| Life form | Shrub, tree |
| Family | Rubiaceae |
| Origin | Tropical Africa (Abyssinia) |
| Ease of cultivation | Easy to grow with little difficulty |
| The size | Usually from 20 cm to 1.5 m in height |
| Growth rate | Average, grows annually by 5-10 cm |
| Lifespan | Perennial |
| Temperature | In the summer: 64,4-86 ° F, in winter it is better 57,2-59 ° F, not lower than 53,6 ° F. |
| Humidity | Not less than 50%. The plant comes from Africa and is resistant to dry air, but very well responds to spraying with soft water. The plant can put the pot in a tray with wet pebbles so that the bottom of the pot does not touch the water. |
| Lighting | A bright place, but not direct sunlight. Suitable for the western or eastern window, the leaves turn yellow in bright light, with a lack of light, the plant grows poorly. |
| The soil | Suitable soil with acidity pH 4.5-5.5. For soil of own preparation it is possible to take equal parts of peat, leaf, humus, turf and sand. It is mandatory to use drainage. |
| Watering | In summer abundant regular watering every 3-4 days, the soil should not dry up. Use only soft water. In winter, watering moderate no more than 1 time per week. It is required not to fill the plant, but, at the same time, the soil should never dry up, even in winter. |
| Fertilizer | From spring to autumn, every two to three weeks, a liquid fertilizer for azaleas. In winter, do not feed. |
| Reproduction | Spread by seeds in the spring, which are sown soon after harvest, because they very quickly lose their germination. Fruits are cleaned from the pulp, the seeds are sown in a mixture of peat and sand in shallow containers to a depth of 1.5-2 cm. The tray is covered with a film. Seedlings appear about a month later. After that, the film is removed.Seedlings with the first pair of leaves cautiously dive into small pots. Reproduction by cuttings is more difficult. Semi-extruded apical cuttings about 10 cm long with 2-3 nodes in a greenhouse (covered with polyethylene) with a lower heating in a mixture of peat and perlite using heteroauxin are used. After rooting (about a month), plant it separately in a pot. Plants grown from cuttings bloom and bear fruit earlier. |
| Bloom | White flowers with a weak aroma, red (white or yellow) edible sweet fruits ripen throughout the year. Abundant flowering from April to May to October. Only adult plants bloom and bear fruit, for 3-4 years of life. Each fruit contains 1-3 grains. |
| Transfer | A young plant is transplanted annually. When the plant grows up, it is disturbed as little as possible, transplanted every 2-3 years, only if the pot is small. |
| Features of care | Do not allow drafts and sudden temperature changes. Lower temperatures in winter make it possible to achieve fruit formation. It is useful to cut weak shoots in spring and pinch the tops of branches for better branching. The dried side branches are cut with scissors. |
| Difficulties | It is affected by spider mites, chervets, aphids, scutes, thrips and whiteflies. The edges of the leaves darken and dry because of the dry air. The leaves turn yellow, brown spots are formed on them, the tissues die and leaves are formed in the sheet as a result of sunburn. Young leaves turn yellow, only green veins remain in insufficiently acidic soil, with a shortage of nutrients or as a result of watering with cold and hard water. The leaves turn yellow, rot and fall off when the soil is waterlogged. In winter, the leaves fall due to lack of light. Slow growth, leaves pale or brown with a lack of nitrogen in the soil. The leaves wrinkle and become covered with yellow spots, the buds turn black with a lack of potassium in the soil. Slow growth, on the leaves, purple or brown spots are observed when there is a shortage of phosphorus. Young leaves are small and light yellow with a lack of iron. |
| Air cleaning | – |
| Toxicity | – |
