Saintpaulia - Usambara Violet, Creation Of Conditions For Growing Violets, Lighting, Shelving

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

Treasure of the Uzambar Mountains

In recent years, Saintpaulia or Usambara violet has become one of the most popular indoor hobby flowers. Having accidentally visited the Saintpaulias exhibition, I was surprised by the number and variety of varieties, and, of course, I could not leave empty-handed. So the first leaves of a beautiful indoor plant were acquired. These were Favorite Chield, Blue Dragon, Rhapsodie Clementine, Chanson, Bridal Bouquet, Porcelain Wedding, Pink Meringue, Winter smiles.

As a schoolgirl, I tried to grow this beautiful flower, but in Soviet times there was no literature needed, and all attempts to breed it failed. Since then, I have considered Saintpaulia a "capricious" flower. Having bought Saintpaulia leaves, I immediately acquired the necessary literature on growing uzambara violets. After reading about the composition of the soil for Saintpaulias, I did not believe that for their successful cultivation, the earthen mixture must be poor in nutrients, for which I later paid. I prepared the soil, mixing garden, fertilized with organic matter, soil with sand, peat. The Saintpaulias did not like this soil, and they did not grow well, some even died. As a result of experiments in compiling an earthen mixture, I turned to advice from smart books and experts who have been growing Saintpaulias for a long time, and to information on the Internet.

The earthen mixture must be loose, water and breathable. The best soil turned out to be from a mixture: Greenworld soil (for flowering plants) - 4 cups, vermiculite - 1 cup, coconut substrate - 2 cups, 1/3 teaspoon of AVA fertilizer (powder). I thoroughly mix all the components to enrich the earthen mixture with air, then I water the Baikal EM-1 microbiological fertilizer (1 ml per 1 liter of water). I mix it again and leave this soil for one to two weeks, covering it with plastic wrap, but not tightly, but so that air can freely enter there. A week later, I start planting or transplanting plants, stirring this earthen mixture again.

Prepare the coconut substrate in advance. To do this, I soak the coconut briquette in warm water. I pour the water onto the briquette, but not all at once, as written in the instructions, but as it increases (until the dry briquette becomes wet). Then I put the coconut substrate in a bag sewn from two layers of gauze, filling it halfway, and rinse it in a basin under cold running water. I do this in order to remove various salts that it contains. After that, I squeeze the coconut substrate, transfer it to a bowl to dry and put it next to the battery. During drying, I periodically stir it. When it dries up a little (but does not dry out), i.e. if moisture is not released when squeezed in a fist, I add it to the earthen mixture. I put the surplus coconut substrate in a plastic bag and cover it, but do not tie it. Store at room temperature. In soil where the coconut substrate is washed out, Saintpaulias grow better and faster.

The second main condition for successful cultivation of Saintpaulias is the correct pot size. It shouldn't be too big. In nature, in their homeland, uzambar violets grow in crevices of rocks, on cracked stones. Rooted leaves are first planted in small pots with a diameter of 4.5 cm (bottom of the pot) and 6.5 cm (top of the pot). With the advent of the children, I put them in pots of the same size, but already one child in one pot. When the plant grows to the size of a starter (a young rosette, ready to bloom), I transfer it to a pot of slightly larger diameter - 4.5 cm (bottom) and 8 cm (top of the pot).

Pot drainage is a must because these plants cannot tolerate stagnant water. The best drainage made of artificial material is padding polyester. To do this, from a piece of padding polyester in one layer I cut out pieces to the size of the bottom of the pot and put them there. The third important condition for keeping Saintpaulias is proper lighting. These plants cannot tolerate direct sunlight. In their homeland, they grow in the undergrowth, where direct sunlight does not penetrate. Therefore, if a pot with a plant is located on a sunny windowsill, it will soon develop sunburn on its leaves in the form of brown spots.

My Saintpaulias live on shelves under fluorescent lights. I illuminate them for 14 hours a day. I try to turn the lamps on and off at the same time. Of course, this problem can be solved by a special device - a timer, which will itself turn on and off the light at a certain time. Fluorescent lamps on large shelves - 36 W, small shelves - 30 W. The distance between the shelves on the racks for adult plants is 30 cm (the distance from the plant itself to the lamp is 25 cm), for children and rooting leaves, the distance between the shelves is 20- I consider this distance to be the most optimal. It was obtained through lengthy experiments, since several times it was necessary to redo the racks, changing the distance between the shelves.

