When does gloxinia wake up and how to care for it? When to get gloxinia out of dormancy: ending hibernation successfully The gloxinia tuber does not wake up.

Gloxinia will not be able to continue to delight with flowers if it does not rest in due time. Florists call such a rest a period of rest. Other Gesneria houseplants also go into hibernation. Therefore, transplanting gloxinia after hibernation worries many people involved in breeding this flower.

Rest time is genetically programmed into gloxinia. Rest is needed in order to accumulate strength for future flowering. To rest, the flower needs to create appropriate conditions. Even the slightest disturbance associated with temperature, lighting, watering, or air humidity can destroy gloxinia.

The last flowers on gloxinia appear at the end of autumn. After this, the plant begins to prepare for future rest. The tuber accumulates nutrients, they are provided to the plant by dying leaves.

As soon as the leaves turn yellow and fall off, it is necessary to prune, leaving a one and a half meter column. Watering is done less frequently, and then stopped altogether. If everything is done correctly, gloxinia falls asleep.

The tuber is removed from the pot, washed and dried. After treatment with a fungicide, they are placed in a box filled with sawdust, peat or vermiculite. Wintering takes place in the dark and cool. From time to time, the tubers need to be removed, their condition checked, and sprinkled with water. But the most important task of the gardener is to monitor whether the nodules are waking up. Periodically, the tubers are checked, lightly sprinkled with water and checked to see if they have woken up. At proper care the planting material is retained one hundred percent.

February is the month when you need to take out the container with the nodules and place it on a well-lit window and water it a little. It is not recommended to pull it out earlier.

February, what to do...

Tubers take time to wake up. Beginning gardeners are always worried when they need to get out gloxinia nodules that have spent the winter in a dark place. The box with dormant gloxinias should be removed in the middle of winter. After a thorough examination, a living one is selected planting material.

  1. If ripe, healthy tubers were planted for rest, then the awakening of gloxinia occurs rapidly. Dormant nodules are placed in a well-lit window in a warm room and watered. After some time, the first shoots appear.
  2. If some kind of failure occurs when caring for a dormant gloxinia, the nodule may wake up on its own. Even the coolness and darkness do not interfere. Such planting material must be brought into the light as soon as possible, otherwise the shoots will stretch out and problems with planting will arise. Some shoots will have to be removed.

If waking up time is delayed...

Sometimes it happens that the plant does not wake up on time. The question arises of how to awaken a gloxinia tuber and prepare it for transplantation.

As a rule, nodules should remain dormant for at least three to four months annually. Deadlines may vary. The most favorable time is in the autumn and winter months. If a healthy nodule does not want to wake up, novice gardeners often experience a state of panic. Should you worry? No, because each plant has its own sleep period. When the time comes, gloxinia will delight you with shoots.

Why can't nodules wake up?

Genetically, Gloxinia has a time for sleep, because in its homeland of Brazil it sleeps when the rainy season stops from autumn to the end of January. There are many reasons that lead to the fact that the flower does not awaken on time:

  • V winter period the storage area was dry or damp;
  • Unripe tubers were sent for storage.

How to awaken life in tubers

Gloxinia does not wake up at the same time. If the nodule shows no signs of life either in February or March, it must be forcibly brought out of hibernation. To make gloxinia wake up, you can use the following methods:

  1. It will be necessary to increase lighting, air humidity in the room and increase watering. The tuber is placed in a pot with very damp soil. Do not pour water onto the planting material. Watering is carried out along the wall of the pot.
  2. To wake up gloxinia, it is placed in a plastic bag. At the bottom you need to put soil consisting of peat and sand. It needs to be irrigated with a spray bottle. warm water. Before planting, the dormant tuber is washed in running water, inspect for rot or other damage. If necessary, sprinkle with wood ash. Dried for outdoors, planting material is placed in a bag. The bag is tied tightly. To bring a flower out of hibernation, an increased air temperature is required, within 26 degrees. The place should be bright, but Sun rays should not fall on the package. If daylight is insufficient, backlighting will be required. The bag is opened from time to time for ventilation and watering.

How to transplant gloxinia after sleep

Gloxinia needs to be replanted after it has fully awakened. The tuber is removed from the box and shaken off the substrate in which it overwintered. Then rinse under running water. Clean planting material is easier to inspect. If even a small spot of rot is noticed on the nodule, it must be removed. You need to cut it with a sharp knife, which is pre-disinfected to avoid infection of the nodule with diseases.

