Bobikopf, care for Bubiköpfchen properly

• Short profile: Bubikopf
• Bob head - care
  • Location and light
  • Bubble head in the garden
  • Bubble head in the pot
  • to water
  • Fertilize
  • Blossom and fruit
  • To cut
  • multiply
  • Types and varieties
• frequently asked Questions
• Care tips for your bob head plant

Good old baby head - The green pompom, rather than most plant lovers is aware: grow out of traffic lights, green soil in the bucket decorative green, grow on the mini-trestle to the small green figure, and even cover garden floors with a green carpet, permanently in mild areas, Below are the basics of care and propagation of the pleasingly undemanding bob head plant summarized: bob head leaves.

Although the hairstyle of the Bubiköpfchens rather reminiscent of "Aunt Kate" as a beautiful straight chin-long bob, the bob is certainly a plant in which one can fall in love. Not for nothing the bob head is also called "home happiness" (in the Netherlands even "bedroom happiness" ...), you have to look for such a vigorous, robust, easy-care plant. The bobbed head not only beautifies the home, but also the garden, in the mild regions of Germany, he is already released. Here are the basic rules for the care and reproduction of this undemanding plant:

Short profile: Bubikopf

• the bob head belongs to the order of the rose-like and in this to the family of the nettle plants
• he forms the genus Soleirolia with the only kind of bob head
• The bobblehead was botanically called Helxine soleirolii and was renamed Soleirolia soleirolii
• The plant originating from Sardinia and Corsica is a well-known houseplant
• What is still rather unknown to us: Bobikopf can also be planted in the garden
• the bob is almost unattainable, a little light, air and water, and it will grow

Bob head - care

Location and light

From his homeland, the bobblehead is used to hot summers and mild winters and quite a lot of sun. Of which he does not necessarily want to be directly irradiated, he usually grows there in the shade, under trees, in rock crevices, wall joints or tread plates.

But he is a nettle plant, and they are anything but squeamish. The bobbed head therefore has no particularly unusual demands on the light conditions, any bright, not in full sun lying location is definitely right. In partial shade, the bobbed head keeps it usually also quite good, in the direct sun less, in any case, he would need at such a location at noon a little shade.

The dense foliage of the bob head is evergreen (if he does not move, see below), so in his usual attitude as a houseplant he is decorative all year round. At temperatures between 15 and 24 ° C, it can handle just about anything, so it can stand in the cool conservatory.

The bob head is a small, creeping, herbaceous and evergreen plant with low site requirements very well to set green accents in all possible places in the apartment. Also in large tubs, where he moisturizes covering the bald potting soil and attractively landscaped, or as a green carpet in shallow bowls and window boxes.

Bubble head in the garden

"Actually" is the Bubiköpfchen as a plant of southern Mediterranean islands not necessarily hardy, in Corsica, there are almost never temperatures around zero degrees, in Sardinia and the Mediterranean islands nearby, the climate is a little friendlier.

But he does not seem to know that ... Otherwise he would not set out in the southern West of Germany into nature and grow wild (very decorative on walls, in lawns in front lawns and in all sorts of cracks and columns of patches). In the literature, it is given to winter hardiness zone 8 (minus 12 ° C), if it gets too cold, he should move in and drive out in the spring lush green again.

So there is nothing against the fact that even northern climbers, who are less favored by the climate, attempt to permanently settle a bob in the garden - where, of course, they can always find their place in the summer, in the rock garden, but also as lawn replacement for less frequented areas, such as the lawnmower makes superfluous.
ground

Bubble head in the pot

The Bobiköpfe grow in their home mostly on quite calcareous soil. But they are also not very choosy in this respect and thrive in any soil with a reasonably neutral pH of slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, whether loam, sand, lime or clay.

Nutrients are not spurned, in his Mediterranean home he likes to grow on good forest soil and we like in a well-moisture-storing, enriched with mature compost substrate. He does not need many nutrients, but bobblehead also likes to grow in normal potting soil, in rather lean rock garden soil, at the foot of a wall, etc.

to water

The bob head should be kept fairly evenly throughout the year and never dry out; if it is cooler in winter, of course, something less must be poured. It is best poured from below, so you fill the saucer of the planter with water, wait a little and then pour the excess water away. In addition, you can give the bob head from above finely divided moisture by spraying it regularly.

Waterlogged he should not tolerate, although it is also reported by bob heads that grow half underwater in swampy environment - probably this is just something else, with more oxygen than with stagnant water in a pot that does not tolerate any plant.

