6 degrees between night and day air temperature readings. Stable light humidity and several months of waiting will allow you to get fragile seedlings. Dive is carried out only after the formation of at least a miniature outlet.