One of the most common succulents on the windowsills of the country, Russia has become okra-shaped crassula. She is better known by her middle name - the money tree. The plant got it for the similarity of its round small leaves with coins.
Care for the rosula at home is very simple:
- it does not require close attention;
- calmly tolerates drought;
Healthy tree of rosula
- easily propagated;
- Slow growth does not imply frequent transplantations.
However, novice growers with excessive care and lack of experience can destroy the plant or significantly spoil it.
Why does the trunk break?
Money tree is very powerful and heavy. The trunk must withstand heavy leaves and branches. The root system of the plant is superficial, therefore, with the slightest roll, the crassula risks falling out of the pot.
Important! Proper watering and crown formation will save the trunk from breaking.
It often happens that a tree grows for several years, branches and trunk develop successfully, it pleases with its appearance, and at one point breaks for no apparent reason. The main culprits of the break can be:
- incorrectly formed crown;
- excessive watering;
- one-sided position in relation to sunlight.
Money tree in the spring-summer period is actively growing, its branches grow rapidly and uncontrollably, in contrast to the trunk. If the crown is not formed in time, it will break a tree under the influence of its weight or tear it out of the pot, since the surface root system is not able to hold the whole plant, like the one that develops in an adult oak tree with a huge crown. Therefore, every autumn should form a plant, measuring the strength and height of the trunk with the length of the branches.
Cracked rotted trunk
Care for the rosula at home does not imply permanently moist soil. This plant is desert, it easily survives drought, accumulating nutrients in fleshy leaves. Its roots are sensitive to waterlogging. Constantly present moisture in the soil can provoke a fungal infection of the roots or root rot, which rapidly spreads throughout the underground part of the plant, due to which it begins to disappear. Therefore, each subsequent watering can be carried out only after complete drying of the soil.
How to save a money tree from falling, if watering is carried out in compliance with the main condition, and the crown is cut, but it heels anyway? It is necessary to regularly turn the pot on the window, one side or the other. With a one-sided position of the flower relative to the sun, the foliage stretches from all sides to the window, shifting the center of gravity.
How much money tree grows
Crassula trees on average per year have an increase of 6 cm in height. By about the same amount, it can increase the growth of green mass in width. With a sufficient amount of light and timely watering, the plant will not slow down its growth with age, due to which it will be possible to eventually form a beautiful magnificent crown on a thick, woody trunk.
The maximum life span of a tree in natural conditions is close to 80 years. You can grow one instance in a pot for almost 50 years, if you do not overmoisten the soil and control the growth of branches.
What does the money tree heal?
The benefits of having a money tree in a house are not limited to the beneficial qualities of leafy juice. Many start it only because, according to Japanese belief, the presence of this plant in the home ensures the financial well-being of the owners. There are even legends about how rich people, wanting to further increase their wealth, started a money tree. But due to neglect, the plant died, taking with it the success and well-being of the busy rich, turning them into beggars.
Affluent plant
From a medical point of view, foliage of a crisscule can contribute to the treatment of certain diseases. Arsenic from the juice composition is present in each leaflet in a sufficiently large amount, which can be used to prepare an antimicrobial solution used as a rinse aid. They are washed with shallow wounds and abrasions, preventing bacterial infection.
In small doses, adding fat juice to drinking water can help heal digestive system ulcers.
Attention! Ingestion of the juice of a plant containing arsenic is possible only under the supervision and with the permission of the attending physician.
The composition of the deciduous juice of the Crassula is close in its chemical parameters to the drugs that help fight some types of oncology. It should be borne in mind that its uncontrolled independent use can lead to irreversible negative consequences.
Is it possible to prune a money tree
Pruning the shoots of the Crassula is necessary in several cases:
- diseased branches appeared;
- the tree has grown too wide;
- the plant froze in development.
If diseased shoots appear on the tree, they must be removed as soon as possible by drawing a cut line not at the border of the healthy and diseased parts, but capturing 1 cm of the healthy area. This is necessary so that infection of healthy branches does not occur at the time of cutting. If several branches on a large branch are affected by the fungus, it is advisable to remove the entire branch as a whole, since the fungus is likely to spread to closely growing processes.
When the dimensions of the crown interfere with other inhabitants of the windowsill or pose a threat to the fat woman herself, you can trim the branches, focusing on the wishes for the appearance of the tree. Pinching the tops of not thick enough shoots, it is easy to achieve bushiness of the crown, as well as to make a thick trunk of the Crassula, as required by lush foliage.
Additional Information. It is better to carry out decorative pruning from March to May, during the active growing season. If diseases occur on the sheets, you should not wait for spring, cut off the diseased shoots as soon as they are formed.
