Guzmania Ostara - half a year of beauty on your window

I got Ostar's guzmania thanks to my work colleagues. The flower was presented for the anniversary knowing that I prefer a potted plant over a bouquet. The bush was already blooming, and now it has been at my house for almost three months. But recently I noticed little children below, while the old plant seems to be withering. That is how it should be?

If you are a lover of unusual plants and adore the color red, you should definitely have the Ostara Guzmania in your home. Originally from the distant tropics, she feels comfortable at home. Despite the fact that the guzmania has practically no roots, this does not prevent it from blooming gorgeous. With proper care, colorful original inflorescences will flaunt on the windowsill to the envy of all neighbors for up to six months. Agree, few plants have flowers that live that long. True, the guzmania pays dearly for this, because it is dying off. But instead of one bush, several young children remain.

Varietal features

Like all representatives of the bromeliad family, to which the guzmania belongs, it is an epiphyte. In natural conditions, it can most often be found on trees. Guzmania has an interesting structure - there is no trunk as such. The plant consists of leathery long leaves collected in a cupped rosette. Only in its lower part are there short roots, but they almost do not participate in nutrition. Guzmania receives all the nutrients and life-giving moisture using a bowl of leaves. And the roots just serve to anchor. In nature, they cling to the trunk or branch of a tree, in a pot culture, they grow into the ground and give the rosette a vertical position.

Most plant species (and there are more than 100) have a dense rosette. In the Ostar guzmania, it is loose, with long, sparse leaves, painted green with a glossy sheen. The height of the rosette is on average about 30 cm. In the period from mid-winter to early summer, the epiphyte can please with flowering. Then a scarlet bract rises above the rosette, also elongated and not very lush.

The flowers themselves are small, white, and of particular interest. They fall off within a couple of hours, but the bright red bracts of Ostara can live up to 6 months. At the end of flowering, the guzmania forms babies in the lower part of the rosette, and then dies off after the bracts.

Guzmania Ostara - the nuances of growing and care

Given the structural features of the plant, it is better to take a small flowerpot for guzmania. Its roots are small and superficial, they serve only for fastening, but in dense soil they can rot and then the socket will remain without support. Therefore, the soil for the epiphyte must be light and water permeable.

In order not to bother with the preparation of the mixture and not to guess for sure, it is worth buying a ready-made special substrate for bromeliads. Soil is also suitable for orchids or ferns.

Tropicana needs warmth and high humidity. The optimum temperature in the house should be between 20-26 ° C, and this is all year round. At lower values, the bush will begin to hurt and may disappear. If the room is hot, there will be problems with maintaining humidity. The lighting should be good, but not in direct light.

Caring for Ostara guzmania also has its own nuances:

1. You need to water the flower directly into the outlet, not into the pot.
2. Fertilizers are also introduced here.However, the plant is quite capable of doing without them for the entire period of its short life. However, if flowering does not occur, it is advisable to feed with a special fertilizer for bromeliads.
3. Spray the foliage frequently, keeping the air moist. You can also use a feeding solution for this purpose.

At the final stage of flowering, the guzmania grows overgrown with children - young rosettes. It is possible to separate them from the mother plant only after the formation of their own roots. Children will not take root without them. Guzmania - after transplantation, a mother is usually thrown away or she dries up herself. In any case, the flower will no longer have a second chance at life.

How to care for guzmania - video