Shelving device

We made shelves from cheap and available materials at hand - shields from old furniture. Especially convenient and practical for the manufacture of shelves on racks are old, made in Soviet times, cabinets. The side of the cabinet or its door is a ready-made shelf, in which my father sawed off special holes from all sides in order to put them on the rack frame. The shelf was covered with self-adhesive white tape on both sides. The best film is made in Germany - it is dense and it is much more convenient to paste over it, it does not stretch. The worst film is made in China. It is thin, stretches out when you release it from the base, and bubbles and folds form during the process of gluing to the shelf. The white film reflects light well, and if water is accidentally spilled on it, it does not absorb it, so the appearance of the shelf does not spoil.

Saintpaulias do not like drafts, so in the lower part of the rack we did not make shelves, but bedside tables for storing spare pots, soil and other flower accessories. There are five shelves on the rack. The width of the shelves is 55.5 cm (this is the width of the boards from the cabinets). At the top of the shelf, 13.5 cm away from its edges, two fluorescent lamps are attached. On a long shelf (along the entire length of the shield) - 125 cm we attach two lamps of 36 W each, and on short shelves - 100 cm we attach two lamps of 30 W. It is better to buy non-Chinese lamps - it is inconvenient to attach them to the shelves. The store very often does not report the details of fasteners, so you need to carefully check the contents of the box with lamps when buying. Many fluorescent lamps have a special protective cover, I remove it, so there will be more light for the plants.

It is better to attach the lamps to the shelves before attaching them to the rack frame. The frame of the rack is made of strips with a thickness of at least 2 cm. Self-tapping screws are used as fasteners. To prevent the frame rails from cracking when screwing in the self-tapping screws with a screwdriver, it is better to first drill the hole with a drill of a smaller diameter than the self-tapping screw. And then it will be easy to screw a self-tapping screw into this hole. The shelves are attached to the frame with small metal corners. We attach the doors at the bedside table at the bottom of the rack to the piano hinges.

We also cover the curbstone with self-adhesive foil with a color that matches your interior. It takes about two days to make one rack. I place racks around the perimeter of the room along the walls (see photo). A huge number of flower pots fits on such a rack. It is very convenient to look after them. A stepladder is useful for caring for flowers on the upper shelves.

You need to place pots with plants on a shelf not tightly to each other, but at a small distance, about 5 cm from a neighboring flower, so that they do not touch. This will not stagnate the air and reduce the risk of disease.

I place the babies and rooting leaves on the upper two shelves, so the distance between these shelves is 20-25 cm. Plants on the upper shelves are not visible, so there will be non-flowering plants there. On the lower three shelves I have flowering adult specimens. The distance between these shelves is 30 cm. And on the second shelf from the bottom I have my favorite varieties - they are best seen.

When calculating the height of the rack frame, you need to remember about the thickness of the shelves and add it to the total height. Standard shields from cabinets produced in Soviet times have a thickness of about 2 cm.

When there was a kitten in the house, we had to shield the bottom shelf of the rack from it. To do this, I tied a plastic net to the shelf, which is sold in shops for gardeners. Of course, this is not very aesthetically pleasing, but the flowers were intact.

If the leaves are lifted up ("handles" are raised up) - there is not enough light. If the leaves are down, there is too much light. If the leaves are parallel to the shelves, there is enough light. Direct sunlight is contraindicated for Saintpaulias! From this, brown spots of varying intensity appear on the leaves - the plant received a leaf burn.

I don't grow Saintpaulias on windowsills. Wooden-framed windows let in cold air in winter, and in the morning hours from spring to autumn the bright sun shines. The arrangement of shelving is so convenient that it is not necessary to shade the saintpaulias on the windowsills, to protect them from cold air in winter. And if in the spring on the windows you grow seedlings for summer cottages, then the racks will also become a refuge for your collection of your favorite flowers. By the way, the soil for seedlings will have to be disinfected from pests so as not to transfer them to Saintpaulia.

Another important condition: when growing saintpaulias, you need to forget about the presented bouquets of fresh flowers! On such flowers, pests, often invisible to the naked eye, can be brought into the house.