Distinctive characteristics of the vallotta, agrotechnical requirements and difficulties in cultivation, recommendations for flower reproduction, interesting facts, species. We know many representatives of the Amaryllis family, which have firmly taken their place in home flower collections. They amaze with the color and shape of their buds, like delicate lilies (by the way, they belonged specifically to the Liliaceae family) bloom on your windowsill. These can be well-known snowdrops, tender nerine and beautiful eucharis, and many others. But we will talk about such a flower as Vallota, which is not often found in plant collections.
As already mentioned, this flower belongs to the large Amaryllidaceae family of approximately 70 genera and over 1000 varieties. Vallota has a long lifespan and is very unpretentious. Sometimes there is an opinion of flower growers: "That, the worse you take care of this flower, the better it blooms." The genus of the same name includes only 3 varieties, settled in the subtropical territories of southern Africa, namely in the Cape region.
The plant's name should be grateful to the botanist, chemist and doctor of medicine from Holland Nicholas Joseph von Jaskwin, who lived in 1727-1817. This scientist decided to immortalize the name of the French botanist Pierre Vallot. However, later in the middle of the 20th century, already a plant physiologist and botanist from the United States, Hamilton Paul Trobe (1890-1983), the genus Vallot was re-qualified, and its representatives (Vallota speciosa and Vallota purpurea) were attributed to the genus bearing the name Cyntanthus, and the plant itself so it is sometimes called the exalted Cintanthus (Cyntanthus elatus). But Vallota miniata began to belong to the genus Clivia. This delicate lily-like flower has been cultivated in rooms since the 17th century.
Vallota is a plant with bulbs and belt-shaped, xiphoid or linear leaf plates that can reach 60 cm in length and 1-3 cm in width. The property that distinguishes this flower from other members of the family is that at its base the leaves acquire a red or even burgundy hue. And also there is a light crimson color, which shades the scales of the bulb, dried and inside. There is also a distinctive feature of the vallotta - these are multiple daughter bulbs "babies". In other plants belonging to the family, these daughter formations break through and grow the covers of the bulb at its base. In the vallotta, special “legs” appear inside the bulb, through which the “baby” seems to be “pushed out” outward. Therefore, these daughter formations can be seen not at the base, as in other plants, but rather at its upper part or middle.
As soon as they come into contact with the soil surface, the "kids" immediately begin to form special root processes. These roots, as it were, will pull the young bulb deeper into the substrate, and its rooting will begin, as a result of which the plant captures new territories. The mother bulb itself is ovoid and small in size. It is usually half visible from the soil and its surface is covered by outer scales, painted in a brown color with a filmy structure.
A fan-shaped root rosette is collected from the leaf plates, reaching a height of 40 cm. The size of the plant depends on its variety. The surface of the leaves is leathery, shiny, colored with a rich dark emerald color. From this green "fan" the flowering stem originates, reaching a height of 40 cm. It is hollow inside and leafless. From a bulb that is sufficiently developed, several pieces of peduncles may appear.
Blossoming in Cyntanthus begins in late summer and lasts all September, but in rare cases (when the bulb is well developed), it can bloom again in the spring (in May or June). Flowers stay on the plant for up to 5 days. The peduncle usually develops 3–9 spectacular and bright buds, and again, the size of the flower directly depends on the variety of Valotta. The bud usually has six petals. An umbrella inflorescence is collected from these flowers. At the base of the inflorescence are a pair of large bracts. The perianth is funnel-shaped or may have a bell-shaped appearance. Its dimensions reach 8 cm in length, but in diameter it will not exceed 8-10 cm. The color of today's plant varieties is very diverse, there are species with snow-white and pink petals, as well as buds with blood-red petals and an "eye" in the center, whitish shade. After flowering, the fruit ripens in the form of a box, filled with flat seeds of black color.
Florists most often use vallot, planting it alone in pots or combining it with succulent plants, it may look good in stone gardens, or if the variety is not large, then it is grown in vases and flower beds.
Tips for cultivating Valotta, flower care
- Lighting loves bright, but absent-minded. Can be grown in the south, southeast or southwest direction of the windows, but shading will be required at noon.
- Content temperature. The main thing is to provide a cool wintering for 2 months. Heat indicators should be in the range of 10-12 degrees, and in summer no more than 23-25, if the temperature rises, then it is better to remove the cirtantus in the shade.
