Plant calceolaria (lat. Calceolaria) belongs to the genus Calceolaria of the Norichnikov family, although English scientists distinguish the genus Calceolaria in a separate family. The genus contains about 400 plant species native to Central and South America. In translation, "calceolaria" means "slipper". Representatives of the genus are herbaceous plants, semi-shrubs or shrubs, among them there are perennials, biennials and annuals, but in room culture, calceolaria flowers are usually grown as annual herbaceous plants.
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Planting and caring for calceolaria
- Bloom: in April or May for 3-5 weeks.
- Lighting: penumbra (northern, northwestern or eastern window).
- Temperature: not higher than 15 ˚C.
- Watering: constant so that the soil in the pot is slightly moist all the time.
- Air humidity: very high. It is recommended to keep the plant on a tray of wet pebbles or line the pot with peat and keep it moist at all times. Spraying the plant is not recommended.
- Top dressing: two weeks after planting and before flowering - with mineral fertilizer solutions twice a month. Do not fertilize in autumn and winter.
- Pruning: after flowering.
- rest period: after flowering for 1-1.5 months.
- Transfer: are not transplanted. The life of the plant is 2 seasons, then the plant no longer blooms.
- Reproduction: seeds, cuttings.
- Pests: aphids, whiteflies.
- Diseases: gray rot.
Read more about growing calceolaria below.
Calceolaria flowers - description
The calceolaria flower grows in height and width to about 30-50 cm. The leaves of the plant are lanceolate, corrugated, bright green in color, with pubescence on the underside of the leaf plate, reach a length of 5 to 10 cm. The main advantage, due to which calceolaria and gained its popularity are its flowers, shaped like clogs of bright yellow, orange, white or red, plain, with strokes or speckled. The shape of the flower is very funny: it seems to consist of two lips - one large, inflated, spherical, and the other small, almost imperceptible. The indoor calceolaria flower blooms in April or May and blooms for 3-5 weeks. On one plant at the time of flowering, up to 50 flowers ranging in size from 2.5 to 6 cm can open.
Calceolaria care at home
How to care for calceolaria
In the question of how to care for calceolaria, the most difficult thing is to create the conditions necessary for the plant. Caring for calceolaria flowers is complicated by the fact that heat and dry air are contraindicated for them, and in apartments that are not equipped with an air conditioning system, it is hot and dry in the summer. Calceolaria at home prefers the penumbra of the north, east or northwest window, the temperature is not higher than 15 ºC and humid air, so you need to keep the pot with calceolaria on a tray with wet pebbles, and water it with soft settled water so often that the soil does not dry out.
After flowering, watering is gradually reduced. So that the plant does not suffer from dry air, you can keep the pot in a spacious flowerpot, laying peat between the walls of the pot and the flowerpot, which should be wet all the time. Spraying calceolaria is undesirable. If the plant is too hot and dry, it drops buds, is easily affected by pests, and generally ages quickly.
Calceolaria fertilizer
Caring for calceolaria involves feeding the plant with soluble mineral fertilizers twice a month, starting two weeks after the plant is planted and before flowering begins. In autumn and winter, the plant is not fertilized, after flowering it is cut off, transferred for one and a half to two months to a cool, gloomy place, occasionally moistening the soil in a pot. When new shoots begin to grow in the calceolaria, the moisture intensity is gradually increased, the plant is moved to its usual place and mineral supplements are resumed.
Calceolaria transplant
The overwintered plant blooms two months earlier than the calceolaria grown from seeds this year, but the decorative effect of last year's bush is much lower than that of the newly planted or purchased one, so professional flower growers recommend that calceolaria lovers buy or grow a new plant every year.
If you are faced with the problem of how to transplant a purchased plant from a technical pot into your own, decorative, then it is easy to do: put a decent layer of drainage in a new pot, then transfer the plant along with a clod of earth from a technical pot to a decorative one and add land for heather or substrate for geraniums to fill the voids. You can make up the soil for the calceolaria yourself, for this you will need two parts of sod and leafy soil, one part of peat soil and half of the sand.
