The rules for growing streptocarpus and the features of its reproduction: how to plant seeds and root the leaf?

Streptocarpuses are representatives of the Gesneriev family. Every day they become more and more popular. The reasons for its popularity are ease of care and a variety of varieties.

Previously, they only grew in tropical rainforests, on mountain slopes in Asia, Africa and Madagascar. Breeders tamed these annual and perennial wild representatives. Each grower has the opportunity to grow them at home, observing simple rules of cultivation.

Flower description

Streptocarpus has slightly wrinkled and pubescent leaves.. They form a socket. Their length is 30 cm, and their width is 5-7 cm. Basically they are green and only in some new varieties are they variegated.

From the sinuses appear high peduncles. Sometimes they reach a length of 25 cm. Flowers are located on them. They are like bells, since the lower petals are elongated. There are a lot of types, shades and sizes of flowers.

They are even different in diameter. After the flowers fade, a fruit will form - a twisted pod. Seeds ripen in this pod.

Distinctive features

1. Unpretentiousness in leaving.
2. Lush and long flowering from spring to winter.
3. Year-round flowering, subject to the use of artificial additional illumination.
4. The plant does not lose its decorative effect after it fades.
5. Reproduction by any part.

How to grow?

Streptocarpus - delicate plants. Caring for them is simple. Florists who decide to grow them, follow simple rules, and enjoy the beauty that wraps the windowsill all year round. This helps to clarify using phytolamps and fluorescent lamps.

Full daylight is not enough for this photophilous culture. Are there any other rules that are important to follow when leaving?

Soil selection

Streptocarpuses are plants that grow quickly. They have powerful roots. In order for them to grow normally, it is important to choose the right soil in which to plant streptocarpuses. Ideal soil - nutritious, loose and breathable. The optimum acidity is 6.7-6.9 pH. The diameter of the pot is 9-12 cm.

The composition of the earth mixture:

• 3 parts of Vermion soil;
• one part of chernozem / leaf humus;
• one part of baking powder. Vermiculite, coarse perlite or washed coarse river sand are suitable.

Soil sterilization

The ingredients from the list above are sterilized in an oven on a baking sheet. To do this, add 1 cup of water. Sterilization lasts for fifty minutes. The temperature is 150 degrees.

After this time, add 1 tbsp. To the resulting mixture. sphagnum moss, which should be finely chopped, 1/3 Art. charcoal, previously crushed, and trichodermin. The last ingredient is added strictly according to the instructions.

After sterilization, 2-3 weeks must pass before the mixture can be used to plant the plant. This time is necessary to restore soil microflora.

Fertilizers

Good Means for Feeding Babies - Etisso Green. It is bred as follows: 1 ml per 1 liter. As for what is better to feed an adult plant, then "Eco-Magic" is suitable for it. Fertilizing rare - 1 time per week.

Dosage - five times less than recommended by the manufacturer. If you go too far with it, spots will appear on the leaves. In summer, it is better not to feed the plant at all, since streptocarpuses will begin to wither due to the abundant flowering.

Watering

For irrigation use settled or filtered water. The plant is watered after the soil is completely dry. After some time, the water from the pan is drained.

Humidity

Comfortable humidity - 55-75%. If the air is drier in the room, spray the space next to the flower from a small spray bottle. Water droplets should never fall on it..

The arrangement of pots with pallets filled with moss, river pebbles, and expanded clay next to it also helps. They should be slightly moistened with water. You can install near them tanks with water for evaporation.

Temperature

Streptocarpuses grow indoors at t = + 22-25 ° C. The critical temperature is +16 and below degrees Celsius. They do not like the heat, if you do not affect it, they will die. First, the leaves dry, then the flowers fade.

The plant loses its decorative effect. Having noticed the first signs of the disease, it’s important to take action. Having established the temperature regime, everything will return to normal. With severe damage to the leaves, they are cut off.

The room is ventilated, but at the same time they carefully monitor that there is no draft. It is undesirable to make a pot of plants in the open air. If you do so, then only put it on a balcony or veranda, protected from rain and wind.

You can learn more about growing and caring for streptocarpus here.

Breeding methods

Seed

All beginners can be advised seed propagation. This method is the easiest.

1. The first step is to prepare the substrate, taking peat, perlite and vermiculite in equal parts. Peat is passed through a metal sieve with a mesh of 0.5-1 mm, so that its size is reduced to the size of coarse river sand.
2. Seeds of streptocarpus are sown on the surface of the soil, not deepening much.
3. After that, they press it a little with a plank, but at the same time an unplaned or plastic one will not work.
4. After sowing, the plant is watered by immersing the container in water. Moisture enters through the drainage holes so that the substrate is moistened. You can not water it in another way, since it will simply wash out the seeds.
5. After watering, cover the pots with polyethylene or glass and put in a bright place. Until the seeds germinate, the temperature under the glass should be +25 degrees Celsius. The first shoots appear after 7 days.
6. As soon as two true leaves appear, a transplant is performed. Now the substrate should be nutritious. The plant is transplanted into a mixture formed of 3 parts of peat, one vermiculite and perlite, and two leaf soil and sphagnum moss each.

