The plant belongs to the Gentian family. Each individual nation has its own name. Eustoma, Texas bluebell, beautiful bowl, prairie gentian, prairie bluebell, lisianthus are all names for this flower. The homeland of the plant is the southern part of the United States, the northern part of South America, Mexico, the Isthmus of Panama, the Caribbean islands, where it actually grows in the wild.
Eustoma flowers: description
At various stages of development, the plant resembles either a rose, or a poppy, or a tulip. In the wild, eustoma flowers have a blue color of various shades, but plants of brighter shades of yellow, white and red are artificially bred.
The size of the flowers themselves, which are formed by 17-20 pcs. on one plant, it can reach 8-10 cm. In the cut, they do not fade for a long time - up to two weeks.
The stalk has a size of 30 to 60 cm, depending on the variety of eustoma. It is quite stable, but the stem needs support for the flowers to grow properly.
Eustoma flowers: growing
Usually seeds are sown duringfrom January to March or from August to December. In the first year of life, plants produce flowers (in summer or spring, depending on the time of sowing). Good soil for eustoma is sand mixed with soil. The soil must be sifted and steamed. Seeds are placed in small pots evenly over the entire surface. They are small: in 1 gram there can be up to 20 thousand of them.
Eustoma flowers grow very slowly. Grown up to the third, real, leaflet, the plants dive into cells 3x3 or 4x4 cm. After the formation of 5-6 leaves, the eustoma is transplanted into larger pots (12-16 cm in diameter), 2-4 pcs. in one pot. To form more compact bushes, gardeners advise pinching the plant over the second leaf. However, in this case, flowering will come with a delay of 3-4 weeks. Eustoma will show the first flowers for a period of 3 to 3.5 months. They will slowly open, after each of them blooms, the peduncle must be cut off above the bottom pair of leaves. From their sinuses, after 2-2.5 months, new flower shoots will appear.
Eustoma flowers: care
The soil for this plant must be rich in nutrients. It should also have good culvert capacity and be light in mechanical composition. Eustoma flowers (photo on the right) are very demanding on the soil, so it is important to monitor its composition. The plant is sensitive to s alts, especially if their concentration is high. This is taken into account when feeding, which is carried out twice a month. It is worth noting that eustoma flowersprefer top dressing obtained by dissolving fertilizer in water (2-4 g per liter of water) rather than dry.
Watering should be plentiful, but before it you need to wait for the soil to dry. With strong moisture, the plant may be subject to diseases such as gray rot and fusarium.
Gardeners are advised to grow flowers as a houseplant, that is, keep them indoors. However, in the summer you can take them out into the open air, where flowering will be even more abundant. But when the temperature outside drops in autumn, it is better to bring the plant back into the room.