The prepared planting material is disinfected for a third of an hour with a foundation solution. Then you need to take out the tuber and place it on a clean cloth to dry. The cut areas are treated with fine charcoal. Only after this they begin planting.

The soil

Each time you replant, you need to use new soil, even if the flower has overwintered in a pot. It is best to transplant gloxinia into ready-made soil compositions, specially designed for indoor plants. They contain essential nutrients and trace elements.

You can prepare the soil yourself. It is necessary to ensure that the substrate is loose and easily allows air to pass through. To do this you will need:

Attention should be paid to acidity; it should not exceed pH 5.5-6.5. Acidic soils are not suitable for gloxinia: growth slows down, bud formation is weak.

To disinfect the soil, you can use ready-made preparations, such as “Maxim” (method of application strictly according to the instructions). Some indoor plant lovers do this. Dilute potassium permanganate to Pink colour V hot water and spill the soil.

Pot

When choosing a container for planting, you need to take into account the parameters of the tuber:

  1. If they are small, from 1 to 2 cm, it is best to use hundred-gram plastic cups.
  2. Planting material measuring from 3 to 4 centimeters is planted in pots with a diameter of up to 9 cm.
  3. When planting larger specimens, it must be taken into account that the diameter of the container must exceed the dimensions by at least four centimeters.

The tuber cannot be completely covered with soil, just 1 cm. The rest of the gloxinia should rise above the surface. The emerging sprouts, which have not yet become strong, are not covered with soil.

Features of care after planting

Immediately after transplantation, the plant requires moderate watering: waterlogging of the soil is not allowed. Most reliable way– water along the edge of the container. Water should not get on the tuber. Otherwise, problems will begin: the root may rot.

The pot with the transplanted gloxinia should be placed in a bright window. Direct sunlight is dangerous for the plant. It is required to maintain the temperature up to +22 degrees, air humidity up to 70%.

What to do with children

If, when transplanting planting material, small daughter nodules are found, they can be used to propagate gloxinia. It must be separated carefully. After that, drop it off. We use small containers.

The next picking is carried out in a larger pot using the transfer method. The new plant will delight you with velvety flowers as soon as it takes root.

If gloxinia woke up earlier...

Sometimes gloxinia does not have to be brought out of hibernation. The nodule begins to awaken in December and early January. What should flower lovers do in this case?

If the plant was unable to sleep for the time allotted by nature, then you need to act like this:

  1. If the shoots are large, after they are removed, the planting material is again stored. As soon as daylight hours increase, the tuber needs to be planted in a container the right size and place the gloxinia on a bright, warm windowsill.
  2. The shoots are scanty - they are left on the tuber. But watering is limited to a minimum.
  3. If gloxinia wakes up ahead of time, sometimes gardeners plant it directly in the ground. But in this case there are some risks. In case of insufficient lighting, by the time of flowering the shoots become very elongated. But gloxinia doesn’t like artificial lighting too much. What to do, don’t throw away a healthy tuber? It is best to pinch the tip of the stem, leaving the leaves located closer to the ground. The tip itself can be rooted.
  4. The pot with the transplanted gloxinia should be placed in a cool room, but there should be a lot of light.

Conclusion

Plants transplanted after hibernation require creation comfortable conditions. Only then will colorful bouquets with velvet leaves and flowers resembling bells appear on the windowsills.

Gloxinia, like almost all Gesneria plants, needs a period of rest. At this time, the tuber is gaining strength, and future flowers and leaves are formed in it. Gloxinia rests only under strictly defined conditions. If violated temperature regime(which happens most often) or watering regime, gloxinia may wake up ahead of time. But... everything is in order:

By the end of autumn, gloxinia ends flowering. The leaves gradually turn yellow and die, all the useful and nutrients from them pass into the tuber. The above-ground part of the plant is cut off, leaving a stem of no more than a centimeter. At this time, watering is reduced and gloxinia, ideally, should fall asleep. You can store gloxinia tubers in winter in different ways:

  • As soon as flowering stops, gloxinia tubers are thoroughly cleaned of soil, treated with a fungicide, and sprinkled with clean sawdust, peat or vermiculite. Tubers prepared in this way are placed in a cool, dark place until spring. Periodically, the tubers are checked, lightly sprinkled with water and checked to see if they have woken up.
  • As soon as gloxinia leaves begin to die, significantly reduce watering. Dead parts of the plant are cut off. The pot with gloxinia is sent to a cool, dark room. If you live in a private house, you can put pots with tubers in a dry basement. There, the temperature and humidity remain almost unchanged during the winter. From time to time they check the gloxinia and moisten the soil a little, but only a little.

