A perennial plant from the family of labial flowers - koleus - is appreciated by the flower growers mainly for their variegated leaves. His flowers are plain, although occasionally there are coots of beautifully flowering. The color of the leaves can be the most diverse: cream, pink, green, bronze, purple and other. Different types of koleus with velvety leaves are fascinated by the refinement of patterns and the variety of colors. Often on the leaves of the plant, you can see a contrasted border and streaks, stains, spots, marble pattern, etc. Unusual patterns with overflows give the flower an amazing exotic look.
Coleus - planting and care
As a rule, it is very easy to take care of the wheel. Flower koleus unpretentious in the care, grow it in gardens and in room conditions . Coleus is an extremely light and thermophilic plant. Only in the presence of these conditions will the leaves of the flower be bright, and the bushes - compact. With poor illumination, the leaves become pale, the plant stretches out and loses its decorativeness. However, from direct sunlight, the plant should be protected: from the hot sun its leaves can fade and fall.
In the summer, the wheels have to be watered abundantly, since in the hot time there is active evaporation of moisture and the leaves of the plant can become flaccid and flabby. Room wheelers feel great in the summer on a glazed sunny balcony.
In winter, room scoops should be kept at a temperature of 8 to 15 ° C without drafts and with very mild watering. If watering is unnecessary, the flower can be rotted by roots and all the leaves fall off.
If the soil is too dense, there are not enough nutrients in it or the watering is not enough, the flower has a panicle with small unsightly flowers. In order not to consume forces for flowering, such arrows must be immediately removed. To form a beautiful bush, you must pinch the tips of the shoots. This method will not allow the plant to blossom, because all of its efforts will be aimed at building decorative leaves.
How to grow a seed from a seed?
Reproduction of the wheels occurs both vegetatively, with the help of cuttings, and seeds. Cut cuttings are stored in wet sand or simply in water until roots appear. Then, as a rule, cuttings of the wheel should be planted in pots with fertile soil.
Cultivation of the seed from the seed is quite simple. In early spring, the seeds are sown in boxes at a distance from each other and moistened from the spray. Then they should be covered with glass or a thin film and put in a warm place. Another way to grow sprouts seedlings - to sow seeds in special cassettes for seedlings, and in each of them put only one seed. Cassettes also cover and put in warmth. If the seeds of the koleus are of high quality, then their germination is very high and on the fifth day there will be amicable shoots. After this, the seedlings must be accustomed to cooler air, for a day removing their shelter from them.
As soon as the seedlings grow, they must be dived. They take root after this procedure very quickly. Sown in cassettes,
If you want to plant wheelchair seedlings in the garden, select for this a light, but protected from the winds area. In the hole before planting the plant must make a nutrient substrate.
When planting seedlings for room maintenance, the substrate is made up of such parts: leaf, sod, sand and peat in equal proportions. From spring to the end of the summer, house locuses should be fertilized once every three weeks, alternating organic and mineral top dressing .