Cultivation of Flowers with Crystal Mud and its Daily Management

Crystal mud is a kind of soil water-retaining agent with transparent bulk substance similar to crystal. Its biggest feature is no soil, non-toxic and tasteless, environmental protection, safety, sanitation, cultivation of non-porous glassware, clean, no ants, no sewage pollution. Usually do not often watering, fertilization, as long as occasionally spray some water on the leaves, the bottom of the basin to retain a little water, will be vibrant, crystal and lovely. It is glittering and translucent, bright colors, especially suitable for family and various public places decoration, embellishment, attracted a large number of family flower lovers.

1 advantages of cultivation

1.1 breeding is easy to learn

The use of crystal mud soilless cultivation technology, clean and hygienic materials, less diseases and insect pests, the planting process is simple and easy to learn. Crystal mud can absorb and release water repeatedly and use specially prepared nutrient matrix, which will greatly reduce the times of watering and fertilization, save the trouble of regular fertilization and watering, and reduce the problems of poor growth and death of flowers.

1.2 Saving space

In the limited living space, mini gardening-crystal mud flowers, clean, small and exquisite, can be conveniently placed on the desk, coffee table, desk, TV cabinet, living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom to decorate every place in the living room. beautify the environment as much as possible.

1.3 random combination

People can choose flowers and containers according to their own interests and hobbies, and at the same time, they can make use of the ingenious collocation and layout of flowers with different forms and colors to achieve a better effect than flower arrangement. You can also purposefully choose some flowers and plants, such as orchid, tiger tail orchid, rich bamboo and so on to purify the air and promote physical and mental health.

1.4 Roots of ornamental plants

Crystal clay flowers are held in glass containers, not only can appreciate the stems, leaves and flowers, fruits, but also can appreciate the growing roots. The root system of different shapes adds luster to the changing flowers.

1.5 nutritious

Crystal mud contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and a variety of trace elements needed by plants. The roots of plants can slowly absorb the water, nutrients and trace elements provided by crystal mud, so as to make plants grow stronger and neatly, and plant leaves and flowers are bright in color and have a long flowering period.

1.6 Clean and environmentally friendly

Crystal mud is insect-free, non-toxic, tasteless, does not breed mold, clean, environmentally friendly and beautiful. In addition, crystal mud is a very environmentally friendly material, after a period of hydrolysis process, the final decomposition of ammonia, carbon dioxide and water, without any toxic residue.

2 cultivation techniques

2.1 the selection of plants cultivated in crystal mud requires two conditions:

The plant is small and likes negative. Suitable plants are Araceae plants, such as synthetic taro, white palm, mini tortoise back bamboo, green apple, ruby happy forest taro and silver queen evergreen; hanging orchids such as Phnom Penh, golden heart orchid, silver-edged orchid, green leaf hanging orchid; there are also a number of plants such as hanging bamboo plum, colored leaf taro, asparagus, rich bamboo, pocket coconut, Anthurium, Brazilian iron, Phnom Penh tiger tail orchid and money tree, which are suitable for display in the shade room.

2.2 choose glass containers

Crystal mud is a relatively soft solid, slightly less stable, the container for planting crystal mud flowers should not be too large, you can choose a glass container with higher transparency and a volume of 250~2500mL, which is suitable for planting short indoor evergreen foliage plants.

2.3 soak the crystal mud

Soak and expand with water before use, crystal mud dry particles need to be soaked in 50 times 100 times water, do not stir when soaking. Generally speaking, the particles of domestic crystal mud are larger, which need to be soaked for 8 hours for 9 hours, while the imported particles need to be soaked for 1 hours. It is best to choose clean distilled water, mineral water, pure water, cold boiled water to soak the crystal mud. If you use tap water, it is best to rest for 2 days and release the chloride ion from the water. Before soaking, set aside a few dry particles of crystal mud and put them on the bottom of the basin when planting to absorb excess water.

2.4 treatment of plants

Plants cultivated with soil first wet the soil with water, then remove the plants from the roots and wash off the soil with clean water. After observing the roots, the pruning of root branches is mainly to prune rotten leaves, old, weak, sick, dead roots and redundant, rotten, overlong fibrous roots. General pruning depends on the development of plant root system, which can be cut off about 1 × 3. Do not damage the main root during operation.

2.5 disinfect the root

Flowers and plants to be transplant should be disinfected at the root. Soak the root tip of the plant for about 3 seconds with 75% alcohol, or disinfect the root 10min with 0.3% potassium permanganate solution, then rinse the root with water and dry the surface water.