Gloxinia overwinters at a temperature of +8+15˚С in a dark room. If everything is done correctly, then in such conditions the plant tuber will rest well and gain strength.

At the beginning of February, take out the pots with gloxinia, place them in a bright place and begin to water them little by little.

However, sometimes gloxinia wakes up ahead of time. This means it was too warm and light. The sleeping buds woke up and began to grow. What to do if gloxinia wakes up in January?

First-year gloxinias often do not go to sleep during the first winter - this is not scary. In winter, however, you will have to tinker with it a little more: add up to 12 hours of light a day so that it grows a large tuber over the winter. Next winter, like all other gloxinias, she will rest.

But if an adult gloxinia wakes up ahead of time, then one of the following measures must be taken (depending on the condition of the plant):

  • Small sprouts can be easily removed and watering reduced to a minimum. In spring, increase watering and place gloxinia in a bright place.
  • If you miss the moment and the sprouts have already become large enough, cut them off, leaving the first pair of leaves on the stem. The cut top can be rooted and a new gloxinia of the same variety can be obtained. Place the tuber with leaves in a cool, bright room. What to do - let it grow. But in cool conditions, growth will slow down a little, and light will help nutrients accumulate in the tuber. In addition, the tuber's dormant buds will awaken. Your gloxinia will become even more magnificent by summer.

Let me remind you a few important rules caring for gloxinia: water it only with warm water around the tuber. Water should not get into the middle of the tuber or onto the hairy leaves.

ARTICLES

I have loved synningia since childhood. But for some reason all my attempts to breed these wonderful flowers end in complete failure: they either do not awaken or die immediately after hibernation. Tell us how you need to care for gloxinia so that it pleases you with its lovely flowers every year.

Irina (Pskov)

  • Nature has programmed the plant for a period of rest and active growth. Awakens in early spring, and goes into hibernation in the fall (October-November). The first rule in caring for a plant is not to disturb its biorhythms.
  • A signal of impending hibernation is the cessation of growth and wilting of leaves, usually this occurs in October-November. At the end of summer, stop feeding the plant and gradually reduce watering.
  • All withered leaves are removed from a fallen plant, the pot is wrapped in paper and put in a dark, cool place (+10-15 o C). You can put the pot on its side.
  • Some gardeners recommend covering the flowerpot with polyethylene, but often this content causes mold and rotting of the tuber.
  • Periodically check how your velvet beauty is wintering. If you see that the earthen ball has become very dry during wintering, you can slightly moisten it (no more than once a month).
  • The rest period of Sinningia is 3 months. Reducing the duration of sleep is fraught with the awakening of a weakened plant. This is especially dangerous for young nodules that have a limited supply vitality. As a rule, the “larks” die. Most often, early rise occurs in tubers that overwinter in warm rooms.
  • It is important not to miss the moment of awakening, noticing that your flower is ready to “conquer the world”; take it out of the “bear’s corner”.
  • The awakened tuber is taken out, cleaned of dead roots and soaked in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for several minutes. Then they are dried and planted.
  • Spring has come, and your flower is still sleeping, then you can wake it up. You can do this in two ways:
  1. remove the tuber and place it in a plastic bag with holes for air. Place the package itself somewhere in a bright corner;
  2. move the pot from a cool place to a warmer but darker room. After some time, the nodule will wake up, sprouting tender shoots.
  • If an adult gloxinia marked its awakening with a long (1.5 cm) thin shoot, then it can be pinched. Because the tall shoot subsequently forms an unsightly elongated rosette. But in young plants, try not to damage the shoots during transplantation.
  • Select a small pot for the tuber; placing the tuber in a large container can lead to rotting of the storage organ.
  • The soil must be water- and breathable. For example, a flower feels good in a mixture leaf soil, peat and sand (4:1:1). Required good drainage. We do not dig in the tubers too much; we practically place them flush with the ground.
  • At first, water sparingly, to the edge of the pot. The root system of the plant is not yet developed; an abundance of moisture is fraught with the onset of rotting.
  • The most optimal temperature regime during the active growth of syningia is +25 ° C, a higher temperature can cause the greenfinch to overheat, the “bells” will stop growing, and the buds may drop.
  • It is advisable to humidify the air, but try not to let drops of water fall on the pubescent leaves and buds.
  • During the period of active growth, the plant is watered abundantly, preferably pouring water into a tray. The remaining liquid is drained after 15-20 minutes, the tray is thoroughly wiped to avoid rotting of the tuber again.
  • Feed during April-August. The frequency of applying fertilizer is once every two weeks.
  • If synningia does not bloom for a long time, apparently you have overdone it with nitrogen fertilizing. But don’t rely too heavily on phosphorus; you can get early, but short-term flowering.
  • It is not advisable to mix fungicides and fertilizers.
  • To be formed beautiful rosette, rotate the pot periodically different sides to the light.
  • The plant loves bright light, but avoid placing it in direct sunlight.
  • During the summer season, Sinningia blooms twice. Repeated flowering is usually more modest, the buds are smaller and lighter in color. After the first flowering in May-June, you can trim the stem, leaving only a few bottom sheets. Soon the stepsons will hatch in the bosoms. Leave only large shoots and cut off small ones. In a month the shoots will begin to produce bells.
  • By the way, cut sprouts take root well.

