Carmona - home care, photo, flowering. Carmona (Tea tree)

Small-leaved carmona(Carmona Microphylla), a lesser known synonym eretia boxwood(Ehretia buxifolia) is the name of the same plant. The plant got its biological name in honor of the German botanist Georg Dionysius Eret, and the Latin term buxifolia indicates that the leaves of the carmona are very similar to the leaves of boxwood.

Small-leaved carmona- an evergreen shrub, reaching a height of about 40 centimeters over time. She has a thick trunk and tough shoots, outwardly she is very similar to a miniature tree. The bark on the trunk is gray-brown, rough, cracks even more over time and takes on the appearance of the bark of an old tree.

In small-leaved karmona, small, alternate, rounded or with a jagged edge, shiny, dark green leaves 1-2 centimeters long on short petioles. Karmona leaves are covered with short light hairs, which is why they are rough to the touch.

Small-leaved carmona - enough unpretentious plant, can grow in shaded areas with only 2-3 hours of sunlight per day. V indoor conditions with sufficient air humidity, in warmth and with good lighting, karmona blooms profusely with small white five-petal flowers 2-3 times a year (in good lighting it blooms practically all year round), and sets red-orange or yellow inedible fruits that last for a very long time. A plant can have both flowers and fruits at the same time.

In stores, you can find two types of this plant, namely: small-leaved carmona and a plant with larger leaves - large-leaved carmona (Carmona Macrophylla), which is sold with an already thick trunk and looks more powerful. Plant care is the same.

Due to its external resemblance to a tree and sufficient simplicity in care, karmona is often sold as a bonsai for beginners. By following certain rules in caring for carmona, you can avoid the failure that occurs when growing other tropical or subtropical plant species and gain invaluable experience. Small-leaved carmona lends itself well to forming almost any style of bonsai.

Location, lighting, air temperature

Small-leaved carmona is a thermophilic plant. In summer, it is very beneficial to keep carmona outdoors in partial shade. If this is not possible, then provide her with more fresh air without drafts, a bright place without direct midday sunlight. Drafts should be avoided at all times, both in winter and summer.

Western or eastern windows are best suited for her in the summer, but in winter it is quite possible to put carmona on the south window, there it will be both warmer and lighter. In general, even in winter, natural lighting is quite enough - 2-3 hours a day of diffused sunlight, but if there is additional lighting, it is always "for")). Remember that sufficient light will encourage karmona to bloom year-round.

If karmona was on fresh air, do not forget to bring it into the room in time. It is best to do this in mid-August, when the air temperature outside and in the room is the same. Because small-leaved karmona is very sensitive to sudden changes in air temperature. This will save the plant from additional acclimatization, during which the leaves may turn yellow and crumble. And although they grow back, it gives a lot of experience.

In winter, small-leaved carmona is contained in warm room with an air temperature not lower than +18 o С, which must remain constant, do not decrease. Lowering the air temperature to + 10 + 15 o C will stop the growth of the plant, and at +5 o C the plant will die.

Watering and humidity

Small-leaved carmona needs moderate, uniform moistening of the soil substrate. For watering and spraying, it is advisable to use soft rainwater or settled tap water. If you use water directly from the tap for irrigation and spraying, then very quickly a whitish bloom appears on the surface of the substrate and on the leaves of the karmona, and if the soil in the pot can be changed, then it is very difficult to remove this bloom from small leaves. These spots reduce the decorative effect of the plant.

Moderation in watering is also due to the reasons: karmona does not tolerate waterlogging or drying out of an earthen coma. With a strong waterlogging of the earthy coma, the roots will begin to rot, overdrying the earth is also extremely dangerous: it will be difficult to save dried carmona.

For uniform watering, venerable bonsaists use special tools. For beginners, you can give some advice: when watering, the pressure of the jet should be very weak, you need to make sure that the water does not flow out of the pot, and the substrate does not wash out. In addition, the substrate must be moistened to the full depth, in all corners of the pot. You can adapt to careful watering in several steps from the spray bottle.

In addition to moderate moistening of the substrate, do not forget about the high humidity of the air - this is an indispensable condition for the well-being of the plant and the preservation of leaves. The air humidity can be increased by occasional spraying, which the Karmona loves. But here, too, caution is needed: if the room is cold or a draft, it is better to refuse to spray the crown of the small-leaved karmona - diseases may develop.

And during flowering, make sure that the water does not fall on the flowers, otherwise they immediately turn black, disappear, and it blooms almost constantly. And if the flowers constantly disappear, then the fruits will never be tied. Black rotten flowers must be removed from the plant in time so that they do not become a source of fungal diseases.

