Precious Ludisia is one of the representatives of the Orchid family. It features chic large leaves that delight gardeners with their colors. Especially captivating is the pattern of silver lines against a dark shade of the sheet. The flowers are small, resembling pearls. The homeland of this species of orchids is the forests of Central and East Asia. The soil or walls of the caves, which are abundantly covered with moss, are suitable for her. Hence its second name - earthen orchid.
Types of orchids ludisia
In nature, ludisia exists in only one form. Thanks to breeders, many subspecies of the plant, which are grown at home, have been bred. Each of them has its own zest, which captivates orchid lovers.
Precious Ludisia - representative of the Orchid family
Ludisia colorful
Multi-colored ludisia - a representative of precious orchids, characterized by creeping stems, at the top of which are from 3 to 6 leaves. Their main shade is dark green, diluted with light veins. A branch with inflorescences grows up to 20 cm in length, on which white flowers are densely placed with bright anthers in the middle. The lip of the flower is slightly sloping to the side.
Ludisia discolor
Ludisia discolor is the only instance found in nature. It has creeping stems ending with a rosette of leaves of saturated green color. As an ornamental plant, it is presented in several types:
- Dawsoniana - differs in large forms. Height is about 30 cm. Foliage color is red-brown with a pattern of pinkish veins;
- Odina - castings dark green with contrasting silver lines, interwoven in the original pattern;
- Velvet - has a characteristic color and structure of foliage. The leaves feel like velvet to the touch, endowed with a contrasting pattern.
Ludisia foliage
Varieties of decorative deciduous orchids have a bewitching pattern on the foliage, conquer with a variety of shades:
- Makodes Petola - green orchid with emerald overflow. Against this background, a pattern of golden veins, interconnected by a spider line ornament, flaunts. Leaves grow up to 9 cm in length and 5 cm in width. The inflorescence has from 8 to 15 minibutons of burgundy shade with a blue lip;
- Gudayer - has dense and colorful leaf plates, the surface of which is decorated with a pigmented pattern in green shades. In addition, leaf stains of veins of light red, white and bluish colors adorn the leaves.
The color of the leaves of Ludisia conquers with its original color
How to care at home
The Orchid family consists of a huge list of varieties and species. Most of them are whimsical, requires special conditions for growing and reproduction. Ludisia is an unpretentious plant, so caring for it is simple. But, despite this, there are cases of sudden death of a flower. To prevent trouble, you need to find out what ludisia requires at-home care.
Temperature
A key condition for the comfortable development of the plant is compliance with the temperature regime. Ludisia is able to develop at a temperature of 10 ° C to 37 ° C. But it is advisable not to bring such differences at home. The best option is from 20 ° C to 29 ° C. At the same time, indicators should be several degrees lower at night than during the day. This is a prerequisite for the development of a flower, the formation of flower buds. In the cold season, the temperature should be approximately 18 ° C. Under all conditions, the flowering of orchids will be plentiful and long.
Air humidity
Ludizia feels comfortable at high humidity levels. Optimum 70%. It is important to properly maintain the desired mode in the house. It is strictly forbidden to spray the plant. Drops on the surface of leaves and flowers leave unpresentable traces after the evaporation of water. It is impossible to get rid of them.
To properly maintain the humidity level, it is better to place a container of water in the immediate vicinity of the flowers. The presence of wet expanded clay in the pan with the plant helps.
Important! In no case should you place the orchid near heating batteries. This is detrimental to the flower: the ends of the leaves begin to dry out, the petals of the inflorescences crumble during flowering.
In addition to maintaining the correct level of humidity, watering plays a special role in the care of ludisia. Drying of the soil should never be allowed. It should be constantly moist. But overdoing it with water is also not worth it. Stagnant liquid in a pot with an orchid leads to rotting of the roots.
Pay due attention to the water used to water the orchid. Its temperature should correspond to room temperature. Watering is carried out in an original way: a pot with a substrate is completely immersed in a container of water for several minutes, and then it is removed and installed in the usual place for the plant.
The surface of the soil must be covered with moss, which must always be moistened
Proper lighting
Ludisia orchid belongs to shade-loving plants. It must be placed in places with dim lighting. Usually these are windows facing west and north. Often an orchid of this kind is placed in the back of the room. In these cases, backlighting is provided through phytolamps. This trick achieves the required duration of daylight hours, that is, 12-14 hours. This is especially important in the winter.
Top dressing
From time to time it is necessary to fertilize the plant:
- during intensive growth - 2 times a month;
- in the normal period - make fertilizer for orchids 1 time per month.
Fertilizer is purchased in a specialized flower shop.
Priming
Loose soil with neutral acidity is suitable for orchids. The substrate must perfectly allow moisture and air to pass through. These characteristics are possessed by several types of soil that can be used to plant ludisia:
- pine bark, detailed into small fractions, in combination with semi-decomposed foliage and peat. Proportions - 1: 1: 2;
- crushed fern roots, coarse sand, peat and sphagnum. These components must be taken in the same amount;
- pine needles, peat, sphagnum, sheet soil, charcoal from birch, polystyrene. This set is formed in a ratio of 4: 4: 4: 4: 1: 1, respectively.
For your information! Capacities for landing should be low and wide. The first layer is always drainage. In its quality, foam or expanded clay is used. Then soil is poured for ludisia, and moss is laid on the surface. It is necessary to monitor its condition, constantly moisturize.
Examples of propagation of ludisia by cuttings
At home, propagating ludisia by cuttings is a common practice. To do this, select segments that have at least three shoots.
On the stalks of orchids under the leaves you can identify minor tubercles. Of these, new shoots appear in an adult plant. To get a stalk, you need to cut off the top of the stem a few millimeters below such a tubercle. The resulting material is placed in water and waiting for the roots to appear. Usually they begin to break through after 10-14 days. After this, the cuttings are planted in the soil as an independent plant.
For germination, cuttings are placed in a glass with water or laid on wet moss
Important! Not only the tops of stems with three shoots can act as cuttings. In principle, if the stem is long, then it can be cut into several parts. The main thing is that at least two tubercles are present on each of them - axillary kidneys.
To form the roots, it is not necessary to put the cuttings in a glass with water. They can be spread on moistened moss or coconut fiber. Then the tank is closed to create greenhouse conditions. The condition of the cuttings is constantly monitored, regularly ventilated and moisturized.
Thus, the Ludisia orchid is quite a good option for growing a house. The main thing is to monitor watering and temperature, and when the time comes, get cuttings to propagate your favorite varieties and, possibly, get rich at the expense of them by selling to other growers.