Fertilize

Above all, the bob head in thin rock garden soil or purchased potting soil must be fertilized:

• depending on the soil and prosperity in the growing season every 14 days or once a month
• if he is cultivated in the room, he gets some fertilizer between autumn and spring
• This should be given in very moderate concentration, over-fertilizing the bob head does not like
• fertilize monthly should definitely be enough here
• In such delicate and small-leaved plants as the bob head, irrigation water with fertilizer should never be poured onto the leaves
• especially in the summer it causes burns very fast

According to an English source, the plant, known as "Baby's Tears" among other things, can be very enjoyable if you mix some sea salt in the irrigation water once a season for six weeks each season. Corresponding experiences of German owners are not available, but actually makes sense in a plant that has developed on islands in the middle of the Mediterranean.

Your Bubiköpfchen shows you with various malformations that he does not like something. If he shoots long ultra-thin shoots high "into the area", the light should seek, so it is too dark. If your bobbed head becomes bald in the middle, you have either destroyed his hairstyle by "throwing" a powerful jet of water from the watering can on his head; or he just got too old without you rejuvenating him by dividing (see "Multiplication"). If the bobbed head gets hung up, he is thirsty.

Blossom and fruit

Although it is hardly known, the bobble flower, even with female and male flowers, and he develops fruits. The flowers are not very numerous, because each pedicel develops only a couple of flowers, and they are no bigger than a pinhead, so rather a case for viewing through a microscope.

An achene is formed as a fruit, a special form of nut fruit that shines and is light brown, but with a length of less than one centimeter and a diameter of half a centimeter, it does not really stand out in the thick tangle of leaves.

To cut

As a fast-growing herbaceous plant, the bobbed head can be cut easily. Basically, it does not have to be circumcised. A plant with a maximum height of around 40 cm will rarely grow over someone's head.

Only if you have the ambition to make the bob head the largest possible ball without ever sharing it, you should certainly cut it slightly to rejuvenate once per season.

The Bubblehead is a fast growing plant ideal for all sorts of experiments: its bubble head is so cut compatible that you can attract him to nice small form trees, and he also makes good as a (rather cute and impressive) vine, with which you funny plants Sculptures.

multiply

Padded bob

Bubi pots can be multiplied well and easily by division:

• take a bigger bobbed pot or soil
• Shake the root ball well so you have a clear view
• Carefully dismantle it with both hands and pull it gently into several pieces
• each section should contain equally much of the rhizome and fine roots
• These sections are now put in the places or in the pots, where they should continue to grow
• the parts of the plant can be further cultivated immediately like adult specimens
• they must be kept thoroughly moist and moist until they have grown
• The division is recommended every few years to rejuvenate the bob

Another way to propagate is cutting and planting cuttings. The stems show nodes (nodules) at regular intervals, where new roots will form. You do not need to worry about that, the cuttings can be placed directly in soil, just keep them moist.

The Soleirolia soleirolii has a good reputation in cosmetics: The ingredients are antioxidant (inhibits oxygen reactions, prevents rancidity of ingredients) and astringent (skin surface compacting) act, they are to make the skin supple and smooth, nourish and protect. The bobbed head is listed with these effects in the INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) as Soleirolia soleirolii extract, there are also sources in which it is intended to be diuretic and remineralizing on irritable skin when used internally. The latter should certainly not be tried out without consulting a herbal doctor, if you want to "shear" your bob and want to test it as a cooling and remedy for a small skin inflammation, we leave entirely to you.

Types and varieties

There are no different types of bobbleheads, only the one Soleirolia soleirolii, the only species in the genus.

There are some breeding forms of the bob head:

• Soleirolia soleirolii 'Argentea': A bobbed head with leaves that look like a light silver touch
• S. soleirolii, Aurea ': The leaves of this bob head have a little gold in the green
• S. soleirolii, Aladatase ': A very fresh looking bob head with almost bright light green leaves

frequently asked Questions

My bob head came as an Easter present in a funny hen and has pretty quickly turned quite brown - is it still to save "> care tips for your bob head plant

• the bob head plant is well known for a good reason, it is wonderfully easy to keep
• the care of the bob head is limited to sufficient irrigation and some fertilizer when keeping the room
• The propagation of Bubiköpfchen is easy and can be done by division or cuttings
• The small green puffle from the Mediterranean region has become so well accustomed to us that it is already fairly abundant in mild climates
• There he can permanently decorate the garden as a groundcover or rock garden plant
• even on the ground of a terrace bucket or in a traffic light on the balcony makes the bob head a good figure
• the botanical name Soleirolia soleirolii belongs to the family of nettle plants