Melaleuca cultivation. - all about flowers we propagate, grow, care for

Water bodies 17.05.2019

Water bodies

Melaleuca, also called the tea tree, is a small tree or sprawling shrub with a pleasant aroma. Graceful greenery and bright inflorescences make the plant very attractive for flower growers. Melaleuca is widespread in the Australian continent and Great Britain, and in temperate climates successfully grown as a large indoor and garden plant.

Description of the plant

Melaleuca belongs to the numerous plant genus in the Myrtle family. Small bushes or tall trees have a pleasant, tart aroma. Maximum height trees reach 25 m. The plant has a branched rhizome. The trunk and branches are covered with a thin light brown or gray bark. It is easily damaged and peels off, forming a kind of paper wrapper.

The alternate petiole leaves are narrow lanceolate and bright green in color. The length of the leaf can reach 12 cm, and the width does not exceed 5 mm. From a distance, these narrow, whole-edged leaves resemble needles. On the edge of the leaf plate there are small glands that secrete essential oil. Melaleuca oil has a pronounced bactericidal and stimulating properties. It is widely used in medicine and cosmetology.

Small flowers gather in a large spherical or oval inflorescence. Yellow, cream or pink buds with narrow, long petals resemble a brush or a brush from a distance. Inflorescences are formed on young shoots and can alternate with foliage. Where the flowers end, the branch can still continue.

The oldest in existence tea tree... Age 3000 lazy (China, Yunnan)

Each bud consists of five sepals and bundles of stamens. The sepals fall off almost immediately, and the long stamens attract insects, small birds, and even bats. Melaleuca is a good honey plant.

After the flowers wither, strong capsules with many small seeds remain on the branches. They remain tightly closed and do not fall off even after full maturation. Seeds remain viable for a very long time, but often fall into the ground only after the death of the mother plant.

Popular types

Today there are 240 species of melaleuca, the following representatives are most widespread in culture:

Melaleuca white-wood or cayuput tree. The plant has the shape of a tall (up to 25 m) tree with a spreading crown. The very thin bark is light gray in color. Long narrow leaves densely cover young branches and are interspersed with white cylindrical inflorescences.

Forms beautiful tree up to 8 m high. It is in this variety that the most essential oils are found, therefore it is grown for industrial purposes. The trunk is covered with a thin, flaky bark. On young branches, bright green leaves and snow-white flowers are collected.

It has more rounded foliage with five raised veins. The height of an adult tree is 9-19 m. At the ends of the branches, cylindrical brushes of a white or beige shade bloom. The leaves are used to decorate streets, paint water bodies, and drain swamps.

Suitable for growing at home. The plant forms a low bush with fine needle-like foliage. In the spring, cylindrical creamy inflorescences bloom.

It is a weakly branched shoot 1.5-10 m high, covered with larger leaves along its entire length. From May to September, the plant pleases with small cream-colored flowers.

Forms a short tree. Its young branches are covered with another gray-green foliage, similar to flax leaves. Each leaf is 2-4.5 cm long and 4 mm wide. In summer, white fluffy inflorescences up to 4 cm long bloom at the edges of the branches.

It has the shape of a spreading shrub with oval foliage. The length of the leaf is only 2 cm. In summer, the plant is covered with many spherical inflorescences of rich pink color.

Melaleuca arminalis (bracelet) grows in the form of a tree up to 9 m high. The plant has a wide spherical crown of dark green needle-like foliage. On the branches, oblong inflorescences of a red or pink hue up to 5 cm long are formed.

Melaleuca bracteata. The trunk of a tree up to 9 m high is covered with gray bark with vertical, cracked stripes. The leaves are colored dark green with a grayish tint. The cylindrical inflorescences are composed of cream flowers.

Melaleuca Bracteata

Reproduction methods

Reproduction of melaleuca occurs quite easily by seed and vegetative methods. The seeds are harvested after flowering, pounded out of the pods and stored in a paper bag. For better effect it is recommended to spread them on a wet cloth for a day. For sowing, use wide boxes with light, fertile soil. Seeds are sown in holes to a depth of 2-4 cm. The container is covered with foil and left in a warm place. Seedlings begin to appear in 2-4 weeks. Seedlings with 4 true leaves dive into small soil pots for mature plants.

Rooting of cuttings is also easy. It is enough to cut off young shoots about 15 cm long in spring or early summer. The branches are treated with a solution of "root" and planted in a moist fertile soil... Cover the top with a jar.

