How to raise a potted iron tree?

Iron tree, also known as Phoenix tail iron, Phoenix tail banana, Phoenix tail pine, etc., is the cycad plant of the Cycas family. It is most famous for its flowering, which is called "iron tree blooming". The tree shape is ancient and elegant, the trunk is as strong as iron, the feather leaves are smooth and bright, and the four seasons are common. The south is mostly planted beside the courtyard steps and in the lawn, and the north is suitable for large-scale potted plants to decorate the courtyard porch and hall. Let's take a look at how to raise potted iron trees.

The growth habits of Iron Tree

Tieshu likes a warm, hot and humid environment, is not resistant to cold, grows very slowly, and has a life span of about 200 years. Trees more than 10 years old in the tropics and subtropics of southern China blossom and bear fruit almost every year, while cycads cultivated in the Yangtze River basin and northern parts of China often do not blossom for life or occasionally blossom and bear fruit. Like light, like iron, slightly resistant to semi-shade, open field planting in Shanghai should take warm measures such as straw dressing in winter. Like fertile, moist and slightly acidic soil, but can also withstand drought. The growth is slow and the plants more than 10 years old can blossom.

The Propagation method of Iron Tree

1. Sowing: when there are male and female plants blooming at the same time, it is easy to get seeds by artificial pollination. When the large seed sowing method was used, the seeds germinated slowly, and the seedlings began to emerge 4-6 months after sowing, and the seedlings were separated 2-3 years later. However, in general, few seeds are obtained when planted in the north, and the method of plant division is often used to propagate.

2. Ramets: strong perennial plants often produce tiller buds at the base. The tiller buds with 4 or 5 leaves in three years are cut off, planted in flowerpots filled with river sand, planted in about half of the plant height, watered and placed in shade to promote root maintenance. The potted soil should be dry rather than wet. Generally, it begins to take root in 2-3 months, and then potted with rotten leaf soil after rooting.

How to raise potted irontree?

1. Soil: iron tree should grow in fertile and slightly acidic sandy soil. The culture soil can be prepared with 1 part of coarse sand and 4 parts of pastoral soil, 5 parts of rotten leaf soil and 1 part of fine stone, or 2 parts of sandy soil and 2 parts of rotten leaf soil. Like iron elements, the preparation of culture soil can be mixed with a small amount of iron shavings, or iron shavings can be removed from the basin soil or buried in the basin in early spring, and 0.5% ferrous sulfate spray can be used to supplement iron to make the leaves firm and green.

2. Fertilization: compound fertilizer or urea can be applied twice a month from May to October. Urea should be diluted 1000 times with water to spray leaves. Foliar fertilizer should follow the principle of "eat less and eat more". The family's daily rice washing water should not be stained with oil and water. It should be filled with buckets and pots and irrigated with liquid fertilizer the next day, which has a certain fertilizer effect.

3. Watering: the iron tree grows slowly and does not like flood, especially in spring, autumn and winter, the principle of wet and dry must be strictly observed, that is, after watering once, the basin soil should be watered for the second time. Except for cloudy and rainy days in summer, water should be watered and sprayed to the leaves once a day, but stagnant water is avoided, otherwise rotten roots will cause death. After entering the autumn, the growth is gradually slow, and the moisture should be controlled to maintain a certain degree of dryness in order to survive the winter.

4. Temperature: the suitable temperature for the growth of iron tree is 20-30 ℃, but it is more resistant to high temperature and severe cold. In winter, about 5 ℃ below zero can still overwinter outdoors, and below 10 ℃ should be protected. The iron tree is afraid of snow, if it snows, it should be moved indoors or covered with plastic film, otherwise the old leaves will turn yellow at the beginning of the next spring and lose their ornamental value.

5. Lighting: Tieshu prefers a warm, humid environment with plenty of light, and should be placed in a place where the sun shines directly. However, potted iron trees are not resistant to hot sun exposure, especially the new leaves of iron trees are very easy to burn and turn yellow. Therefore, after the growth of new leaves and the height of summer, certain shading conditions should be given.

6, change the pot: iron tree pot should pay attention to change the pot, generally at least once every 5 years. When changing the basin, the basin soil can be mixed with phosphate fertilizer such as bone powder, and the best time to change the basin is about 15 ℃. At this time, if the growth is exuberant, some old roots should be cut off appropriately to facilitate the growth of new roots in time.

7. Pruning: after the stem of the iron tree grows as high as 50 cm, the old leaves should be cut off in spring, and then cut once a year, or at least once every 3 years. If the plant is still small and the degree of expansion is not ideal, you can cut off all the leaves, which will not affect the angle of the new leaves and make the plant more perfect. When pruning, you should cut to the base of the petiole as far as possible to make the stem neat and beautiful.

8. Diseases and insect pests

① spot disease: iron tree often has the harm of spot disease, which can be drenched with clear water in summer, and the diseased old leaves should be removed in time. At the initial stage of the disease, 75% Baiyinqing wettable powder is sprayed with 800x liquid, or 50% Topchin wettable powder is sprayed once every 10 days, and the effect is better.

② scale insects: when iron trees are planted on the balcony, ventilation and light transmission is not good enough, the leaves are often vulnerable to the harm of scale insects. Repeatedly rubbing the damaged leaves with alcohol can kill adults and larvae, and soaking rice vinegar with cotton balls can kill the damaged leaves.