Guzmania is a spectacular tropical plant with elongated shiny leaves collected in a basal rosette, from the center of which an unusual spike-shaped inflorescence appears, formed by brightly colored bracts and white or yellow small flowers located between them. The inflorescence pleases the eye for almost four months, but then the whole plant dries up.
About 130 species of epiphytic and terrestrial evergreens of this genus are distributed in the tropical forests of South and Central America, on the coast and islands of the Caribbean.
Some varieties of the Guzmania flower have adapted to room conditions, and as a result of selection, variety forms with inflorescences of red, orange, pink, yellow, lilac-red, purple and pure white flowers have been bred.
Description and photo of guzman species
Blood-red Guzmania (Guzmania sanguinea) is also epiphytic. The leaves of plants of this species form a goblet rosette, in which moisture accumulates in nature and some organic particles used to feed the plant. During the flowering period of this type of guzmania, attention is attracted not so much by the corymbose inflorescence of 7-12 small flowers, but by the leaves themselves.
In the photo of the blood-red guzmania presented above, it can be seen that all leaves, except for the extreme ones, acquire a closely purple color.
Mosaic Guzmania (Guzmania musaica) looks impressive even before flowering. In this species, long (more than 50 cm) leaves with transverse dark green and red-brown stripes form a chic rosette.
The description of the mosaic guzmania is similar to the description of the blood red guzmania, only the lower surface of the leaves of this species has a pale pink tint.
There are several varieties of mosaic guzmania:
var. musaica – thin irregular lines are located on a light green background of the leaf (blooms in June or September),
var. zebrina with wide stripes and var. concolor – with one-color leaves.
Indoor flower guzmania reed
Guzmania reed (Guzmania lingulata) – herbaceous plants with bright green, long (up to 45 cm), soft leaves. Bracts forming an inflorescence, erect, red or pink.
Blooms usually in March or December. Due to their compact size, under indoor conditions, hybrids of the minor variety are most often grown, not exceeding 30 cm.
There are also :
var. cardinalis – with spreading bright red bracts;
var. flammea – with few-flowered inflorescences, blooming in late summer.
Caring for indoor guzmania flower at home
The most comfortable indoor Guzmania flower will be in a home greenhouse or indoor florarium, where you can maintain high humidity and a temperature of about +20 ° C all year round. Plants can be placed next to a well-lit, warm window while providing high humidity (wet gravel tray or humidifier).
In spring and summer, guzmania is abundantly watered with warm water with a low salt content, not forgetting to pour a little moisture into a leaf outlet. Reduce watering in winter.
When caring for guzmania at home, top dressing should be carried out during the period of active growth and flowering with special fertilizers for bromeliad crops once every two weeks.
For planting, you should also use specialized soil mixtures for epiphytes, consisting of chopped osmund fern roots, sphagnum or high peat, with the addition of charcoal. For reproduction, you can use daughter outlets that appear after the guzmania has faded.
If the indoor guzmania flower grows well, but does not want to bloom in any way, you can “push” it by placing it in a bag with 2-3 rotting apples for several days (the main thing is that there is no mold on the apples). The released acetylene is the flowering stimulator for guzmania.