But it is also easy to get used to spraying: you can carefully spray closer to the leaves, since the flowers are located on long pedicels protruding above the crown.

But the most the best solution to maintain constant humidity around the plant, there will be an additional bowl or tray with water and expanded clay, pebbles, or hydrogel. If expanded clay or pebbles are used as a filler, then so much water is poured into the pan so that it covers the pebbles by 2/3. This is done so that water from the sump does not get into drain hole pot. As it evaporates, water must be constantly poured into the pan. With a hydrogel, everything is easier: the balls will absorb all the water into themselves. The only thing is that when you add water, you just need to wait until the water is completely absorbed, and then put the pot of carmona on the tray with the hydrogel.

With such humidification of the air, the number of watering and spraying is significantly reduced. Well, flowers and berries will thrive on the pocket, too, beautifully. It is recommended to keep the pocket on a pallet all year round: both in winter and in summer.

Top dressing of small-leaved karmona

From early spring to autumn, small-leaved carmon needs to be fed once every two weeks, in winter period- once a month, using liquid complex fertilizer for this. If you have fertilizer for bonsai, then great, if not, you can use any other liquid complex fertilizer with a low nitrogen content (nitrogen stimulates the rapid growth of shoots, leaves, and can also provoke rot of roots, shoots, leaves). To be sure that you do not harm, make the concentration of the fertilizer solution weaker than the recommended one.

A good earthen mixture for karmona is obtained if you take 50% humus, 30% granular sand or perlite, 20% peat.

Carmona can grow even in an inorganic substrate, subject to constant feeding.

Whichever earthen mixture you use, you need to remember that carmona does not tolerate excess lime, which causes the development of chlorosis, but is very good at the content of nutritious organic matter.

For replanting, only fresh soil should be used, you can not re-take soil from pots after other plants or from under vegetable crops to avoid pests and diseases affecting the karmona.

The ready-made earthen mixture should be homogeneous, without lumps and organic residues.

Transplant of small-leaved karmona

Do I need to transplant the newly acquired carmona? This issue is very acute. Most sources recommend replanting it immediately after purchase, as karmona is imported from China in soil with a high clay content.

Such soil, when irrigated, compresses very quickly and loses its ability to supply roots. the required amount oxygen, so it is advisable to quickly replace clay soil new earthy mixture.

But I have some doubts here. Plants come to us from the Netherlands, already planted in bonsai pots (remember, the plant is positioned for beginners, that is, ready to "use"). And then: (I repeat, this is my personal opinion). Firstly, you need to replace it with almost the same clay substrate. Secondly, immediately after purchase, the conditions for the plant change somewhat, whether we want it or not, it experiences stress, which negatively affects the condition of the plant, leaves may turn yellow and even fall off. The plant needs some time to get used to our care, and we need to adapt to it. And a transplant at this time can only aggravate the condition of the karmona. Thirdly, the soil can be loosened carefully: donate one fork, bend it in the form of a rake and loosen the soil carefully with strong compaction.

And it is better to postpone the transplant to the spring.

Young carmona is transplanted once every 2 years into a special bonsai pot. Older specimens need to be transplanted and even less often - once every 4 years, provided that the plant is watered with settled or soft rainwater. At the bottom of the pot, do not forget to put the mesh on the drainage hole and drainage.

A bonsai transplant means a complete replacement of old soil with cleaning and pruning of roots that form a ball.

But carmona does not tolerate root pruning, so it is done in several stages, that is, during each transplant, only part of the roots is pruned so as not to expose the plant to great stress. In addition, when pruning the roots, leaves are removed in the same proportion.

After transplanting small-leaved karmona, you need to protect it from drafts and make sure that direct sunlight does not fall on it: it is advisable to slightly shade or set the pot in partial shade.

Pruning, shaping the crown of a small-leaved karmona

Young karmona shoots are most often pinched in the spring, although pruning and pinching of karmona shoots can actually be done at any time of the year, especially if the plant is grown as a bonsai. It's just that in the spring there is an intense growth of shoots.

Pruning limits the growth of shoots in height, promotes better branching of shoots and thickening of the trunk. It should be noted that the size of the plant is limited not only by cutting the crown, but also by cutting the roots, as well as by the small size of the pot.

So, if the karmona develops normally, she has a healthy appearance then unwanted shoots can be removed at any time. Also, dry twigs are removed at any time.