Pests and diseases of calceolaria
Of the insect pests, aphids and whiteflies most often affect calceolaria. You can try to collect the aphids mechanically and destroy them, but if the infection is total, then you will have to resort to treating the plant with the chemical preparation Aktellik, which will help you out even if the calceolaria is affected by the whitefly. If the infection is too strong, it will be necessary to re-treat in 3-4 days - no more than four treatments are allowed with the same interval.
Of the diseases for calceolaria, gray rot is the most dangerous. It occurs when the plant has been chronically waterlogged for a long time at too low a temperature and too high humidity in the room. Growing calceolaria requires strict adherence to the rules, otherwise trouble may begin. The plant also weakens the excessive concentration of nitrogen in fertilizers, which provokes infection of the flower with gray mold. Heavily affected areas are removed with a sharp knife, and the plant is sprayed with Bordeaux liquid or oxychome, topaz, cuproskat - any copper-containing preparation.
Reproduction of calceolaria
Growing calceolaria from seeds
If you don’t know how to grow calceolaria from seeds, buy in a store or make your own mixture of sand and peat in a ratio of 1: 7 with a slight addition of ground chalk or dolomite flour (20 g per 1 kg of soil mixture). Calceolaria seeds are not in short supply, they can be purchased at any large specialized store, including via the Internet. Sowing of calceolaria seeds is carried out in April on a mixture previously disinfected by calcination and moistened, without embedding them in the soil, but covering the container with crops with glass or film, from which condensate will need to be removed as necessary.
Crops are kept in a warm (18 ºC), well-lit place, regularly airing and moistening the soil by spraying. After two weeks, when shoots appear, they are watered in a thin stream between the rows. After a month, they are dived for the first time, and after another two months, when rosettes are formed, they are dived a second time into individual pots with a diameter of 7 cm, watered once every two weeks. In September, the seedlings are transplanted into pots with a diameter of 9-11 cm and placed in a bright and more than cool - 8-10 ºC - room.
In January-February, calceolaria is planted in large pots with a nutrient mixture for adult plants, pinched over 3-4 leaves, transferred to a permanent place and waiting for flowering, which usually occurs 8-10 months after sowing the seeds.
Propagation of calceolaria by cuttings
You can try to root the cuttings from the shoots cut after flowering of the calceolaria. Cuttings can be cut in August, or in February-March. Root segments of shoots in a nutrient soil mixture. It usually takes 3-4 weeks for roots to appear. In order to get a thick bush, several rooted cuttings are planted in one pot.
Plants with whimsical and luxurious flowers are always eye-catching. And many flower growers are trying to grow amazing pets on their own. And for this, often you don’t need so much - stock up on planting material and find out about the features of caring for a particular plant. An herbaceous culture with the bizarre name calceolaria, also known as “shoes” or “wallets”, is distinguished by its amazing flowering, let's clarify what kind of planting and care this flower needs, and also consider its cultivation from seeds at home.
Calceolaria is actually a perennial, but in indoor culture it is usually grown only as an annual plant. Such a pet usually grows up to twenty to thirty centimeters. It pleases the owners with flowers in the spring - around April-May, and flowering lasts from three to five weeks.
Growing calceolaria from seeds at home
Regardless of where you want to start growing flowers - at home or in your garden, you need to sow it at home to get seedlings. It is best to start this activity in March. For sowing flower seeds, it is worth using peat soil mixed with sand in a ratio of 7: 1. But at the same time, it must be taken into account that such a plant cannot grow on sour peat, so ground chalk must be mixed into the soil mixture. Usually, about twenty grams of chalk is used per kilogram of peat.
The resulting soil must be thoroughly calcined before use.
Calceolaria seeds are very small - they are simply scattered over the surface of the soil mixture and are not sprinkled with anything. It is worth placing a wet piece of paper on top and moistening it regularly with a spray bottle. Crops should be in a fairly warm room, where the thermometer does not fall below eighteen degrees.
The first seedlings appear after two weeks. They must be watered with care, pouring water in a thin stream. After the appearance of a pair of true leaves on the seedlings, it dives. At home, flowers, while they are young, can simply be transferred to a larger container, placing them at intervals of three to four centimeters. The optimum temperature for growing remains the same - about eighteen - twenty degrees. In order for the plants to take root normally in a new place, it will not be superfluous to cover them with polyethylene or glass. Every day, the seedlings need to be ventilated, and the condensate in the shelter must be systematically eliminated. The soil should remain moist at all times, but not excessively damp.
