• Biên tập: Dũng Cá Xinh
• Người dịch: Huyền Nguyễn

ENGLISH

These bromeliads are grown primarily for their very showy and colorful foliage. Neorege- lia carolinae is the most commonly cultivated species. Plants are 2 feet wide and half as tall, flat-topped, with a rosette of 1.5-inch-wide, 12-inch-long, strap-shaped leaves striped like ribbon candy with creamy white. Like all bro- meliads, neoregelia leaves absorb moisture from the air through specialized scales. Most brome- liads have leaves that form a “vase” that holds water, and in neoregelias, a shallow water tank is formed by the overlapping bases of the leaves. In nature, the leaves absorb nutrients from any- thing that falls into the water tank, a feature that makes bromeliads very easy to fertilize by just spraying the foliage. Some nutrients are absorbed immediately by the leaves and some accumulate in the tank to be taken up later. Any fertilizer that reaches the potting medium is taken up by the roots.

Neoregelias bloom when they’re three to four years old. The leaves around the center of the plant’s tank turn bright red as flowering begins (that’s why they’re sometimes called blushing bromeliads), and the brilliant colors remain for the rest of the plant’s life. The flower spike itself is very short, and you’d probably never know the plant was in bloom if it didn’t colorize the foli- age so prettily. The violet flowers are not at all showy and are tucked down inside the water tank. After it flowers, your neoregelia slowly dies. It can take a year for this process, during which time the plant clones itself. The mother plant produces several pups around its base. Most neoregelias are sold potted, since that’s the easiest way for growers to produce these plants. However, you could grow this epiphyte on a slab of bark, an untreated board, or some other wooden perch if you want to.

MEDIUM LIGHT.

Neoregelias prosper with a half-day of direct sun from an east or west window.

MODERATE TEMPERATURE.

Daytime 70 to 80°F, nighttime 60 to 70°F.

MODERATE WATER.

Neoregelia obtains most of its water from its shallow tank. Keep about 1 inch of water in the tank. Empty the tank and refill it with fresh distilled water or rainwater every two to three weeks or so. Moisten the potting medium at the same time but not so much that it becomes saturated and soggy. A little water fre- quently is the ticket, and too much water can easily lead to root rot. Don’t use tap water for these plants; they are sensitive to the chemicals it contains.

POTTING.

If you grow neoregelia in a pot, young plants need up-potting to a container with a diameter 2 inches larger than the current pot. Up-pot them in the spring. Use a shallow pot, wider than deep, and be gentle; this plant has only a few shallow roots. A 6-inch pot is plenty big enough for a mature neoregelia. Once it matures it does not need up-potting; and, of course, once it flowers it’s going to die.

To grow it on a slab of bark or piece of drift- wood, gently knock the plant out of its pot and shake off most but not all of the potting medium. Handle the roots gently and position your plant on its side on the slab of bark. Cover the roots with a little bit of moist sphagnum moss. Tack three or four small nails into the slab all around the base of your plant. Wrap plastic-coated wire around the head of one of the nails, then wrap the wire across the base of your plant over to another nail and wrap the wire around that nail’s head. Continue wrapping from nail to nail until your plant is securely bound to the slab with a crisscrossed network of wire. Tuck moist- ened sphagnum moss all around the roots and the wire to hide the wire. Hang the plant in a warm, humid, shaded location until it’s estab- lished on its new perch.

Tiếng Việt

Những cây Dứa Cảnh này được trồng chủ yếu để cho ra những chiếc lá sặc sỡ. Neoregelia carolinae là loài được trồng phổ biến nhất. Cây có chiều rộng và cao gấp rưỡi, đỉnh bằng phẳng, có hình hoa thị rộng 1,5 inch, dài 12 inch, lá hình dây đeo có sọc như kẹo ruy băng với màu trắng kem. Giống như tất cả các loại cây trồng khác, lá Dứa Cảnh Neoregelia hấp thụ độ ẩm từ không khí thông qua các lớp vảy chuyên dụng. Hầu hết các loài Dứa Cảnh đều có lá tạo thành một “cái bình” để giữ nước, và ở các loài Dứa Cảnh Neoregelia, một bình nước nông được hình thành bởi các gốc lá chồng lên nhau. Trong tự nhiên, lá cây hấp thụ chất dinh dưỡng từ bất kỳ thứ gì rơi vào bình nước, một đặc điểm khiến Dứa Cảnh rất dễ bón phân bằng cách phun lên lá. Một số chất dinh dưỡng được lá hấp thụ ngay lập tức và một số tích tụ trong bình để đưa lên sau. Bất kỳ lượng phân bón nào đến ruột bầu sẽ được rễ cây hút lên.

1. 
   Tra cứu tên khoa học của các loài cây thuộc chi Neoregelia bằng hình ảnh

Dũng Cá Xinh

Có những ngày mưa gió, ngày nắng chói chang nhưng khi mở cửa ra hàng hoa dại vẫn nằm đó dưới bậc thềm. Không nhạt không úa mà vẫn còn vẻ tươi trong như ngày nào.

Xem các bài khác