This special houseplant is a real eye-catcher in any room. Actually, the Beaucarnea does not look so much like a plant but rather a small tree. The Beaucarnea has a tuber from which grows the trunk that is adorned by the cheerful, ribbon-shaped leaves. This cheerful houseplant is also called "elephant's foot" and it owes this name to its thick trunk. Young Beaucarneas do not yet have a trunk so the leaves grow directly from the thick tuber. This houseplant comes naturally from the warm and dry part of Mexico. Here are Beaucarneas that are more than 350 years old, these old Beaucarneas have been exterminated into real trees of more than 8 meters high. Don't worry, your Beaucarnea will never reach this height. It is important that the leaves of this houseplant can hang freely. When they make contact with a wall, cabinet or other objects, the leaves turn brown. This houseplant is really strong and very easy to care for.
This houseplant also has a clear symbolism and symbolizes strength and indestructibility. The name Beaucarnea is a composition of Beau, which means beautiful and carneia which is a mythological Greek harvest festival that used to be celebrated throughout Europe. This refers to the primal power of the houseplant because the Beaucarnea always manages to recover.
The water requirement of the Beaucarnea houseplant
The Beaucarnea may not look like a cactus but it looks more like it than you think. In its trunk, this houseplant stores a lot of water and nutrients. Because of this water storage, the Beaucarnea needs little water and it is a very easy to care for houseplant . Before you water this houseplant again, we recommend that you first let the potting soil dry out, after which you can then give the Beaucarnea a good splash of water. In winter, the Beaucarnea will use even less water and it will take longer for the soil to dry out. An excess of water causes root rot at the Beaucarnea and of course you want to prevent this.
The amount of water depends on different conditions such as; the warmth of the environment, the number of hours of sunlight and the size of the plant. This houseplant is better to be a little too dry than too wet. When in doubt about a new watering, it is better to wait a while.
Spraying this houseplant is not necessary because it does well in a dry environment, but you can sometimes do it to remove the dust from the leaves.
The perfect location of the Beaucarnea houseplant
Due to its origin, the Beaucarnea is used to a warm and sunny climate. It is therefore good to give this houseplant the necessary hours of sunshine per day, 4 to 5 hours of sunlight per day is ideal for the Beaucarnea. So you can put this houseplant in front of a window, but it is not good to put it in the sun all day. Pay attention when choosing the pitch so that this houseplant gets enough light. Enough light will give this slow grower the strength to continue to develop. When the Beaucarnea is too dark, the leaves will turn yellow in color and no new leaves will be added. The Beaucarnea can also be outside in the summer months. Let the houseplant get used to being outside, we advise you to gradually build up the number of 'outside hours'. If you do not do this, you have a chance that the leaves will burn. When the night temperature drops below 10 degrees, it's time to bring your Beaucarnea back inside.
Repotting the Beaucarnea houseplant
The Beaucarnea is a slow grower and therefore does not need to be repotted often. If the pot becomes too small or if you want to put the houseplant in another pot, do this only in the spring. As a result, any damaged roots will still be able to recover in the growing season. A larger pot will minimally stimulate the growth of the Beaucarnea, but with too much water, a larger pot of root rot will occur faster. When you buy a larger pot, we recommend that you buy a wider rather than a deeper pot. It is difficult to estimate how much water is still present on the bottom.
Pruning the Beaucarnea houseplant
Should the Beaucarnea get too high or do you want more foothills? This is very easy to achieve by sawing off the trunk. We do recommend that you do this in the spring. Because the Beaucarnea loses its crown, there is hardly any evaporation and the houseplant needs even less water. It is therefore important that the Beaucarnea gets almost no water after pruning and that it is placed in as light a spot in the room as possible. It is best to lubricate the 'wound' with some wax so you prevent infections, but it is not necessary. If you want to speed up the process of a new crown, you can put a plastic bag over the trunk. As a result, the humidity will rise so that the Beaucarnea can develop better.
It is also possible that the lower leaf will turn brown, this is a sign that this leaf will die. This is replaced by a new leaf that will grow from the crown. The dead leaf can easily be pulled down.
Fertilizing the Beaucarnea houseplant
The Beaucarnea generally needs little nutrition and water. If you want to give your Beaucarnea an extra boost, we advise you to do this in the spring or summer. These seasons are the seasons in which the plant can grow and use extra nutrients. Do not give extra nutrition in the winter or too much extra nutrition in the growing season. Too much nutrition can lead to burning of the roots, which often means the end of the Beaucarnea.
The flowering of the Beaucarnea
Due to the relatively low light intensity indoors, this houseplant will rarely bloom. Of course, there are always exceptions. When you have a Beaucarnea as a houseplant, they are still young, so the chance of flowering is less. If your Beaucarnea comes into bloom, there will be long white flowers on the Beaucarnea. These flowers cost the Beaucarnea a lot of energy so we recommend that you remove them to save strength to keep the plant healthy.
Is the Beaucarnea a poisonous houseplant?
This houseplant is not poisonous, it is a child- and animal-friendly plant so you absolutely do not have to be careful with small children and pets.
The air-purifying effect of the Beaucarnea as a houseplant
The Beaucarnea is a slightly air-purifying houseplant. The plant removes harmful substances from the air and converts them into CO2. Because the Beaucarnea is not a very large plant, it does not have a great air-purifying effect. But every bit is of course a nice bonus.
Diseases that the Beaucarnea can get
The Beaucarnea is not susceptible to diseases or pests. Too much water can lead to root rot or rot in the trunk. When the Beaucarnea is in a place with too much draft, there is a chance that it will get mealybugs. If your Beaucarnea does suffer from pests, we advise you to combat this as soon as possible with a chemical or biological agent.
Buy a Beaucarnea at Green Bubble
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