Care features

Melaleuca is grown as an indoor or garden plant. Some varieties can withstand temperatures as low as -7 ° C. The plant loves long daylight hours and diffused light. Indoors, it should be shaded from the midday sun. In the garden, the tree can be planted in open place since streams fresh air save foliage from burns.

Indoor specimens are recommended from May to October to be kept on the balcony or in the garden. The optimum air temperature for a plant is + 22 ... + 24 ° C. For the winter, it is advisable to move the melaleuka to a cool place with a temperature of + 7 ... + 9 ° C. The soil around the garden melaleuks is mulched with fallen leaves for the winter.

Melaleuca lives near water bodies, therefore, it needs abundant and frequent watering, but excess liquid must flow freely so that the roots do not rot. Only the top layer of the soil is allowed to dry out. In winter, watering can be reduced if the air temperature is lowered.

From April to October, the melaleuca needs feeding twice a month. Mineral fertilizer is added to the water for irrigation in accordance with the instructions. You can use formulations for flowering plants, myrtle or decorative trees.

The plant needs to provide high humidity air. It is not recommended to leave pots near radiators in winter. Welcomed frequent spraying twigs and the use of pallets with wet pebbles or expanded clay.

Melaleuca grows quickly, so it will have to be transplanted often. A drainage layer and light soil are laid out on the bottom of large and deep pots. You can use a ready-made substrate or prepare a mixture yourself from the following components:

peat;
river sand;
sod land.

Melaleuca needs regular pruning, otherwise it will start to grow and stretch strongly. Only young shoots are covered with leaves and flowers. For pruning, use garden shears with a sharp blade. The plant tolerates the procedure normally and allows itself to give itself the most intricate shape.

Possible difficulties

Root rot is a common problem in melaleuca. At the first sign of decay, the plant should be dug up, the decaying roots should be cut off and treated with an antifungal solution. The soil is completely replaced and watering is somewhat reduced. To compensate for the shrinkage of the rhizome, it is recommended to remove part of the crown.

Sometimes the tea tree suffers from a spider mite infestation. This tiny insect can do a lot of damage to the plant. If the smallest punctures and cobwebs appear on the foliage, an insecticide treatment should be carried out immediately (Aktelik, Masai, Akarin).

Myrtle family. Homeland - Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Indonesia, tropical America. More than 200 species of trees and shrubs are widespread in nature.

Melaleuca alternifolia Melaleuca alternatifolia or Australian tea tree- branched evergreen tree, reaching in nature 7 m in height. It has a thin gray bark, the leaves are alternately arranged, tightly fitting to each other, very narrow, lanceolate, about 12 cm long and 0.5 cm wide. From a distance, the plant resembles a coniferous one. The flowers are white, fragrant, collected in spike-shaped inflorescences. The petals of the flower are small, white, rounded. Stamens are white, very long and numerous, with yellow anthers.

The formation of the crown in melaleuca is carried out by cutting and pinching the shoots in the spring. The plant tolerates pruning well and responds with more abundant branching. This quality is used when forming bonsai from malaleuca. The branches are flexible and plastic, the direction can be formed with a wire.

Melaleuca - care

Temperature: moderate in summer, preferably no higher than 28 ° C. In nature, melaleuca withstands light frosts in winter, down to -7 ° C. But when grown in rooms optimum temperature in winter, during the dormant period + 8-10 ° C.

Lighting: full solar lighting, in summer, shading on the south and west windows in the hottest time from 12 to 15 hours.

Watering: abundant from spring to autumn, the next day after the top layer of the earth dries up. In winter, watered so that the soil has time to dry out well, but does not dry out completely. Depending on the temperature, it can be once a month (if the temperature is 8-10 ° C), or once every two weeks (if the temperature is around 15 ° C). Like all myrtles, Melaleuca does not tolerate the drying out of an earthen coma, but so that the roots do not rot from dampness, a very well-drained soil is needed.

Top dressing: from March to August with complex fertilizer for decorative deciduous indoor plants... Top dressing every two weeks at a full dose.

Air humidity: in nature, the tea tree grows in swamps, along the coast, near streams, so it needs regular spraying. the main problem growing in apartments is precisely the dryness of the air. Greenhouse conditions will be optimal for melaleuka. Avoid placing pots next to a heating system.

Transfer: annually in the spring, or replaced upper layer land. Melaleuca grows well on slightly acidic soils and does not tolerate alkalization of the soil. Soil 2-3 parts of sod, 1 part of peat land, 1 part of humus, 1 part of sand, 1 part of vermiculite. At the bottom of the pot, you need to pour a drainage from expanded clay 2 cm high.