When growing seedlings, you need to provide her with sufficient lighting, it is best to keep her on a sunny windowsill, but shade from direct sunlight.
Planting calceolaria in open ground
Readers of "Popular about Health" need to find the right place to plant calceolaria flowers. Such a plant is not demanding on the soil and can grow on any garden soil. But at the same time, good drainage is extremely important for calceolaria, as stagnant water can destroy it. It is better that the earth is nutritious and breathable. It is advisable to plant such a crop in sunny places with slight shading.
It should be borne in mind that calceolaria does not like wind very much, so it is better to grow it in areas not subject to strong winds.
Landing in open ground is carried out after a stable warm temperature is established. But in general, calceolaria grown at home is able to tolerate short-term frosts.
Further care for calceolaria
Calceolaria is not very demanding. Young plants need systematic watering, and flowering crops may well grow with some moisture deficiency. In no case should the plant be flooded, as its root system can easily and quickly rot.
It will not be superfluous to periodically feed such a pet. To do this, you can use complex fertilizers, about twice a month. The additional intake of nutrients will make the flowering of the plant more magnificent.
Since calceolaria is inherently a perennial, you can try saving it for a second year. To do this, you need to dig up the plants and place them in fairly cool and dark rooms. Bushes of the second year of life begin to bloom a little earlier than those obtained from seeds. But at the same time, as many flower growers note, their decorative effect is somewhat reduced.
Flower care should take into account that calceolaria can suffer from attack by pests, for example, whiteflies, aphids, spider mites, etc. You can cope with this problem with the help of insecticides, taking into account the development cycle of pests.
Calceolaria is usually grown as a border plant, or decorate an alpine hill with it. You can also plant such a flower near a pond or in the foreground of a flower garden. Calceolaria also looks great in window boxes, they should be located in partial shade and be fairly well protected from the winds.
Additional Information
Calceolaria can be grown as a houseplant. It is also grown from seedlings and placed in separate pots on the northern, western or eastern windowsill. In order for the plant to bloom, it needs a certain temperature of maintenance - from fourteen to sixteen degrees. Sufficient air humidity also plays an important role, but spraying such a flower can only harm.
Calceolaria is a very beautiful flower that, if properly placed, can become a real highlight of the garden.
A herbaceous and profusely flowering plant like calceolaria at home is grown as an annual or biennial. Its popularity is associated with very spectacular flowers that have an unusual shape, reminiscent of a "purse" or "slipper". So, these bright flowers are two-lipped, the upper lip of which has an extremely small size, and the lower one is large, spherical, swollen.
The genus Calceolaria (Calceolaria) has approximately 400 species of the families of norichnikovyh. In English taxonomy, they are classified in the Calceolariaceae family. In the wild, such a flower can be found in Central and South America. "Calceolaria" is translated from Latin as "little shoe".
This genus includes shrubs, herbs, shrubs, in which the leaves are opposite or whorled. The flower calyx is four-membered, and the corolla is swollen, two-lipped (while the upper lip is usually smaller). Has 2-3 stamens. The fruit is presented in the form of a box.
In calceolaria, most species are very beautiful and are grown as ornamental plants. Hybrid garden varieties were created from species such as: C. arachnoidea, C. corymbosa, C. crenatiflora, as well as others. For growing in cool greenhouses, as a rule, hybrids are chosen, the flowers of which are colored purple, orange, yellow or red, and their corollas can also be shaded or spotted. They are propagated by cuttings or seeds.
This beautifully flowering plant will delight you with its flowers in spring, while you should know that it is problematic to grow it at home, as it prefers cool places. Its spherical, bright, bubbly flowers stand out in particular. Often there are many different dots and spots on the flowers. As a rule, calceolaria blooms from March to June. Flowering continues for 4 weeks. One plant can form 18–55 flowers.