- Watering the Vallotta. In the summer, as soon as the top layer in the pot is dry, you need to moisten it. It is necessary to prevent the gulf and drying of the earthen coma. If the soil is very dry, then flowers and leaves will begin to drop. In winter, watering is reduced.
- Air humidity is not an important factor, but if the temperature has become higher than 23-25 degrees, then you can spray the leaves without getting on the flowers.
- Fertilizers for a flower applied from the beginning of spring to October every 2 weeks, using top dressing for bulbous domestic plants, you can take liquid preparations for flowering potted plants. In winter, the flower is not fertilized.
- Transplantation and selection of a substrate. Vallota needs to change the pot every 2-3 years, because for normal flowering, the container must be cramped, and she does not really like frequent transplants. The pot is picked up wider than deeper. The transplant is performed very carefully, since if the roots are damaged, they easily rot. It is better to separate "children" so that they do not deplete the cirtantus. Drainage in a pot at the bottom is required. The bulb needs to be buried only halfway, so that in the future it would be easy for "children". The substrate is taken with good nutritional properties, as well as excellent permeability to air and moisture. You can make a soil mixture yourself by mixing fibrous sod soil, with an admixture of leafy soil and peat soil, rotted mullein and river sand are also added there (in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 1: 1).
Self-breeding wallot at home
You can propagate zyrtantus with daughter bulbs, seed or planting parts of an adult bulb.
In the first variant of reproduction, during transplantation, the “children” are separated and they are seated one at a time in separate pots (9–10 cm in diameter) filled with a substrate. The bulbs are buried in half. Watering after planting is rare. Flowering can be expected for 2-3 years.
When seed reproduction takes place, flowering occurs only at 3 years. After ripening, the seeds are harvested and planted in mid-late autumn (or January) in a container with a substrate of sand, turf, leafy soil and peat, in proportions of 2: 2: 1: 1. After sowing the seeds, the container is covered with a piece of glass or wrapped in plastic wrap. It is necessary to carry out daily spraying and, if necessary, moisten the soil. Germination takes place at 15-18 degrees Celsius. Sprouts appear in 3-4 weeks. Six months later, the first pick is carried out. When planting, they try to cover the neck of a young bulb with soil. In the second year, in the spring, a second transplant is carried out in pots or boxes, and in the fall they are seated in separate pots (diameter 9–10 cm) with a substrate for the growth of adult wallots.
You can propagate the plant by cutting an adult bulb into 4 parts with a well-sharpened knife. All sections must be powdered with activated charcoal or charcoal powder. Then landing in a sandy-peat substrate is carried out. Rooting must be carried out at a warm temperature of 20 degrees. In the future, they are looked after, as well as seedlings. And only for the third winter, the grown bulbs are kept at 5-8 degrees in winter.
Difficulties in flower cultivation
Of the pests that can harm the vallot, spider mites and scale insects can be distinguished. To fight, it will be necessary to carry out a thorough shower "flushing" under streams of warm water (about 40 degrees) or wiping the leaf plates and flower stalks of citantus with soapy water, and then treating them with an insecticide.
If we talk about diseases, then various putrefactive processes of the bulbs can become a problem, which is associated with a violation of the watering regime when it is cold. Fusarium, which affects the roots, is also a threat. In this case, the bulbs begin to lag behind in growth, the leaf plates become small, and the outer scales on the bulb rot. To combat this problem, moisture and feeding are reduced (especially if they contain a lot of phosphorus).
When the pot for vollotta is too wide, then flowering may not come, it perfectly releases its flower stalks when the container is not too wide, and sometimes even constrains the plant.
Interesting facts about cytantus
It is necessary to take precautions when caring for a vallot, as the plant has poisonous properties. This will also be required when placing a pot with a "home lily" in rooms where small children or pets can enter, who can taste any part of the flower, so to speak, "on the tooth", especially since the color and aroma of the buds themselves are quite attractive … As soon as the flowering process is over, it is necessary to wait for the flower stalks to dry out and cut them as short as possible. The florists themselves, after carrying out operations with the vallot (especially with its bulbs, since there is more poison in them than in flowers or leaves), must thoroughly wash their hands with soapy water and clean all working tools.