If you bought a large-leaved carmona with an already outlined bonsai style, then you can simply save it or slightly improve it. Small-leaved carmona is usually poorly formed, most often has a small size and a round crown shape. The formation of such a plant will take some time (1-2 years). Any bonsai style can be formed from it.

The direction of one- and two-year-old shoots can be easily changed with a wire. Older shoots can be given the desired position using a tension device that is attached to the edge of the pot. This tool will avoid damage to the tree bark.

When forming a karmona crown in the bonsai style, sometimes it is necessary to severely cut off already stiff shoots 10-20 cm long, shortening them to one or three leaves. In the process of forming the karmona crown, when removing old branches, do not forget to treat the pruning sites with garden varnish for better wound healing, as well as in order to prevent the development of fungal diseases.

Reproduction

Carmona propagates by seeds and cuttings.

Cuttings of karmona at the age of 1 year, about 10 centimeters long and about 10 mm in diameter, obtained during pruning, are planted in a mini-greenhouse in a peat-sand mixture, maintaining a temperature of about + 18 ° C and high air humidity without excessive watering.

When rooting karmona cuttings, rooting stimulants can be used, this will greatly increase the chance and speed up the rooting process.

With the help of cuttings, plants are obtained that completely repeat the characteristics of the mother, with seed propagation this is not always possible.

Diseases

High air humidity and drafts pose a high threat of the development of fungal diseases such as powdery mildew, black spot, septoria, root rot and even trunk rot. Almost all fungal diseases develop with severe waterlogging of the soil. To avoid this, you just need to water properly, do not flood the plant.

If the plant is damaged by a fungus, it is necessary to treat the carmona with fungicide preparations. However, as experience shows, small-leaved carmona is very sensitive to many chemicals for care: not only fungicides, but also insecticides and immediately reacts with yellowing and discarding of leaves.

Therefore, before using this or that drug, you need to test it on one of the carmona shoots. If after a week the leaves do not turn yellow and fall off, the drug can be used on the entire plant. So it is better to use weaker preparations or make a solution of weak concentration.

Very Dangerous for Karmona root rot, up to the death of the plant. If you notice that the leaves turn black, fall off, the earthen mixture does not dry out during the interval from one watering to another, that is, there is a suspicion that the root system of the karmona has begun to rot. We'll have to transplant it into fresh soil. Remove the plant carefully, remove all soil from the roots, rinse the roots in warm water, examine the root system: all black diseased roots need to be cut to healthy tissue, rinse the cup.

Treat the roots of the carmona in a solution of a root stimulant, for example, root, gerteroauxin, ribav-extra, and plant them in a fresh earthen mixture (solutions are weak, remember, right?).

After planting, the soil in the pot can be watered with the same root stimulator solution and the pot with the plant can be placed in a mini-greenhouse (you can just put it in a polyethylene bag) in order to maintain a constantly high air humidity. When young leaves appear, you can begin to open the bag for a while in order to accustom the plant to open air.

Pests

Carmona can be called a favorite target for the most different types insects. It is damaged by almost all pests: mealybugs, scale insects, aphids, spider mites, whiteflies. To combat these pests, you can use actellik, fitoverm. Karmona tolerates these drugs normally (checked). For reliability, make the solution weaker, but after processing, place the pot of carmona in a large polyethylene bag for two hours. This time is enough for the pests to die. If necessary, repeat the treatment in a week.

The same treatment must be carried out in the fall, when you bring carmona into the house.

Growing problems

Leaves turn yellow and fall off - insufficient watering and low humidity air, or the plant is heavily flooded. The yellowing and falling of leaves are also affected by a sharp change in temperature, illumination, high concentration of fertilizers, fungicides and insecticides.

With insufficient air humidity, not only the leaves turn yellow and fall, but the shoots also dry out.

Leaves can also turn yellow due to developing chlorosis. It is necessary to increase the acidity of the soil, add ferrovit, iron chelate, and continue to water only with soft or tap water that has been settled for a day.

If the plant looks bad, has lost a lot of leaves, sprinkle the carmona with any stimulant: epin, zircon, ribav-extra and place it in a plastic bag closer to light and warmth. The stimulant treatment can be repeated every 10 days until the young leaves appear. After that, just as after resuscitating the plant from root rot, the package begins to be removed gradually.

When writing the article, materials from the sites were used: http://ourflo.ru, http://bonsaimania.com
Image source https://www.flickr.com: ted762563, Nelindah, 潘立傑 LiChieh Pan, Joey McCoy, Cláudio C Ratto, medan bonsai

In the life of every plant lover, sooner or later a moment arises when you want to try something hitherto unknown. For example, bonsai. I somehow looked closely at this topic from afar, I was really embarrassed by all these procrastinations, thanks to which the formation of a plant should take place. But, apparently, he was tired of waiting for me to mature, and the bonsai came to me himself. It was presented to her husband by students:

Although they say that they don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, we had to carefully examine whether the horse would turn out to be a Trojan horse.

