Growing Gloxinia At Home

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Gloxinia (Gloxinia) - growing and care

This small indoor plant for many, many years, with its beautiful bell flowers, has attracted the attention of not only experienced flower growers, but also beginner amateurs, and even people who are indifferent to flowers.

Indeed, it is impossible to calmly walk past the flowerpots with blooming gloxinia. Its huge bright inflorescences, bells, seem to invite you to stop and "make an acquaintance." A familiar stranger - so you can say about gloxinia …

Gardener's guide

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This plant came to Europe from South America at the beginning of the 19th century. At that time, many botanists and simply "hunters" for rare plants went on long journeys and brought outlandish specimens, which remained either in botanical gardens or in the greenhouses of wealthy collectors. So it happened with gloxinia. The plant was first described under the name Sinningia in honor of Wilhelm Sinning, chief botanist at the Botanical Garden of the University of Bonn.

A few decades later, another botanist, Benjamin Gloxin, believing that he had discovered a new plant, again described it and called it gloxinia. This name spread very quickly and became firmly rooted in gardening practice. Perhaps the shape of the plant's flowers contributed to this. Translated from German "die Glocke" means "bell, bell". So it has been since then - to indicate both names of the plant, although for the current generation of flower growers the term "gloxinia" still sounds more familiar.

The plant belongs to the Gesneriaceae family and, along with Saintpaulia, is just as popular for its decorative effect, thanks to its luxurious, velvety, tubular-funnel-shaped flowers - gramophones that bloom one after another.

One well-developed plant can have up to thirty buds at a time. The color scheme is very diverse: from inky purple and burgundy red to white and yellow. The varieties with a double color are especially beautiful: with a colored speck all over the flower or a lightened border around the edge of the petals. Recently, varieties with a huge flower size, as well as double flowers, have become very popular.

Unlike Saintpaulia, Gloxinia is a tuberous plant, and, accordingly, grows in spring and summer. In the fall, it is necessary to begin to prepare it for the dormant period, and in the winter, the tubers should "rest" for about one and a half to two months from the rapid flowering.

Gloxinia is unpretentious in cultivation, characterized by rapid growth. Large velvety leaves on thick cuttings are collected in a beautiful rosette. The color of the leaves, depending on the variety, varies from light green to red-brown. The plant is light-requiring enough, but it must be protected from bright sunlight. When lighting is optimal, gloxinia leaves are parallel to the ground. If it is too dark or, conversely, too light, then the leaf cuttings will immediately take a vertical position, the rosette becomes asymmetrical.

Reproduction of gloxinia

In addition to their unpretentiousness, gloxinia are also good because they can be propagated in almost all known ways: by dividing the tuber, cuttings (rooting of leaf and stem cuttings), and also by seeds.

Some fans of "tinkering" with flowers propagate gloxinia by rooting peduncles. Reproduction by sowing seeds and rooting of peduncles, in my opinion, is a rather laborious and more time-consuming process in comparison with other methods.

In my practice, I propagate gloxinia by leaf cuttings. From the moment the buds appear on the plant, I choose the leaves for rooting. They can be rooted throughout the growing season, until the plant has "retired".

Too young leaves (the first row from the center of the rosette) should not be cut off, because instead of giving birth, they begin to grow on their own. Cuttings from the second row will do. You can root the leaves in water or directly in the ground mixture. In the ground, rooting is much faster. If you put the cutting in water, you can observe how thickenings form at the end of the cut after a couple of weeks. These are primary nodules, and roots grow on them. When the roots become about a centimeter long, you can transplant the cutting into the ground.

If the leaves take root immediately in the ground, then the formation of roots also occurs within two weeks. In this case, you need to ensure that the planted leaf does not stick. If this happens, then it is necessary to put the dishes with the planted sheet in the greenhouse. I put the glasses with leaves in a plastic bag, inflate with air and tie. A "greenhouse effect" is created, the leaves gain the necessary turgor in a couple of days. After that, I take off the bag so that excessive moisture does not form and the cuttings do not rot.

What Gloxinia Loves

Gloxinia love light, fertile, slightly acidified soil. I prepare the ground mixture myself. I use leafy soil, peat, humus, turf or sand. The ratio is approximately 2: 1: 1: 1.

I pre-steam the earth in order to destroy possible pests. To do this, pour a wet mixture on a baking sheet with a layer of 3-4 cm and put it in a gas oven for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. In such a short time, the earth does not have time to dry out, and the temperature becomes quite high due to the evaporation of moisture. After such disinfection, I let the ground cool down. Then you can start planting plants. I use pots that are not too large (10-12 cm in diameter for young tubers and 14-16 for older tubers).

