Plants and Flowers

Fruits (multiple fruits) of a jackfruit are the biggest edible fruits growing on trees: 20-90 centimeters in the length and up to 20 in diameter, they weigh up to 34 kg. Their thick peel is covered with numerous cone-shaped bulges. Young fruits are green, at maturing become green-yellow or brown-yellow and at tip produce hollow sound (unripe fruits - dull sound). Inside each fruit is divided into the big shares which contain sweet yellow pulp from juicy slippery fibers. The peel and seeds of a mature fruit smell strong and unpleasant, reminding a rotten onion, whereas the pulp smells pleasant, like a banana and pineapple.

Since all parts of a plant, including a peel, contain sticky latex, put on rubber gloves before preparing. The overripe fruit becomes brown and quickly gets out of order, but in a refrigerator it may be stored for 1-2 months.

There are two main varieties. One of them has a small fruit; pulp is fibrous, soft, porous, but very sweet. Other variety has more dense pulp, crust, though not so sweet. This variety is more important commercially and on the western taste, is tastier.

Jackfruit or Artocarpus heterophyllus is the close relative of a breadfruit tree.

Jackfruit is the evergreen tree reaching 20 m in height. Leaves are oblong, oval or elliptic, 10-15 centimeters in length, leatherlike, glossy, of dark green color. Young leaves are cleft. A tree is monoecious plant. Male and pistillate flowers are ordinary-looking, collected in unisex inflorescences. Male flowers - on thin branchlets, frequently among foliage. Pistillate flowers are larger, on thick strong pedicels which grow directly on a trunk (cauliflory), at the basis of the bottom branches or from the ground at the foot of a tree.

The matter is that unlike a breadfruit tree with its massive branches, branches of a jackfruit are rather thin and fragile, and fruits are formed where the trunk is strong enough.

The tree of a jackfruit is beautiful and majestic. In tropics it grows till the huge sizes, as a big east oak. Flowers are pollinated with a wind and insects. In culture it is frequently pollinated by hands. Fruits grow ripe for 3-8 months. All parts of a tree contain sticky, white latex.

Superfluous illumination is harmless (unless obvious sunscald) however the plant loses visual appeal.
Symptoms of surplus light: leaves become light (up to whitish), burn out on sun; the plant loses decorative effect. Leaves of deciduous plants grow smaller, that affects appearance.

The help: gradually move a plant away from a light source, or use the filter (a paper or a reflecting barrier on a windowpane, a tulle curtain, gauze). Do not move a plant from the bright sun in a deep shadow at once - it can shed all leaves.
If you have noticed sunscalds on leaves, you won’t be able to restore them any more – wait for new sprouts.

Overirrigation is the most widespread reason of ailments and deaths of pot-plant. Never water a plant, if the top layer of the ground is damp. Art of watering comes with practice. Water a plant “one tablespoon”, if are not sure in the needed amount of water - overirrigation is more dangerous than overbaking.

Symptoms: are similar to those of scarcity and consequently beginning flower growers frequently water the faded plant. Leaves fade, lose elasticity, turn pale, and frequently turn yellow from a bottom (the reason - rotting of roots and dehydration of all plant). Points of leaves can darken and dry up.

The help: stop watering. If soil is too damp, get root clod from a pot, neatly cover with a napkin and dry a little with a fan. Then plant in a pot put in a warm place. Spray leaves as often, as possible; but drops of water should not get on soil and the basis of a stalk.

Weak plant recovers hardly; the percentage of survival rate is low. Only correct combination of high air humidity and competent predrying of roots helps to rescue the plant.

It is the second main problem after overwatering, often met at growing of tropical plants indoors.

Symptoms of lack of light: the plant either does not grow, or its sprouts grow upwards. Leaves become darkly - green or grayish and is larger than the usual size, sometimes they begin to fade. The plant does not bloom; the growing point frequently dries up. It doesn’t form new buds. Leaves fall off, frequently green ones. The soil does not dry up for a long time, the plant “does not want to drink”.

The help: gradually move a plant to a lighter place. The longer it stood in a shadow, the smoothly should be this transition. If you can not increase natural illumination of a plant, use artificial lighting.
Usually the plant quickly reacts to increase of light. Already in couple of weeks it will develop new sprouts. The root system of a plant starts to develop (drying of soil becomes more intensive).