Gloxinia is in demand as a houseplant due to its unique coloring and spectacular flowering. The flower spends a lot of energy on creating buds, so it needs to remain dormant for some time, and the grower is required to prepare the gloxinia for this state.

Preparing for winter

Any gloxinia that has already bloomed at least once goes into retirement for the winter. The larger the tuber, the better it survives the storage process. Young plants that are in their first year may not go into dormancy.

Experienced plant growers do not recommend sending indoor flower forced to rest at home. Young tubers have small in size, that’s why it’s better to leave the flower on the window and continue to water it, otherwise it may simply dry out.

During the winter months, young gloxinias require special care; the grower needs to ensure that the same temperature regime is maintained in the room. Ideal conditions consider the air temperature to be +18.20°C, not higher.

If it is hot in the apartment, the stem will begin to grow, which will adversely affect the growth of the tuber, since all the nutrients will be spent by the plant on the development of the wrong part.

In winter, the house is watered less frequently; excess moisture leads to putrefactive processes. As additional support, artificial lighting is installed around the plant. Lamps should provide gloxinia with at least 12 hours of light during the day. By looking at the bush, you can immediately determine the lack of light, because then the shoots become too long and elongated. You can prevent the process if you lower the air temperature in the room to +18°C; some plant growers cut the stem in February, leaving only a few lower leaves.

In the period from November to December, when the flower no longer blooms, the frequency of watering is reduced, the pot with gloxinia is moved to a dark and dry place with good ventilation and air temperature from +12°C to +14°C. Don’t be alarmed when the above-ground part dies, this is a completely natural process, you just need to remove it. It is at this stage that the flower enters a state of rest.

Before being sent for storage, the tubers are dug out of the ground, cleared of soil, washed under water or in an antiseptic solution and dried well. It is worth remembering that residual moisture can lead to the formation of rot, so be careful when working preparatory stage so important.

Rest period

Gloxinia usually retires between September and October. It was during this period in South America The dry season is approaching, the biological clock of the flower works as it should, even in cultivation. But at this time the plant is not yet sleeping, the preparation period begins.

If you do not put gloxinia to rest in time, then next year It should not be surprising that the flowering time has shifted. The buds will appear not in the spring-summer period, but much later.

If gloxinia blooms for a long time, there is no need to speed up the process; you need to wait until the last bud dies. If everything is done correctly, the flower will wake up in January or even February.

It is very important to pay Special attention tuber viability. Process proper preparation includes several important points.

  • From September to October, the flower is moved to a less illuminated place; you can simply move it to the windowsill on the north side. The air temperature drops to +15°C, watering is not stopped immediately, the amount of moisture is simply slowly reduced. Portions become smaller, water is added only once a week. When the foliage begins to dry, stop watering altogether.
  • The above-ground part is not cut off; it must die on its own, since only in this way will the nutrients present in the leaves and stems pass into the tuber and help it survive in a dormant state. If you cut off the tops, it will start new stage growing season.
  • The tuber can be left stored in the ground in a pot or taken out and sprinkled with sand. When storing outside the ground, it is recommended to spray the tubers with Fitosporin, it will help protect them from fungal diseases.