Reproduction: cuttings and seeds. Seeds are sown in bowls in March, they moisten the ground well, cover with glass. The soil in the bowl should be moist all the time, but not too damp. Crops are regularly ventilated (twice a day for 30 minutes). The cuttings are rooted in wet vermiculite in a room greenhouse.

The Australian tea tree oil Melaleuca alternifolia is used to treat minor cuts, burns, acne, fungal infections of the nails, yeast vaginal infections (thrush), as well as for cosmetic purposes - added to an aroma lamp, bath when bathing, for inhalation and rinsing.
Pure tea tree oil can cause irritation or allergic reactions. Therefore, it is used diluted (together with olive or sunflower oil).
Tea tree oil should not be taken orally without a doctor's prescription! And also not used to treat mucous membranes, nose, ears.
Cajeput oil is obtained from the White Tea Tree or Melaleuca cajeputi. Cajeput oil also has a bactericidal, disinfectant and wound healing effect.

Tea tree is a genus of low-growing evergreen shrubs and woody plants belonging to the Myrtle family. But contrary to popular belief, this name has nothing to do with the tea growing and production industry. The second name of the genus is Melaleuca. These representatives of the flora are valued for their unusual appearance and are popular in room culture along with coffee tree... In this article, you will learn how to grow a tea tree at home and what varieties of this exotic plant exist.

Characteristics of the tea tree

Melaleuca has a tart, pleasant aroma. Woody forms can reach a height of 25 m. The plant has a branched rhizome, branches and trunk are covered with a thin gray or light brown bark, which is easily damaged and peeled, resembling a paper wrapper. Leaves of bright green color resemble needles. Yellow, pink or cream-colored buds are collected in oval or spherical inflorescences. The tea bush secretes essential oils in large quantities, which are widely used in cosmetology and medicine.

Popular types of tea tree

More than 200 species of melaleuca are currently known, but only a few are widely cultivated. Here are the most popular varieties with photos:

Melaleuca bracteata - the tree grows up to 8 m, has a gray bark with cracked vertical stripes. The color of the leaves is dark green, with a grayish overflow. Inflorescences of a cream shade, cylindrical;

Melaleuca heather is a dense shrub with “papery” brownish or pale white bark. Leaves are dark green, linear type, flowers are creamy white;

Alternate-leaved - is a beautiful tree up to 8 m tall. This particular variety is grown for the production of essential oils in industrial scale... The trunk is covered with the finest flaky bark, and young branches contain snow-white flowers and bright green leaves;

Nesophila is a sprawling shrub with oval-shaped leaves. The main difference between the species is the bright pink inflorescences in the shape of a ball.

You can buy a tea tree sapling in a nursery or an online plant store. The price will depend on the type of melaleuca, its height and the volume of the pot. For example, the cost of a bush from a rooted cutting 10 cm high in a 9x9 cm square pot starts at 300 rubles.

How to care for a tea bush

A green pet is not at all capricious and it is very easy to take care of it at home. To ensure it has a lush, regular flowering, it is necessary to follow some recommendations.

Dredge and fertilizer for tea bush

For melaleuka, neutral or slightly acidic soil, very loose, is well suited. To independently prepare the necessary soil mixture, we combine sand, peat and sod land in a ratio of 1: 2: 1.

During the period of intensive growth, the home tea tree is fertilized a couple of times a month with a complex fertilizer for indoor plants.

Moisture and watering for melaleuca

Tea tree loves high humidity air, so caring for it includes constant spraying (especially in the heat).

To increase the humidity, water is poured into the pan and expanded clay is poured;
The tree requires generous systematic watering. When the soil layer dries up completely, the plant usually dies. Stagnation of water in the soil is also undesirable, this can lead to decay of the roots;
Settled soft water is best suited for irrigation. To soften hard water, a little citric or acetic acid is added to it, according to the advice of flower growers;
In the cool winter season, the bush is watered less often and less. This process takes place after slightly drying the upper layer of the substrate.

Illumination and temperature for the plant

"Green dweller" cannot do without bright lighting and is shaded from direct sun rays... The illumination level should be 6000-7800 lux, and the light period should be 12 hours. With insufficient light, such specimens are supplemented with the help of special phytolamps. If they have enough light all year round, the plants can bloom again in winter. But if there is not enough light, the shoots will become elongated, and a lot of foliage will fall off.