2.6 washing crystal mud

Crystal mud is artificially colored. Rinse with water for 2 or 3 times, wash off the color and drain the water.

2.7 Color matching

The crystal mud is colorful and rich and should be combined after soaking separately. When matching colors, it should be noted that the crystal mud in a vase had better not exceed 2 colors. Such as red, orange, yellow, purple for a series, choose 2; cyan, blue, green for a series, choose 2.

2.8 planting

First put the reserved crystal mud particles at the bottom of a clean glass bottle, then spread a layer of crystal mud on the bottom according to the designed color, put the plant in the middle of the container with your left hand, and then place the crystal mud evenly around the root with your right hand. After the color of the first layer is loaded, the second layer is installed, and after it is installed, the root system of the plant should be raised slightly, so that the root system can stretch and grow better. Finally, press the crystal mud down to fix the plant. After all the crystal mud is put in, check whether the amount of crystal mud is appropriate. The height should completely cover the root, 1~2cm away from the mouth of the vase.

3 cultivation and management

3.1 slow seedling

The newly transplanted flowers and plants can not be directly exposed to sunlight, so the plants should be placed in a cool, ventilated and scattered place for 3 to 5 days. During the hot and high temperature period, water is usually sprayed to the ground to cool down, keeping the air humidity 60% 80% [3]. Spray the leaves with water to reduce the evaporation of water in the plant, which is conducive to the rapid recovery of the plant.

3.2 moisture

Crystal mud itself has a strong ability to keep moisture, usually try not to water, but often observe the water content of crystal mud. If the surface of the crystal mud is withered and the plants are withered and yellow and fallen leaves, the appropriate water must be supplied according to the habits of flowers, the ability of water evaporation, the size of flowers and plants and the season.

3.3 Lighting

Photosynthesis is very important for plant growth, crystal mud flowers are mostly placed indoors, if the long-term lack of light, it will make the plant grow excessively and yellow leaves. The average negative plant needs about 30% to 50% of the luminosity of the positive plant. Therefore, it is best to place plants in places with scattered light for 1 to 2 days on a regular basis, which is conducive to normal growth.

3.4 points for consideration

3.4.1 Root rot

Many soilless plants have rotten roots, the main reason is that the roots do not adapt to the difference between water environment and soil environment. The roots of plants are easy to get wet or stagnant, and there are rotten roots or the smell of decay in a vase. This situation will seriously affect the growth of flowers, the rotten roots should be cut off in time, and the root system and crystal mud should be thoroughly washed and dried. At the same time, remove the green algae from the original container and keep it clean.

3.4.2 leaves yellowing

Too much or too little watering can cause wilting and yellowing of leaves. Hot, humid and high temperature in summer can easily lead to scorch of leaf tip and leaf edge. Lack of sunlight for a long time, frequent spraying of foliar water (most plants should be sprayed with foliar water once a week) will also cause yellow leaves. Cut off the yellow leaves during daily care, carefully explore the growth habits of different plants, and adjust light, temperature, moisture, air, dry humidity and other conditions. Often use clean water with a little vinegar to scrub the scale and dirt on the leaf surface to make the leaf fresh, keep it clean and bright, and help to make nutrients. Do not put it beside the TV set and the place where the air conditioner and electric fan often blow, lest the leaf tip and edge will dry up and affect the beauty.

3.4.3 the surface of crystal mud is stained with dust or dirt

Crystal mud has been used for a long time, generally, the use time of domestic crystal mud is about 6 months, and that of imported crystal mud is 3-5 years. In the process of using and placing, the surface of the crystal mud will be stained with dust or dirty. the surface crystal mud should be taken out, rinsed with clean water, soaked and reduced to dry the surface moisture, and then placed in a transparent glass bottle.

3.4.4 other maintenance

Long-term display of mini crystal mud gardening, different colors may slowly infiltrate, the last two colors are not obvious, before planting, you should try to make dark colors below and light colors on top.

3.5 Disease and pest control

During maintenance, flower plants sometimes carry some diseases and insect pests of their own, affecting their appearance and healthy growth, such as shell insects and anthracnose, can be sprayed with 2.5% deltamethrin 2500 times or 70% methyl thiophanate 1000 times, 50% carbendazim 800 times, 75% chlorothalonil 1000 times, once every 10 to 15 days, 2 times in a row.