| Life form | Grassy, bush |
| Family | Verbenaceae |
| Origin | South Africa, tropical regions of America. |
| Ease of cultivation | Lantana – lung with small difficulties in care, rather unpretentious plant. |
| The size | It reaches a height of 1 m, but usually does not exceed 30-40 cm. |
| Growth rate | High, annual shoots are 15-20 cm longer. |
| Lifespan | Perennial. |
| Temperature | The optimum summer temperature for the content of lanthanum is 64,4-71,6 ° F.It is desirable to have a cool wintering when it is better to maintain a temperature of about 41-46,4 ° F,in this case, the flowering will be more active. |
| Humidity | The plant easily tolerates dry air in the premises with sparse spraying. |
| Lighting | Bright diffused light, at least 3-5 hours of direct sunlight. Lantana especially needs a brightillumination in winter. Suitable south-east or south-west window. |
| The soil | For the successful cultivation of lantanes it is desirable to use rich loose soil.For a mixture of own preparation, take:1 part of garden land, 1 part of leaf land and coarse sand or perlite. Always use a pot with a holeand good drainage. |
| Watering | In summer it is necessary to water every 3-5 days. In winter every 10-14 days. The top layer of soil betweenslightly dry out, waterlogging is very harmful. However, when the earthen coma dries excessively, the lower leaves die off. |
| Fertilizer | Fertilize in the summer every two weeks, preferably – organic fertilizers.Fertilizer should not contain a large amount of nitrogen to avoidthe growth of foliage to the detriment of flowering. |
| Reproduction | For reproduction, semi-stubby sprouts and cuttings obtained by cutting can be used. It is better to cutplant at the end of summer, so that it blossoms faster the next year, but you can take cuttings in the spring. They are rooted in a mixture of wetpeat and perlite in conditions of high humidity at a temperature of 75,2 ° F. You can pre-treat the stalk with heteroauxin.The container with cuttings should be covered with polyethylene or glass, which should be removed after about 3 weeks.Rooting is possible and simple in water. The cuttings are planted and, as they grow, are pricked several times for a better branching.When propagating by seeds, they are sown in February-March and germinated at a temperature of 68 ° F. |
| Flowering (May – September) | Flowers are collected in spherical inflorescences up to 5 cm in diameter. As they develop, they change color from yellow to red,in one inflorescence there may be flowers of different colors. |
| Transfer | Every year in April. Transplant should be performed annually, since the plant not transplanted in time may not blossom.However, do not take too large a pot, because the cramped space of the root system stimulates the flowering of the lantana.It is better not to replant old plants, but to replace the top layer of the soil. |
| Features of care | Shoots should be regularly cut in the spring, and pinch them to form a bushy shape.For best bloom it is good to give the plant a short period of rest in winter and keep it in cool conditions.At this time, it can discard some of the leaves. In summer, it is advisable to bring the plant to the garden or to the balcony, since lanthanum needsin regular airing. Faded inflorescences should be cut off in time.It is possible to plant several plants in one pot or to form each of them separately in the form of a stump tree. To do this, the growing seedlings are cut off by side shoots andprovide him with a support, tied to a peg. When the desired height is reached, the appendage is pricked. In the process of growthcontinue to remove lateral shoots, while cutting and upper branches, giving the tip a spherical shape. |
| Difficulties | When there is a lack of light, the leaves are very small and the stems are stretched. The ends of the leaves wither, and the tips twist with insufficient watering or in too dry air. Normal is the fall of leaves in winter. The plant does not bloom more often because of the lack of a cool wintering or low light.The leaves become pale, shoots are strongly stretched, when the plantneeds feeding. Flowers fall off either because of low temperature, or because of dry air, due to insufficient watering.It is affected by ticks, aphids, mealybug, whitefly. |
| Toxicity | The plant is poisonous. |
