June snow, also known as starry sky, broken leaf holly, white horse bone, frangipani, and silly tea, is a small evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub. It grows low, less than 1 meter in height, and has numerous and dense branches, which appear disorganized. It is commonly found in understories, at the edge of ditches, or in shrublands.
The small drupes of June Snow are spherical in shape and bloom between June and July.
June snow loves the sun and is relatively tolerant of shade, not liking strong winds and hot sun. In the hot summer, proper shade is more appropriate. The tree posture of June snow is beautiful, the branches and leaves are sparse, elegant and exquisite, with the characteristics of fine leaves, dense branches, thick stems, and exposed roots.
The roots, stems, and leaves of June snow can all be used for medicinal purposes. Its taste is light and slightly pungent, cool. It has the effects of soothing the liver and relieving depression, clearing away heat and dampness, reducing swelling and pulling out poison, relieving cough and reducing phlegm. It is often used for acute hepatitis, rheumatism, low back and leg pain, carbuncle swelling and sores, snake bites, spleen deficiency and diarrhea, pediatric chancre, lower belt disease, eyelids, intestinal carbuncles, rabies and other diseases.
In addition to its medicinal value, June snow is also a beautiful flower-viewing and foliage-watching tree species in landscaping, and is known as an excellent bonsai material, often known as "one of the eighteen bachelors".
The most common cultivar of cultivated June snow is Phnom Penh June Snow, whose leaf margins are golden yellowThere is also spotted June snow and double leaf June snow.
Next, let's take a look at the cultivation requirements for June snow.
Cultivation requirements for June snow:
1.Potting: It is best to choose a lighter rectangular or oval pot, the texture can be purple sand pottery pot or glazed pottery pot, and the color should be darker.
2.Soil: Although June Snow is highly adaptable to the natural environment and can obtain many resources from nature to replenish nutrients and water, in potted plants, if the soil does not meet its survival requirements, it will cause some branches to wilt because the leaves of June Snow are brittle and not flexible. If this is the case, it is usually part of the root that has rotted. Therefore, when preparing soil, it is necessary to avoid the situation that the soil is waterlogged or although it is not waterlogged, the drainage permeability is poor, and the soil clay weight and aeration is poor. You can lay 3-5cm of coarse river sand at the bottom of the pot, and then use sandy vegetable garden soil, peat soil and fine river sand to mix it in an equal ratio of three or three as the mixed soil. It is also possible to mix together the alluvial soil of the river beach, the well-rotted pine needle soil, the red jade soil and the well-rotted organic fertilizer.
3.Potting: It is better to transplant and pot in February and March, but it can also be done during the rainy season and late autumn. After potting, the June snow should be placed in semi-shade to keep the potting soil moist. Tap water used for watering must be sun-dried before it can be used. The roots can be properly pruned when potting, and the piles that need to be processed into root-type bonsai or stone-attached bonsai with elegant stones can be carried out when potting. After potting, for the branches and leaves that are not related to the formation of the shape or affect the aesthetics of the shape, a fine pruning should be carried out, and attention should be paid to proper shading and frequent water spraying to ensure their normal growth and survival.
4.Repotting: Usually every 1-2 years, usually every 1-2 years, generally in the spring between February and March or late autumn. When turning the pot, it is necessary to replace all the old soil, prune the roots properly, and can be combined with the repotting process to lift the roots to form a hanging root state to improve the ornamental value.
Watering and fertilizing the snow in June:
1.Fertilization method: June snow pays attention to the principle of diligent fertilization, and can apply decomposed liquid fertilizer.
2.Fertilization is not required in summer, and it is not advisable to fertilize during the flowering period to avoid excessive plant growth.
3.During the growing season, a thin liquid manure is applied every 10-15 days, and it can also be done by adding a thin liquid manure at the time of watering.
4.In addition to soil fertilization, frequent off-root topdressing is required, which can be sprayed on the leaves with a 1% solution of potassium dihydrogen phosphate to regulate the pH and increase the nutrients of the plants.
Watering method: 1In addition to daily watering, the foliage and surrounding ground should be sprayed with clean water in the morning and evening to reduce the temperature and increase the humidity of the air in the summer when the temperature is high and dry. At the same time, plants with snow in June should be placed in the shade to avoid prolonged exposure to strong sunlight.
2.When autumn comes, as the temperature drops, the amount of watering should be gradually reduced and watered once every 2-3 days.
3.In winter, move it to a cold room or indoor with no less than 0 for winter, and water it every 20-30 days. If the room temperature is above 15 and the evergreen leaves do not fall off, you can water it every 7-10 days to keep the air moist and the sun shines.
Breeding and breeding of snow in June:
In daily management, June Snow has two ways of propagation: cuttings and ramets. Shoots in June snow have a strong ability to take root, and cuttings are usually taken before bud break in spring, and annual shoots can be cut or cuttings can be made in June-July. Using fine river sand, red jade soil and alluvial soil as the substrate, cut the scion into a length of 10-15cm, leave the upper end of several small leaves, cut the edge slightly at a 45-degree slope, soak it in rooting solution for 30-60 minutes and bury it in the sand. After cuttings, cover with humus, keep the substrate moist, cool and ventilated, and take root in about a month. If the temperature is high and the moisture content of the substrate is large, it is easy to cause the cuttings to rot, and it is necessary to pay attention to proper control of humidity.
Spread propagation can be cut and separated with a knife from the new shoots at the base during repotting, and overly dense and excessively long root systems can be pruned. Excessively long taproots can be buried in the sand for maintenance, forming a small bonsai foundation with roots instead of dry.
Pruning: June snow is strong and should be pruned twice a year.
The first pruning should be done in mid-April to facilitate flowering in June.
The second pruning should be done after the flowers have withered, cutting off branches and leaves that are not related to the shape and affecting the aesthetics, and paying attention to proper shade and moderate moisture to ensure their normal growth and survival.
During the growing season, topping should be done frequently to meet the needs of styling. For overgrown branches, they should generally be pruned off, and if they need to be supplemented, they can be appropriately shortened.