Callisia is a perennial from the Commelinaceae family, native to South America. For indoor plant growing, from the entire list of callisia bureu: creeping callisia, graceful callisia, fragrant callisia. Callisia repens is a small plant with bright green leaves on the outside and purple on the inside, 2-3 cm long. The leaf of the plant resembles the shape of a heart. Callisia elegans has leaves with bright white stripes, and callisia fragrant is known as an indoor medicinal plant called golden mustache. The plant blooms with small, inconspicuous flowers. The golden mustache plant attracted such attention due to its medicinal properties, which became known only in the 80s of the last century.
Golden mustache care
Golden mustache is a plant that does not cause trouble to its owners and is not whimsical; it loves bright but diffused light, moisture and warmth. The suitable temperature for growth will be +25-27 degrees. If there is insufficient light, the leaves of the golden mustache may turn pale, and the plant itself will stretch, but it is not necessary to place it in bright sun. In winter, you need to ensure that the temperature does not drop below +10 degrees. At this temperature, callisia goes into a dormant period. Abundant watering is necessary for the golden mustache plant, which takes care of in spring and summer. The soil should be constantly moist, but there should be no stagnation of water. In winter, reduce watering, but do not allow the earthen ball to dry out. Spraying is good for the plant, which should be done daily. For irrigation use soft (settled) not cold water. For the golden mustache plant, care during the growing season must be fed with fertilizers for decorative leafy house flowers, but the concentration must be reduced by 2 times. To avoid exposing the trunk and stretching the plant, the shoots need to be pruned, and once every 3 years the golden mustache is rejuvenated by growing a new plant.
Golden mustache diseases
Callisia is not a capricious plant and rarely gets sick, but all diseases of the golden mustache are caused by violations of the conditions of detention. With untimely watering and rare spraying during the warm period, the plant slows down its growth and the tips of the leaves dry out. But with excessive watering or stagnation of water in the pot, the golden mustache can rot. In this case, it is necessary to remove the rotten roots and stems of the plant, treat the cuts with crushed coal, and disinfect the soil using a weak solution of potassium permanganate. In very dry and warm air, in the absence of spraying, callisia is exposed to spider mites.
Diseases and pests of the Golden Usa (Begonia), treatment
We would like to talk about the medicinal properties of the golden mustache plant, but like any other medicine, treatment with golden mustache can only be used after consultation with a doctor. The medicinal properties that callisia has are based on the phytosterols and flavonoids contained in its juice. In addition to these useful substances, the golden mustache plant contains elements useful for human life: copper, nickel, chromium, iron. Most of these elements are contained in the side shoots of callisia, and they are often used, but the stems and leaves of the callisia plant have their own use. From them they prepare an ointment, an alcohol tincture, an infusion of golden mustache, a decoction, and oil. Preparation of medicine from golden mustache can also be done at home; the main requirement for this is that the regrown side shoots have at least 12 knees.
To make fresh juice from the callisia plant, cut leaves and shoots are taken, crushed in a mortar and the juice is squeezed through cheesecloth. The cake can be used for decoction. To prepare the oil, the cake is dried, crushed and poured with vegetable oil brought to a boil (preferably olive oil), infused for 2-3 weeks, and then filtered. Store in a cool, dark place. For the ointment, take baby cream, animal fat or petroleum jelly mixed with golden mustache juice in a ratio of 1:3. A tincture from the golden mustache plant is prepared using 12-15 doses and 0.5 vodka. Pour into a glass container and leave for 2 weeks, strain and store in a cool place. To prepare the infusion, a leaf at least 20 cm long is crushed and poured into a thermos with a liter of boiling water. Leave for 6-7 hours, then filter and store as a tincture. The decoction is prepared from 15-20 knees in an enamel or stainless steel container, brought to a boil, then left under the lid for 8-10 hours, then filtered and stored in the refrigerator.
What does a golden mustache cure? Fresh juice is used as an effective remedy for fighting warts, as a wound-healing and antiseptic agent. A pulp or ointment from fresh leaves is applied to sore joints and boils in the treatment of arthritis. In cases of treating fungal skin diseases, an alcohol tincture is used, it is applied 2 times a day to the affected areas. When treating radiculitis, use ointment or alcohol tincture of golden mustache. The ointment is bandaged on a layer of gauze for 30 minutes to the sore spot, then the remaining ointment is removed with a cotton swab. For hypotension and hypertension, for diseases of the kidneys and liver, respiratory organs, for the treatment of the gastrointestinal tract, for anemia, headaches, as well as in gynecology, preparations from golden mustache are taken orally.