If it is not possible to make supplementary lighting for melaleuke, it should winter at a temperature of 10 degrees. In the summer season, the plant is comfortable even at high temperatures, but in direct sunlight, the leaves dry out, and burns remain on them.

Pruning and features of transplanting a tea tree

The plant needs systematic pruning all year round. It can be shaped like a shrub or like a tree, or shaped as you like. When pruning, you can get rid of branches that have faded because they negatively affect the showy look.

Young green specimens must be pruned at a height of ten centimeters, so the bush will branch better. Next, each new stem is trimmed and this is done until the desired branching occurs;
The young tea bush is transplanted once a year. For this procedure, a pot is selected in diameter larger than the previous one. Adult plants are transplanted as needed if root system does not fit in a pot. But if it is not possible to make a transplant, they simply cut the roots and replace the top layer of soil.

Melaleuca breeding methods

Melaleuca reproduces not only with seeds, but also with annual lignified cuttings.

Seeds are scattered on moist soil, and they do not require deepening;
The box is covered with glass and placed in a bright place. After 1-1.5 weeks, the first shoots will appear;
If temperature regime less than 20 degrees, it will take up to four weeks.

At first, seedlings grow very slowly, dies a large number of plants. A tea bush grown from seeds will bloom for the first time in the sixth year of life.

Semi-lignified cuttings reach a length of 7-8 cm, and take root not only in the soil, but also in a glass of water. To increase the rooting process, they take funds that stimulate the growth of roots.

Tea tree pests

If the bush is grown in indoor conditions, spider mites can settle on it or start mealybugs... To destroy them, they are treated with insecticides such as Fitoverm, Aktellik or Akarin.

Video: Tea Tree Oil for Hair Health

Treatment of thrush at home Cocoa candles tea tree and not only

Candidiasis is a fairly common and very unpleasant disease that usually affects the female half of humanity. The worst thing is that you can never guess whether she will overtake or not. And often medications do not give an effect. How to treat thrush at home? With the help of essential oils and more ...

Thrush (in Latin Candida albicans) is a fungus that predominantly affects the mucous membranes, and most often intimate organs suffer from it. It has already been established that the Candida fungus always lives in a woman's body, and is activated only in critical situations for the body - stress, infectious diseases and immunological or hormonal disruptions. At http: // sana-med. com. ua / you will find a large number useful information about her and other women's diseases, as well as about their treatment with modern methods.

Thrush treatment at home: what you need to know

Since Candida is a fungus, antibacterial drugs are powerless against ngo, and antifungals are very active against it. However, for some reason it often turns out that you will heal candidiasis, and it starts again, or in general medical drugs do not help from this scourge. The reason for this can be anything - chronic stress, systematic infection (for example, if the carrier is an unsuspecting partner), poor immunity, hormonal contraceptives that "upset" the body, and even the use of regular toilet soap. Treatment of thrush during pregnancy is very often chronic, and candidiasis disappears after childbirth. Essential oils and folk methods that Womensplay offers on their page will help reduce unpleasant manifestations.

Thrush treatment at home: aromatherapy procedures

These procedures include:

Warm baths
Massage
Applications
Essential oil swabs
Candles from thrush

Essential oils used to fight candidiasis:

Tea tree
Lavender
Myrrh

You can try a drop of lavender essential oil on the pad (literally one drop). In milder forms it helps well.

Treatment of thrush at home: cocoa candles from thrush

Why cocoa butter? It's simple - it is the most easily hardening and low-melting oil, that is, the best transport oil that can help treat the affected areas with anti-fungal elements, in particular, essential oils. In addition, pathogenic bacteria do not accumulate or multiply in it, and its sparing and soft consistency is not washed off, as it would be, say, with a conventional herb decoction. If desired, you can melt cocoa butter (90%) with sea buckthorn butter (10%)

Recipe: Take 10 2ml disposable syringes and cut off the "noses" with top housing. Melt 30 ml of cocoa butter in a water bath in a clean, disinfected container, remove from heat, cool. Quickly, until the oil has solidified, stir in 20-30k of tea tree essential oil and pour into syringes. When the oil hardens, you just have to hold the syringe in your hand so that the walls “thaw out” and squeeze the candle into a specially prepared foil case (wrap it up for storage in the freezer). For 5 days of treatment, your suppositories for thrush are ready.

In addition to the tea tree, you can use the essential oils of yarrow, thyme, lavender (see the proportions), as well as honey (a little bit literally).

Use them as directed twice a day.

Treatment of thrush at home: how to lubricate?

