| Life form | Grassy, bush |
| Family | Acanthaceae |
| Origin | Peru, Mexico |
| Ease of cultivation | Easy with small difficulties |
| The size | 40-50 cm in height, but it is better to form a plant of lower height, because better bloom is low plants. |
| Growth rate | Slow. 8-10 cm per year. |
| Lifespan | Perennial plant, you can periodically update. |
| Temperature | In the summer: 69,8-75,2 ° F, in winter it is better to keep the temperature around 55,4-59 ° F. |
| Humidity | Not less than 50%. Sprinkle with soft water and keep in moist pebbles, but during flowering during spraying, you can not get on the inflorescence. In winter, spray on a daily basis. |
| Lighting | Bright diffused light. Shade on the southern window. The east window is ideal. |
| The soil | The soil must be breathable, sand or perlite with peat should be added if it is too dense. For a mixture of own preparation, take: 1 part of the turf ground, 1 part coarse-grained sand or perlite and 2 parts peat or humus (leaf land). Always use a pot with an opening and a powerful drain. |
| Watering | The soil must be constantly moist. However, one should also beware of overflow. In summer it is necessary to water every 3 days. In winter every 10-14 days. |
| Fertilizer | In the summer no more than once every 3-4 weeks. |
| Reproduction | For reproduction, you can use cuttings obtained by pruning shoots that have not yet blossomed. The stalk must have at least 2 leaves. Root in a mixture of wet peat and perlite in conditions of high humidity at a temperature of 75,2 ° F, pre-treating the stalk with heteroauxin. It is required to cover the container with polyethylene or glass, which can be removed after about 3 weeks. |
| Bloom | Spicate inflorescences, flowers with yellow bracts, blooms in summer, faded inflorescences should be removed. Blooms in summer. |
| Transfer | Every year in April. It is also desirable to immediately transplant the shop bought in the store. |
| Features of care | Poorly carries drafts. Plants should be cut on a regular basis, if it is very stretched, shoots should be left about 5-15 cm. In summer it is good to take out into the street in the shade. |
| Difficulties | The lower leaves fade and fall off from the drying of the substrate. Also, the lower leaves may fall from the cold. The plant does not bloom most often because of insufficient lighting. The flowers rot and fall off either as a result of getting water on them during spraying, or because of insufficient airing. The leaves become pale when the plant needs fertilizing. It is affected by mites, whitefly. |
| Air cleaning | – |
| Toxicity | – |