Callisia elegans is a fast-growing hanging plant valued for its shiny leaves.
Reproduction of callisia
One of the ways to propagate such a plant is cuttings. To do this, the apical cuttings, which have 3-4 leaves, are cut from the callisia. Rooting is carried out in a mixture of peat and sand, ensuring a temperature of 23 degrees and diffused light. In such conditions, cuttings take root in two weeks.
Callisia can also be propagated using side shoots with roots, which can appear on the plant as a result of regularly pinching its top. The offspring obtained in this way should be rooted under the film, providing them with a temperature of about 20 degrees.
The easiest way to propagate such a plant is by dividing the rhizome during replanting.
Callisia: growth pattern
Graceful callisia very quickly grows to a height of up to 10 cm. At the same time, the length of an individual stem can reach 50 cm, the length of a leaf - 3-4 cm. The leaves are distinguished by an olive-greenish tint with white-silver stripes.
The callisia stems are only slightly raised above the plant, but spread widely around it, forming a compact bush.
Callisia: care features
Callisia is a fairly easy plant to care for. It is necessary to immediately remove all leaves from which the stripes have disappeared. It grows normally in a mixture of peat, leaf soil and sand. Transplants are required every few years.
In warm weather, callisia needs to be provided with abundant watering, and care must also be taken to ensure that moisture does not stagnate in the pot. In winter, watering should be very economical. Feeding is needed every four weeks of active growth.
Callisia graceful in the house needs good lighting and protection from bright sun. In summer, the most suitable temperature is 17-20 degrees, in winter – 10-15 degrees.
Possible problems
Among the pests, callisia is sometimes attacked by aphids. To get rid of such pests, treatment with soapy water or an insecticidal preparation is necessary.
In case of low air humidity or excessive watering, the tips of the plant's leaves may turn brown. In this case, it will need to be sprayed more often and watered less often.
Callisia (lat. Callisia)- a genus of evergreen herbaceous perennials of the Commelinaceae family, growing in the humid penumbra of the tropics and subtropics of the Antilles, as well as the countries of Central and South America. There are 12 species in the genus, and some of them are grown indoors. The name of the plant comes from two Greek words that translate as “beautiful” and “lily,” although the closest relative of callisia is not the lily, but Tradescantia.
Planting and caring for callisia (in brief)
- Bloom: in indoor culture it blooms infrequently, usually in late summer or early autumn.
- Lighting: bright diffused light or partial shade.
- Temperature: during the period of active growth – 20-24 ºC, in autumn and winter – 16-18 ºC. The lower temperature limit is 14 ºC.
- Watering: during the growing season - as the top layer of the substrate dries. In winter, between waterings, the substrate should dry to a third of its depth.
- Air humidity: increased. In hot weather, it is recommended to regularly spray the leaves with a fine spray.
- Feeding: from April to October - 2 times a month with a solution of complex mineral fertilizer. During the rest of the year, you don’t need to apply fertilizer.
- Rest period: from November to March.
- Transfer: young plants - annually, adults - once every 2-3 years.
- Reproduction: apical cuttings, layering, dividing the rhizome.
- Diseases: loss of decorativeness as a result of poor care or violation of maintenance conditions.
- Pests: thrips and spider mites.
- Properties: the plant does not tolerate tobacco smoke.
Read more about growing callisia below.
Callisia plant - description
Callisia at home is an ornamental deciduous plant, although it has the ability to form flowers. Four species are common in indoor culture: creeping callisia, navicular callisia, graceful callisia and golden mustache, or fragrant callisia. They are usually grown as hanging plants, and fragrant callisia, in addition to decorative ones, also has medicinal properties. We will give a detailed description of the types of callisia below.
Caring for callisia at home
How to care for callisia at home
The callisia flower requires maintenance under bright diffused light, but with shading from direct sunlight. In a well-lit room, callisia can be placed even away from the window. Houseplant callisia - a flower not for the kitchen: it does not tolerate tobacco smoke, fumes, impurities and needs a constant supply of fresh air, so home callisia likes to spend the summer on the balcony or in the garden. This plant can be grown not only in residential premises, but also in offices, providing ventilation without drafts, which harm the flower even more than stale air.
In the photo: Callisia in natural conditions
Callisia is quite suitable at ordinary room temperature: 20-24 ˚C in summer, 16-20 ˚C in winter. However, callisia should be protected from sudden changes and low temperatures: the lower limit for the plant in winter is +14 ˚C.
