STREPTOCARPUS HOME CARE, PHOTO, CULTIVATION. HOW TO CARE

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Streptocarpus (Streptocarpus) - herbaceous, thermophilic plant of the Gesneriaceae family (Gesneriaceae) came to us from the African continent, where it grows abundantly in the natural conditions of Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa. Under favorable conditions, it differs in intensive growth and flowering.

Regardless of the method of propagation, the flowering of streptocarpus at home begins no later than 10-11 months. The plant does not have a central stem; its oblong, slightly fleecy leaves are collected in a wide rosette. The shape of the sheet is elongated, lanceolate. The name of the plant is associated with the shape of the seed box.

	Growing fast. Blooms in the year of planting.
	It blooms from late spring to early autumn.
	The plant is easy to grow.
	2-3 years. More recently, the plant loses its attractive appearance.

Useful properties of streptocarpus

Streptocarpus is grown for decorative purposes. It looks good in any interior, not only during the period of abundant flowering. The rosette of young leaves also looks spectacular. The plant is not toxic, but it has few useful properties. Some lovers apply it in small amounts as a spicy seasoning.

Care for streptocarpus at home. Briefly

In order for the plant to develop well and flourish abundantly, the creation of acceptable conditions for it is required:

Temperature	Streptocarpus at home reacts negatively to temperatures above 25 ° C, and below 14 ° C.
Air humidity	Requires maintaining high humidity indoors without wetting the surface of leaves and flowers.
Lighting	Prefers good lighting without prolonged exposure to direct sunlight and long daylight hours.
Watering	Regular moderate watering of the soil under the root without overmoistening is required.
Priming	The plant prefers light, loose, with good drainage properties, rich in nutrients of the soil.
Fertilizer and fertilizer	During the period of intensive growth and flowering, it is necessary to replenish the supply of nutrients at least 2-3 times a month.
Transfer	In order to rejuvenate the bush, maintain soil volume and its quality, transplantation is carried out at least once a year.
Breeding	Carried out by seeds and vegetative organs.
Growing Features	Light, moderately warm, humid rooms are required with ventilation, but without drafts, combustion products and tobacco smoke.

Care for streptocarpus at home. In detail

The opinions of flower growers regarding the whims of the plant do not coincide. Some find it easy to grow, even for beginners. But for a flower to really please its appearance and beautiful flowering, you need to create certain conditions for it and constantly pay attention.

Flowering streptocarpus

The plant has many varieties and hybrids, differing in the shape of the flowers and their color, from white to purple, with various inclusions and stains. A combination of several colors is possible. Flowers are in the form of tubular bells. The smaller they are, the more inflorescences are formed and flowering is more abundant.

From the sinus of the leaf comes one peduncle, on which, depending on the variety, from several flowers to several tens can bloom. The size of the flower corolla in some varieties reaches 8-10cm. As a result of flowering, a seed box is formed containing many small seeds. Streptocarpus flower at home is rarely grown on seeds.

Attention! In order for the plant to have an attractive appearance and not be exhausted, fading inflorescences are cut off, without waiting for the formation of a box.

Temperature mode

The flower does not respond well to heat, despite African descent. He is comfortable at a temperature of 20 to 25 ° C on a windowsill or balcony protected from direct sunlight. The minimum allowable air temperature in winter is 14-15 ° C.

Spraying

The dryness of the air in the room negatively affects the condition of the leaves and flowering, so it is necessary to use an air humidifier or to spray the air with a spray gun.

When water gets on the leaves and flowers, the streptocarpus loses its attractive appearance, therefore, home care is carried out by wiping the leaves with dry napkins. As moisturizers also use trays with wet expanded clay, pebbles, moss, which are installed in the immediate vicinity of the pots.

Lighting

For full flowering, the plant needs a lot of light and a long day. But the sunlight must be diffused so that the leaves do not get burned. On the north side of the house, lighting may not be enough and additional lighting with lamps is required. Western and eastern window sills are best suited for cultivation.

Watering

Home streptocarpus requires regular, moderate watering with well-settled warm water. Excess moisture causes decay and even death of the plant, so it is better to water less than overfill. In summer, the irrigation frequency is 2 times a week, in winter - not more often than after 8-10 days.

At low air temperatures (15 ° C and below), watering is stopped completely.

Streptocarpus soil

The plant prefers light, loose, fertile soils. with good air exchange. The easiest way is to buy ready-made balanced soil in a specialized store. You can prepare the mixture yourself in the proportion:

sheet land - 2 parts;
peat, sand, humus - 1 part each.

You can also mix equal parts of the earth, peat and sphagnum moss. For growing children, a mixture of peat, perlite and humus (5: 2: 1) is suitable.

Drainage materials are necessarily poured to the bottom of the pot.

Attention! All components of mixtures, drainage and containers for growing are disinfected by heating or a solution of potassium permanganate.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

Streptocarpus is developing intensively and requires a lot of nutrients. At the initial stage, for the growth of the rosette of leaves, preference is given to nitrogen fertilizers, at the stage of laying peduncles and during the flowering period - phosphorus-potash.

