Gloxinia

Family. Gesneriaceae.

Homeland. South America.

Description. Gloxinias are perennial flowering indoor tuberous plants that always have a beautiful compact shape.

Velvety, ovoid or oblong green leaves with serrated edges have luxurious pubescence, collected in a basal rosette. Veins are often highlighted with a lighter shade.

Flowers are large, tubular or bell-shaped, single or in small inflorescences, simple, semi-double or double, characterized by a huge variety of colors: from all shades of blue and purple to pink and crimson, white.

There are varieties with speckled and striped flowers, two-color.

Peduncles are about 6-7 cm high, axillary, appear in the upper part of the stems, buds reach a diameter of 7 - 8 cm. The petals are velvety.

Some species have fragrant flowers.

Modern varieties of gloxinia are bred for maximum flowering and therefore are often grown as annuals. Having devoted all its energy to flowering, the plant can rarely recover in the next season and dies.

Hheight. The bushes grow quickly and, depending on the species, can reach 15–60 cm in height per season.

    

Care at home

Reproduction, growing from seeds

Seeds that are very small. Flower growers often use their own seeds, since gloxinia self-pollinates.

Of course, freshly harvested seeds from ripened seed pods have the greatest germination capacity.

1. The seeds are sown in spring in moist and very loose soil - simply press them into the substrate, but do not cover them with soil. The planting material needs light to germinate.
2. The seedlings are covered with glass or a plastic cap to maintain high humidity and placed in a warm place with a temperature of about 22 - 24 ° C.
3. The first shoots can be seen after 3 - 4 days.
4. When the shoots appear, the cover is lifted and the seedlings are aired daily, and a week after the sprouts appear, it is completely removed.
5. Picking is carried out when true leaves appear. The sprouts develop unevenly and this procedure should be carried out several times.

For young plants, only bottom watering is used - after all, the slightest amount of moisture on the delicate leaves can cause rot.

At the age of 4-6 weeks, the bushes can be planted in separate permanent pots. From the moment of sowing the seeds until the beginning of flowering, it usually takes 5-7 months.

The first buds are usually pinched so that the bushes gain strength for the subsequent - very abundant and long flowering. Sometimes, after cutting off old, yellowed leaves, self-seeding can be found at the base of the leaf rosette.

Gloxinias are propagated by dividing tubers and leaf cuttings. The tubers for planting are cleaned of soil and cut with a sterile knife so that each part has its own sprouts and a sufficiently developed root system. The cut sites are treated with carbon powder for disinfection.

Vegetative propagation or cuttings are successfully used.

Stem cuttings 5-7 cm long are sprayed with growth hormones and placed in moist nutritious soil.

The seedlings are placed in a warm place, protected from direct sunlight. The rooting process takes from 1 to 1.5 months.

Some plants, emerging from hibernation, form many basal shoots or special axillary stepsons. Stepchildren are usually removed so that daughter bushes do not draw energy from the mother plants, but such formations can be successfully used for propagation - they can be rooted both in moist soil and in ordinary water.

Leaf cuttings are separated with a sterile blade or a stationery knife - they can be rooted in water at room temperature with the addition of charcoal, immersing the petioles and only the very bottom edge of the leaf blade.

In the same way, the cuttings are immersed in the ground for rooting. Young plants are covered with transparent polyethylene film and placed in a warm place.

Mature, well-developed leaves are used for propagation. The cover is removed when 2-3 new leaves appear. The first roots can be seen within a month.

How to transplant 

If you decide to leave the decorative gloxinia after flowering for the next season, the plant will need to be replanted.

1. During the dormant period, when the leaves die back, leave the tuber in the pot. In the spring, remove the rhizomes, carefully clean them from the old soil and divide them.
2. Before planting, the tubers should be treated with a fungicide solution.
3. Place the tubers in the ground with the convex side down - in the upper part, where there is a growing point, there will be a depression.
4. Plant the tubers in pots without covering them with soil - add soil gradually as the seedlings appear.

Another way to awaken tubers is to place them in a hermetically sealed plastic bag in a well-lit, warm place until the first shoots appear.

After the first leaves appear, the tuber is already planted in the ground.