In parallel with the main treatment, it is good to lubricate the affected areas with the following mixtures:

- cumin oil 10ml + 5k lavender + 5k tea tree;

- sea buckthorn oil with tea tree or lavender (5ml oil + 5k ether);

Douching formulations (2-3 times a day):

- Dissolve 5k tea tree / chamomile / lavender in 0.5 ml of propolis tincture, dissolve the mixture in 1 liter of boiled water;

1 liter decoction of chamomile and calendula;

Soda solution (5 tsp per 1 liter) (only for acute inflammation and not often!)

Folk remedies

Tibetan Milk Mushroom (Douching + Inside)
Sea buckthorn oil
Honey (natural antiseptic)
Chlorophyllipt tampons
Baths with brilliant green
Tampons with sea buckthorn oil with tea tree and lavender (5ml oil + 5k ether)

Pay attention to nutrition

The patient's diet should contain fermented milk products (yogurt, kefir), as well as moderately sweet fruits, vegetables, stewed and boiled foods over fried foods. However, overdoing it with sour milk is also not worth it - it can provoke an exacerbation. In addition to medications "aimed" at treating thrush (and, by the way, herpes), take yoghurt preparations containing beneficial bacteria that prevent the fungus from multiplying. Eliminate smoked, salted, fried, and yeast-containing foods. Boost your immunity. For the duration of the treatment, "refrain" from intimate relationships.

And, of course, visit the appropriate doctor, since the nature of the disease can be different, and the treatment of thrush at home can be delayed to unfavorable circumstances, and some folk methods and there will be very few candles from thrush ...

How to grow a tea tree

Prepare small containers with soil, and plant the selected seeds there, burying them in the soil 2-5 cm.Slightly sprinkle them with loose earth, spray the planting site with water, cover it with cut plastic bottle(for additional insulation) and expose to a window, avoiding areas where direct sunlight falls. The place for the pot should be well lit and warm. Do not forget to periodically spray the ground (it should be constantly wet) and ventilate it. You can easily loosen the soil with a fork around the seeds.

Bonsai carmona description of home care

Carmona can be used to produce any bonsai style. With the help of wire, 1- and 2-year-old branches easily take on a given shape. For older and more woody branches, special tensioning devices are used to prevent damage to the bark.

Often novice hobbyists buy a tree with an already outlined bonsai style, which can later be improved. It takes at least a year to form it.

When removing old branches, the cutting site is treated with garden pitch. Already strengthened shoots, which have grown to 10-20 cm, should be shortened to 1-3 leaves. It depends on the stage of development and the state of health of the tree.

Reproduction

Carmona bonsai is propagated by seeds or cuttings. When pruning a tree, cuttings up to 10 cm in size are obtained. They can be planted in a small made greenhouse, into which a mixture of peat and sand is poured. It is very important to maintain high humidity and temperatures around + 18 ° C with moderate watering. Often, for the rapid growth of roots, special stimulants are used, which increases the chance of getting cuttings with a developed root system. When propagated by cuttings, the plants completely repeat the maternal traits.

Reproduction by seeds is a longer and more laborious process, in which the qualities of the tree from which they are obtained are not always transmitted.

Bonsai karmona pests

As with any carmona bonsai plant, home care requires correct watering, feeding, etc., besides the tree is highly susceptible to various diseases and pests. It can be mealy worms, scale insects; in summer, the plant often suffers from aphid attacks, chlorosis and spider mites.

The most common pests:

Plant aphids, which feed on sap from leaves and stems, usually appear on the underside of the leaves. The easiest way to fight: soak a piece of cotton wool dissolved in water with laundry soap, which removes all aphids from the leaves. Then treat the tree with an insecticide to combat aphids.

Scabbard - you can guess about damage to the plant by this pest, when the shoots stop developing, the leaves dry out, become brown and fall off. Most often, these brown-brown insects form colonies at the base of the trunk. To combat the scabbard, you should remove the growths on the trunk, wipe with alcohol and spray with an insecticide.

The spider mite is very small and difficult to detect. Ticks have round shape and a yellow-green color, live on the leaves from the underside, braiding them with cobwebs. The leaves dry out, turn pale and crumble. The tick is very dangerous pest... To prevent its appearance, you should maintain high air humidity, spray the leaves, and moisten the cobweb, since the tick does not like water very much. These insects are caught with tweezers, and the leaves are treated with alcohol. You can apply acaricides (use the attached instructions).