Unfortunately, small-leaved carmona (Filipino tea, and according to science - Carmona microphylla), brought to a sad state. Firstly, only the container remains of the bonsai. The carmona itself is three separate stems, mercilessly cut off and letting go from that bushy growth, which was also mercilessly chopped up. The bonsai (bowl) is too small for a long time, the roots stick out from above, the view is not particularly aesthetic. In addition, looking closely the next day, I found a lot of aphids occupying her young leaves.

In general, a full bouquet!

Such "bonsai" put on a commercial mass basis are called "molsai"... Which literally means "bonsai from the shopping mall", that is, buy potatoes, washing powder, socks, sausage and bonsai at the same time.

Yes, now it's clear - carmona was probably on sale. With the shape - okay, you will have to continue to form a paniculate crown (in Japanese, hokidachi). That is, a beautifully curved stem will no longer work.

http://www.bonsaiempire.com/origin/bonsai-styles

And with the aphids, I did this: first, having wrapped the pot itself in a bag so that the earth would not get wet and wash off, I washed each leaf under an almost hot shower. And then - I sprayed it with soapy water (I take baby soap, liquid). The fact is that aphids breathe through the skin, and the soap is sticky, preventing them from breathing normally. This is how you can get rid of aphids... If there are a lot of insects, the method does not help well, it is better to use phytoverm - as they write about it, a 4th generation bio-insecticide. It's just that my plant needed comprehensive nursing measures: here, according to experience, natural remedies are better. Carmona may not like a hot shower, and black spots appear on the leaves. But my two washings tolerated well.

There is enough light, now it is summer, thank God, and my side is south, so I determined the carmona even a little further from the windowsill.

Then she began to read, what kind of soil does a carmone-bonsai need... And then I found another interesting fact... It turns out that one of the constituent components ... a filler for cat litter! Now this is already interesting: I also have a tailed beast in the house, it is very convenient - from one package and under flowers, and in cat litter... But seriously, zeolite is a porous mineral of tuff-volcanic origin. What makes it good both here and here - that evenly distributes moisture, which does not accumulate in the upper layer.

There is a wonderful topic about how to transplant carmona correctly on the Floralworld.ru forum. I will use this transplant recipe as soon as the plant adapts a little, in a week, perhaps. But you cannot leave it in the purchased soil - however, like the vast majority of plants bought in the store.

Subtracted that later for bonsai, you can use fertilizer for cacti and succulents with a reduced nitrogen content. You cannot feed sick and recovering plants with fertilizers!

What other complications of karma care arise the difficulties of carmona bonsai care? Humidity, light and temperature regime... Below 18 degrees, I realized that the plant is contraindicated. The humidity needs to be increased - while my carmona is in the kitchen; at the end of the quarantine period, due to aphids, I will move it to other plants and put the bonsai itself in a wider bowl with beautiful pebbles and water. So I save violets and arrowroots from excessive dryness of the air. I also add not only, as drainage, but also small expanded clay balls to the soil to retain moisture, myrtle grows like that, for example. But there is not much room in the bonsai.

In winter, the karmona needs additional lighting with cold fluorescent lamps, preferably 6200 - 6700 K and 60-65 watts. Earlier, honestly speaking, the plants did not light up - citrus fruits overwinter on the loggia, the myrtle stood by the cold window, but the guava has dried up, unfortunately.

When I transplant, I will definitely add photos of the process. Let's see if this bonsai molsai karmona takes root with me!

The content of the article:

Carmona (Carmona) belongs to the genus treelike or shrub plants, also found under the name Ehretia, Eretia or Ehretia. It is included in the Ehretiaceae family, according to some data, or according to others, in the Boraginaceae family. The native habitat falls on the land South-East Asia, namely the Chinese and Japanese lands.

The plant bears its name in honor of the botanist from Germany Georg Dionysius Eret (1708-1770). There are other names for karmona - tea tree or Funee tea.

Carmona in the form of a tree in natural conditions can reach height values ​​of 15–25 m. When the plant is mature, its trunk has a fissured, rough gray bark. The branches are hard, their color is brown, but the young branches are light brown. The leaf plates are simple, grow on the branches in the next order, their surface is rough to the touch, the color is rich green. Their size is small, only 1–2 cm. The upper side of the leaf is sometimes covered with whitish hairs. Serration may be present along the edge.