In specialized stores offer complex preparations that are the easiest to use. Top dressing is combined with watering with an interval of 8-10 days and is carried out only in the spring-summer period.

Pot size

When growing a flower through sowing seeds, seedlings in the phase of 2 real leaves dive into free containers at a distance of 1.5-3.0 cm, and then grown plants are transplanted into separate pots. Their size at the initial stage is 6-8 cm.

With each transplant, the pot is increased by a couple of centimeters. When grown in too large a capacity, increased growth of the rosette of leaves is observed and flowering slows down. For an adult plant, the volume of the pot should be at least 16 - 18 cm, shallow, since the root system is superficial.

It is better to grow a flower in a ceramic pot, but it also feels good in a plastic pot if there is drainage and proper watering.

Streptocarpus transplant

In one place, streptocarpus can grow long enough, but by the age of 3, the rosette of leaves thickens, the plant is depleted, looks less attractive, blooms poorly, loses its decorative effect.

A transplant solves several problems:

rejuvenation of the bush;
reproduction;
increase in volume and quality of soil.

Rest period

Only adult, healthy specimens can bloom throughout the year, although their appearance and flowering quality deteriorate without a break for rest. In the winter, they artificially create conditions for the rest period, reducing watering, lighting, stopping feeding and lowering the air temperature.

Pruning

For sanitary purposes, pruning of injured and yellowed leaves, flowering peduncles is carried out. In adult bushes, small processes are removed that are not able to compete with developed vegetative organs.

Reproduction of streptocarpus

For propagating varieties using various methods. Vegetative methods can fully preserve the characteristic features of the mother plant. The cultivation of streptocarpus through sowing seeds is a rather long process and the result can not always be predicted.

Reproduction of streptocarpus by division of the bush

Together with the transplant in the spring, plant propagation is also carried out. by dividing an adult bush (2-3 years) into parts.

The roots are freed from the soil, carefully untangled, separated manually or with a sharp sterile knife.
Damaged parts of the root are removed, the places of the slices sprinkled with activated charcoal.
To create a new outlet, young shoots (children) with good roots are selected, planted in moist, loose soil.
To preserve moisture before engraftment, new plants are kept under a transparent cap in diffused sunlight.

Propagation of streptocarpus by cuttings

Streptocarpus can also be propagated by other vegetative parts of the plant: children without roots remaining from division, whole leaves with petioles and their parts.

They are immersed to a shallow depth in water until the formation of roots, in moist soil or moss.
Places of cuts are processed, as in the division of the bush.
After the appearance of the roots, the stalk is transplanted into a pot with the selected substrate.

Growing streptocarpus from seeds

Most often carried out during breeding to obtain unique traits.

Streptocarpus flower at home is sown in shallow containers filled with vermiculite, peat and perlite.
So that small seeds are evenly distributed over the surface, they are mixed with sand.
After sowing, the soil is moistened with a spray gun.
To preserve moisture and create the effect of a greenhouse, the container is covered with glass or a transparent film.
Before seed germination, maintain a temperature of 22 - 25 ° C, conduct regular ventilation and condensate cleaning. Under favorable conditions, seedlings will appear in 10-14 days.
Shelter is removed, but continue to maintain high humidity.

Toaster breeding method

For this method, leaves are used, in which a central vein is cut out.
Sections are treated with charcoal, dried and buried in the soil by about 5 mm.
While maintaining optimal humidity, small babies will germinate in 1.5 months, which are transplanted into pots at the age of 3-4 months.

Diseases and Pests

Under favorable growing conditions, streptocarpus resists various diseases quite well. If a plant has problems, it will immediately respond with its appearance:

streptocarpus leaves wither and twist from lack of moisture or excess of sunlight;
yellow leaves streptocarpusmay appear with sunburn;
dried ends of streptocarpus leaves and their blanching appear from a lack of moisture and mineral nutrition;
does not grow and does not release young leaves with a lack of lighting, depletion of the soil or an improper pot size;
rot the roots of streptocarpus with excessive watering, low temperature and drafts.

The development of fungal and bacterial diseases is most often caused by a violation of the temperature regime during excessive irrigation and contact of vegetative organs with water. When the first symptoms of the disease appear, it is necessary to carry out:

removal of damaged areas;
spraying with a fungicide or a solution of laundry soap;
change in conditions of detention.

Pests

With insufficient air humidity and high temperature, favorable conditions are created for the distribution of:

Thrips, aphids, spider mites. They feed on the sap of the plant, damage the leaves on which silver, yellow, white or transparent spots appear. The plant discards leaves. Streptocarpus growth slows down or stops completely. Damaged buds crumble without blooming.
Mealybug destroys young shoots, buds. May lead to a complete halt in the development of the plant.
The scabbard is located mainly on the lower part of the leaves and on the petioles in the form of brown warts, covered with a waxy coating. A colony of these pests can completely destroy the plant.

In order to destroy pests, plants and soil are sprayed with insecticidal preparations (2-3 times). In difficult situations, a transplant with soil replacement may be required. It is especially difficult to destroy the shields, as their protective layer prevents contact with chemicals. They are removed manually with a damp cloth, and then sprayed with systemic herbicides.