Temperature regime
This flower needs coolness (12-16 degrees). If the air temperature is too high, then flowers or buds may fall off.
illumination
He likes well-lit places, but the light should be diffused. Requires shading from direct sunlight. It is best to put on the windowsill, located in the northern, eastern or northwestern part of the room.
How to water
Watering should be plentiful. Don't let the soil dry out.
Humidity
The flower needs very high humidity. It is recommended to pour small pebbles or expanded clay into a wide pan, pour water, and put a flower pot on top. When spraying, try not to get the liquid on the pubescent leaves. Only flowers are sprayed.
How to transplant
The soil mixture consists of leaf, peat, sod land, as well as sand, mixed in a ratio of 3:2:3:1. When the calceolaria finishes blooming, it can be thrown out.
How to propagate
This plant can be grown from seeds. For this, sowing is carried out from May to July, while the seeds are not sprinkled with earth. A double pick is required. For germination, the seeds need to provide a temperature of about 18 degrees. But it is difficult to grow this flower in room conditions; it is better to purchase it ready-made in a special store.
How to care for calceolaria correctly
Such a plant simply needs diffused light, and it does not tolerate the direct rays of the sun, from which it must be shaded. It grows well on windowsills located on the western or eastern window. If the calceolaria is placed on the southern windowsill, then it needs good shading, which can be made of paper or a translucent material (for example, tulle, gauze, tracing paper, and so on). Also feels great on the northern windowsill. When the plant begins to bloom, it will need not very much shading. In the autumn-winter period, it is recommended to illuminate the flower with fluorescent lamps.
In order for calceolaria to grow and develop normally, it needs the air temperature in the room to be no higher than 12–16 degrees, and, importantly, at any time of the year.
During the flowering period, watering should be regular. To do this, you need to use soft and always settled water. It is necessary to moisten the soil immediately after drying the top layer. Some time after watering, be sure to pour out the liquid that has accumulated in the pan. When flowering is over, you need to water the calceolaria very rarely and little, but make sure that the earthen ball does not dry out. After fresh shoots appear, they gradually return to the previous irrigation regime.
This flower simply needs a very high humidity, but at the same time, experts do not advise moistening it from a spray bottle. In order to achieve the necessary humidity, the pot with the plant is placed on a pallet, into which water is poured and pebbles are placed, and moistened peat or expanded clay can also be used. It is also advised to place the flower pot in a flowerpot, and fill the remaining space between the 2 vessels with wet peat (it is moistened regularly).
The first time the plant is fed after 2 weeks have passed after transplanting the flower into a permanent pot. Mineral fertilizers are applied 2 times a month.
After this plant has faded, its aerial part can be completely removed. Then the pot needs to be rearranged for 6-8 weeks in a dark, cool place. Watering is rarely needed, but the soil should not dry out completely. After the young growth appears, the pot is placed in a well-lit place, and after a while the calceolaria blooms. As a rule, flowering in such flowers begins a couple of months earlier than those grown from seeds. However, they are characterized by a loss of decorativeness, due to the fact that they are strongly drawn out.
Over time, calceolaria will certainly lose its decorative effect and quickly enough. To always have beautiful plants, you need not to transplant them, but to replace them with new ones.
How to propagate calceolaria
Seeds are used to propagate these flowers. If you want flowering to come in the spring, then you need to sow them in June, and if in the fall, then in March.
The seeds of calceolaria are very small in size, for example, in 1 gram there are about 30 thousand of them. Sowing is carried out directly on the surface of the soil, additional powdering with earth is not required. Paper is placed on top of the soil, and it must be systematically moistened. Picking is done after the seedlings grow 2 true leaves. To create a suitable soil mixture, it is necessary to mix hardwood, humus and peat soil, as well as sand in a ratio of 2:2:2:1.
Also, the seeds germinate well on peat. If you want flowering to come in mid-March, then sowing should be done from July 5 to July 15. To do this, use bedding peat disinfected from rot by heating to 90-100 degrees. Chalk is used to reduce the acidity of peat. To do this, it is added to the substrate. 15-20 grams of ground chalk is taken per kilogram of peat. Peat is also mixed with sand in a ratio of 7:1. In the resulting mixture, seeds are sown. To do this, they are scattered over the surface and not sprinkled on top with a substrate. Next, the container is tightly covered with glass or film. When condensation collects on the inner surface of the covering material, it must be carefully turned over so that water does not get on the seedlings. Be sure to keep the substrate consistently moist.
