How to grow gloxinia from seeds?

The variety of indoor plants is very large and it is difficult to determine, but when the choice is made it is not always possible to find the flower you like on sale.

It is easier to find seeds, there are a great many of them in stores for every taste and budget.

And these purchased seeds, you can try to grow it yourself.

In this article we will talk about gloxinia, or rather about how you can grow it from seeds.

What is this plant?

A plant of the Hersenia family is native to America. Gloxinia named after the scientist-botanist and doctor B.P. Gloxin. However, it has another name - Sinningia, in honor of the breeder who was engaged in its breeding, V. Sinning. It is grown only as an indoor or greenhouse plant.

Small compact bush with large bell-shaped flowers. The leaves are quite large, oval in shape, with a velvety surface, various shades of greenery. Flowers simply amaze with their color. There are not only colors: white, yellow, pink, red, purple, brown, as well as their various combinations. But also a drawing on the petals: speckles, an ornament resembling lace, a wide fringing of a petal of a different color. The root system is in the form of a tuber.

How can reproduction occur?

There are 5 ways to get offspring of gloxinia:

1. Leafy cuttings. For this, the petiole with the leaf is rooted in the ground. This method gives a quick result with the characteristics of a donor plant.
2. Part of the sheet plate. The method is similar to the previous one. Read about rooting the gloxinia leaf here.
3. Rooting a peduncle. Again a similar method, where a peduncle is used as a stem.
4. Dividing the tuber. The tuber root can be divided into parts. The main requirement is the presence of a growth point on each part. For division, take healthy tubers, which have grown sufficiently, and have several growth points. This is not only reproduction, but also a necessary operation to care for the plant.
5. The seeds. On gloxinia, seeds are formed that can be planted to produce offspring. This method is quite difficult and long, but sometimes the only possible one.

Seed way

What do seeds look like? Gloxinia seeds are very small. Ripen in large quantities in a seed box in the center of the flower. They ripen in the fall, after 1.5-2 months after completion of flowering. When the flowering ends and the petals fall, a box-shaped fruit is formed in the center of the flower, which then cracks. How to collect them? At this point, it is necessary to carefully cut the box and place in an open dry container for drying. A dried box is opened, taking ready seeds.

What to do to make them appear?

How to grow from seeds at home? To obtain seed material, it is necessary to pollinate the desired plant.

Here it is necessary to take into account the maturation dates of the reproductive organs of gloxinia. Pollen ripens on the 2nd – 3rd day after the flower opens, and the pestle opens on the 2nd – 5th day. The disclosure of the pestle can be seen by looking closely at its stigma, moreover, it becomes sticky to the touch. Accordingly, pollen is taken from the flowers that bloomed later and transferred to the opened stigma of the pestle. You can do this with a brush. A few days after successful pollination, the flower will wither, and in its center a box will begin to grow.

Photo

Next, you can see a step-by-step photo of growing from seeds at home:

Growing Features

First you need to grow seedlings, followed by picking and transplanting.

Sowing dates

Natural biorhythms are inherent in any seed, for which awakening in early spring is natural. therefore sow gloxinia seeds best in late February or early March.

Soil preparation

For the germination of seeds, any universal soil based on peat, or peat tablets, is suitable.

1. Self-prepared soil should be decontaminated. You can fry it in the oven, or put it in the freezer for 48 hours.
2. After it should cool (warm) to room temperature.
3. Then it is placed in a prepared container, it is enough 3 cm in height, slightly compacted, well leveled and sprayed with water. You can use a solution of potassium permanganate for spraying.
4. Once the soil is saturated with moisture, you can sow the seeds.

Does planting material require preparation?

Gloxinia seeds do not require pre-soaking or other special preparation.

How to plant?

1. Seeds are laid out on the surface of the earth and sprayed from the spray gun. Then cover the container with glass or a transparent film.
2. They put in a warm and bright place, the temperature is 22-25 degrees. They try not to remove the shelter before the shoots are slightly stronger.
3. At first, the container is left open during the day, and closed at night.
4. Then the shelter is completely removed.

Other ways to plant gloxinia can be found in this article.

Pick

Gloxinia transplanted 3-4 times. This procedure stimulates their root system.

