Gloxinia, a representative of the Genseriev family, came to Europe back in the 18th century from tropical America and immediately attracted flower growers thanks to its original bell-shaped flowers. Nowadays, many flower growers want to get this plant, the benefit of breeding it is quite simple. Gloxinia breed in a variety of ways. The nuances of each method will be discussed in the article.

Did you know? In the XVIII century, the Swedish king Charles II proposed the use of the original language of flowers. On it gloxinia meant: «love at first sight».

The basic rules for growing gloxinia

A tropical flower in its natural habitat is used to living according to a specific biorhythm, so that at home he feels great, you need to follow some rules for growing it:

1. Indoor flower gloxinia has distinct periods of wakefulness and peace. At rest, its tuber should be placed in a dark place at a temperature of about 10 ° C, not lower.
2. Gloxinia should be awakened gradually. For this, it is planted in fresh land and well irrigated.
3. The earth must be loose, nutritious, drained.
4. During the growing season, the flower is in great need of weekly dressing.
5. Watering is done only through the pan, since gloxinia does not like when its roots are bridged.
6. After the end of the first phase of flowering, the plant needs to be pruned, leaving several lower leaves, so that the second phase of flowering begins.
7. In autumn, when the last leaf dies, gloxinia is hidden in a dark place for the winter.

Methods of plant propagation at home

At home, gloxinia is propagated by cuttings, leaves, peduncles, tubers and seeds. Which way to choose, each grower decides for himself, as some methods require special skills.

Leafy cuttings

Leaf propagation is the easiest and most common way. Even the most inexperienced gardener can handle it.

1. First you need to select a leaf on the plant and cut it along thick veins. The sheet must not be selected the largest and not the smallest; Moreover, the plant should not be faded. It is better to cut the gloxinia during the formation of the buds.

   Important! The selected sheet must be cut with the sharpest object, best with a blade, so that its parts do not rot.

2. A leaf stalk is partially cut off; two centimeters are left.
3. If during these manipulations the leaflet has lost its elasticity, it must be immersed in boiled water at a temperature of 25 ° C.
4. Then each fragment should be put in a glass with earth and sprinkled a little at the base.
5. From above, the fragments are covered with cups for a month until the roots appear.

Video: Propagation of gloxinia with leafy cuttings

Seeds

This is a rather disadvantageous method, since the appearance of the sprouts needs to wait much longer than in the previous case. Usually, breeders, or those who wish to preserve all the species qualities of a flower, propagate gloxinia seeds.

Seeds can be purchased at the flower shop. It is advisable to give preference to granular seed. Together with it, you can purchase special greenhouses if you do not want to do them yourself.

It’s easy to build them yourself:

1. Need a deep container with a lid. Moistened peat tablets are laid out in it, onto which granules are poured.
2. Holes are made in the lid for ventilation.
3. The tank goes to a bright, warm place with a temperature of 23 ° C. Humidification is carried out as needed.

It will take a long time to wait for the sprouts to appear. This usually takes four to six months, and if sowing is carried out in the winter, then all ten. When the seedlings get stronger, they are transplanted to a permanent place.

Video: How to plant gloxinia seeds

Tuber division

Tuber propagation should be resorted to only as a last resort, when there are no other options, or the plant urgently needs to be saved, since this method is extremely traumatic for the flower.

The step-by-step recipe for this procedure is as follows:

1. A tuber is selected: elastic, large (d≈6 cm), whole.
2. Carefully inspected for illness and rot. Affected areas are removed.
3. It is cut into two parts and each is treated with coal (disinfection). Each part of the tuber must necessarily have a shoot of about 2 cm and a kidney.
4. Tubers are planted in a cup with moistened soil.

Peduncles

This method is similar in simplicity and effectiveness to leaf propagation. Usually it is used when there are few leaves on gloxinia, and the plant needs to be propagated. A flower stalk with freshly withered flowers is cut from the plant. He should have a stalk 5-6 cm in length. It is immersed in water, 1 cm, and waiting for the appearance of roots. Then transplanted into the prepared land.

Did you know? The genus gloxinia got its name in honor of the German botanist Benjamin Peter Gloxin, who studied the plants of this family.

Tops

For propagation, you can cut off the top of the plant with several leaves and a three-centimeter petiole. It is better to cut it off from a healthy bush, for which there was good care.

1. The resulting stalk is planted in a pot with a diameter of 9 centimeters, filled with a loose substrate. At the bottom of the tank, it is necessary to pour a layer of drainage.
2. The future flower deepens into the moist earth by two centimeters.
3. The soil is slightly compacted so that the stalk can be in a pot in an upright position.
4. From above, the pot is covered with a glass or bag, and sent to a warm, illuminated place.
5. From time to time, the seedling is ventilated and irrigated from the spray gun.