Spring pruning, at which each cut will be carried out at an angle of 45 ° to the trunk, will be an excellent stimulator of the growth of new layering. It should be remembered about the possible appearance of special growths - corns, which, like dead shoots, should be removed.
Spring pruning
Often, Crassula Morgan care for which is simple, without frills, without visible health problems, begins to discard foliage. If the pot was not constantly waterlogged, and pests or traces of their activity were not found on the leaves, the problem may be that the plant is crowded in the pot. When the root system has reached capacity, the tree cannot develop. In this connection, the crown begins to fall. There are two ways to save a fat woman in this case:
- cut one third of each branch, from the obtained processes, you can successfully grow new trees;
- transplanted into a wider pot made of natural materials.
How to reanimate a fat girl at home
The money tree reports health problems by dropping leaves. This signal differs from the natural process in the scale of leaf fall. Often, bare branches and trunk remain. The causes of the abnormal process may be:
- excess moisture in the soil;
- lack of light;
- thrips infection;
- watering with ice water.
Attention! At the first sign of leaf dropping, the tree should be inspected for pests on the underside of the leaf. If thrips is not detected, analyze irrigation regimen and water quality.
If a pest is identified on the remaining leaves, the plant can be resuscitated without the use of chemistry. To do this, chop finely chopped garlic with water and insist for an hour. Strain the resulting solution and apply abundantly on all shoots and trunk using a spray gun, leaving no dry place on the tree. If the weather is sunny during the treatment period, you need to remove the plant from the windowsill so as not to provoke sunburn. Do not rinse the solution, let it dry on its own.
Thrips
When a tree dies from excess moisture in the soil, the frequency of watering should be significantly reduced. As an emergency aid for waterlogging, transplantation into a new clay or ceramic pot with dry soil will help. The first sparse watering can be done a week later with clean, standing water at room temperature.
If the leaves become soft and lethargic
When a fat woman has sluggish leaves, what to do with watering? If the soil has not been watered for more than two weeks, the crown will become wilted due to lack of moisture. In the case when there was no prolonged drought in the life of the plant, and it became soft, you should pay attention to the state of the air in the room. Perhaps its temperature exceeds 26˚C, and it is overdried.
Attention! The first aid to a plant starting to wither is to relocate it away from heating appliances.
Fusarium rot infection - this is why money tree leaves become soft what to do if the trunk area at the roots has signs of damage:
- Change the pot and soil, replanting the plant in a new place;
- If there is no new pot, the plant is removed from the ground, the root system is freed from the infected soil. The pot is poured with boiling water, washed with soapy water and filled with a completely new fresh substrate.
Important! The roots of the plant must be saved using phytosporin, two centimeters of the trunk adjacent to the affected roots should be processed.
Why do the leaves of the money tree dry
When the Crassula stands on a windowsill in the southern regions of Russia and is exposed to scorching exposure to direct sunlight every day, dark spots may appear on the surface of its foliage, signaling a problem. In the most severe cases, the leaves affected by overheating or sunburn become dry and fall off. Despite the fact that the money tree does not need to be carefully looked after, it will not work to grow it in extreme conditions either. The plant does not like aggressive direct ultraviolet radiation.
Damage to the scabbard may cause the leaves to dry. First, brown spots appear on the green, like grass, foliage. Over time, they spread throughout the plant, because of which it can begin to hurt and dry, and eventually die. To combat the pest, it is effective to use spraying with a solution of ammonia or thoroughly rubbing the tree with a cotton swab dipped in the solution.
Scab
Why does the money tree turn yellow
In the autumn period, the money tree can often become soft leaves what to do, and why this happens if there is no apparent reason for the disease? The first thing you need to pay attention to is a sharp decrease in sunlight in the offseason. In many regions, the autumn sky is obsessed with gray clouds, the sun does not appear for long weeks or months.
The crassula lacks lighting, the leaves turn yellow, wrinkled and showered. Therefore, growing Crassula in the northwestern region, the Komi Republic, beyond the Urals and other areas suffering from a deficit of sunlight, it should be provided with additional illumination at the first sign of yellowing of foliage.
When the fat woman leaves turned yellow and wrinkled all that needs to be done is to establish reasonable care:
- prevent waterlogging of the soil;
- provide drainage;
- help the plant in low light;
- to get rid of pests that are afraid of crassula;
- reproduction is carried out by the processes obtained after cutting the crown;
- feed in the spring with mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium.
By forming a symmetrical crown, regularly cutting branches, you can easily turn a thin trunk into stiff and strong, which will not fall under the weight of the branches. Moderate watering will not allow the roots to rot, so the plant will not disappear. Simple rules will help you find on your window a real money tree that will bring good luck and wealth to the house.