Gloxinia is stored in a plastic bag in sand or sawdust, but the mixture is slightly moistened a couple of times during the winter. Some growers use a mixture of substrate and vermiculite, others just crushed peat moss. Ideal place For storage there will be a cellar, the bottom shelf in the refrigerator.

When purchasing tubers in the fall, do not store them in the ground, otherwise the plant may wake up earlier than expected. Even if it happens that the plant awakens from sleep, the amount of moisture must be immediately reduced and young shoots cut off.

Young plants should be stored without removing the tubers from the ground, this reduces the risk that gloxinia will die due to lack of moisture.

If many flowers are planted in one pot, then you should choose non-ground storage.

The package with the plant will need to be checked periodically for rot. With the soil storage method, it is best to moisten the soil with pieces of ice. In both cases, gloxinia overwinters without harm to further growth if the grower observes necessary requirements for storing tubers. The main thing is not to let the flower awaken earlier than expected, but even if this happens, the situation is not critical and there is a way out.

When to wake up?

Gloxinia must be removed from dormancy in early spring. After wintering, the tubers are placed in containers with a new substrate, and the containers are placed on a sunny windowsill or street. After hibernation, you will need to provide more light; if there is not enough light during the day, then you need to install artificial lighting. Fluorescent lamps are ideal. If this is not done, then after rest, removing the flower from a dark place, but without giving it the proper amount of light, you can get a depleted plant.

If you managed to awaken the gloxinia, but incorrectly, the stems have become thin and unattractive, you should cut off the top, leaving the bottom few leaves. It's time to expose it to the light and wait for new shoots to appear. While you cannot increase the air temperature, it is enough to raise it to +18°C.

What to do if gloxinia wakes up early?

Healthy tubers most often wake up without additional support in winter in January and February, less often in December, but it also happens that it may be required from a person. If a novice plant grower does not know how to awaken gloxinia, then he should follow the required steps.

  • Take a simple one plastic bag and place several spoons of soil with a high peat content in it.
  • The soil mixture is moistened with water, the gloxinia tuber is taken out and checked for rot and other damage. If everything is fine, immerse the flower inside the bag, then tie it well.
  • Place gloxinia in a warm place with plenty of light, perhaps under a lamp with artificial light. After a few weeks, you will notice condensation inside, which will begin to accumulate on the walls. Already during this period, small shoots emerge from the tuber.

Now that the root has woken up, it can be planted in a pot. In the future, caring for gloxinia at home is not difficult; you must always remember that the more light, the faster flower awakens and begins to grow. It is equally important to provide the plant required quantity moisture, but the soil should not be over-moistened, as experienced plant growers keep repeating. If the ambient temperature is not yet too high, moisture can cause problems.

Aftercare

With the ability to bloom at any time of the year, Gloxinia is an exclusively cultivated flower that will not grow successfully outdoors. The plant blooms 4-10 weeks after planting.

It is worth starting to water the flower in the spring, immediately after the tuber is placed in the ground.

Although the plant loves moisture, too much water or waterlogged soil becomes the first cause of fungal diseases, including root rot, which is not so easy to get rid of.

During the period of active flowering, you will need to regularly check the soil before watering - if it has dried out a few centimeters, then you can add the next portion of water.

For irrigation, it is better to use distilled, rain, or well water, but if they are unavailable, you can also use simple tap water, just leave it for several days before doing so.

The water must be warm, preferably its temperature should be several degrees higher than the ambient temperature. Watering is done abundantly until moisture seeps through the drainage holes at the bottom. The pot is not immediately placed on the window; they wait until the excess water drains into the container under the container, then it is emptied.

Watering is carried out only from the top; using a watering can you can add moisture under the foliage. If drops fall on the surface of the leaves or stems, then you should blot them paper towel. Many plant growers use the wick method of watering, when one end of the wick is installed in the ground, while the other is placed in a container of water. The roots absorb as much moisture as required, while the soil remains dry. Even with this method, you will need to moisten the soil once a month in order to fertilize and remove accumulated salts.

It is worth planting when it gets warmer so that you can provide the plant with the necessary amount of light even on the windowsill.