The flowering process is often year-round, but often the plant can form flowers twice a year: in June-July and in December-February. From the flowers, curl inflorescences are usually collected. However, the buds can be placed singly. There are varieties that have a short pedicel, but mostly sessile flowers. The corolla is bell-tubular. The size of the flowers is very small. The color of the petals is white, yellowish, cream, or sometimes there is a slight pinkish tint. Elongated filaments stick out from the corolla. The flowers have a strong, fragrant aroma.

The fruit is a drupe, which reaches 1.5–3 cm in diameter. The surface is smooth, its color is yellow, orange-yellow or reddish. Eretia, strewn with bright fruits, looks quite impressive. One plant can contain both flowers and fruits at the same time. The fruits are not suitable for food.

Often this particular plant is used as a bonsai cultivation. Moreover, its height will vary within 5-50 cm.

1. Lighting for eretia it is necessary to be bright, but diffused, without direct streams of sunlight.
2. Air temperature when keeping karmona in spring-summer period should fluctuate at 20 degrees, and with the arrival of autumn and throughout the winter, it should be gradually lowered to 10-15 degrees.
3. Watering and humidity for an erection should be moderate. Depending on the temperature of the content, soil moistening is carried out every 3-5 days. The substrate in the pot should not dry out, but the carmona will not tolerate the bay either. It can painlessly withstand only a short-term drought, but then every day you will have to spray the foliage. Spraying is also important in winter, if the heat indicators do not decrease, and they work in the rooms. heating devices... After pruning, watering is carried out after a while. In this case, you should use only soft water with a temperature of 20-24 degrees.
4. Fertilizers for karmona, they are introduced from the beginning of spring to June, with regularity once a month. Liquid organic feeding for plants grown in the bonsai style. However, the literature mentions that in the spring-summer period, eretia is fertilized once every 2 weeks, and in winter time only once a month. After the transplant, feeding is not carried out for another 2 weeks. Fertilizers should not contain much nitrogen, as this will reduce flowering and the carmona will build up green foliage.
5. Transplantation. With the arrival of April, the erection should change the pot and the soil in it, however, this process is performed only once every 2 years. The roots must be shortened little by little and gradually, since the plant reacts very painfully to this operation. A drainage layer should be laid in the new container.

Carmona can grow well in completely inorganic material, however, it is preferable to mainly make up the substrate from the following options:

• garden land, river sand or fine gravel, clay granulate (in a ratio of 1: 2: 1);
• if there is no granulate, then a soil mixture is made based on soil and coarse sand (3-4 mm) in a 1: 1 ratio;
• heather soil, turf soil, leafy soil and river sand (all parts are equal).

How to multiply an erection without assistance?

When multiplying carmona, almost all methods are used: sowing seed material, cuttings using green or semi-lignified branches, planting them in the ground, layering.

Cutting is the most successful method. However, this is a rather complicated process with this plant, since the rooting of cuttings should take place in a warm room, without access to air and using phytohormones. V spring time cuttings must be cut from the apical branches; they should be annual with a length of about 10 cm and a diameter of about 10 mm. You can use those parts of the branches that remained after pruning.

The cuttings are treated with a root growth stimulant. Then they are planted in a mini-greenhouse in a peat-sandy substrate. The germination temperature is maintained at 18 degrees. Humidity should be high, but excessive watering should not be allowed. If the plants have taken root, then in the future such eretia will completely repeat all the characteristics of the parent specimen. With seed propagation, properties can be lost.

As soon as the young karmons grow up, they are transferred to a pot of soil for constant growth and the young shoots are pinched. This operation will contribute to the thickening of the stem and slow down the growth of erethia in height.

Difficulties in cultivating karmona and ways to overcome them

Erecia is not a plant that causes many problems when growing it, and if you follow all the rules, it will delight the eye for a long time with flowering and no less spectacular fruiting. However, if the humidity in the air decreases, especially on hot summer days, then the carmona may be affected by spider mites, aphids, scale insects or mealybugs. If pests are found, treatment with insecticidal preparations should be carried out.

In the case of frequent flooding of the substrate, especially at a low temperature of the content, it can be overtaken by a nuisance in the form powdery mildew, sometimes even black spot or other fungal diseases. In this case, the erection should be transplanted into a new pot with a new disinfected substrate, but pre-treat the plant with fungicides.

However, it should be noted that echretia is very sensitive to any kind of chemicals, therefore, it is recommended to carry out a test on separate leaves before processing. Then a week should pass under your supervision, if the leaf plates did not turn yellow, black and did not fly around, then you can spray the entire plant.

