Traditionally, amateur plant growers-lovers - Hamerops palm. This is very slowly growing, especially in room conditions, fan palm.
Fan call it because the leaf is an almost round dissected plate on a long petiole.
Kinds
Hamerops is a monorod: its only species is hamerops squat, it is chunky and branched. All these names characterize this palm tree and did not appear by chance. And it is also called the palm of St. Peter. It is believed that residents entering Jerusalem Jerusalem were met with the leaves of this particular palm tree in their hands.
Hamerops knowingly bears the specific name squat. It is a low palm, even in nature. At home, she rarely grows above 1.5 meters. As with all palm trees, the stem of the plant is formed from the remnants of cuttings of dead leaves, tightly adjacent to each other. And since hamerops leaves are very dense, well tolerating a large range of conditions of existence, and therefore long-lived, they rarely die.
Another specific name - branched - also has the right to exist. The trunk of a palm tree grows slowly, but thickens, because She always has a lot of leaves. And on this short, thick trunk, lateral processes often appear that look like branches.
The stocky plant came to be called because it gives root growthgrowing practically from one place. Therefore, an adult plant does not look like a single tree, but as a bush.
In this video clip you can watch a slideshow of photos of Hamerops.
A photo
Palm Hamerops: photos of plants growing in natural conditions.
Home care
Palm hamerops: care at home is quite typical for people from the Mediterranean with its subtropical climate.
Lighting. This is the only home palm loving the southern sun.
Summer it can be taken out on the street. But if hamerops is grown in a room, and not in a winter garden or home greenhouse, then it is necessary to accustom to open sunlight on the balcony or loggia gradually.
As follows from the above, the air temperature for comfortable growth of palm trees in summer can also be quite high - +25 - +29 degrees.
In winter conditions change: the light is still desirable bright, very desirable light, and the preferred temperature is low - from +6 to +15 degrees.
Watering and feeding
Watering palm summer quite abundant, produced after drying of the top layer of soil in the container.
In winter with cold content, watering is extremely rare, only to completely dry out the whole earthen room.
With warm content watered more often, but not like in summer.
From March to September, the plant is fed full mineral fertilizer in the recommended dose of about 3 times a month.
Transfer
Hamerops Transplant - crucial moment! It is carried out only with a lack of food area, not necessarily every year.
The roots of the plant are very fragile, when damaged, the palm tree is sick for a long time, loses its decorative effect, sometimes dies.
If there is a need to place it in another pot, you should give preference to transshipment - carefully moving the plant with a clod of earth into a larger tank, filling the voids with fresh earth.
Bloom
In nature, hamerops blooms and produces fruit. Flowers yellow, often bisexual. But at home it is an extremely rare phenomenon, since indoor conditions are far from ideal.
Fruit they are not consumed in food, they are bitter, but not poisonous: in India, for example, they are used in medicine as an astringent.
Photo hamerops flowers.
Breeding
Propagate the plant seeds. They can be collected in nature. By the way, for this it is not necessary to go to the Mediterranean Sea - in our country, Hamerops adapted well in Sochi, and in August they bear fruit. Fresh seeds of hamerops palm tree grow much better. First you need to soak them for a few days.
There is an important point: water in a bowl for soaking need to pour a little, just slightly above the level of the seeds. Put in a warm place for 5 days. And make sure that they are not dry - in time to add water. After soaking, you can rinse the seeds in a saturated pink solution of potassium permanganate. Substrate for sowing too good steaming in the microwave. All this is done to prevent mold in the process of germination of seeds of hamerops palm.
Seeds sown to a depth equal to their diameter. The container is placed in a warm place so that the earth warms to 25 - 27 degrees, for example, on the battery. From the excessive heat will save layer of several layers of newspapers. And from the evaporation of moisture from the ground - transparent polyethylene on top. Seeds germinate depending on the freshness from 1 to 12 months. The first leaves will not be pinnate, they will be thinned only to 6 - 8 leaves.
In addition to growing hamerops from seeds, it is possible to propagate a palm tree and when transplanting. This genus forms the root growth, so you can divide the bush. This should be done carefully, causing as little damage to the roots. To make it easier to unravel the root system, a person freed from the ground must be soaked for an hour. Roots will gain elasticity and will break less.
When seated do not need to bury the plant. The ground level should remain the same. Press the earth tightly around the stem, pour and dry the ground to the desired level. After seating, keep the week is not in the bright sun, and even better in the shade. Spray daily.
The side branches of the palm tree does not multiply, so do not cut them and try to root. These processes are used to enable the growth of the tree after accidental damage to the growth point on the main stem.
Diseases and pests
Diseases rarely affected. Improper care, in particular overflow at low temperatures, can develop root rot. The plant will die.
With a lack of watering and humidity in the warm season, a palm tree can attack spider mite - need to moisten the leaves.
In the offseason appears mealybug, it must be removed, wipe the leaves with a beer or alcohol solution.
Hamerops is an amazing plant. The width of its crown is often equal to the height. His splayed leaves enliven any room, give it comfort. In response to care, the palm will for many years delight with its beauty.