Types of Valotta
Vallota is beautiful (Vallota speciosa) or as it is sometimes called Cyrtanthus elatus, as well as Amaryllis elata, Amaryllis purpurea Aiton or Crinum beautiful (Crinum spesiosum). This variety is a very beautiful plant with a perennial life span and elongated ovoid bulbs, colored in a brown color. When the size of the bulb reaches 3.5 cm, a peduncle appears from it. The inflorescence grows umbellate on a long flowering stem. The outlines of the leaf plates are linear, they are arranged in the form of a fan, measure 40 cm in length with a width of up to 3 cm, their color is dark emerald. The flower-bearing stem is hollow, strong and growing up to 30 cm, it originates from the center of the bulb. The inflorescence usually contains up to 3-6 buds. Their petals are shaded from orange to dark red. The buds are divisible, multi-symmetrical, the outlines of the petals are oval-pointed. Their shape is bell-shaped or funnel-shaped. The opened part in diameter can measure 8 cm. The flowers resemble lily buds so much that this variety is popularly called the "room lily". Flowering occurs in the summer months. The most common varieties of this variety:
- Alba with snow-white flowers;
- Delicata with pale salmon pink petals;
- Magnifica with red eye buds;
- Major - flowers are large;
- Minor has a small-flowered inflorescence and narrow-leaved plates.
The following types are also distinguished:
- Vallota purpurea or also called Cyrtanthus elatus. It is a bulbous plant with small deciduous plates, up to 25-30 cm long, dark green in color. The flowering process is in the summer-autumn period, but there is also a second flowering. A succulent flower arrow originates from the bulb, crowned with small flowers from 2 to 8 units. The bud is funnel-shaped and its expanded part reaches 5–6 cm in diameter. Umbrella inflorescences are collected from the buds. The flower petals are painted in rich red tones, there is a sharp point at the top.
- Crescent vallota (Vallota falcatus) or also called Cyrtanthus falcatus. The plant is the same perennial, but with falling leaves, in winter drought. In spring, the bulb begins to wake up and a thick flowering stem with an inflorescence at the top is pulled out of it. It can appear before the leaves, and sometimes with them. The shape of the leaves is broadly belt-shaped. They grow to a length of 20 cm and a width of 3 cm. The flower-bearing stem grows vertically upward, and it is hollow inside, its length is 30 cm. At the very top, it bends in the form of a hook. The shape of this curvature gives it the appearance of a curved shepherd's staff. Up to 10 buds bloom on it, petals with a red tint, thanks to a curved peduncle, their extensions are directed to the soil surface. The corolla consists of half-joined petals, which form a narrow funnel-shaped tube with no bend at the ends. On the outside, the petals are colored, depending on the variety, in tones of greenish-red, greenish-pink or white-pink shades. But without exception, the entire surface of the petal is monochromatic. The inside of the bud is decorated with a pattern of burgundy-brownish stripes.
- Oblique Vallota (Vallota obliquus) may occur under the name Cyrtanthus obliquus. This variety is quite spectacular, with evergreen foliage, in rare cases deciduous. Life expectancy is long-term. It is the largest of its kind. The leaf plates grow vertically, with a wide belt-like shape. In length, they reach half a meter in length. The flowering stem is about 50 cm. It is hollow and 7–12 flowers develop at its top. Their outline is tubular, length - 8 cm. The shape of the buds of this variety is similar to the previous variety. But it is not the top of the peduncle that bends down to the ground, but the corolla of the bud itself. The petals of the tube are almost completely red-scarlet, and only at the tips of the petals there is a yellow-green color scheme.
- Vallota makenii referred to in the literature under the abbreviation Cyrtanthus makenii. The plant can be either evergreen or deciduous. In this case, the buds begin to grow even before the appearance of the leaf plates. This variety is shade-loving and also requires conditions with high air humidity. In a natural environment for life, he will choose the banks of large and small waterways. The height of the plant is 40 cm, its leaves are narrow-serrated with a one-centimeter width. The flowers have a delicate aroma, the shape of the buds is narrow-tube, reaching up to 6 cm in length. The corolla has an arched bend. The corolla petals are practically spliced and only at the most pointed tips there is a slight bend, but sometimes they can be curved outward.
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