The best place- south window sill, but it is worth remembering that direct sunlight should not fall on the foliage, as this can cause burns. It is best to move the pot a few centimeters away from the window or place it behind a curtain.

From time to time, the gloxinia will need to be turned with the other side towards the sun; if this is not done, then those leaves that lack it will begin to grow stronger, the compact shape will be lost, the bush will become ugly, and will look careless.

Humidity in the air is also of considerable importance. Dry air causes brown spots on the plant. The easiest way to maintain the required humidity level is to use automatic installations. Often, plant growers install containers with pebbles and water near the flower, others use a spray bottle twice a day, but it is not necessary to spray water near the gloxinia.

It is better to feed the flower with a complex, water-soluble fertilizer, which is applied during planting in small quantities and after root system will gain strength. By the best means are those whose packaging indicates the formula 10*10*10. In this case, the manufacturer says that the mixture contains equal amounts of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen.

For large flowers, fertilizing should be done every 2 weeks using water-soluble phosphorous fertilizers. The ideal formula is 15-30-15, where the first number is nitrogen, the second is phosphorus and the third is potassium.

From time to time, shoots are pruned, but this should only be done with a sharp instrument, which is treated with an alcohol composition or solution before each cut. activated carbon.

This precaution helps to avoid possible subsequent fungal or bacterial infection.

Like most indoor plants, gloxinia is susceptible to disease, and The best way prevent the problem from occurring - prevention. As preventive measures:

  • bottom watering;
  • moderate indoor humidity;
  • processing with clean tools;
  • use of disinfected soil;
  • compliance with the irrigation regime.

If fungal infections, such as root and stem rot, rust and late blight can be cured with fungicides, bacterial infections are not treated, and the flower in most cases dies completely.

The beginning of February is the time when gloxinias wake up after resting. The history of this plant is as amazing as it itself. Very few people can help but admire this beautiful flower.

It so happened that gloxinia was discovered twice. In nature, Gloxinia lives in the forests of Brazil and Peru. At one time, various flora researchers were eager to go there, but there was no unified classification of plants at that time.

Back in 1785, a small plant was found in Brazil, which was named Gloxinia beautiful, in honor of the doctor and naturalist Benjamin Patrick Gloxinum. It is this plant that is the ancestor of all modern gloxinias.

Half a century later, another plant, Sinningia, close to Gloxinia, was described in London, which was named after the main botanist botanical garden Wilhelm Sining University of Bon.

Later, when the classification of plants was completed, it became known that it would be more correct to classify Gloxinia as belonging to the genus Sinningia and, according to the law of botanical nomenclature, to call species of this genus the same way - Sinningia. However, gloxinia had by that time become a very common houseplant.

Thus, the plants that we grow in rooms and call gloxinia are actually called synningia. Gloxinia (sinningia) are relatives of.

Sinningia is a tuberous plant, which is an adaptation to the dry season. The above-ground part of the plant dies. Nutrients accumulated during the growing season are spent at rest on the development of the rudiments of renewal buds, roots and above-ground organs.

The leaves of Sinningia are large, densely pubescent, the petioles are short and very juicy. The leaf arrangement is opposite, the stem is not shortened, like other members of the family. Variegated varieties are not yet known. The flowers are solitary and axillary, large, brightly colored, bell-shaped. The petals have not grown together completely. The color is mainly two-tone, the outside of the petal is almost always white, and inner part painted in lilac, red, burgundy colors, or can be white. IN Lately Double flowers are becoming popular.

The tuber of an adult plant is large, the size of a large potato. The buds appear on the concave side, and the roots on the convex side. The dormant period, as a rule, in our zone occurs in the autumn-winter period. Plants bloom in October–November. Dormancy can vary in duration, this is due to the fact that in nature drought occurs every year at different terms. When grown on warm shelves with lighting at 14 hours, plants can vegetate for almost all year round, retiring to different time, even in the spring months. Plants wake up individually, but generally dormancy lasts about two months.

The main direction of selection is to develop varieties with unusual flower color and increase in doubleness.

Growing and caring for gloxinia (sinningia)

Temperature

Gloxinia - tropical plants, so the temperature in the room should not fall below 18-20 degrees. For tubers to germinate, a temperature of +25 is required. However, remember that if there is insufficient lighting, the plant will stretch, so the temperature can be lowered, but not below 20 degrees.