The second pick in pots with a diameter of 7 centimeters is made after the appearance of the outlet. Then they are placed on light window sills. At the beginning of autumn, another transplant is carried out, and pots with a diameter of 9–11 centimeters are used for it. Do not forget to pinch the calceolaria before this transplant, only 2 or 3 pairs of leaves should remain, and side shoots will begin to grow from their sinuses.
You can also form a bush with the help of pinching. To do this, you need to carefully remove the side shoots that form from the axils of the leaves.
Another transplant is already in larger pots produced from January to February. For this, a nutritious and heavy soil mixture is used, consisting of humus, sod and peat soil, as well as sand, mixed in a ratio of 2: 2: 2: 1. Also, do not forget to add 2-3 grams of complex mineral fertilizer per kilogram of the mixture. This humus substrate must necessarily be slightly acidic (approximate pH 5.5).
Flowering occurs 8-10 months after sowing seeds.
Growing difficulties
Every year these flowers need to be replaced with new ones. It is not advisable to leave them for the next year.
The leaves wither and the calceolaria quickly ages if the air in the room is too hot and dry.
Main types
Mexican calceolaria (Calceolaria mexicana)
Such plants are difficult to combine with others. So, this type of calceolaria has very small flowers (diameter 5 millimeters) of a light yellow hue. They look most advantageous in a border along with flowers that have decorative leaves, as well as in a composition located on the bank of a stream. The corollas of calceolaria then look like small lanterns.
Under different conditions of detention, the height of the bush may vary (from 20 to 50 centimeters). Taller bushes will be in a moist shaded place with nutrient soil. In the wild, Mexican calceolaria can be found on the wooded slopes of the mountains of Mexico, because it is a heat-loving plant. But at the same time, the bright light of the sun does not tolerate well, only if it is provided with good watering. This flower bears fruit almost always abundantly and it produces a large number of seeds.
wrinkled calceolaria - Calceolaria rugosa
This calceolaria is distinguished by its elegance and originality. Her homeland is Chile.
Such a herbaceous perennial plant, which has a very branched erect stem (25–50 centimeters high), is most often grown as an annual. Small (diameter 1.5–2 centimeters) flowers have a bright yellow color. But there are forms that have brownish dots. Small leaves are collected in rosettes. If you sow this plant as usual, then it begins to bloom in June and continues - until the frost. If there is a desire for this flower to bloom in the month of April, then it must be grown in containers.
Main varieties:
- Goldbukett - the plant has large flowers, and the height of a fairly strong bush reaches 25–30 centimeters;
- Triomphe de Versailles - has small flowers, and the height of a fast-growing bush reaches 35–50 centimeters;
- Sunset (Calceolaria x hybridus) is a very showy plant that can be grown both at home and in the garden. On each rosette, consisting of dark green leathery leaves, about a dozen short peduncles appear. In this case, the flowers-bells can be painted in orange, yellow or red. The height of the bushes reach 15-20 centimeters. They do not die with a short-term decrease in temperature to minus 5 degrees.
Video review
The botanical origin of calceolaria is South America, where over 400 species of this plant are found. In indoor gardening, several varieties are used, which are traditionally classified as norichnikovy family.
Description
Due to the intricate shape of the flower, the people called calceolaria "Magic Shoe" or "Slipper". The bud consists of two closed petals, the lower edge is in the form of a large bubble, and the upper part covers it. One gets the impression that the flower is a solid shape.
Calceolaria looks like a bush up to 40 cm in diameter with inflorescences from alternately opening buds. Flowering lasts from May to June, approximately 4 to 5 weeks.
Coloring can be very diverse:
- Light yellow solid color
- orange,
- bright red
- Cherry purple.
Many varieties are decorated with dark dots, splashes, small spots.
Bush - compact, with pubescent leaves of a rounded shape. At home, it is used as a biennial plant. However, growing calceolaria in apartments can be difficult because the flower loves coolness., this is not always possible at home.