Sheet fragment

Possible vegetative propagation of streptocarpus. They multiply from callus tissue. It is formed on a section of the veins of a leaf plate. The leaf is cut along, removing the central vein.

Then the cut part is placed in moist soil, which is similar to that prepared when sowing seeds. Soon, a vegetative clone will form from the lateral veins.

Dividing the bush

The simplest method of reproduction, which many beginner growers forget about, is to divide the bush. To use it, they wait until the bushy flower expands greatly due to lateral formed bushes. It can be divided into parts. The mother plant will benefit from this: it will rejuvenate.

Read more about methods of breeding streptocarpus here.

How to root a leaf?

Streptocarpuses breed by cutting off a leaf fragment. It is advisable to choose the right one for this. The leaf should be with a huge number of lateral veins, which should extend from the central vein. The more of them, the more children will appear.

The sheet is cut across, having received several parts from it. The length of each leaf fragment should be the same as the size of the pot selected for rooting. When removing the central vein, they act gently.

They throw it away, and only lateral fragments of the sheet are allowed into the case. It is advisable to place them in square-shaped pots or in low square-shaped pots with a side height of 30 mm. Having prepared the pots, they pour the soil with a layer with a thickness of 15-20 mm. Then they put the leaves in shallow grooves and compact the soil near them.

Small leaves at the lateral veins appear after 2 months. Only two months later, when the new leaves reach a length of 30-40 mm, they are sedimented from the mother sheet. After transplanting, keep pots with leaves in a plastic greenhouse. They must take root and grow.

What should be the care?

Behind the plant

A pot of streptocarpuses is placed on a window that direct sunlight does not fall on.. It is important to ensure that there are no drafts in this place. If there are problems with lighting, new leaves will not appear, and peduncles with flowers will not form from the sinuses.

Much will depend on watering. The plant is watered only when the topsoil is completely dry. For irrigation use soft, settled water at room temperature. If it is too frequent, the roots will rot and the flower will die.

Also carefully monitor that water does not get into the leaf socket. It is poured exclusively under the leaves. You can water streptocarpuses by immersion in a container of water.

For seedlings

Grow a plant from seeds. Flower shops sell them in a dredged form due to the fact that the seeds are too small. The shell itself will collapse after surface sowing in the moist upper layer of the earth.

It is not necessary to wait for spring to grow a new flower specimen. Sowing seeds is carried out all year round, but the first flower stalk after planting appears only after seven months. To accelerate growth, many flower growers use additional illumination and water the seedlings only after the final drying of the soil.

For the shoots

All plants from the Gesneriaceae family regenerate roots as part of a leaf plate. The main thing is to choose a healthy sheet for cutting slices. It is planted in a soaked peat tablet.

Do not take care of it in a special way, just water it and make sure that young shoots appear at the leaf. As soon as they appear, they are transplanted into separate cups.

Sometimes the central vein is removed from the whole leaf and longitudinal strips are arranged in a mini-greenhouse. It is made with ease from a roll box. The planting is compacted and sprayed so that it is damp in the box. This dampness is maintained until the appearance of the children. After their appearance, they are seated in separate pots.

Diseases and Pests

Streptocarpuses suffer from infectious diseases. During the illness, their leaves may turn yellow, wither or wither. If you start the disease, flowering will deteriorate. If you do not take action, they will die.

Powdery mildew. This is manifested by the appearance of white plaque on the stem, leaves and flowers. Over time, the white coating will turn brown. Leaves and flowers will begin to dry and die.

So that powdery mildew does not ruin streptocarpuses, they are afraid of drafts, temperature drops, waterlogging of the soil and frequent top dressing. If you take measures when the first sign appears - a white coating on the leaves and stems, buy special solutions and use them according to the instructions.

Quite often, streptocarpus is affected by gray rot.. A light brown coating appears on the affected part. It turns over time into brown ulcers, which are constantly increasing in size. The reasons for the appearance are excessive humidity. All affected areas are removed, and then the plant is sprayed with a copper-soap solution.

The insect thrips is harmful to streptocarpus. Often, novice growers do not notice them. They cannot connect some signs together and feel something is amiss. The flowers fade quickly, the anthers turn brown and dry, and the pistils thicken at the base.

You can learn more about pests and diseases of streptocarpus from this article.

Conclusion

Streptocarpus is a beautiful plant. They fascinate with their bright appearance. Once having seen them, many flower growers fall in love and want to get this "twisted box" (this is how the name of the plant is literally translated) forever. Why not? After all, they are not very burdensome to care.