Due to the lack of iron, the leaves of the carmona acquire a lighter shade of green color, but dark green streaks clearly appear on them - this is a sign of chlorosis, fertilization with iron-containing preparations will be required.

If the leaf plates turned yellow and flew around, then this was the reason for a significant decrease in temperature or the plant lacks nutrition. When young shoots began to stretch and thin out, this happens due to insufficient lighting.

Due to its obedient contouring properties, karmona is often used to create bonsai. If the branches have not yet surpassed the 3-year mark, then they very easily change direction and take the forms that are given to them with the help of the wire. But also the plant is great for all styles. When growing erethia in bonsai style, it must be remembered that the plant does not tolerate root pruning well. And when transplanting, such a shortening of the roots is carried out in several stages, that is, the roots are cut off only with each next change of soil, a little so that the carmona does not suffer much from such stress.

Most often, the plant is used when grown outdoors as an ornamental crop, with its help hedges are formed, which will be decorated with small star-like flowers, which will be replaced by fruitlets of bright orange or reddish color. However, these berries cannot be used for food.

The popular name of Carmona microphilla, or as it is also called Ehretia buxifolia, is Fukien Tea Tree (a tea tree from Fujian) or Phillippine tea, which indicates the origin of this representative of the Borage family.

Types of karmona (erection)

Pointed erection (Ehretia acuminata) is common in the lands of China, Asia and the Himalayas. It has a tree-like form of growth and can reach a height of 10 m. The sizes of the leaf plates are large, and the flowers are quite small, the ripening fruits are even smaller than the buds, have a dark and juicy pericarp. On the lands the former USSR in the culture was grown a variable variety var. obovata (Lindl.) Iohnst. There you can find her on the southern coast of Crimea as ornamental plant, since it has highly decorative properties during both flowering and fruiting. Shows drought-resistant qualities and can seriously suffer from frost only in very severe winters. Never used when grown in northern regions.

Large-leaved carmona (Carmona microphylla) can also be found under the name Wax malpighia. This plant has a shrubby form of growth, and its branches are covered with leaves with a shiny surface. The number of leaves is very large, the color is dark green, it grows well in highly shaded places, where the sun's rays fall for only 2-3 hours a day. The flowering process is observed two or three times a year, and small whitish flowers are formed. After pollination in place of them, tiny berries of a reddish-orange color ripen. It is they who give the tree a rather elegant look. In the rainy season, the plant is easy to graft. Reproduction is also carried out by sowing seed. This type of erection is good when grown in any stele.

Small-leaved carmona (Carmona microphilla). However, the correct botanical name for the plant is Ehretia buxifolia. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree that prefers to grow in warm climates. Their trunks are covered with a rough bark to the touch. These representatives of the flora have small leaf plates with a shiny surface and an oval shape, which are covered with pubescence of short blond hairs. The leaf plates are located on the branches in the next order.

If the carmona grows in conditions of sufficient heat, light and moisture level, then in the process of flowering, small flowers with white petals are formed. When fertilized, fruits are tied, the color of which can be either red or yellowish. This variety can be successfully propagated by cuttings or propagated by cuttings or by sowing seed. It is this type of karmona that is used for forming in the bonsai style, when forming one- or two-year-old branches with the help of wire. However, compared to the large-leaved erection, its growth rate is slower and it will take more time to grow this tree.

Eretia dicksonii or may be referred to as Eretia dicksonii. This variety was first introduced in the robots of the British botanist and diplomat Henry Fletcher Hans in 1862, since then this name has been recognized as official. It is a tree-like representative of the flora that grows in Asia: in open forests in the lands of Japan, China and Thailand, and it can also be found in Bhutan, Nepal and Vietnam. It is customary to cultivate this type of karmona as an ornamental plant. Its height can reach 15 m. The branches and trunk are covered with gray-brown bark, cut by cracks. The branches also have a brown tone, but younger ones with a light brown tint, there is pubescence.

The leaf plates can grow up to 8–25 cm in length and 4–15 cm in width. The shape of the leaves is obovate, ovate or elliptical, they are leathery and rough to the touch. At the base, they have a wedge-shaped or rounded shape, and the top has a sharp point, the edge is decorated with notches. The petiole grows to a length of 1-4 cm, also pubescent.