After transplantation, watering should be moderate. Keep seedlings in partial shade. Start fertilizing when the bush grows to its full potential. Flowering gloxinias like cramped conditions.

Flowering time

It blooms from spring or early summer to early autumn; the flowering period is long and can take up to six months.

The plant lays its first buds with the appearance of 3-4 pairs of leaves. The number of flowers will depend on the conditions, size and age of the tuber.

If the first flowering occurs early and the bush receives proper care, a second wave of flowering may occur. The second flowering will be less abundant.

To initiate repeated flowering, you can use pruning - cut off the entire above-ground part, with the exception of the stem and 2-4 lower leaves.

Pests and diseases

• The edges of the leaves curl and turn brown when there is insufficient air humidity.
• Foliage turns yellow when overwatered. Allow the surface of the soil to dry out between waterings. 
• Rhizomes rot in winter when the humidity is too high.
• Cold drafts cause leaves to curl, as does watering with too cold water.
• Excess nitrogen causes abundant growth of green mass at the expense of flowering.
• Exposure to direct sunlight on summer days is manifested in the appearance of brown spots on leaves.
• Fungal diseases may include powdery mildew, late blight, anthracnose, fusarium, gray mold, phyllostictosis, and ascochyta blight.
• Leaves develop brown spots when moisture is retained on their surface.

If the bush is kept in warm and dry conditions, spider mites may appear - a thin, almost invisible web forms on the shoots and leaves. Cyclamen mites, leaf nematodes, thrips, scale insects and whiteflies sometimes appear.

Growing in a pot, pruning

The agricultural technology for growing gloxinia is not very complicated, but it requires certain knowledge and skills.

During dormancy, which occurs in October - November, take care that the rhizomes do not begin to rot - gradually reduce watering in the fall.

Over time, the leaves at the base of the rosette slowly begin to die off - dark spots appear at the ends, and the leaf blades become soft - trim them with a sharp sterile tool to maintain a neat appearance.

It is worth noting that only completely damaged leaf blades can be removed - if at least some part of the leaf remains alive, it is left to feed the tuber.

At the end of September, the entire above-ground part of the gloxinia can die off - it goes into a dormant period, which lasts until the end of December.

Adult specimens aged 2 years or more with tubers with a diameter of 2 cm or more enter the dormant period. In such months, it is worth organizing storage at room temperature in a dark place.

Young seedlings - plants of the first year of life - can grow continuously, without a dormant period.

The tubers can be stored either in a pot or taken out of the ground - in plastic bags with a small amount of slightly moistened peat. It is important to place them in a cool, dark place to prevent premature growth.

Gloxinias will appreciate being outdoors during the warm season - place the pot in the shade from direct sunlight and under cover from strong wind and rain.

Remove old and wilted leaves, as well as flower stalks with wilted buds in a timely manner - this can stimulate the formation of new flowers.

Watering

Immediately after planting the tuber in the ground, water it little by little - at this time the plants have no leaves and they almost do not consume moisture - the rhizome can rot.

With the appearance of the first leaves, the frequency of watering is gradually increased.

During the period of active growth and budding, keep the soil slightly moist during the growing season, while avoiding stagnation of water.

It is advisable to water from a tray, and if you water from above, try not to get it on the foliage.

It is advisable to water gloxinia early in the morning so that the leaves have time to dry by night. Daytime watering in sunny weather can cause leaf burns - droplets of moisture act as a magnifying glass.

Watering is carried out in such a way that moisture does not fall on the leaf rosette, but directly into the soil.

From September, after the buds have faded, the frequency of watering is gradually reduced. After the leaves die off, the rhizomes should remain dry until new growth appears in the spring.

For watering, use only softened, filtered or settled water at room temperature.

Excess moisture that appears in the tray after watering is drained after a few minutes.

Even in the warm season, the top layer of the substrate 2-3 cm thick should dry out before each subsequent watering. In the autumn and winter months, and simply in inclement, cloudy weather, the frequency of watering is significantly reduced.

Soil

Moist but not waterlogged, with good drainage and very nutritious.

A mixture of sphagnum moss, peat, perlite or vermiculite, with the addition of coarse river sand, leaf humus and turf soil, is suitable.

To maintain looseness and additional nutrition, you can add a small amount of charcoal to the soil.

