Fittonia is a charming houseplant native to the tropical rainforests of South America. The plant has incredibly expressive leaves with a net of veins of white, pink and carmine red, which allows you to grow bright compositions on the windowsill.
Keep fittonia right: features of watering and feeding
To keep the Fittonia bush thick and fluffy all year round, systematically monitor the moisture required for the flower. Spray it several times a week with warm water from a spray bottle. Moisten the potting medium generously, but avoid stagnant water. To maintain the moisture required for the flower, it is useful to place the pot in a tray with damp sphagnum moss. This technique will allow you to create the optimal moisture, which is so necessary for a good vegetation of the plant.
Use settled water for irrigation. Ideally, if the water with which you water the capricious Fittonia is at room temperature (the plant does not tolerate cold water).
Fertilize twice a month using a complex fertilizer for indoor plants. The concentration of the diluted fertilizer should be half that of the fertilizer indicated on the package. For feeding Fittonia, complex preparations for decorative leafy plants Etisso, E-alpha are perfect, they contain a full range of nutrients that are well absorbed by the plant.
Top dressing with mineral fertilizers can be combined with organic fertilizers, alternating them every other week in the spring-laziness period. Use Biohumus in liquid form as an organic fertilizer. Also dilute the fertilizer at half the concentration indicated on the package. It is not worth using infusions of other organic substances, since you can easily overdose the fertilizer concentration in the soil, and the plant will "burn".
Fittonia needs rest in winter. During this period, both the frequency and volume of watering should be halved, but do not allow the substrate to dry out. It is extremely important that Fittonia is not located near the radiator, since dry air is detrimental to the plant, and it can die in a matter of days. Stop feeding in winter, if you continue to feed Fittonia, the shoots can stretch out strongly, become fragile and thin.
Transplant Fittonia carefully
Transplant Fittonia early in the spring, but only when necessary. The plant likes wide, low bowls. To prevent water from stagnating in the container, make drainage holes. And be careful when replanting a flower, Fittonia has incredibly brittle shoots.
At the bottom of the bowl, lay a layer of drainage from broken brick, gravel or expanded clay. Prepare a nutritious soil from two parts of leafy soil and one part of humus, add high-moor peat and a little sand to the substrate. After transplanting, moisten the Fittonia, cover with a bag and leave for two days, then remove the impromptu greenhouse.
