Gloxinia: planting and care

Gloxinia is a popular flower among connoisseurs of house plants. Another name for this plant is beautiful sinningia. It describes the characteristics of the flower as accurately as possible. There are many varieties of gloxinia, differing not only in color, but also in the structure of the flower. Growing gloxinia is not difficult. An unpretentious plant will give joy for a long time with its abundant flowering.

Gloxinia varieties

All  varieties  hybrid synningias are divided into miniature and standard, which is determined by the size of the bush and flower. The most popular varieties include:

• Gloxinia Avante includes several varieties of varieties with different petal color options. A mature plant of this variety is distinguished by a compact rosette with large, simple velvety flowers.

• Gloxinia Yesenia is a terry variety. This is a medium-sized plant with a rosette of soft leaves with memorable flowers. The buds of this variety resemble half-bloomed pink ones. Blooming flowers have a crimson or crimson color with a pink or white edge.

• Gloxinia variety Hollywood is distinguished by its simple flower structure. It has a purple color with a lemon-colored core with purple spots. This variety blooms luxuriantly, forming a small rosette.

• Gloxinia Kaiser Wilhelm has flowers of a simple structure. The color of the corollas is bright purple, with a whitish edge and a spotted center. With good care, this variety blooms long and luxuriantly.

• The Gloxinia variety Cleopatra looks very impressive. This variety is distinguished by double flowers with lilac or purple polka dots. Towards the edge the pattern becomes paler and smaller. Good care of this variety will ensure long and lush flowering.

Planting Gloxinia

This is a plant  planted  tubers. Determining the landing time is easy. If shoots appear on top of the tuber or buds swell, it’s time to plant the nodules in a pot. Before planting, the seed is inspected, the root threads and damaged parts of the tuber are cut off, sprinkling the cut areas with charcoal.

For gloxinia, light soil that allows moisture and air to pass through is suitable. It can be made by mixing 2 parts peat, 1 part sand and 2 parts leaf soil. To disinfect them, it is recommended to keep them in the oven or on a hot frying pan for some time.

Gloxinia prefers shallow and wide pots, since its roots do not grow in depth, but grow in a horizontal direction. It is also important to take into account the size of the tuber itself; for large ones, larger pots are selected, up to 15 cm in diameter, and for small tubers a pot of 9 cm in diameter will be sufficient.

A layer of drainage made of any suitable material must be laid at the bottom of the pot. A thickness of this layer of 2 cm will be sufficient. Then the soil is poured without compacting it. Make a small hole in the center of the pot and place the tuber there with the convex side down. Then the tuber is carefully sprinkled with soil, leaving a third of the tuber on the surface.

After this, a plastic bag is put on the pot to create a greenhouse effect and placed in a well-lit, warm place. Every day the cover is removed for 20 minutes for ventilation. When the first leaves come out, remove the bag during the day and put it on at night. After a few days, the shelter is completely removed.

In the first days after planting, the plant needs  water   very carefully in small portions. At the same time, moisture should not be allowed to get on the leaves. This will allow gloxinia to grow into a lush and strong plant. This plant loves warmth, so during the day it needs a temperature of at least +20 degrees, and at night it can be 2 degrees lower. During the rest period, pots with gloxinia are transferred to a cool room where the temperature does not exceed +14 degrees.

Gloxinia care

During active development, the flower needs high air humidity. To do this, pots with plants are placed on special trays with water. The flower needs bright light, but does not tolerate aggressive sun. Therefore, from February until April, pots with gloxinia can be placed on window sills in direct sunlight, but starting from May, it is better to move them to western or eastern windows. This measure will protect gloxinia from bright rays. If this is not possible and the windows face south, then you need to create diffuse lighting by shading the plant with paper, tulle or gauze.

For irrigation it is necessary to use soft, settled water. You should not water the plant often; it is better to do it rarely, but abundantly, and during the winter dormancy period, stop watering altogether.

From April to August the plant needs to be fed 

fertilizers   for flowering plants. They are applied weekly after watering to avoid burning the root system.

Gloxinia transplant

Before you start replanting, you need to prepare the tubers. They are pulled out of the old pot, washed and the roots are cut off. All damaged areas on the tuber are cut out and the sections are powdered with crushed coal. It is useful to prevent rotting by soaking the tubers for half an hour in a phytosporin solution, and then drying them for 24 hours.

The transplantation procedure is no different from planting a plant in a pot. The only difference is that you may need a larger diameter pot.

Gloxinia: photo