Juttadinteria
Family: Aizoaceae
Habitat: Namibia
Cultivation: Accustomed to poor soil, this plant has quite limited needs. Avoid fertilizers containing potassium and be careful not to exaggerate with watering. Keep it shaded in summer, and in the sunshine in winter.
Curiosity: The name of this species has a romantic origins: German botanist Moritz Kurt Dinter (1868-1945), who cataloged this genre during his explorations in Namibia, wanted to dedicate it to his wife Helena Jutta Dinter (who collaborated in Various explorations).
JUTTADINTERIA KEY FEATURES
Juttadinteria genus is an aizoaceae from Namibia’s desert areas and savannahs. They are small plants: they reach 20-25 cm in height, they have a slow growth. From the green stem, a series of triangular, succulent (as well as the stem, the rest) and elongated leaves come out. They grow paired, placing themselves on opposite sides of the stem. The flowers are daisy shaped, mostly white, and flourish in autumn and winter: due to the origin of the plant, below the equator, its life cycle is in fact invert.
VARIETIES AND TYPES
Kinds of Juttadinteria genus are few. Without any variations and crossings, you will find, in fact:
- Juttadinteria deserticola
- J. Decumbens (per alcuni, una variante della J. Deserticola)
- J. kovisimontana
- J. simpsonii
- J. suavissima
TIPS FOR CULTIVATION
Here are our cultivation tips for Juttadinteria:
- Keep the plant in a cool, shady place during spring and summer; in winter, instead, put it in the sun.
- These plants come from cold deserts: if kept in dry soil, they resist to -5 ° C.
- Watering slightly in the summer, only if you notice that the plant is wrinkled. In spring and autumn, however, it can be watered every 2-3 days to support growth. Be careful, however, not to overdo it with water, in order not to “burst” the leaves with the appearance of unhealthy scars.
- The soil can be poor and rich in inert, but it must be very draining so as not to wither the roots.
- Fertilization can be poor because it is a plant that is used to poor soil. Absolutely to avoid fertilizers with high potassium content.
- Given the small size of the plant and the slow growth there is usually no need to repot unless the plant is really very young.
- The Juttadinteria reproduce, in theory, by seed and by leaf cuttings.
However, the cuttings root with some difficulty and may require several attempts before having a new seedling; for this reason it is usually used the sowing.
