Albizia

Family. Legumes.

Where does it grow? Asia, Iran to Japan: Naturalized in the eastern and southern United States.

Albizia description. In mild climates, the plants grow to the size of large shrubs or small trees with smooth, light grey-brown bark and produce fluffy, globular inflorescences of tiny pink flowers. Albizias do not flower in pots and are grown primarily for their fern-like foliage, consisting of oblong leaflets 6-13 mm long. The leaves are bright green in spring, turning to deep red and even chocolate brown in autumn. They grow slowly. Inconspicuous pinkish and white flowers appear in late summer and develop into flat seed pods in autumn, which remain on the plant all winter.

Height . At home it reaches 150 - 200 cm, grows slowly.

Caring for albizia at home

Reproduction - growing from seeds 

It is possible to grow albizia from seeds. In early spring, the seeds are sown in nutritious and loose soil, after soaking them in hot water. Sometimes the peas are so hard that you have to squeeze them with pliers to make the shell burst. The seeds are lightly pressed into the soil without covering the top with soil. Under a plastic cap or glass, in a warm place, germination takes 2 - 3 months. Every day for 1 hour the cap is removed and the plants are ventilated. Seedlings should be grown throughout the year. Sometimes albizia cuttings are used - propagated in the summer by stem cuttings 10 cm long using powdered phytohormone to accelerate rooting.

Growing conditions - temperature

The minimum temperature in winter is about 7 - 10 °C; the plant does not like strong summer heat.

How to grow, pruning 

Growing albizia at home is not difficult. In spring, prune to the 5th or 6th bud to limit the size of the plant and stop the stems from being exposed. Remove old leaves promptly.

When it blooms 

The main flowering time for indoor albizia is early summer, early spring; it blooms very rarely in cultivation. Trees bloom for the first time at the age of 4 - 5 years.

Soil

The mixture is based on soil with the addition of coarse sand for good drainage, sandy, loamy soil, prefers well-drained substrates, can grow on fairly poor soils, very alkaline and saline.

Transplant 

After a year at the end of winter or early spring in a larger pot.

Diseases and pests 

When the soil dries out, albizia sheds its leaves, but after the watering regime is resumed, it grows again. In low light conditions, buds do not form.

In the presence of harmful insects on plants, you can notice scale insects, spider mites, and whiteflies.

Lighting

Tolerates direct sun in the morning and evening hours; during the day it requires shelter from the hot summer afternoon sun; it does not grow in the shade. If there is a lack of natural light, artificial supplementary lighting with fluorescent lamps is possible.

Fertilizer

Albizia in a pot has a limited feeding area and needs additional feeding. During the growth period, fertilize every 2 weeks with diluted liquid fertilizer. The plant responds positively to organic fertilizers.

Spraying 

There are no special requirements; at home, albizia can do without spraying.

Watering albizia

Abundant watering during the period of active growth, moderate in autumn and limited in winter, drought-resistant.

Purpose

This plant is considered mainly as a temporary indoor plant, which is thrown out after 2 - 3 years. Large specimens are kept in tubs. Albizia can be grown using the bonsai technique. At night, the leaves of the bush curl up.

Note

In Eastern medicine, the bark is used as a sedative, analgesic and tonic. Bark extract is believed to help with insomnia and irritability.

Varieties:

Albizia julibrissin

An unusually beautiful deciduous tree with large pink flowers and long pods, similar to acacia, up to 10 - 12 m high. It has emerald green compound leaves, consisting of numerous pairs of oblong oval leaves, reminiscent of acacia leaves. The flowering is very abundant - the plant is completely covered with pink flowers - pompoms. At dusk and at night, albizia leaves fold.