Planting gloxinia tubers
If there is gloxinia in the gardener's home collection, planting a tuber is an indispensable step in growing this amazingly beautiful indoor plant. When, after mass flowering, the ornamental culture begins a period of dormancy, thanks to the nutrients contained in the tuber, gloxinia remains viable. But as soon as sprouts wake up at the top, it is important not to hesitate. The strength of the tuber is running out, and the development of stems and foliage requires serious feeding. Therefore, at the first signs of activity, gloxinia is prepared in transplantation into fresh soil.
How to prepare gloxinia tubers for planting in order to get strong and healthy indoor plants?
Read on:gloxinia - home care with a photo!
Preparing the gloxinia tuber for planting
The remains of dry roots and soil are carefully cleaned from the tubers and washed in warm water. If traces of rot, weeping or, conversely, completely dry areas, cracks or signs of pests are found on the surface, such places:
- with a sharp knife cut to healthy tissue;
- Dry at home for 18-24 hours;
- for a quarter of an hour immersed in a pink solution of potassium permanganate;
- treated with crushed coal and fungicide.
When after "hibernation" the gloxinia tubers intended for planting are shriveled and soft, they cannot be transferred to the ground. To return the proper quality and elasticity to the planting material, the tubers are wrapped in a damp cloth and left in this form for 2-3 days.
If you take care of the quality of the tubers that enter the soil in advance, you can seriously simplify the care of gloxinia, and get more lush, long flowering on healthy plants.
The choice of soil and pot for planting gloxinia tuber
Before planting gloxinia tubers, it is important to stock up on soil, drainage material and a plant pot.
Indoor culture is not too demanding on the composition of the substrate, but for planting gloxinia tubers, it is advisable to choose a light soil that is well permeable to moisture and air with a sufficient content of nutrients. Ready-made peat-based substrates are quite suitable. If the soil mixture is too dense, moisture trapped in it and lack of air will provoke rotting, which can lead to the death of the flower.
The size of the pot for growing gloxinia from a tuber should be 4-6 cm wider in diameter than the planting material itself. This will enable the plant to:
- develop a good root system;
- lay a large number of buds;
- form beautiful foliage without sacrificing flowering.
You should not buy a volumetric "growing" pot for gloxinia. In it, the plant sometimes gives only leaves, "forgetting" about the need to form buds. In addition, in a large pot it is easier to make a mistake with the amount of irrigation water, which is fraught with the development of putrefactive processes on the tuber.
How to plant gloxinia with a tuber?
For gloxinia, which is afraid of excessive moisture in the soil and stagnant water, a drainage layer with a thickness of 1 to 3 cm is needed, depending on the size of the pot and the properties of the substrate. Prepared sterile soil is poured over the drainage.
If roots appear on the tuber, a deepening is prudently made for them. During planting, the gloxinia tuber is buried only two-thirds, leaving the top with the sprouted sprouts above the soil surface.
The substrate around the tuber is carefully moistened, being careful not to get on the top and the concavity where the sprouts are located. This section of the tuber should not be allowed to be covered with soil. Only when the stems grow, the top remaining above the soil is sprinkled with fresh substrate, finally leveling the surface.
Read more about planting gloxinia with a tuber in the video, which reveals all the subtleties of the process and allows even a novice florist to perform this important task without error.
How to wake up a tuber for planting gloxinia?
Florists often complain that not all gloxinia tubers "wake up" at the same time. Some stubbornly show no signs of activity. Is it possible to plant them, and how to grow gloxinia from a tuber that is so far behind the rest?
All gloxinias have a dormant period lasting from 3 to 4 months. But sometimes it takes longer for the tubers to sprout and start a new growing season.
Until the growth of stems and roots begins, the plant practically does not absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil. Therefore, if you plant a "dormant" tuber, there is a great risk of losing it due to decay.
One way out of the situation is to wait for the natural awakening of the plant. The second is to try to artificially activate the processes in the tuber and cause the growth of its aboveground part.
To do this, washed, examined and dried tubers for growing gloxinia are laid out in tightly closing bags, to which a little moist peat substrate is added.
The bags are closed and sent to heat under phytolamps or under diffused but bright sunlight. There is no need to ventilate such containers:
- Daylight hours for gloxinia are usually 12-14 hours.
- The comfort temperature should be between 24–26 ° C.
This rule also holds true for tubers inside packages. After 10-14 days, drops of moisture appear on the inner surface of the film, and if you look inside, you can see buds ready for growth on the tubers. This means that the gloxinia tuber intended for planting is ready to be transferred to the substrate. After planting in a pot, after a while, friendly sprouts will appear above the ground, and then the plants quickly catch up with the rest of the gloxinia and bloom beautifully.