Umbrella Sedge - Plant

Planting and care

Umbrella sedge can grow in standing moisture or in ponds as well as in perennial beds if watered regularly. It also is suitable for container growing, and you can grow it as a houseplant in cold winter areas. If you have limited garden space, plant it in a container before adding it to ponds or gardens to restrain its root growth.

Umbrella sedge can become invasive under the right conditions either by spreading its seeds or by forming clumps. When the clumps get too large or root-bound, unpot them or dig them up to divide them.

Caring for Umbrella Sedge

• The main concern about Cyperus houseplants is the moisture level and consistency.
• The umbrella houseplants must never be allowed to dry out.
• Apply a half dilution of fertilizer once per month during the growing season and suspend in winter.
• Watch for splashing on the leaves, as fungal diseases can spread in this manner.
• Propagating this plant is easy. Just take a 4- to 6-inch cutting and suspend it upside down in water.
• Roots will emerge and you can place the new plant in soil.
• Divide your houseplant every three years. Remove the plant from the pot and cut out the outside growth.
• Save and pot up this newer growth and discard the old central older plant.

Typical uses of Umbrella Sedge

Special features:

Ornamental use: Often cultivated as a garden ornamental, particularly in ponds and water features.

Medicinal use: The tubers are credited with astringent, diaphoretic, diuretic, dessicant, cordial and stomachic properties. A decoction of the tuber is used for washing hair, treating gonorrhea and syphilis. It is also given in diarrhea and for general weakness.

References

http://motherhood.modernmom.com/umbrella-sedge-reproduces-5901.html
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/trim-umbrella-sedge-46413.html