Species and varieties with photos
Of the many botanical species in indoor floriculture several varieties are popular:
- Calceolaria wrinkled,
- Mexican calceolaria,
- Calceolaria purpurea,
- Calceolaria hybrida,
- Calceolaria multiflora.
wrinkled calceolaria - Calceolaria rugosa
Spreading flexible shoots hang randomly within a radius of 40 - 50 cm. The leaves are small, narrow, pale green. The stems are decorated with spongy small flowers.
At varieties Goldbuckett the buds are bright yellow, tightly adjacent to each other.
Sunset Hybrid differs in large and loose flowers on compact shoots up to 30 cm long. Coloring is fiery orange.
Mexican calceolaria - Calceolaria mexicana
The bush forms strongly branched stems, on each of which, several inflorescences of yellow color bloom. The shape of each flower is two-lipped, consists of two tightly closed petals. The size of the bud is 5 cm in diameter.
It is successfully used in garden gardening as an annual. Often planted in borders, with a strip of 30 - 50 cm.
Calceolaria purple - Calceolaria purpurea Graham
Of all indoor species, this is the largest, bush height - 50 cm.
The dark green leaves are rounded, with serrated edges and a sharp end in the center.
Flowers with an elongated lower lip are distinguished by a lilac-purple color.
The size of the bud is 2 - 3 cm.
Calceolaria hybrid - Calceolaria herbeohybrida
The most numerous species, or rather a collection of varieties, which combined several spectacular breeding hybrids with white, yellow, red flowers.
Some have two- and three-color spotting.
They are the most popular in indoor floriculture.
For example, hybrids include such varieties as calceolaria crenate-flowered, calceolaria deinti mix, Danti F1.
Calceolaria multiflora - Calceolaria multiflora
Fully corresponds to the name, because it has the largest and most dense flowers of all varieties and species. The color of the slightly open spongy petals is a monochromatic carmine color, with bright yellow fluffy stamens.
Growing from seeds
Usually calceolaria is used as a disposable plant. Throw it away after flowering. If there is a desire to save a flower, it is propagated by seeds. Sowing time - mid-June, then the calceolaria will bloom in May next year.
Sowing is carried out in this order:
- Mature grains are sown in a bowl 10 cm high, which is pre-filled with a substrate of leafy soil, grassroots peat, humus, sand in a ratio of 2:2:2:1.
- Seeds are carefully applied to the surface of the moistened mixture without sprinkling them.
- From above, the sowing is covered with glass or plastic wrap and left in a well-lit place with a temperature of +18 0 - +20 0.
- Seedlings are constantly ventilated, preventing moisture stagnation.
Carefully! Do not allow condensation on the inside of the lid (or film) to fall on the seedlings, otherwise they will rot!
Shoots appear in 10-15 days. When the second true leaf appears on the sprouts, the first pick is carried out. The next time the procedure is carried out, it will be needed in one and a half, two months.
Landing
The plant is planted in an individual pot 100-120 days after sowing. Flowering occurs after 8 - 9 months.
For growing calceolaria prepare soil substrate, which includes:
- Ground peat - 7 parts,
- Coarse-grained sand - 1 part.
The mixture is thoroughly mixed and placed in a pot, at the bottom of which there is a drainage layer of expanded clay. It removes excess water when watering.
Care
Calceolaria needs gentle watering, timely feeding, observing the light regime and maintaining optimal air humidity.
It reacts painfully to unsuitable conditions - it does not bloom. Under unfavorable conditions, it dies.
Lighting
Like any flowering culture, it requires enough light, but categorically does not tolerate direct rays and the scorching sun. Optimal location- this is the northeast or northwest side, where there is a natural shadow in the morning or in the afternoon.
It is better not to use the southern window sill at all. If there is no other way out, you need to arrange shading or create diffused lighting.
in winter calceolaria is illuminated with fluorescent lamps up to a total duration of 8 hours.
Summer they take it out to a shaded balcony, under a terrace canopy.
Temperature
All types and varieties do not tolerate excessive heat. At +23 0 and above, the plant suffers and rapidly ages. With prolonged drought, it dies.
