Pellaea is an elegant room fern with lush, bright greens. It belongs to the Sinopteris family and lives in the forests of New Zealand. Also, the plant is found in the southern regions of Africa and Latin America. In our latitudes, pellea is grown as a houseplant and conquers with its lush, unusual form of vegetation.
Botanical characteristics
Pellaea refers to rhizome, evergreen perennials. It has superficial, creeping roots. This fern has no stem. Wii are formed from the root of the neck and painted in red-green. The vegetation has a drooping character and forms sprawling bushes up to 30 cm high.
Rigid leaves are repeatedly pinnately divided. The top of the leaf plate has a shiny dark green surface. From below, leaflets often have a lighter, yellowish color and a rough surface.
Sporangia lie linearly on the underside of the leaf and are hidden by a thin bract.
Types of pellet
In the genus of pellets, there are about 40 species. Among them there are sprawling and compact, heat-loving and frost-resistant bushes. We list the most popular varieties used in culture.
Lance is spear-shaped. The plant has a superficial rhizome and a dense root rosette of leaves. Cirrus veyas reach 60 cm in length and 30 cm in width. Triangular, asymmetric leaflets are located on the brown-red petiole. A continuous line of sporangia is on the back of the leaf plate.
Pellet round-leaved. The plant, which is very popular among flower growers, forms a dense, wide bush about 30 cm high and 40 cm wide. Dense bunches of leaves form on creeping roots. The length of the feathery foliage is 25 cm, and the width does not exceed 5 cm. Shiny leaves have a rounded shape and a dark green color. The lower surface of the leaf plate is covered with short, whitish hairs. Soruses are located on the back of the sheet and have the shape of a straight line.
Pellae green. On a creeping rhizome a dense rosette is formed of long (50 cm) leaves. The width of the vaya is 20 cm. The leaves of light green color have a narrow, lanceolate shape. Petioles are very elastic, erect, so the bush has a cylindrical shape.
The pellet is dark purple. The plant forms a rare leafy rosette. On upright dark brown or purple vayas there are light green triangular leaves. The leaf plates are covered with a bluish coating. On the reverse side there are soruses covered with a thin bract. The variety is characterized by good resistance to frost and can winter in the open ground.
Hooked pellet. The plant has thick, erect stems with small scales. Leaves gather in clusters on short dark brown petioles. Oval or triangular foliage is covered with grooves. The length of the sheet plates is 4-18 cm.
Pellet ovoid. The plant is a very undersized, sprawling bushes. Vayi almost completely lie on the ground. On thin light brown petioles, heart-shaped or oval leaflets are located. The leaf plates are smooth, dark green. The species is adapted to dry air and elevated temperatures.
Breeding methods
Pellets breed by spores and division of the bush. Spores should be collected from sheet to paper and dried. Sowing is done in a greenhouse on sandy-peaty, moist soil. No need to deepen the debate. The temperature of the earth should not fall below + 21 ° C. The container is covered with a film to prevent drying out. Before emergence, the greenhouse is kept in a dark place. Every day, the soil is ventilated and the earth is sprayed from the spray gun.
Shoots begin to appear abundantly 1-3 months after sowing. Now the pot is transferred to a bright room and remove the shelter. Seedlings need to be thinned so that there is a distance of 2.5 cm between them. The grown plants are transplanted into pots with soil for adult specimens. It is recommended to plant 2-3 seedlings together.
The overgrown pelletic bush can be divided into several parts. For this, the plant is dug up and released from most of the soil. The roots are cut with a clean, sharp knife into several parts. It is important to keep at least 2 leaf sockets in each dividend. Saplings are immediately rooted to prevent thin roots from drying out. The adaptation process takes about a month. During this period, the plant is placed in a shaded place and limit watering.
Plant care
At home, the pellet is undemanding in care. She prefers rooms with diffused, bright light. In the summer, when the night cooling stops, you can take out the pots in a shady garden. In winter, the north window may need artificial lighting, so that daylight hours are 12 hours.
The optimum temperature is + 20 ... + 22 ° C. For the winter, it is recommended to choose cooler places (+ 14 ... + 16 ° C). Extreme heat leads to drying out and falling of leaves.
Water the plant in small portions of soft water. The procedure is carried out often, so that only the upper part of the soil has time to dry. Water for irrigation should be warm. It is not allowed to hit the leaves. Stagnant moisture is also unacceptable, otherwise the roots may rot.
From April to September, mineral fertilizers are added to irrigation water every month. It is recommended to use a complex composition for indoor deciduous plants.
Pellet does not need too humid air. An indicator of 50% will be quite enough. In a damp and cool room, this fern may suffer from decay. Spraying and additional hydration is necessary only for those specimens that winter near hot radiators.
A pellet transplant is performed once every 1-2 years. Pots are selected a few centimeters more than the previous ones, but not too large. Capacity should not be too deep. The roots are carefully freed from an earthen coma. A layer of expanded clay or brick chips is lined to the bottom as drainage.
Land for planting pellets should be neutral or slightly alkaline. You can buy in the store a ready-made substrate for ferns with the addition of lime. During the week after transplantation, the pellet needs special care. The plant is placed in a warm, shaded place and is rarely watered.
The pellet is resistant to disease and does not suffer from parasite attacks. With proper care, it will delight a lush green mass for a long time. The pellet fern does not need regular pruning and for many years retains the attractiveness of the crown.