Watering and feeding callisia
During the period of active growth, that is, from spring to autumn, callisia is watered with soft water at room temperature as soon as the top layer of soil in the pot dries. In winter, watering is reduced, especially if the callisia's dormant period is cool.
However, the substrate in the pot should not be allowed to dry out completely: the plant may die. When watering, water should not get into the center of the rosette: this can cause rot.
The tropical callisia flower requires high air humidity, especially in the summer heat and winter, when the heating devices in the apartment are operating at full capacity. To prevent the plant from suffering from dry air, it will have to be frequently sprayed with a fine spray or a household humidifier.
From April to October, callisia is fed with a solution of complex mineral fertilizer 2 times a month; the rest of the time the plant does not need feeding.
Callisia transplant
Young callisia is replanted annually, adult - once every 2-3 years. The plant is transferred into a pot filled one quarter of the volume with expanded clay or pebbles, which should be 2 cm larger in diameter than the old pot, and the remaining space is filled with a mixture of equal parts of turf soil, humus, sand and leaf soil. After transplantation, callisia is watered.
In the photo: Callisia at home
Some gardeners believe that replanting callisia is pointless; it is better to grow a new plant from cuttings. If your callisia in the lower part of the stems is very bare, then it is probably better to actually carry out cuttings instead of replanting. However, with good care, the plant ages and does not grow so quickly.
Reproduction of callisia
Callisia is propagated throughout the year in the same ways as tradescantia, ivy or hoya. For example, cut off the apical cutting with 3-4 internodes, lower the cut into water and wait for the roots to grow. Rooted cuttings are planted several at a time in a pot with substrate. It is also easy to propagate callisia by layering: the shoot is buried at the level of the second or third node, right in the pot with the plant, if space allows, or another pot with a substrate is placed next to it and the cuttings are buried in it. As soon as the shoot takes root, it is separated from the mother plant.
When transplanting, you can divide the callisia into parts and plant them in different pots.
Pests and diseases of callisia
Callisia diseases and their treatment
Callisia is almost not affected by infections, but if the plant suddenly starts to get sick, then this is entirely your fault: apparently, you did not create the necessary conditions for it or did not care for it well.
- For example, if the tips of callisia leaves begin to dry, this means that the plant is experiencing a chronic lack of moisture and is suffering from dry air.
- Poor lighting leads to stretching of shoots and loss of callisia leaves.
- Stagnation of water in the roots due to poor drainage or too frequent watering can result in leaf drop and root rot.
Read again the chapter on the conditions for keeping callisia and recommendations for caring for the plant, and then correct any errors found.
Callisia pests and their control
Among the pests, callisia can be attacked by thrips and spider mites. Both of these pests feed on the sap of the plant through bites in the leaves, causing them to turn yellow and fall off, and the plant gradually withers. Thripsov can be destroyed with insecticidal preparations, and ticks– acaricidal. It is advisable to carry out treatments outdoors, since these drugs are toxic to people and pets.
Types and varieties of callisia
Or Callisia graceful - a miniature plant with geniculate creeping stems more than half a meter long, which first grow straight and then droop. This plant is very similar to Tradescantia. It reaches a height of 30-40 cm. Both the leaves and stems of callisia graceata are covered with velvety pubescence. The oval, pointed at the ends, petiolate, up to 6 cm long leaf plates of the plant are painted violet-green on the underside, and dark green with silver stripes on the top. This species blooms with white flowers formed at the ends of the shoots. The plant does not live very long: after two years, the leaves, which lose their bright colors, no longer cover the shoot so tightly, so flower growers restore the vine by cuttings or layering.
In the photo: Callisia elegans
A changeable plant, the decorativeness of which depends on the variety and conditions of maintenance. This is a succulent with creeping stems that quickly take root at the nodes and succulent, lanceolate, strongly concave double-row leaves with a longitudinal hollow, painted on the upper side in a bronze-green color that shimmers red in the sun, and on the lower side - brownish-violet. The leaves are bare, but along a line ascending from the axil, covered with a fringe of small hairs, reaching a length of 2 and a width of 1.5 cm.
In the photo: Callisia navicularis
Creeping callisia (Callisia repens)
A plant up to 20 cm high and up to 30 cm wide with thin reddish or purple stems and small heart-shaped bright green leaves with purple specks located on them in two rows. The flowers of this species are white and inconspicuous. At home, callisia repens is grown in hanging structures, and in the garden it is used as a ground cover plant. Such garden forms of the species are known.