Drying up is less terrible enemy, than overwatering, but long drying up can also be destructive for a plant. It is not always fatal (if, certainly, you have not already a crisp herbarium).

Symptoms of overbaking: unfortunately, signs of drying and overwatering are similar. However if the soil is dried up, fading of a plant will be faster: leaves fall, lose elasticity, and get thin as a paper.

Help: when the soil in a pot has completely dried up (in particular if the mix is peat-based), watering, even plentiful, can be ineffective. Put a pot in a basin with water on half an hour, then let superfluous water to flow down.
It is also useful to place a crone of a plant under a polyethylene package, preliminary having sprayed it.

Usually overdried plant comes to senses within several hours after an intensive watering. If it doesn’t happen, do not water any more: all the same sick roots of a plant cannot absorb water from the soil. Cover a crone with a package and, even if the dried up leaves will fall down, but the stalk has not dried up - there is a chance that there will be new leaves from buds.

Insufficient air humidity is one more widespread problem at the care of tropical plants. Some plants of a tropical forest (for example, cocoa) demand high air humidity and can be successfully grown only in special conditions. However the majority of plants adapt to drier, than naturally, air.

Symptoms of insufficient air humidity: drying up and deformation of leaves; leaf fall, drying up of apical point and new buds.

The help: if you have just got a tropical plant and know about its passion for a damp air, cover it with a transparent package and gradually accustom to open air of an apartment. Keep up state of “patient’s” health and if it does not object – do intervals between wrappings more and more, gradually passing to the usual room conditions. Do not pamper - if the plant has slightly faded, wait a little more and only then wrap up anew with a package.

It is useful to put a pot with a plant on a tray with water and haydite, and also to spray a crone in morning and a day time. It concerns also just transplanted plants. Moisture exchange is broken in that case, and only increased air humidity can support normal balance of moisture in leaves and stalks of a plant.

It is important to note, that don’t try in no circumstances to compensate low air humidity with often watering!

Let’s consider, that you have started to fertilize you plant in due time - however, have gone too far with a doze. The result of such overdose - a plant “chokes” with the offered amount of fertilizers and gets the real food poisoning.

Symptoms: leaves wither, become grayish, and sometimes blacken; the top of a plant (growing point) dries up and dies off. The plant stops to develop. Overdose of nitrogen (urea) in cold weather is especially dangerous - roots of a plant will be burnt.

The help: get the land clod from a pot, wash out roots from a soil (as soon, as possible), and transplant it in a fresh substratum without fertilizers. If painless washout of soil from roots is impossible - at least, wash out land clod under running water. Let the water flow down completely.

If “poisoning” has not gone too far - the plant will start to come to the senses gradually, but very slowly; renewal process takes weeks, and even months.

Supercooling affects the majority of tropical plants at temperatures below +5 C, and for some - even +12 C, depending on their tolerance to cold conditions. At that the duration of the cold period is vital. The longer is influence of frost, the more dangerous consequences to the plant. Drafts, in particular, are the most insidious, even if the temperature of a current is not too very low.

Symptoms: leaves affected by drafts dry, frequently in fragments; the growing point dries up and falls off. Contact of a plant with a frosty glass leads to frostbite - leaves almost instantly blacken and die off.

The help: put a plant in a warm and well lighted place, but in the distance from direct sources of heat (a battery, or a heater) to not dry up finally the damaged leaves. Spray a plant frequently; you may even cover it with a package. Watering should be reduced till appearance of new shoots.

In couple of weeks the plant “will believe”, at last, that the bad weather is over, and can start to produce new shoots.

The theme of pest control is huge, but we will cover the basic moments.

Symptoms: twisting or deformation of leaves and young sprouts.
The plant attacked by pests, slows down or stops its growth; its leaves turn yellow and fall down. On leaves appear mechanical damages and holes. The scurf on a plant (white, yellowish or brown stains) can be traces of plant pests: insects, snails, etc.

Prevention: periodically examine plants for any signs of pests. If you have noticed pests, use insecticides, strictly following the instruction, a dosage and directions on frequency. It is very important to apply precise concentration - not more (can cause a burn of leaves), but also not less than recommended (allows pests to adapt for an insecticide). Slightly damaged leaves should not necessarily be removed (if they do not break decorative effect of a plant), and strongly injured leaves you would better remove.