Among flowering plants, calceolaria attracts attention by the brightness and unusual appearance of its flowers. For the house usually buy an adult or grow from seeds, but get a hybrid.
In the article, you will learn how to grow a hybrid calcium seedlings at home, and what care it takes.
Basic information about calcilia
Calceolaria hybrid - a plant that reaches a height of 45 cm. Has dense, light green leaves and bicuspid flowers-bags resembling a shoe. The lower lip of the flower is much larger than the top and looks like a bubble. Coloring is both monophonic and colorful, but invariably bright colors: yellow, orange, red or white. With due care of the room calceolaria, one flower leaves up to 50 flowers collected in the inflorescence. Flowering lasts for a month, after which the plant is recommended to be thrown out.
How to grow calceolaria from seeds?
Calceolaria is grown from seeds as an annual during the whole year. In order to receive a flowering plant in autumn, it is necessary to begin planting works in March, and if in spring, then in June. Instead of land use a mixture of sand and peat in a ratio of 1: 7, with the addition of 20 gr. chalk or dolomite flour for 1 kg. The mixture is covered in a container and moistens the surface. The seeds are sown from above without being embedded in the soil and covered with a napkin, which is periodically moistened. For germination of shoots, a temperature of + 18-20 ° C is required. When the seedlings have ascended, they are dived with tweezers. Repeatedly they are dived into individual pots (diameter 7 cm) with soil during the formation of a leaf socket, and then placed near the light windows. Use a composition of soil: 2 parts humus, turf, peat and 1 part of sand.
To obtain flowering plants in March, it is necessary to sow the seeds in the period from July 5 to July 15, in September, transplant into pots (diameter 9-11 cm), pricking the tops and leaving 3 pairs of leaves. And in January-February, once again, transplant into large pots with the above-mentioned soil, which is supplemented with a complex mineral fertilizer (2-3 gr. Per 1 kg).
Cultivation of calceolaria according to this scheme will allow obtaining a flowering plant after 8-10 months.
How to care for a calceolaria flower?
Knowledge of the peculiarities of cultivation and development helps to organize the care of any flower competently. Calceolaria needs these conditions:
- bright scattered light - grows well in the northern, western and eastern windows, in the south it must be protected from the sun with translucent paper or cloth;
- temperature + 13-15 ° C - in the heat the plant withers and grows old quickly;
- high humidity, but without spraying - to do this, put the flower on a pallet with water, or put it in a pot, where peat is poured between the pots, which is moistened;
- Regular watering with standing water (every 3-4 days), but you need to check that the water in the pan does not stagnate, and after the flowering, watering is reduced;
- the formation of the bush by pasyning; remove all lateral shoots;
- fertilizing every 14 days with mineral fertilizers , starting from the 3rd week after potting and before flowering.
- It is also necessary to spray it every two weeks with an insecticide to protect against aphids .
Calceolaria with age loses its decorative, so every year it is replaced with a new one.
If desired, after the flowering, you can cut the entire aboveground part of the plant, put it in a cool place without sun and water it as it dries. As the growth grows, it is moved to the illuminated window sill and intensifies watering. Repeated calzceolaria will bloom 2 months earlier than the first time, but the characteristic picturesqueness and the shape of the flowers will be lost.
Knowing all the subtleties of care, it is quite easy to grow a beautiful calceolaria, which for a long time will be a decoration of the window sill.