Hovea: description and growing conditions

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Howea palm, along with chamedorea and date palm, is a frequent visitor to home greenhouses. Its large-pinnate leaves can decorate both a winter garden and an office space, as they are able to be content with artificial light. One of the main advantages of the hovea houseplant is its absolute undemanding to air quality, so it can be placed even near a heating radiator.

Howea or kentia (Howea) belongs to the Palm family. Homeland – an island in the Pacific Ocean Lord Howe. Under natural conditions, it grows on the islands of the Pacific Ocean, located near Australia, on the rocks and in the coastal zone.

This genus includes only two types of palm trees growing on Lord Howe Island, near Australia. The capital of this island – Kentia – gave the second name to this genus of palm trees. It is one of the best plants for the home, and under favorable conditions grows into a majestic palm tree with gracefully curved dark green fronds.

The leaves of the howei palm are pinnate, bright green, the petioles are smooth. It grows slowly, usually two new leaves appear per year. Grows up to 5 m indoors.

Look at the photo – an adult indoor howei palm tree has 12-15 long, feathery, bright green leaves:

This palm is used as a focal plant, that is, as a plant that attracts the eye, in this case due to its large size and decorative leaves. Spacious foyers and halls with diffused artificial light suit her.

Indoor palm tree hovea Belmore and Forster (with photo)

The most popular types:

Hoveya Belmore (N. belmoreana).

X. Forster (H. forsteriana).

Hovea Belmora in natural conditions reaches a height of 10 m. The trunk is expanded at the base, the petiole is up to 35 cm long.

Pay attention to the photo – the leaves of Belmore’s hovea are long, pinnate, curved in an arc:

Howea forsteriana (f. muell.) Becc., or kentia forster (Kentia forsteriana f. Muell.) is a slender palm tree with a relatively thin straight trunk, 9-10 m high.

The trunk ends with a wide spreading crown of horizontally spread pinnate leaves up to 2.5 m long.

Leaflets are long, located horizontally on both sides of the rachis, at a distance of 2 cm from each other, green, with several parallel veins strongly protruding from both sides, below in small dots.

As can be seen in the photo, the inflorescence of Forster’s Hovea is spike-shaped, dark green, up to 1 m long, branched, hanging down:

It lives in the mountains on basalt rocks at an altitude of up to 300 m above sea level on Lord Howe Island, located in the Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of Australia.

It is one of the most beautiful palm trees, hardy and unpretentious in room conditions.

The following describes how to care for howea at home.

How to care for a houseplant howea (with video)

Hovei undemanding to care, unpretentious and easy to grow, these plants are indispensable for indoor floriculture.

They are not afraid of dry air, so they can be grown in air-conditioned rooms and close to central heating radiators.

Location.

It grows well in bright rooms with windows facing south and even northeast and north (tulle curtains reduce the light intensity in the rooms, but this does not negatively affect the development of howea).

Hovea – prefers a shaded position, especially at a young age. The ideal option is the window sill of the north window. A palm tree can also be installed at a south-facing window with an air temperature in the room of at least 17 ° C.

In summer, plants on the southern windows must be shaded so that burns do not appear on the leaves. Well-developed 12-13-year-old plant specimens simultaneously have 12 leaves or more, and 15-18-year-old plants – up to 20 leaves.

It is not recommended to plant the plant in a wooden tub.

Temperature.

The optimum temperature for growth and development is + 18 – 20 °. Keeping in winter at a temperature not lower than 15 ° C.

Watering.

When caring for howea at home in the summer, the palm tree is watered abundantly, the plants are sprayed daily with warm water; overdrying of an earthen coma should not be allowed. In winter, they are watered with warm water less often than in summer, but the earthen clod is also not brought to dryness, spraying with water is stopped, but regularly, once a month, the leaves are carefully wiped with a damp sponge.

The plant does not like excess moisture in a pot. However, it does not tolerate overdrying. In summer, it is useful to put the plant under the shower or take it outside under a warm drizzle. In hot weather, spray with warm water twice a day. Regular watering with settled water that does not contain lime.

The soil.

A well-drained, humus-rich earth mixture of the following composition is used: turf land – 1 hour, humus – 2 hours, peat – 1 hour, sand – 1 hour. Purchased soil for palm trees can also be used.

Good drainage is very important.

Top dressing.

During the period of intensive vegetation, fertilizing with organic and complete mineral fertilizers is carried out alternately every 2 weeks, in winter – once a month. Suitable fertilizer for palm trees.

Reproduction.

Seeds at a temperature of 25-30 ° C. Germination is low. Shoots appear in 2-12 months. Germination time is affected by storage time and seed quality.

It is necessary to heat the place of sowing to + 25–27 ° C.

Transfer.

Young plants are transplanted annually in the spring, adults – once every 2-3 years; large tub specimens can not be transplanted at all, only you need to replace the top layer of the earth every 2-3 years. During transplantation, the old drainage layer and the top layer of the earth should be removed, and damage to the roots should be avoided.

Pests and diseases.

The plant suffers from scale insects, thrips and spider mites. With improper care, spotting may appear on the leaves.

Beneficial features.

It absorbs benzene from the air 40-320 mcg/day or 53.4 mcg/day per 1 cm2 of leaves, as well as n-hexane.

Howea Care video shows how to grow this palm tree:

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