The forming flowers are distinguished by petals of white or pale yellow color, after which fruitlets with a yellow color in diameter, reaching from 1 to 1.5 cm ripen. They gather in corymbose or paniculate inflorescences, which measure 6-9 cm in width. The length of linear bracts reaches 5 mm. Flowers can grow sessile or practically so. The calyx is 3.5–4.5 mm in size, it is cut almost to the base. The lobes of the lobes are oblong or ovate, with pubescence. The corolla is tubular-bell-shaped, has a fragrant aroma. In length, it can reach 8-10 mm with a width at the base of 2 mm. Staminate filaments emerge from the corolla, measuring 3-4.5 mm in length. The size of the anthers is 1.5–2 mm. The flowering process occurs in June-July.

Eretia tinifolia (Ehretia tinifolia). The native growing areas are tropical deciduous forests, and this species can also be found along the roadsides, often cultivated at an altitude of 0-900 meters above sea level. Mainly in the lands of Mexico Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, as well as in Nayarit, Michiacan, Guerrero, Cuba, Spanish Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. These tree-like evergreens can reach a height of 15–25 m. The branches are mostly bare. Leaf plates are measured in length 6.5–12 cm with a width of about 3–6 cm. The shape of the leaves is elliptical, the surface is bare, at the base the outline is from obtuse to sharp, the edge is solid, the apex is obtuse, rounded. The petioles are 5–10 mm long and glabrous.

The flowers are bisexual, have a very short peduncle, or grow sessile. The calyx is 1.5–2 mm long, bell-shaped outlines, their surface is bare, cilia run along the inner edge. Sepals are ovoid, up to 1.5–2 mm long, there are five of them in the calyx. Corolla length is measured in the range of 4-4.6 mm, its color is white, tubular-bell-shaped, with bent petals. The petals can vary in length in the range of 2.5–5 mm in length with a width of up to 1.3–1.7 mm, there are also five of them, their shape is from broad-oblong-ovoid to oblong. In the corolla, filamentous stamens with a length of about 3-4.5 mm grow.

After pollination, a fruit is tied, inside which there is a stone, with dimensions of 5-7x4-6 mm. The shape of the fruit is wide-elliptical, its surface is smooth, the color is yellow-orange.

A charming combination of dense dark green leaves with small white flowers. The evergreen bush is often used to create living compositions in the garden. The shrub produces a huge variety of small twigs, which are covered with small toothed leaves. The upper side of the leaves is covered with light hairs that look like thorns from a distance. Rough to the touch. Small white flowers emit a pleasant aroma, if the care is correct, then flowering can continue all year round. Fruits in the form of balls, eventually turn red or yellow, some varieties of carmona have purple fruits in color. The abundance of fruits creates a cheerful mood with their colors, although they are inedible. Moreover, both fruits and flowers can be on the tree at the same time. Another name is Eretia, the bush is obliged to the artist-florist G.D. Eret. The leaves of the tree are used to brew tea.

Habitat

The plant is native to Asia. The people often call it - the tea tree from Fujian. Several varieties are grown in China and Japan, with most of the species suitable for bonsai cultivation being grown here.

Watering

Loves frequent watering... It is recommended to put a pot with a bush on a tray with highly moistened expanded clay or hydro balls. It is clear that frequent spraying will only benefit the plant. It is better to keep the soil constantly moist, but without flooding and stagnant water. Before watering, water must be defended at room temperature a few days. For watering, you can take and rainwater, but it needs to be slightly warmed up. If the soil dries up, then the plant is guaranteed to die.

Top dressing

They feed the shrub all year round. If in summer the pauses between meals can be 2 weeks, then in winter these intervals can increase to one month. Before adding fertilizers, the soil must be moistened to avoid scalding the roots. Watered with both organic and mineral fertilizers, it is necessary to ensure that the fertilizer has a low nitrogen content. Large amounts of nitrogen can affect flowering quality. After transplanting, fertilizers are not added for several weeks, from two to three.

Pruning

The traditional pinching is done in the spring, although any time of the year is suitable for this. From pinching, the branches thicken, new ones appear side shoots, the growth of the tree stops. Shoots that have already acquired rigidity are strongly cut off, leaving no more than 2 leaves on the branch. Places of cuttings are lubricated with garden pitch. The increase in the growth of the bush is influenced by the size of the pot, the smaller the pot, the less growth is observed. Wire overlay can be applied to a two-year karmona. V early age shrub reacts very well to formation different forms and styles. With the age of the plant, to change the external shape, tensioning devices are often used, which are delicate to the surface of the bark.

