By the spring holidays, plants with beautiful and unusual flowers often appear in flower markets called calceolaria, or colloquially "slipper". Having bought such a plant, after the end of flowering, people often throw it away, believing that it is an annual, and there is nothing more to expect from it. However, by continuing to care for him, you can enjoy his flowering next year. The calceolaria flower is easy to care for and will suit even a novice grower. It is enough to follow simple rules - and the plant will thank you with a rapid and long flowering.
Getting Acquainted: Calceolaria
Calceolaria - flowers grown as an annual, biennial or perennial plant. It can be cultivated as an indoor culture or used to decorate flower beds and alpine slides. Quite unpretentious in care and very effective. This is a flowering plant thatvalued precisely for the shape of its inflorescences. Calceolaria flower is unusual in its shape and color. In the people, it is called a "shoe" because its petals resemble a woman's shoe in shape. Flowers are single-colored, but may have various spots, stripes, giving a more decorative and interesting look. This plant can be either a small shrub or a low herbaceous plant. The leaves are densely pubescent, can be either rounded or deeply cut.
Varieties
There are about 300 varieties of calceolaria, but the most widespread are:
- Calceolaria tender. Valued for its decorative appearance, as it has yellow inflorescences, densely decorated with red speckles. This small plant, not exceeding 15 centimeters in height, is grown as an indoor crop, but in the summer it can easily tolerate outdoor conditions. Grown as a perennial on windowsills.
- Wrinkled Calceolaria is another representative of perennials. It grows as a shrub, about 1 meter high. In places where winters are not too severe, it is grown as a perennial in a flower bed.
- Calceolaria slender is a medium-sized variety that reaches up to 40 centimeters and is intended for growing in flowerbeds in open ground. Has light pale lemon flowers.
- Calceolaria multiroot is a variety of creeping perennials. Such a subspecies is grown as an indoor crop and as a decoration for a flower bed in the open.ground.
- Calceolaria hybrid is the widest of the representatives of the species. Since under this name numerous varieties of different colors are combined with one common property - this is an indoor culture, low, having wide, rounded, heavily pubescent leaves, having large and original flowers in their shape. It has a very long flowering period, which is approximately 6-8 weeks. The height does not exceed 15 centimeters, while the flowers can reach a diameter of 5 centimeters.
Temperature conditions
Calceolaria - thermophilic flowers. They do not tolerate frosty winters, so they are most often grown as indoor crops or transplanted into pots for the winter and brought into the house. At the same time, they easily tolerate high temperatures, but die at 10 degrees Celsius and below.
Lighting
Calceolaria - southern flowers, so they are very photophilous. However, they should be shaded a little from the scorching summer sun. Under direct rays, the leaves can get burned, but with a strong dimming, the plant loses its decorative effect and stops blooming.
Water and fertilize
Indoor calceolaria flowers do not tolerate drying out of the soil, so you need to carefully ensure that they are moistened all the time. The higher the air temperature, the more plentiful and frequent watering should become. Water the calceolaria in the same way as tender violets and saintpaulias - gently along the edge of the pot, without affecting the leaves androot shoots. But the safest and most effective way is watering through the pan. Calceolaria is very fond of moist soil and does not tolerate drying out, however, when overflowing or stagnant water, the plant instantly dies. Therefore, you need to take care of a small but frequent watering and the presence of good drainage in the pot.
The plant is protected from getting water on the leaves. In no case do not use spraying. This can lead to leaf rot and flower death.
For top dressing, a universal fertilizer is suitable or intended for flowering plants, which is bred in accordance with the instructions on the package.
Calceolaria flower: how to care
Be sure to remove faded and withered inflorescences and yellowed leaves. If you do not remove old flower stalks, then new ones will cease to form, therefore, for stable flowering, it is imperative to carry out regular pruning. Varieties such as wrinkled calceolaria are subjected to spring bush formation, which helps to form a more compact plant with a large number of peduncles. Potted varieties of "slipper" delight with their flowering from spring to autumn.
Calceolaria flowers are quite unpretentious in growing. Care consists in the timely replanting of perennial varieties, which is done every two years, in the middle of spring. When the size of the pot for transplanting reaches a diameter of 20 centimeters, in the future the plant is no longer transplanted into a large container, but only the soil is replaced. Atusing wider pots is very likely to cause root rot and plant death.
When breeding indoor crops and the need to create compact plants at the stage of the appearance of 6 leaves, the flower is pinched, thereby forming a small bush with many peduncles. After flowering, the plant must be pruned, faded flower stalks are removed.
Reproduction
Calceolaria - flowers that propagate with the help of seeds that have a very good germination. When sown in the ground, the seeds are scattered over the surface of the soil and not sprinkled on top, after which they are abundantly watered and covered with polyethylene or glass to create the effect of a greenhouse. Periodically, the glass rises and the condensate is removed, and after the formation of 6 leaves, the calceolaria is transplanted into separate pots for further growth. Seeds germinate best at a temperature of about 20 degrees. They are sown in the period from May to July, the first shoots appear within two weeks later. And after a month they can dive into separate pots. Calceolaria blooms 8–10 months after the first shoots appear.
It is also possible to propagate by cuttings. This method is suitable for medium and tall varieties, which are periodically pruned, forming more lush bushes with a large number of new flower stalks. Cut shoots take root in the soil.
When planting, use universal soil for indoor plants or soil suitable for growing violets and saintpaulias. When making the soil mixture yourself, you need to make the composition:
- Sod - 2 parts.
- Leaf earth - 2 parts.
- Peat - 1 part.
- Sand - ½.
Flower shops sell calceolaria flowers, their average price is 500 rubles per plant.
Diseases and pests
The main dangers in the cultivation of calceolaria are diseases such as phytophthora and pythium. These are varieties of fungi that can cause rotting and death of young shoots. To eliminate this problem, before planting in the ground, it is calcined or treated with toxic fungicides. Also, due to the need for constant soil moisture, gray rot may appear. It is formed when water gets on the tender leaves of plants. Calceolaria is an indoor flower often attacked by pests such as aphids, whiteflies and nematodes. At the first sign of appearance, it is necessary to use special preparations to destroy them.
A fairly unpretentious plant that will always delight with its lush flowering and unusualness is the calceolaria flower. How to care for and grow, even the most inexperienced grower will be able to master. But calceolaria is one of the very first to bloom in the spring on the windowsill.