During the period of active growth from March to June, maintain the temperature + 15 0 – +18 0 .
From autumn to spring, it is necessary to create conditions from +12 0 to + 17 0 .
Humidity
One of the most important conditions for successful growth and flowering is maintaining relative humidity.
Attention! Sharp fluctuations should not be allowed. Indicators are supported within the limits from 45% to 70%. Lower or higher are detrimental to the plant.
With a humidity of less than forty-five percent, the plant quickly withers and dries. With an excess of moisture, the leaves are affected by aphids, and the roots rot.
Watering, fertilizer
Optimal irrigation is keeping the substrate moist. Sharp changes in dry and wet soil are unacceptable. The bush is watered abundantly so that the water completely moistens the earthen ball and goes into the pan. Excess moisture must be drained, sometimes it has to be done several times.
The next session will be needed when the top layer of the substrate dries out.
Important! For irrigation use soft, settled water, at room temperature.
When planting young plants, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are added to the substrate for rooting. They are successfully replaced by wood ash.
In autumn, feeding is stopped until the end of February. With the onset of spring, they make a complex fertilizer for flowering houseplants. Sessions are repeated every 2 weeks.
crown formation
As soon as the lower leaves grow densely, I hang from the pot, they are removed. Petioles break off to the base of the outlet. If this is not done, the green mass will take away nutrients and flower buds will not form.
Calceolaria has a tendency to roll over on its side. To prevent this from happening, the bush is propped up with special pegs that support and guide the crown.
When buds appear, you need to make sure that the leaves do not crawl on the inflorescences. If necessary excess plates are carefully broken off.
Transfer
Here's how it's done:
With the advent of sprouts, the calceolaria is transferred to a larger container for transshipment. At the end of summer, beginning of winter put on the windowsill. Then flowering occurs in March of the next year, 2 months earlier than that of the sowing plant.
Reproduction by cuttings
Vegetative propagation is started in August or carried out in February, March of the next year.
- The green stalk is dusted with root powder or soaked in a solution for 9 to 12 hours.
- In a peat-sand substrate 1: 1, with a pencil, make indentations of 1.5 - 2 cm.
- The cuttings are placed in the holes and pressed lightly.
- The greenhouse is covered with a transparent lid or film.
Sprouted plants are planted in pots when the third, fourth real leaves appear.
Possible difficulties
Calceolaria is prone to infection with fungal diseases, especially gray mold.
To prevent the spread of infection, you need to adhere to optimal watering, prevent stagnation of moisture and oversaturation of the soil with nitrogen.
In case of disease, it is better to cut off the damaged areas of the plant and transplant it into another soil. For the prevention and control of pathogens, EM drugs (effective microorganisms) are used. They improve the quality of the soil substrate, and inhibit the growth of pathogenic flora.
Necessary strictly adhere to the rules of care, prevent dry soil or stagnant water, provide good lighting and low temperature.
From the video you will learn about the secrets of amateur flower growers for growing this beautiful plant:
In early spring, calceolaria is one of the first to bloom in the garden or at home. This miniature plant is native to Central and South America. Its variegated flowers are shoe-shaped and can be red, white, orange or yellow. Caring for calceolaria is quite simple, so flower growers are happy to grow a plant at home. An important point in this case is the process of flower reproduction, which requires compliance with certain rules.
Description and varieties of calceolaria with a photo
Calceolaria flower belongs to perennial plants. The height and width of calceolaria has the same proportions in 20-30 cm. Bright green, corrugated leaves of the plant reach a length of 5-10 cm. Unusual flowers 2.5-6 cm in size consist of two lips. One of them is small and almost imperceptible, and the other is large, spherical, inflated. Up to fifty flowers can bloom on one plant at once. Calceolaria blooms for three to five weeks in April or May.
Calceolaria - species
The most popular types of plants are:
Calceolaria care at home
When growing a plant, the most difficult thing is providing suitable conditions for him. The fact is that the flower does not like dry air and heat. In room conditions in the summer it is almost always hot, and in winter the air is dried by heaters. Therefore, when caring for calceolaria, you must follow some rules.
