Characterization of the Carbide Crassula and the care of the plant at home

Crassulaceae is a very common type of houseplant. Their unusual, somewhat “alien” appearance and relative ease of care make fatwomen very popular for growing at home.

Most often, on the windowsills of amateur gardeners, you can find two species - an ovoid fatty (known as the "money tree") and a tree-like fatty. Few people know that these species have some differences and require completely different care. Today we’ll talk about a tree-like fat girl and see how to care for this unusual beauty.

Description and specifications

Crassula arborescens - a plant belonging to the genus Crassula of the family Crassulaceae. She is endemic to the Western Cape in South Africa. Crassula belongs to the group of succulents and stores moisture in thick fleshy leaves.

Under natural conditions, the tree-like fatty woman prefers to settle on sunny slopes, well-lit and warm. At home, this plant is able to form entire colonies and fully justify its species name, growing to the size of a small tree.

Reference. The tree-like crassula looks like a squat tree with a smooth mountain and rounded fleshy leaves. Leaves without stalks, simple, whole-edge, about 8-10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The surface of the leaf is bluish-green, covered with a waxy coating that gives a characteristic whitish hue, painted burgundy along the edges.

Crassula is one of the most unpretentious plants for growing a house. It is not difficult to ensure favorable conditions for her, and even with a minimum of care, she can grow to a height and a half meters (and with careful care and feeding, she can exceed two meters).

At the same time, the fat woman is one of the longest-living indoor plants: its average life expectancy is 20 years, however, some specimens are able to live up to 50. Throughout this time, the fat woman continues to grow; Crassula "long-livers" reach truly fantastic sizes. By the way the fat woman begins to bloom no earlier than in the tenth year of life.

Varieties: description and photo

There are many varieties of this plant, and breeders are constantly working on breeding new ones. To date, the most popular are the varieties of Crassula Undulatifolia:

Blue Bird

A small compact tree with small lanceolate leaves of a characteristic silver-blue color.

Variegata

Also a small plant with wide elongated leaves, relatively thin and not juicy. A characteristic feature of this variety is yellow longitudinal stripes on the leaves., which is caused by the presence of special mutant cells in the leaf tissue that are unable to synthesize chlorophyll.

Crassula Curly

A compact tree with numerous branches and small silver lanceolate leaves of a characteristic wavy shape.

In addition to these, there are many other varieties of woody Crassula, differing in color and shape of the leaf plate.

Home Care

It’s easy to care for this plant., even a beginner grower can easily cope with it.

Attention! The main thing is to remember that a fat girl, like any succulent, needs a bright sun and does not like frequent watering.

The table shows the basic rules for caring for this type of plant.

Lighting	For a fat woman, bright lighting with a significant proportion of direct sunlight is necessary. However, you should not leave this plant in direct sunlight for a long time - this can cause burns to the leaves.
Temperature	The optimum temperature for a fat woman is 22-30aboutWith in the summer and 10-12aboutC in the winter. If the temperature is too high, the plant may begin to drop leaves.
Location	An ideal location for a fat girl would be a southwestern or southeastern window. In the north, with a lack of light, the fat woman will feel normal, but it will stretch out very much, and its stem and branches will be thinned. On the south window, the plant can be threatened with burns, so in the middle of the day it must be shaded. In summer, it is advisable to take a fat woman out into the open air, having previously created a shelter from the rain.
Watering	The hodgepodge has enough moderate watering, in which two-thirds of the soil will completely dry out.
Air humidity	The plant perfectly tolerates dry air, it is not required to be sprayed.
Top dressing	The plant does not require frequent dressing. From mid-spring to early fall, it is enough to fertilize once a month, in winter all feeding is stopped.
The soil	This succulent is not too picky about the soil. The main requirement is that the soil must be loose and pass moisture and air well. For this plant, a ready-made substrate for cacti is well suited, which is easy to find in flower shops.
Pruning	It is not necessary to specially cut the fat woman; if necessary, the plant itself discards the "unnecessary" leaves.

Plant features

A tree-like crassula is propagated most often by cuttings, more rarely, by seeds (it is rare for a crassula to bloom, and it is very difficult to obtain its seeds). Propagation by cuttings is not difficult: cut off (or neatly broken off) cuttings are dried, and then planted in a mixture of equal parts of peat and sand, the container is placed in the light. Under these conditions, the roots of the stalk are formed within three months. Abundant watering is not required, just slightly moisten the soil.

A fat woman needs to be transplanted regularly, as she is constantly growing, its crown increases, and the plant may simply roll over in a too light pot. Young plants are transplanted every spring every year, adults - every 3-4 years.

Important! Crassula is practically not susceptible to disease and is not affected by pests. The only type of pest that can occasionally be found on this plant is the spider mite. To get rid of it, it is enough to treat the plant with such drugs as phytoverm or actellic.

Similar varieties

• Crassula oval (Crassula ovata). Another common type of fat woman is similar to the tree-like shape of the crown and leaves, but the leaves do not have a uniform burgundy border.
• Portulacaria (Portulacaria) or "elephant grass". Another succulent that looks like a fat girl. but belonging to another family - purslane. The form of a crown and leaves is similar to the redgrass, however, the portulacaria leaves are small, more rounded and have a yellowish tint.
• Aichryson (Aichryson). Succulent, related to Crassula and very similar to it in the structure and shape of the leaves, but more rounded and squat.
• Eonium (Aeonium). It is also similar in shape and shade of leaves, however, the leaf blades of this succulent are much denser and resemble scales, and the tree itself is more squat.
• Pachyphytum (Pachyphytum). It can be confused with the fat woman because of the shape of the crown and the color of the leaves, however, the shape of the leaves in this plant is very peculiar and resembles elongated quadrangular prisms, in some varieties even with distinct edges.

Tree Crassula - an original, beautiful and easy-to-care plant. She rightfully takes pride of place in the collection of any grower - both beginner and advanced.

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