Lighting

It can grow in dark places too, but abundant flowering and dotting the entire crown with small flowers can only be achieved if good illumination is created for several hours a day. Carmona is very fond of warmth.In summer, in warm weather, it is recommended to take it to open space, to the veranda or terrace. Capriciously to changes in temperature, from sudden fluctuations, it can react by dumping foliage and berries. In winter, it is better to keep the pot with the plant at room temperature with good humidity. The bush must be protected from drafts all year round. If in the summer it is advisable to put the container with carmona near the eastern or western windows, then in the summer it can be placed on the sill of a window facing the south.

Soil for plants

V fertile soil add coarse sand or gravel, you can add clay granulate. Moreover, there should be twice as much sand in this combination. Another composition is sand and soil mixture in equal proportions. If you mix sod land with deciduous and heather, add sand there, you get another composition suitable for the normal growth of a carmona. Although the plant is very sensitive to temperature conditions, it adapts perfectly to inorganic substrates. For young plants, the soil is changed every year. For old shrubs, the soil change period can be extended over a couple of years.

Reproduction

The bush is transplanted every two years. Since the plant does not tolerate root pruning, then this procedure is expected several times, each time shortening only a small part. The bush can be propagated by cuttings, air layers, seeds. Chepenki are taken, both young and already stiff. They are rooted in greenhouse conditions with bright lighting and using phytohormones.

Plant pests and diseases

Frequent "guests" of the bush are aphids, mealybugs, scale insects, spider mite... They get rid of them with a cloth soaked in alcohol solution. Then the trunk and branches are washed with soapy water. Before using a fungicide or insecticide, a test application must be carried out. Drop on a leaf and wait a week, if the leaf has not turned yellow, then you can use chemicals. Powdery rum, black spot - all these are diseases that are quite annoying delicate plant... It is necessary to carefully examine the tree for early detection of diseases.

Plant species

Ehretia buxifolia, better known as (Carmona microphylla), is an evergreen shrub with shiny leaves and rough bark. Its leaves are very reminiscent of boxwood leaves, hence the name. The bark is whitish-gray in color, it can stretch up to 40 cm. Over the years, the bark cracks more and more, which gives it the appearance of a very old tree. The crown is most often rounded, small in size. More than 2 dozen species are known that are cultivated by gardeners. Large-leaved carmona (C. macrophylla), as the name suggests, has larger leaves. It also has a more powerful trunk with characteristic thick branches.

One of the most common plants we have, formed like a bonsai, is carmona(erection, eretia). This is a categorically tropical plant that does not need special measures for winter maintenance. What determines its popularity. A significant proportion of questions from amateurs concern precisely karmona. Small-leaved karmona comes from Asia. One of her names "tea from Fukin" was given to her by the province of China Fukin. In fact, the name of this evergreen shrub is boxwood eretia, but the synonym, small-leaved carmona, is more common. The bark of the karmona is rough, with time taking the form of the bark of a very old tree, small alternate leaves are covered with short light hairs. Small white flowers develop into red or yellow inedible fruits. You can buy two types of this plant: small-leaved carmona and large-leaved carmona, which has a thick and powerful trunk. This look is worth acquiring.

Substrate: Most of the species of this genus are native to China, from where they are imported in soil with a high clay content. When irrigated, such soil compresses very quickly and loses the ability to supply the roots with the necessary amount of oxygen. It is advisable to quickly replace the clay soil with a new substrate. Carmona reacts very noticeably to root pruning, so it is recommended to replace the land gradually, in several stages. Clay granules, which retain their granular structure for a long time, are most suitable as a new planting substrate.

Later, you can switch to a mixture consisting of clay granulate, sand, diving earth in equal proportions. Substrate replacement is usually carried out in the spring. Young plants are replaced with a planting substrate every two years. Old and well-formed bonsai can do without such replacement and for a longer period, provided that they are watered with settled rainwater.

The location of the plant in a warm room, at a temperature of 15-24 degrees Celsius, and at high humidity air. Can be kept outdoors in summer. Watering is moderate, do not let the earth dry out, it also does not tolerate strong moisture. Under poor conditions, leaves turn yellow and fall off, twigs may dry out, die off. After purchase, check the plant so that there are no pests. Often found on the trunk, leaves of mealy worms, scale insects.

By purchasing large-leaved carmona with an already outlined bonsai style, you can keep it or improve it. Small-leaved carmona, as a rule, is poorly formed, has a round crown shape, small size. The formation of such a plant will take a whole year. Tough shoots, reaching lengths of 10-20 cm, are shortened to one or three leaves, depending on the stage of plant development. In the process of forming a tree, when removing old branches, the pruning sites should be treated with garden varnish to heal wounds.

Pests: Carmona is a favorite target for a wide variety of insect species.