• After a month, you can do the first pick.
  1. Using a small spoon, or other similar object, the seedling is taken out with the ground.
  2. They are placed in another container with a more spacious plant seating, falling asleep to the cotyledon leaves.
• The second pick is done when the leaf of the plant reaches a length of 2 cm. Transplanted into a separate container with a soil volume of about 100 ml.
• Further, as they grow, gloxinia is transplanted a third and fourth time. The soil is fertile, light. Suitable soil as when sowing.
• During 4 transplants, the plant is placed on a permanent habitat.

Watering seedlings

As soon as the shelter is removed, the sprouts begin to water. Seedlings are watered often and little by little. It is better to do this with a spoon or syringe.

Choose a pot

It's time to pick up a pot for grown seedlings. In it, he will live until a dormant period after the first flowering. The gloxinia pot needs a small, up to 500 ml, low and wide.

The material from which the pot is made is not essential. The main thing is that there are drainage holes in its bottom. The roots of gloxinia very often undergo putrefactive processes, so the outflow of excess water is necessary. A layer of drainage is laid at the bottom.

More information on choosing the right gloxinia pot can be found here.

The soil

Adult gloxinia needs light soil. Suitable soil for violets, or other universal soil for flowering plants. If you are preparing the land for planting yourself, you can use the following composition:

• ground from a tree trunk circle of deciduous tree - 2 parts;
• peat - 1 part;
• sand - 1 part;
• rotted manure, or compost in the amount of 1 cup per 5 liters of soil mix.

Read about what kind of soil is needed to grow gloxinia here.

Landing

1. A small layer of soil is poured onto the drainage layer, a plant is laid out in the center, taken out with a lump of earth, the voids are filled with new soil.
2. The earth is slightly compacted to displace voids, and then the plant is watered.

Care from seedlings to an adult flower

The plant needs to be provided with the correct conditions:

• The temperature is within 20-25 degrees. No drafts, and sudden changes in temperature.
• Humidity should be above average. The plant at all stages of development does not tolerate spraying. Therefore, you need to protect it from dry air in the heating season by placing the pot in a wide tray with water. Set the pot on a stand so that the bottom does not come into contact with water.
• Lighting should be diffuse and long-lasting, for 12-14 hours a day. Therefore, gloxinia requires additional artificial lighting.

Next, you must follow the care rules:

1. Watering. We have already talked about watering seedlings. An adult plant is watered so that between the irrigations the top layer of soil dries up. For irrigation, it is necessary to use settled soft water at room temperature, or 2-3 degrees higher. The safest watering method is through the pan.
2. Top dressing. Gloxinia begins to be fertilized as soon as peduncles and bud buds have appeared. Do this 2-3 times a month at regular intervals. The plant needs complex fertilizing with mineral fertilizers. Suitable compositions for flowering plants. You can learn more about the rules for watering and feeding gloxinia from this article.
3. Rest period. For gloxinia, it is necessary to change the conditions during the rest period. He comes in the fall, after flowering is complete. The plant is less and less in need of watering, the flowers wither, the aboveground part of the plant begins to die.
   In winter, the upper part of the plant is removed, the tuber is either cleaned in a pot in a dark, cool 10-15 degrees place, or excavated and stored in a bag of sand and peat on the refrigerator door. The tubers in the pot continue to be watered 1-2 times a month so that it does not dry out.
4. Spring awakening. In the last days of February, tubers are taken from storage and planted again in the ground. Before this, you need to hold the tuber moistened with water in a warm bright place until the sprouts appear. Then it is planted in the ground at 2/3 of the height. After the sprouts get stronger and grow up, they add the earth to the root neck.
5. Prevention of diseases and pests. Compliance with all care and maintenance measures is the most important preventive measure. Most diseases appear due to improper watering, high humidity and inappropriate temperature.Insect pests attack plants that are in dry and hot air.

   Pests are killed by insecticides, and diseases are treated based on the situation.

6. Pruning. Gloxinia does not require formation, but many species bloom in two stages per season. Between them, you need to cut off all the peduncles and most of the leaves. After, when stepsons appear, remove the excess, leave only 2-3 strong shoots.

To learn more about caring for gloxinia at home, click here.

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Conclusion

Growing gloxinia from seeds is not very different from growing other flowers. Under all conditions, you can grow any of the rarest and most beautiful species of this flower. I wish you friendly shoots and strong gloxinia seedlings!

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