Playing with grass: Japanese blood grass

The best way to play grass: appreciation and maintenance of blood thatch

Huahuakun

In recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards, the consumption level of bonsai flowers has been continuously improved. The market for flower bonsai is becoming wider and wider, and its classification is becoming more and more detailed. According to the differences in interests of Chinese friends and potted plants, some are planted with orchids, some are cultivated with bonsai, some are transplanted with flowers and trees, some are searched for trees in the field, palm potted plants, miniature bonsai, garden landscaping, garden decoration, classification, each has its own interest, and some are unique. The introduction of foreign horticultural varieties has greatly enriched the domestic flower market.

Among the introduced plants and flowers, many varieties have beautiful shapes, gorgeous colors, long flowering periods, elegant flowers and so on, attracting the generosity of the majority of flower friends. As a flower culture disseminator, we will introduce some foreign flower varieties one after another for readers.

Today we introduce is blood grass, which is a potted garden variety introduced from Japan in recent years. The leaves are upright like swords, clustered and luxuriant, the color is striking, the bottom of the leaves is green, from light green in spring to golden yellow in winter, full of changes, and the tips of the leaves are red all year round. It is very pleasant and very ornamental.

Three or five seedlings of blood grass stood tenaciously, like a broken sword, pointing to the sky; a clump of blood grass, the overall effect was excellent, looking from afar, like a touch of colorful clouds in the blue sky. Elaborate configuration flowerpot, clever list strange stone, or embellishment, or dense culture, between size, very ingenious.

There is not much information about blood grass, and some encyclopedias have errors. We introduce its morphological characteristics as follows: blood grass, scientific name Imperata cylindrical "Rubra," also known as Japanese blood grass, Gramineae, Imperata perennial herb. Plant height 30-60 cm, leaves tufted, sword-shaped, leaves initially green, gradually into blood red; panicles, spikelets silver white, flowering late summer, winter dormancy. Blood grass is heat-resistant and wet, temperature-loving and waterlogged, native to Japan, and now cultivated in many big cities. The flower market is mostly sold in the form of potted plants.

Blood grass elegant shape, elegant plant type, eye-catching beautiful color, very natural wild taste, coupled with rapid reproduction, strong growth adaptability, simple and easy to plant, extensive maintenance management, so it is widely used in garden landscaping, but also because potted blood grass, plant type short, elegant and lovely, can be planted alone can match the landscape, so in recent years gradually by people's favorite, about cultivation and maintenance methods, we briefly introduce as follows:

[Soil] Blood grass likes warm, cool and humid environment, avoid standing water, strong adaptability to soil, poor tolerance, weak acid and weak alkaline substrate can grow healthily. The soil configuration can be mixed with loose and breathable humus soil and sand soil for cultivation. For palm potted plants and miniature bonsai, conditions can be cultivated with red jade soil or peat soil, clean and sanitary, beautiful and generous.

[Light temperature] Blood grass likes heat and light, slightly cold-resistant, potted plants enter indoor management in winter, spring and autumn winter can be full light, summer strong light to shade, if in the case of insufficient shade, red will degenerate into green, so sufficient light is beneficial to its growth and ensure the color.

[Watering] The principle of watering blood grass is "not dry, not watered, watered thoroughly". Initial planting should keep dry soil, which is conducive to root adaptation. Potted blood grass is watered once every three days in spring and autumn, once a day in summer, and less frequently in winter, usually once a week to half a month. Usually, water can be sprayed on the leaves to make the leaves beautiful.

[Fertilization] Blood grass likes fertilizer and bears poverty. Batch cultivation can supplement fertilizer in spring, summer and autumn. Irrigate it with cake fertilizer water every ten days. The concentration should be light. Apply thin fertilizer frequently to make Blood grass grow vigorously. If it is a small potted plant, the pot soil substrate is organic soil such as red jade soil peat soil. Fertilize as little as possible. Fertilize once a month to avoid excessive growth of blood grass and affect the overall view of the potted plant.

[Pruning] The blood thatch has to be pruned. In spring, the whole can be cut short to facilitate the germination of new buds. In normal growing season, only some sick leaves can be cut off. For the bottom weeds, they should be removed frequently to avoid affecting the growth of the blood thatch.

[Reproduction] The reproduction of blood grass is divided into plant reproduction and seed reproduction. Blood grass has a strong ability to reproduce itself, and even spread excessively. Some varieties will gradually lose their red color. The seed germination rate is high. It is easy to escape into weeds and become invasive species. Now half of the states in the United States have banned their sale. Domestic sales are hot now, but pay attention to protecting the wild environment of our country. When planting flowers, don't throw them into the wild at will to avoid causing weeds and damaging the environment.

[Disease] In addition to fungal infection caused by excessive soil moisture, there are few diseases and insect pests, which can be controlled by fungicides such as mancozeb and carbendazim.

Blood thatch is the favorite of some people who play grass, and the market attention is not very high. With the rise of palm potted plants, the market is booming. However, flower friends must pay attention not to spread at will, blood grass wild fertility is very strong, rapid growth, do not cause alien species escape because of their own preferences, bring harm to the environment.

As for the price of blood grass, there are more batch cultivation now. At present, each pot imported is generally about a few yuan. The market sales price generally ranges from ten yuan to dozens of yuan. It can be predicted that with the increase of sales, the price will be lower and lower.

(Some pictures come from the Internet, if there is infringement contact delete)

2018-5-20 Aralia floridiflora