To introduce to you a kind of foliage plant that is particularly easy to maintain, its leaves have not yet grown, and the green lotus is similar, after the leaves mature, there will be turtle shell-like cracks, many people will mistake it for turtle back bamboo, its name is "unicorn tail".
Above are the young leaves of the unicorn tail (Rhaphidophora decursiva).
Above is the difference between the turtle back bamboo and the unicorn tail split leaf
Unicorn tail (Tree-climbing dragon Rhapidophora decursiva)
Old leaf of unicorn tail (Rhaphidophora decursiva)
Qilin tail (Rhaphidophora decursiva) and green lotus (Epipremnum aureum) is a strong relative, they are all belonging to the Tiannanxing family Unicorn leaf genus foliage plants, Unicorn tail in China's two Guangzhou, Yunnan, Hainan and Taiwan regions can be seen, but we rarely see the figure of Kirin tail in the flower market, because it is still a particularly niche foliage plant, merchants of course will feel unprofitable, generally as a niche plant, Appears in the homes of individual florists.
Unicorn tail in the wild
Unicorn tail in the shade of an outdoor tree
In nature, the unicorn tail will climb on the branches of trees and grow upwards, and the leaves will not break. In some flower markets in the south, the potted unicorn tail is only more than 10 centimeters in size; but in the unicorn tail that grows in nature, the plant can grow to more than 10 meters high and the leaves can grow to more than 60 centimeters wide, which is really shocking.
Unicorn tail variant: Epipremnum pinnatum 'Cebu Blue
In the past, the unicorn tail was generally planted as a medicinal plant, with various medicinal effects, but it also has a good ornamental effect, which is very suitable for growing indoor shade-tolerant plants, climbing vine plants or hanging pot plants.
Kirin tail adaptability to the environment is very strong, can be raised in indoor shade, can also be raised in a place with sufficient light, potted maintenance of unicorn tail to avoid noon and afternoon strong light, you can avoid the leaves are sunburned.
1. The environment in which the unicorn tail grows
Above is a unicorntail variety with blue-gray leaves: Epipremnum pinnatum 'Cebu Blue.
If it is in two Guangdong Yunnan and Fujian and other places, you can even directly raise the unicorn tail dew outdoors, if it is raised in the shade, it can also climb on the tree to grow, its stem will grow a lot of gas roots, will be wrapped around the tree to climb upwards.
The stem of the unicorn tail will continue to lignify, and it will grow into a very tall, woody climbing vine, its leaves are leathery, and the young leaves are lanceolate and oval. When the leaves of the unicorn tail are small, they look very similar to the green lotus, but the leaves are slightly longer, the leaves will continue to grow, and there will be many cracks after the leaves mature, and the leaf surface looks like a feather-like crack, which is slightly similar to the turtle back bamboo, but its leaves are much longer than the turtle back bamboo.
Unicorn tail in the light and high humidity environment, can bloom Buddha flame-like flowers, its flowers and turtle back bamboo flowers are extremely similar, almost the same, is the flesh spike-like inflorescence, the whole inflorescence is about 10 cm long.
Above are the flowers of the unicorn tail
2. Alias of Kirin tail
Qilin tail has different names in various parts of China, in my hometown (Yangchun, Guangdong), it will generally be called "Baisu Banana", and some places will call it Flying Phoenix, Tree Climbing Dragon, Flying Centipede and other names.
If you want to raise a unicorn tail, you must ensure that it is warm and humid all year round and high air humidity, and it likes tropical and subtropical rainforest-type environments.
3. Grow climbing vine plants
After the unicorn grows into a potted plant, it can set up a pillar in the pot to let it climb and grow, or it can be raised into a hanging pot plant on the side of the window sill or balcony, its stem and leaves will grow low, if it is given to the pillar to climb and grow, the more its leaves grow upwards, the larger the leaves, and the leaves that hang low will grow longer and smaller, which is also very peculiar.
4, the temperature and humidity of maintenance
Kirin tail is more afraid of cold, winter maintenance temperature to maintain more than 5 degrees to safely overwinter, the best growth temperature is between 18 and 30 degrees, in the summer when the excessive temperature (temperature is higher than 38 degrees), to proper shade.
The unicorn tail does not have a strong demand for light, is a relatively shade-tolerant plant, and has a soft scattering of light for about 3 to 6 hours a day (avoiding exposure, especially if the temperature is higher than 38 degrees), which can make it grow rapidly.
Kirin tail brocade Epipremnum Pinnatum Variegated
Kirin tail with brocade
The maintenance difficulty of the unicorn tail is lower than that of the green lotus, and the air humidity requirements are not particularly strong, but if there is high humidity, coupled with a ventilated and warm environment, it is more beneficial to its growth.
5. Potting soil requirements
Kirin tail on the requirements of the potting soil is not picky, the most important thing is to ensure that the soil drainage is good, if it is with some humus-rich humus saprophyll soil, or peat soil, with some perlite and coarse sand, you can put it on the very good, in the spring and summer growth period can be every one or two weeks to add water-soluble fertilizer, the concentration can be lower than half of the usual.
6. Late breeding
A unicorn tail that looks like a turtle-backed bamboo
Later, if you want to propagate the unicorn tail, you can use the method of branch cuttings for cultivation, cut off a section of branches with 2 to 3 growth nodes, remove the large leaves at the bottom, retain the top 2 young leaves, and then cut them in the soil, keep the potting soil moist, maintain a warm environment, about 2 weeks can take root and sprout, and re-grow into new plants.
Indoor maintenance of unicorn tail to avoid excessive air drying, otherwise it is easy to breed red spiders, it is rarely infected with diseases and insect pests, the most critical is to ensure a warm, ventilated and high humidity environment, there is a proper soft scattering of light every day.