Gloxinias prefer neutral or slightly alkaline soil, so it is worth adding limestone or ground eggshells.

Good results are obtained by adding organic matter to the soil in the form of well-rotted manure or humus.

In addition, you need a good drainage layer made of broken bricks, clay shards or expanded clay, which is laid out on the bottom of the pot. 

Fertilizer

After planting the tubers in the ground and with the appearance of the first signs of growth, the plants begin to be fed - approximately 2 - 3 weeks after planting.

First, fertilizers with a high nitrogen content are used to form green mass.  During the growth period, apply liquid fertilizers for flowering plants, rich in phosphorus in half the concentration, every week.

The end of the flowering period should be accompanied by a gradual reduction in the amount of fertilizing, and not a complete refusal to use fertilizers. During the dormant period, when the ground part of gloxinia dies off, fertilizing is excluded.

The nutrient solution is added immediately after watering - otherwise, the root system can be burned. The bushes respond positively to both mineral and organic fertilizers.

Lighting

Representatives of the species require very good lighting during the growing season. Even for germination, the tubers must be in a bright place; it is believed that the brighter the lighting, the more growth points the tuber can form.

Provide the bush with 3-4 hours of direct sunlight per day - in the morning and evening, but avoid the scorching rays of the summer midday sun.

During the dormant period, the entire above-ground part dies off, and the tuber is placed in a dark place.

When grown in partial shade, the plant does not bloom so abundantly, even the buds that appear may not open. Good lighting will also affect the color of the flowers - when grown in partial shade, they will be paler.

Eastern and western windows are suitable for growing.

Since a long daylight is important for the onset of flowering, if there is a lack of natural light, artificial lighting with fluorescent lamps can be used, extending the day to 12-14 hours.

Unfortunately, when growing, artificial lighting cannot completely replace sunlight.

Temperature

Immediately after planting in the ground, the tubers are placed in a very warm place at a temperature of 22 to 28 ° C. If kept cool at this point, the plant may delay the appearance of leaves or the tuber may begin to rot.

To form buds, keep in cooler conditions - at a temperature of 18 - 20 ° C.

In winter and spring, when gloxinia is actively developing and blooming, the ideal temperature at night is about 18 ° C, and during the day 24 ° C.

Growth and development can be accelerated or slowed down, respectively, by raising or lowering the temperature at night.

The bush can hardly tolerate heat above 30 ° C in the summer.

If flowering occurs in a room with a temperature of 18 - 20 ° C, the buds will remain attractive for a long time.

Spraying 

These plants require high air humidity during the period of active growth.

Avoid spraying or spray only with soft water at room temperature - otherwise stains will remain on the leaves. Spraying is permissible only in hot weather and only in the morning, so that the moisture has time to evaporate before dark.

Remember that the pubescence of leaves can trap water droplets, which causes rot, and in addition, the contact of droplets on flowers and buds significantly reduces their attractiveness.

Instead of spraying, place a room humidifier next to the pot or put a tray with wet expanded clay or moss.

The hotter the weather in summer, the higher the air humidity should be.

Particular attention should be paid to good ventilation, but remember that gloxinias do not like cold drafts.

Purpose

One of the most spectacular flowering plants. Thanks to its modest size, you can collect a large collection of varieties on one windowsill.

Note

Modern varieties and hybrids grow quickly and bloom very abundantly, but as soon as the buds fall off, the bush weakens, since it directs all its energy to flowers, and not to strong roots. Such specimens are best grown as annuals.

There are tubers that can be kept alive for 2-3 years, but with age, flowering becomes less abundant.

Varieties:

Gloxinia "Shagane"

Plants of extraordinary beauty with large, double flowers. Flower colors include white, soft cream, lavender, pink and purple, pink, red and burgundy. The main distinguishing feature is the light center and dark, brightly colored edges of the petals and delicate small specks on the petals.

Gloxinia "Kaiser Wilhelm" and "Kaiser Friedrich" - show very bright, simple flowers in rich red and purple tones with light, white edges of rounded petals.

Gloxinia "Esenia" - these are plants with very large, double flowers. The velvety petals of the flowers of this variety have uneven edges and bright colors, including rich burgundy, pink and purple shades.