Lighting and growing temperature
The plant is recommended to be kept in a well-lit place. Make sure it is not exposed to direct sunlight. A flower pot can be placed on the northern, western or eastern window sills.
The room temperature should be from +14С to +16С. At higher temperatures, calceolaria will bloom less, be affected by pests and get sick. In winter, the air temperature in room conditions should be no more than + 12C.
In the summer, the flower can be placed on the loggia, balcony or veranda. The place must be protected from direct sunlight and wind.
In autumn and winter, the plant needs to be illuminated using fluorescent lamps. In the spring, when the calceolaria begins to bloom, it will need a little shading.
Air humidity
The plant loves high humidity. However, in no case should it be sprayed, since drops of water can damage the soft edge of the leaves.
To increase the humidity around the flower, it is recommended to put the pot on a pallet with wet expanded clay, peat or moss. Some flower growers put pots in pots, filling the space between them with moistened peat.
Watering and feeding
During the dormant period, the plant is watered only as needed, that is, when the soil dries out. As soon as new shoots begin to grow, the frequency of watering increases. Especially it is necessary to monitor the soil moisture during the flowering period. Dried topsoil means that the plant needs to be watered urgently. After flowering, the plant should be watered less frequently. It is necessary to water the calceolaria with settled water at room temperature.
A young plant transplanted into a pot after two weeks needs to be fed with complex mineral fertilizers. Such top dressing is carried out every ten days until the end of flowering.
Care for calceolaria after flowering
A flower, even at home, grown as an annual plant. In order for the bush to bloom next year, it must be saved:
Such a plant will begin to bloom in February or March, that is, two months earlier than grown calceolaria from seeds. The bush will stretch, and its decorative effect will be lost.
The plant reproduces in two ways:
- seeds;
- cuttings.
Growing from seeds
The timing of sowing seeds at room conditions depends on when you want the flower to bloom. For spring flowering, planting should be done in June, and for autumn - in March.
For sowing seeds prepare peat soil mixed with sand (7:1). However, calceolaria does not like sour peat, so it is recommended to add ground chalk to it. About twenty grams of chalk is added to one kilogram of peat. The resulting soil must be well calcined before use.
The seeds of calceolaria are very small, so they are simply scattered over the surface of the soil. You don't need to sprinkle them with anything. It is recommended to put a wet piece of paper on top, moistening it regularly. It is necessary to keep crops in a warm room with a temperature not lower than + 18C.
After about two weeks, the first seedlings should appear. They should be watered between rows, carefully pouring water in a thin stream. As soon as two true leaves appear on the seedlings, they must be dived. In order for the processes to take root well, they can be covered with polyethylene or glass. Seedlings should be ventilated daily, especially after condensation has accumulated on the glass. Peat should always be wet.
Two months later, the second picking of seedlings is carried out in pots with a diameter of 9-11 cm. Immediately after transplantation, the plant is pinched. Only two or three pairs of leaves should remain on the bush. After a while, young shoots will begin to appear.
Already grown plants are transplanted into flower pots. The soil for this should be heavier and more nutritious. To prepare it, you will need to prepare:
- turf - 2 parts;
- humus - 2 parts;
- peat - 2 parts;
- sand - 1 part.
Calceolaria will bloom, subject to all the rules of cultivation, after 8-10 months from the moment of sowing the seeds.
cuttings
Cuttings cut off after flowering you can try rooting. The best months for cuttings are February, March and August. Segments of shoots are dipped in a special rooting powder, and planted in a nutrient soil mixture. For the first time, it is recommended to cover them with a plastic bag or a glass container from above. In a new place, the cuttings will take root for about two months. To make the bush of calceolaria fluffy, several cuttings are planted in one pot.
Possible growing difficulties
Calceolaria is quite picky, therefore, in room conditions, especially with improper care, can be affected by pests and diseases.
Calceolaria reacts to non-compliance with growing conditions and care rules by yellowing or wilting of foliage, falling ovaries of flowers, rapid aging or even death of the bush.
Despite the difficulties of growing calceolaria, its decorative effect and beautiful flowering with unusual flowers makes the flower a welcome guest both on window sills and in personal plots.
Calceolaria flower