An increase in temperature above 28 degrees is undesirable. Gloxinias, likewise, do not like heat. At high temperature air and without ventilation, the developing buds dry out, the flowers quickly wither and fall off, and the risk of pests is also high.

Lighting

Subject to optimal temperature and humidity, gloxinia can be grown on windows of any orientation. However, from my own experience I will say that a south window is the worst option. Even in shading sunlight too much, direct rays overheat the plant, the buds dry out, the plant quickly fades and looks unhealthy. It is especially difficult for young plants on a south window.

On northern windows, gloxinia may experience a lack of light, and given that these are long-day plants, in middle lane In Russia and to the north, these plants need additional lighting in autumn and early spring.

Watering and air humidity

The optimal humidity in the room is 70-80%. But this is only possible if you have a humidifier. Humidity during the period of active growth and flowering should not fall below 50%

Gloxinias need to be watered correctly, but each collector has his own understanding of correctness. Most often it is recommended to water in a tray. I am categorically against this method of watering and use it only in emergency cases (drying of the earthen clod with soil moving away from the walls of the pot).
The fact is that when watering into a tray, it is very difficult to achieve uniform moistening of the earthen clod. In the lower part of the pot, water stagnates and the roots can begin to rot, especially when the temperature drops.
If the pot is very large, then up to upper layers In general, water can only reach in a few hours.

Water the gloxinia along the edge of the pot until drainage hole no water will appear. Try not to overwater the tuber. If overwatered, this can lead to rotting.

The soil around the tuber needs to be loosened regularly and carefully to ensure air access to the roots. The leaves are wiped with a damp sponge, washing off the dust. In the warm season, you can spray the leaves, but after spraying the plant should not stand in a draft or in direct sunlight.

Feeding

If you planted the tuber in fresh soil, then in the first 1.5-2 months you do not need to additionally feed gloxinia. And then you can feed with complex minerals or organic fertilizers for flowering indoor plants once every 2 weeks. It is better to combine fertilizing with mineral and organic fertilizers. Do not dilute fertilizers by eye or add more than normal; overfed plants become fattened and actively grow leaves and roots, but do not bloom.
Feed gloxinia only after watering. During the dormant period, gloxinia is not fed.

Rest period

Around September, gloxinias go into retirement. At this time of year, a period of drought begins in the homeland of gloxinia. The green part of the plant (leaves and stems) dies, and the roots also die, leaving only the tuber, which has accumulated enough nutrients during the growing season and has increased in size.

Preparation for the dormant period begins with yellowing and wilting of the leaves. Logically, you need to wait until it dries completely and remove the dead parts, leaving the tuber in the old soil until it awakens. With this approach, all the nutrients from the stems and leaves go into the tuber. However, there are times when the plant does not want to retire. Most often this happens to young plants in their first year of life. Such plants are left to grow, fed, supplemented with light (required) and not allowed to bloom in winter.

If plants of the second year and older do not go to rest, then dormancy is forced on them, otherwise the plants will use up tuber reserves and will not bloom in the summer. The plant is trimmed, leaving a stump 1 cm high and the pot is put in a dark place.

All retired plants are placed in a cool and dark place, for example, under a bathtub. The temperature at the storage location should not fall below 15 degrees. Pots with tubers can be watered once a month.

Starting in mid-January, the pots are regularly checked for sprouts. As soon as you notice that the tubers have woken up, they are immediately transplanted into fresh soil and the pots are placed in the brightest place and watered regularly.

If the sprout that appeared in January has become very elongated in the dark, then it can be removed, provided that the tuber is more than 5-6 cm in diameter.
When transplanted into fresh soil, all tubers are inspected for rot and drying out. The damaged parts are cut out to healthy tissue and powdered with charcoal (or a crushed tablet of activated carbon). After which the tuber needs to be dried at room temperature during the day. When the cut dries, you can replant the tuber.

You need to plant tubers correctly. Sprouts appear on the concave side, and roots appear on the convex and smooth part. Accordingly, the tuber is planted with the concave side up. Large tubers are barely covered with soil, while smaller tubers are covered with 2-3 cm of soil. In this case, the soil can be filled in gradually as the sprout grows.

You can also grow gloxinia from seeds, but this is a rather labor-intensive process. which requires a lot of attention. You can grow gloxinia, like any other plants, from seeds if you have a little experience and enough time.

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