An unusual plant comes from Mexico, the shrimp plant or Beloperone guttata. If you like warm colors, you will love this floral bush as a decoration for your balcony or garden.
This is an interesting indoor plant, due to the gentle crimson-colored top leaves, it is an evergreen shrub that rarely grows more than 3 or 4 feet (1 m) high and about as wide. During the summer, keep it on a semi-enclosed place on the terrace, balcony or garden, it adds color and brightness.
In its natural habitat it grows like a bush under a large tree and can be quite large and branched. The leaves of the shrimp plant are round and pointed at the top. The tiny white flowers of the shrimp plant come out of the striking brown-red cover leaves, the bracts that are divided into ears, about 4 inches in length. If it grows in more favorable conditions, the brakes are retained, even during the whole year.
When the flowerpot is located right next to the window bracts the flowers get a reddish hue, and if they are away from the window light green. The plant can gradually adjust to the sun, and the color of the bracts can even be in the purple shades.
How to care for shrimp plant?
It does best in loamy or sandy soil with good drainage. It doesn’t do well with wet feet. Well rooted plants are fairly drought tolerant, however like most tropicals, it flourishes in high humidity. While they will develop in full sun to partial shade, developing shrimp plants where they get morning sun is perfect. They require the sun to draw out the most splendid hues and, yet, an excessive amount of sun will make the colors blur too early.
This plant requires frequent trimming to encourage fuller growth and more bloom. Once the first bracts appear, a shrimp plant will bloom for months and then will rest for a short time before blooming again. The best time to trim and prune is when blooming begins to slow.
Shrimp plant in pots
They make superb porch plants or their pots can be settled in among the other blooming plants in a bed. Planting shrimp plant in pots has the extra advantage of having the capacity to bring this sprouting excellence inside when the climate turns cool.
They will keep on sprouting throughout the entire winter in a bright, sunny window With respect to indoor shrimp plant care, all they require is a decent gardening soil and a periodic portion of fertilizer. Like their open air brethren, they should be trimmed frequently to keep from winding up too straggly.
Propagation
Division of clumps is the best method for outdoor plantings. Shrimp plant in pots can also be divided when they become pot bound. However, cuttings are the easiest method of shrimp plant propagation. When you trim your plants, make sure a few of those cuttings have at least four sets of leaves. Dip the fresh cut ends in rooting hormone and poke them into the soil. Keep the soil consistently moist and in six to eight weeks, you should have roots.