At the beginning of the growing season, gloxinia grows very quickly, and the formation of buds begins almost immediately. Therefore, about a month after planting the plants, I start feeding them with universal fertilizers. It is advisable to use fertilizers with a high content of phosphorus and potassium. First, I use half the dose of watering, gradually increasing it to optimal. From the moment the buds appear, gloxinia can be fed once every ten days. I spend top dressing during almost the entire summer period, and in August I switch to regular watering (without top dressing).

Since gloxinia is a tuberous plant, it needs a rest period. Usually, at the beginning of autumn, the bushes begin to lose their decorative effect, the buds become less and less, and the leaves begin to turn yellow.

This means that the plant "wants to rest". At this time, I cut off the entire aerial part of the plants, and remove the pots with tubers from the windows in a darker place, while reducing watering to a minimum. I constantly maintain the earth in such a state that the tubers do not die from drying out. My gloxinia hibernate at room temperature, but in a dark place.

When the dormant period lasts about a month, then even in a dark place, light sprouts appear in pots. Some tubers "wake up" earlier, others later. Actually, it doesn't matter. The main thing for me is for the plant to hatch after rest. I begin to transplant tubers with sprouts first, the rest - as sprouts appear. I prepare the ground for planting in advance - as described above.

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Carefully free the tubers from the old soil. When the soil mixture is light, this is not difficult. I carefully examine the tubers.

It happens that a tuber with a sprout begins to rot or, conversely, dries up. With a sharp knife, I cut out the damaged areas (if any). Cuts can be "powdered" with crushed charcoal or sulfur powder to avoid decay. If the tuber is large enough and healthy, has several points of growth, then you can cut it into pieces - according to the number of shoots. Sections also need to be "powdered", and before planting in the ground, allow the already cut parts to dry for about five to ten minutes.

By the way, this is another way of reproduction of gloxinia - by dividing the tuber. To be honest, this method of reproduction does not always work for me, sometimes the divisions disappear, although many of my friends growers use just this method. To me he is probably "out of hand". I plant the tubers in the ground entirely: first I pour the drainage (pieces of foam, expanded clay), then the soil - a little less than half the pot, then I plant the tuber and fill the pot up to the top with earth (carefully so as not to damage the sprout!). If the sprout is small, I add enough soil so that the sprout with its tip is on the surface. I water it with water (room temperature) and put it on the window.

The first time after planting, I water the plants moderately, so as not to provoke decay, and then, as the gloxinia grows, I increase the watering. In pots, into which, due to small sprouts, the earth is not poured to the top, I add it gradually, since the plant at first begins to reach for the light. First, I water the pots from a syringe (very carefully - along the edge), so as not to "flood" the sprout, and when the gloxinia increases in size, I begin to "water" it from the pan. Do not use cold water for irrigation!

Large tubers usually produce several well-developed sprouts. I usually leave one pair (if the size of the pot allows). If the pot is small, then I leave one sprout, carefully pull the rest straight out of the ground. It happens that the sprouts are pulled out already with ready-made roots. But even if there are no roots, it doesn't matter! I plant the sprouts in small plastic cups, make them a "greenhouse", as described above, and wait for rooting. It is necessary to ensure that excessive condensation does not form in the "greenhouse"; you need to ventilate the plants from time to time, and then close them again.

I have been fond of gloxinia for many years, and therefore I can say with confidence that these are unpretentious and very grateful flowers. But they, like all indoor plants, have their weak points.

Gloxinia are afraid of cold water for irrigation and cold drafts. They cannot withstand too high air temperatures, especially stuffiness. Then the buds of flowering plants do not bloom and become brown, or even completely fall off. For the same reason, it happens that brown spots appear on the leaves.

Gloxinia can be attacked by pests - spider mites, aphids, etc. Knowing these "weak points" can help prevent pests and diseases. The room in which the gloxinia are located must be well ventilated, the air in it must be sufficiently humid. And in order to prevent pests from growing on the plants, once a month I treat all my indoor plants with a solution of any insecticide. For this purpose, I use fufanon (1 ml / l of water), agravertin (1 ml / l of water), neoron (1 ml per 2 l of water) and others. I spray the plants with a warm solution from a spray bottle. After such treatment, all Gesneriaceae must be removed from daylight until they are completely dry, so that there are no spots on the leaves.

If you decide to purchase gloxinia, try to buy it in a blooming state when it is clearly visible that this plant is healthy. And then you can safely begin a closer acquaintance with this wonderful flower.