Aglaonema: cultivation, diseases and curiosity
General characteristics
A marsh plant native to Southeast Asia, Aglaonema is a slow growing perennial plant. It has many leaves with an ovate, oblong or lanceolate shape with smooth margins carried by long petioles up to 1 meter tall.
It is a very widespread plant, both because there are 50 species, but also thanks to its ease of cultivation and its resistance.
Cultivation
The Aglaonema prefer a soft soil, rich in organic substance and draining, so it is advisable to mix with the sand or peat soil and to place at the bottom of the vase some pebbles to help drain the water.
It should be kept in a bright place but should not receive direct light that could damage the leaves, the temperature must always be around 16-18 ° C.
As for watering it requires quite frequent but before you wet it again make sure the soil is dry; during the spring / summer period, it should be fertilized every 15 days with a fertilizer added to the water for watering.
Repotting can be carried out every 2-3 years because it grows very slowly, the new soil must be made up of peat and leaves soil but it must not be too pressed, especially around the roots.
During the summer it creates particular inflorescences formed by a spadix characterized by a thick and thick main axis and sometimes unisexual and sessile flowers of white or green color.
The multiplication occurs by cuttings, by seed or by division of the plant.
The seeds should be planted in March by distributing them in parallel rows on a special soil, watered and covered with a sheet of plexiglass from which care must be taken to remove any condensation that could lead to the creation of mold.
Once the seeds have germinated, the slab must be eliminated, the quantity of light will be increased and the temperature must be constant around 18 ° C until the seedlings are not large enough to be repotted.
If, on the other hand, you want to reproduce it by cuttings, it will be enough to take some segments of the stem and plant them in a mixture of peat and sand, to keep the substratum of damp soil until the appearance of new leaves.
The plant should not be pruned, if some leaf is dried just remove it with a sterilized scissor.
Parasites and diseases
Aglaonema is a rather resistant plant, any malaise or discoloration of the leaves is due to the amount of water with which it is watered, too much or too little, and from exposure of the plant to light, little will in fact cause it to dull while the direct sun on the leaves will burn them, if they become yellow it may be too cold in the environment where you have placed it.
The humidity and the vaporization of some water on the leaves help to discourage the parasites, nevertheless the red spider and the mites are the most common parasites for this plant. You will notice that yellow or brown spots will appear on the leaves, if it is not enough to make the environment more humid you can resort to the pesticides available in specialized shops.
Curiosity
Its name derives from the Greek aglaos, or shining, and nemà, or thread, and refers to the stamens of the flowers. Moreover, this plant contains toxic substances, it is better to handle it with care and wearing gloves, the leaves of some species can be dangerous even for pets.
