| Life form | Shrub, tree, there are ample species. |
| Family | Fabaceae |
| Names-synonyms | Peacock flower, pride of Barbados (English Peacock flower, Barbados pride) |
| Origin and distribution | Tropics of America, Barbados, Argentina, Uruguay, Southeast Asia. |
| Ease of cultivation | It is a relatively simple plant in terms of growing, despite some difficulties. |
| Dimensions | In home (room) conditions, the height usually does not exceed 1.5 m. |
| Growth rate | Rapidly growing plant, regular pruning of shoots is required. |
| Lifespan | Perennial. |
| Temperature | In summer, the usual room temperature (about 69,8-77 ° F) is suitable; In winter, the optimum temperature is 59-64,4 ° F. C. The most beautiful is quite thermophilic, whereas it is very cold-resistant. The latter species is grown in the open ground in the Crimea, in Bulgaria, even in the UK and suffers a short-term drop in temperature to -10 degrees. |
| Humidity | Periodic spraying is required, although many representatives of the genus adapt well to dry air. |
| Lighting | Caesalpinia requires bright illumination, no less than 8 hours of direct light per day. However, on the southern side, the plant may suffer from heat, so shading is required.Suitable for western and eastern windows. With a lack of light, it is very difficult to achieve flowering. |
| The soil | Too fertile substrate is not necessary, a simple mixture of leaf and sod land with the addition of sand is suitable. Preferably loose soil can be used for commerce on the basis of peat mixture with the addition of perlite or vermiculite with a neutral acidity (pH 6.5-7.5). Good drainage and a hole in the pot are needed. |
| Watering | The plant requires regular, abundant watering, approximately 1-2 times a week in the summer. In winter, the plant is humidified less often. The soil between watering should be slightly dry, it is better to provide a rare, but abundant watering, in comparison with frequent, but small portions. Abundant watering stimulates the development of a deep root system. The plant tolerates drought quite easily, but the substrate must not dry completely, especially for young shoots. With insufficient watering, the formation of flowers is difficult. |
| How to fertilize | The plant is fed approximately once every two weeks, from spring to autumn. In early spring nitrogen should prevail in the period of growth in fertilizers. In the future, for better flowering, use top dressing with a high content of phosphorus and potassium. |
| Reproduction | Caesalpinia can be propagated by semi-woody cuttings, which are rooted in a mixture of peat and sand, covered with a plastic bag. However, the soft green non-fading cuttings can be rotten. |
| Bloom | The flowering period usually begins in the summer months, when five-petalled flowers of the original structure are formed with very long stamens of various colors. Caesalpinia beautiful flowers yellow, orange and red flowers, and yellow flowers with red stamens. |
| Transfer | Young bushes transplanted in the spring every year, then, as they grow older, every two years. When transplanting young plants should be very careful, as damage to the root system can lead to their death. It is better to use transshipment. Adult specimens (about 1 m high) are much more enduring in this respect. Tsezalpinia develops better and blooms when the roots are sufficiently intertwined and completely fill the pot, however, when they appear through the drainage plant, the flower is best transplanted. |
| Features of care | As the flowers wither, they must be removed. In spring, pruning is necessary, but flowers develop on the shoots of the current year, so if the crop is cut off late enough, it will not bloom at all. In the summer it is very useful to take the plant on a balcony or in the garden. The plant has an interesting feature to fold the leaves at night. Some species are successfully grown in bonsai culture and look very impressive. |
| Difficulties | The plant is sufficiently resistant to pests. It is affected most often by a spider mite.Brazilwood Gillis may suddenly lose leaves, but later the plant usually recovers. The lack of flowering can be associated with insufficient lighting, which can also lead to strong stretching of shoots. |
| Toxicity | Flowers and pods are poisonous, so you should be careful when growing plants in apartments with children and pets. |