Callisia repens is an attractive ornamental plant that is valued for its lush leaves that remain green at any time of the year.
Reproduction of callisia
The main method of propagating callisia is to use apical cuttings. They are cut from the tops of plants. Rooting is carried out in water or a damp mixture of sand and peat, covered with film or glass. For complete rooting, cuttings need no more than 10 days.
In addition, callisia can be propagated by lateral shoots. To do this, they are pressed to the soil. Soon they will take root there - the young plants are separated from the mother plant and transplanted into a separate pot.
Callisia: growth pattern
Creeping callisia is a low-growing plant, the creeping stems of which reach a height of no more than 10 cm. But their length can be more than 1 meter.
The leaves of the plant densely cover the stems, the length of each of them is up to 4 cm.
Callisia: care features
At home, callisia is not a very difficult plant to care for. It grows normally in a mixture of peat and leaf soil with the addition of sand. There must be drainage at the bottom of the pot.
From spring to autumn, watering callisia should be moderate. In winter it should become very economical. With active growth, feeding is required every two weeks.
In the house, such a plant should be in a well-lit place, protected from bright sun. In winter the temperature should not fall below 10 degrees; in summer it feels normal at room temperature.
Possible problems
If you place callisia in bright sun, burns may appear on the leaves. In this case, the plant needs to be provided with shade.
Yellowing and dying leaves are a sign that callisia is suffering from excessive watering. In this case, it needs to be reduced a little.
In case of poor lighting, the stems of the plant will stretch and become bare. In this case, they are cut off, and the callisia itself is placed in a more illuminated place, protected from the bright sun.
It belongs to the Commelinaceae family and is grown primarily as an hanging plant. In nature, there are more than 12 varieties of plants growing in Mexico. In appearance it is very similar to T radescantia. Caring for Callisia at home is not particularly difficult, and the flower itself, due to its decorative effect, fits perfectly into any interior. There are several varieties of Callisia that are grown indoors.
Kinds
Creeping
Most common view. The plant is up to 10 cm high, creeping stems with dense foliage. The leaves are green on one side, burgundy on the other, heart-shaped, pointed downwards, and do not exceed 15 mm in length.
Fragrant
Fragrant is also known as “Golden Usher” and is grown as a medicinal plant. It is distinguished by its larger size and erect shoots up to 80 cm high. The leaves are horizontal in shape and bright green in color. 
Lighting and temperature
Prefers diffused light; you can place the plant on the west side of the house. A light shadow will not cause any significant harm to the flower. For the proper development of Callisia, you need a spacious room and good air circulation.
A heat-loving plant, the standard temperature should be around +20–25 degrees. The only thing it can't stand is sudden changes in temperature. 
Watering
It is necessary to water Callisia moderately with settled water. In summer, it should be watered as soon as the top layer of soil dries out. In winter, watering can be reduced slightly, but do not allow the soil to dry out. The air humidity in the room should be at least 60%. If the room is quite hot and stuffy, then frequent spraying is necessary. You need to spray water from the spray bottle very carefully and the mode should be set to the finest spray.
Soil and fertilizing
The soil should consist of turf soil, peat, humus and sand in equal proportions. It is necessary to make several drainage holes at the bottom of the pot so that the water does not stagnate. During the period of active growth, it is recommended to feed Callisia with universal mineral fertilizers.
Transfer
Experienced flower growers do not recommend replanting Callisia, because after a while the plant becomes bare and the flower loses its decorative effect. If If you do not dare to renew your plant, then you should adhere to the following replanting algorithm: it is recommended to replant young Callisias once a year, adults once every 3 years.
Reproduction
It is best to propagate the plant using apical cuttings. The right time for transplants - spring. The cuttings should have two or three nodes. 
Cuttings should be placed in water. After some time, small roots appear on the cuttings. After the roots appear, Callisia can be planted in pots. It is recommended to plant 2-5 cuttings in each pot. 
Diseases and pests
The most common Callisia pests are thrips and spider mites. If pests are detected, it is necessary to treat the flower with any insecticide according to the instructions. 
Plant diseases can be associated with improper care. If the tips of the leaves dry out, then this phenomenon indicates insufficient watering or too dry air. With a lack of sunlight, the leaves may lose their color or become elongated. It is necessary to move the flower closer to the window or place the plant on the loggia.
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