The most typical manifestations of diseases or attacks of pests that are experienced by carmona bonsai are leaves fall, turn pale or turn brown, lose color. All these signs indicate that it is necessary to look for the cause and the tree urgently needs to be saved.

Bonsai diseases

Diseases that affect carmona bonsai:

False and powdery mildew- the most common problem among these plants, in which spots with gray fuzz appear on the leaves, over time the leaves darken and deteriorate. The tree can be cured by cutting off the affected leaves (which are then burned), after which they should be treated with a fungicide. The plant itself is still in quarantine so as not to infect the rest.
Chlorosis is a disease in which a plant loses color from lack of sun and loss of nutrients... For treatment, the tree is placed in a sunnier place and fed with fertilizers.

At proper care bonsai karmona will grow into a gorgeous beautiful tree that will become an evergreen mini masterpiece standing on a tray.

Tea tree oil for whitening teeth at home

Whitening pastes contain small abrasive elements that lighten the enamel, but do it aggressively. They remove the darkening along with its upper part, which can lead to the onset of tooth decay.

Self-whitening teeth activated carbon or tea salt is built on the same principle. The oil works mildly and, unlike other methods, does not do much harm to the teeth. It has a gentle effect on the enamel and whitens it no worse than in a solarium with ultraviolet radiation.

Rinsing or rubbing gruel with aloe can be used for a long time without harming the teeth. Here tea tree oil works just as well as banana peels, a mixture of which also whitens teeth when rubbed in. Only this method works much more slowly.

Except that it is the most effective remedy for a whitening effect, tea tree heals the oral cavity. It carries out the prevention of periodontal disease, helps to get rid of tartar, prevents plaque from forming, relieves bacteria and inflammation.

Side effects of using the oil

This folk remedy there are contraindications and possible side effects, they must be taken into account:
People who are allergic to celery and thyme may have trouble using tea tree oil, so it is best for them to refrain from using it. It contains potential allergens for them.

Method not suitable for nursing and pregnant women, it is not recommended to use it during this period.

Children and adolescents under 16 years old it is also better to refrain from using tea tree oil.
If the recommended course time is not followed, the enamel may become thinner, with the exception of the option with aloe vera.

It is important to use only quality tea tree essential oil for teeth whitening. It is recommended to purchase it at a pharmacy, not a cosmetic store or supermarket.

Bleaching fix

The white diet after teeth whitening will help to extend and keep it for a long time, it is also called transparent due to the ban on the use of coloring products. It is recommended to be followed during the course and for a week after its completion.

The following products are excluded:

Strong black tea and coffee, any drinks with cocoa
Chocolate
Juices, wine, desserts containing dyes
Various sauces with natural colors
Coloring fresh vegetables like carrots and beets

This food is excluded for 2 weeks, if you still had to eat something from the list, you immediately need to brush your teeth with ordinary toothpaste to preserve their color. For smokers, it is recommended to limit the number of cigarettes for this period or completely stop them if possible.

Tea tree oil helps to whiten teeth without harm to enamel, provided that all recommendations are followed. It is readily available and suitable for most people. You can choose the most suitable enamel whitening method and enjoy a snow-white smile.

The Tea tree is a genus of low-growing evergreen shrubs and woody plants belonging to the Myrtle family. But contrary to popular belief, this name has nothing to do with the tea growing and production industry. The second name of the genus is Melaleuca. These representatives of the flora are valued for their unusual appearance and are popular in room culture along with. In this article, you will learn how to grow a tea tree at home and what varieties of this exotic plant exist.

Characteristics of the tea tree

Popular types of tea tree

More than 200 species of melaleuca are currently known, but only a few are widely cultivated. Here are the most popular varieties with photos:

Melaleuca bracteata - the tree grows up to 8 m, has a gray bark with cracked vertical stripes. The color of the leaves is dark green, with a grayish overflow. Inflorescences of a cream shade, cylindrical;

Melaleuca heather is a dense shrub with “papery” brownish or pale white bark. Leaves are dark green, linear type, flowers are creamy white;

Alternate-leaved - is a beautiful tree up to 8 m tall. It is this variety that is grown for the production of essential oils on an industrial scale. The trunk is covered with the finest flaky bark, and young branches contain snow-white flowers and bright green leaves;

Nesophila is a sprawling shrub with oval-shaped leaves. The main difference between the species is the bright pink inflorescences in the shape of a ball.

How to care for a tea bush

A green pet is not at all capricious and it is very easy to take care of it at home. To ensure it has a lush, regular flowering, it is necessary to follow some recommendations.