Important! When moistening the cuttings, moisture should not fall on its foliage.

Features breeding gloxinia

Existing features in breeding a flower are associated with periods of growth and dormancy of the plant.

In summer

Summer and spring is the time when the plant awakens from hibernation and begins to grow actively. During this period, it blooms, actively building up green mass. Therefore, if you decide to propagate gloxinia, it is best to do this at a given time interval. Then the rooting and emergence of young shoots will occur as quickly as possible.

Fall

With the advent of autumn, the flower hibernates. All its processes are slowed down, so you do not need to disturb it. You should remove the foliage, leaving a stump, and put it in a cool place. All other manipulations must be postponed.

In winter

At the end of winter, around January-February, the flower wakes up, the first shoots appear. The tuber should be immediately planted in fresh ground, placed in a bright, warm place and watered abundantly. With the beginning of the growing season, you can carry out the division of the plant tubers.

Two weeks after the planting of a flower, it is fed for the first time with nitrogen and potassium-phosphorus mixtures.

Preparing for a flower transplant

Usually, when young shoots appear from the planted fragment, the “mother” leaf disappears. This indicates that the plant can be transplanted to a permanent place. It happens that the leaf does not fall off, then it needs to be cut off when transplanted. In other cases, the appearance of young shoots also signals that it is time to transplant the flower.

Gloxinia can grow in soil intended for violets, only it will need to add a baking powder such as perlite. It is possible to prepare suitable soil on your own. For it, you will need three parts of leafy land (but not oak), three parts of peat and two parts of sand. The addition of humus (200 g per 5 l) will not hurt.

The pot is needed low, but wide, because the root system of the flower grows more to the sides than down. At its bottom must be drainage holes.

Further care

The planted young flower needs careful care. First of all, it must be placed in a well-lit place. A flower needs daylight at 14 hours; the abundance of light will be indicated by the horizontally foliage of the plant.

In the room where gloxinia is located, there should be no drafts, it needs to provide heat and high humidity. During the rest period, the temperature should be lowered to 10 ° C and stop watering and fertilizing.

In the spring-summer period, you need to moisten the plant through a pallet, or water it along the edge of the pot. Water needs to use room temperature. A flower is irrigated only when the topsoil has dried up. At the end of summer, the frequency of watering should be reduced so that the plant goes into a dormant state.

Fertilizers are applied once a week and a half; A special complex for decorative flowering plants is used.

Every spring, a flower needs a transplant. Tubers need only be half deepened.

Possible breeding difficulties

Gloxinia is often attacked by various diseases and pests.

The most common are:

1. Gray rot. It occurs due to non-compliance with the rules of care, manifests itself as brown spots on the foliage. Before starting the fight against the scourge, the affected leaves are removed, and then fungicides are treated.
2. Root rot. The roots affected by the disease acquire a brown color, and the stem in the basal zone begins to rot. This is due to an excess of moisture or the use of cold water for irrigation. The fight is conducted similarly to the previous case.
3. Powdery mildew, black skin, late blight. This group of diseases is better to prevent than to combat them. For prophylactic purposes, Phytosporin treatment is performed. If the disease has already attacked, then "Fundazol" is used.
4. Cyclamen mites. These pests are difficult to detect; to guess their presence is possible only by changing the appearance of the plant. Its leaves begin to deform and thicken, the tops of the shoots dry out, the buds wither prematurely. You can save a flower like this: remove all damaged parts and immerse it in water with a temperature of 40–45 ° С for a quarter of an hour. You need to submerge the entire gloxinia in the water, along with the pot. Then, for two or three days, the flower hides in a dimly lit warm place.
5. Thrips. Their presence is indicated by light spots on the foliage. Such a plant urgently needs to be transplanted into fresh soil and a new pot, having previously removed all diseased leaves. Then treat with insecticides.

In addition to diseases and pests, such situations can cause problems for gardeners with the growth of gloxinia:

• foliage turned yellow and opal (most likely, the plant is watered too often and there is not enough nitrogen in the soil);
• leaves curl up (low humidity);
• foliage is folded and flowers appear on small pedicels (humidity is too high);
• leaves darken and fade during active growth (the root system rots due to active watering);
• the plant does not bloom (insufficient lighting, low temperature, a lot of nitrogen in the soil).

It is not difficult to propagate gloxinia: in one growing season you can turn your windowsill into a blooming greenhouse. The main thing in the process of reproduction is to act carefully and according to the rules. Then the young plant will not only take root, but will soon delight you with a beautiful color.