Having a flower similar to a child's slipper, calceolaria fully justifies its Latin name: the word "calceolaria" is translated as "slipper". Therefore, another plant name that has taken root among gardeners is shoes. Among the species and varieties of calceolaria there are those suitable for growing in open ground, and indoor plants.
Figure 1. Calceolaria - beautiful perennial flower perfect for decorating alpine slides or rockeries.
What is this plant
The homeland of wild-growing calceolaria is South and Central America. But these are not pampered Tropicans; on the contrary, they prefer coolness and tolerate shading well.
Growing up on the slopes high mountains Chile and Mexico, calceolaria are adapted to flowering at fairly low temperatures - up to 15 ° C. The leaves of the plant are pubescent and corrugated, which serves to preserve them during cold snaps and daily temperature fluctuations in the mountains.
Figure 2. Hybrid calceolaria blooms very beautifully, so it is best to plant it in flower beds and rabatki.
The flowers of those species that are grown in open ground are medium-sized, but numerous, covering the entire plant with yellow (Mexican calceolaria, multi-rooted, Darwin), orange (K. wrinkled) or purple (K. purple) shades. Wild species of calceolaria can be cultivated as perennials in areas where there is no severe frosts in winter. They are well suited for decorating alpine slides, rockeries or the banks of reservoirs. (Fig. 1)
In pot culture, hybrid calceolaria is more often grown, large flowers which have the most diverse color: from white to dark red, often with strokes and spots of a contrasting color. These plants were born thanks to the efforts of breeders and are grown as annuals or biennials. In the spring- summer period hybrid calceolaria can be planted on flowerbeds and flowerbeds as a decorative and very beautiful flowering plant. (Fig. 2)
How to grow calceolaria and care for them
The main method of reproduction of slippers is sowing seeds. The seeds of the plant are very small: there are about 30 thousand of them per 1 g, therefore, when sowing, they should not be covered with soil or mulch.
To preserve moisture, the box with the sown calceolaria is covered with glass or a layer of paper is laid directly on top of the seeds, periodically moistening it. For sowing, prepare soil from 2 parts of humus, 2 parts of leafy soil, the same amount of peat and add 1 part of medium-sized river sand. Another substrate option is bedding peat. It must be disinfected by heating in the oven to 100 ° C or pouring boiling water over it. To reduce the acidity of peat for every 1 kg of it, add 20 g of ground chalk and mix with sand (1 part of sand to 7 parts of peat). Pour thoroughly mixed soil into a box, moisten the surface and disperse the seeds. Cover with glass and put in a place where the box will not be lit by direct sunlight and the air temperature will remain at about 20 ° C.
Figure 3. After the formation of rosettes, it is necessary to carry out a secondary pick.
After the emergence of seedlings after 2 weeks, it is necessary to protect them from moisture, which can provoke gray rot disease and lead to the death of small plants. Therefore, if condensation forms on the glass, the cover must be carefully lifted and either wiped or turned dry side down. A few days after the emergence of seedlings, the glass can be removed and further monitor the soil moisture, preventing drying out. It is better to moisten it from a pallet to avoid getting moisture on the plants. At the age of 2 weeks, the seedlings dive at a distance of 4 cm from each other.
When a rosette is formed (Fig. 3), the plants dive a second time, placing them in small pots with a diameter of 7 cm). It is better to keep them at a temperature of 14-16 ° C in a bright place, but protected from direct sunlight (on the north window). At the age of about 2 months, calceolaria should be pinched, leaving 2-3 pairs of leaves, and transplanted into pots with a diameter of 10 cm. For the next 4-4.5 months, care must be taken to form a bush: remove growing stepchildren. Before flowering, the plants are again transplanted into the soil from a mixture of leafy, soddy soil and sand. Hybrid calceolaria can be sown in 2 terms:
- at the end of February - in March for flowering in autumn, in a pot culture or in the garden until frost;
- in June for flowering in early spring.
Perennial species are sown in June - July to obtain adult seedlings by the beginning of spring. blooming hybrid varieties already in April - early May they can be planted in the garden, where calceolaria flowers form bright accent among the timid spring greenery. wild perennial species begin to bloom a little later and from June to September they will decorate the plot.
Figure 4. To care for calceolaria at home, you will need lamps daylight and the temperature is not higher than 15 °.
Mature plants do not tolerate heat and direct sunlight, therefore, for the design of alpine slides or for a mixborder in a garden for calceolaria, a semi-shady place should be taken under the crown of a tree or shrub, on the north or east side of the house. Hybrid calceolaria planted in the garden will have time to bloom before the hot days of summer, so you only need to take care of their shading. When growing in pots, it is best to place the plants in the northern, western or eastern part of the apartment or not leave them on a lighted windowsill. When overheated and overdrying, calceolaria flowers and buds fall off, the plant loses its decorative effect. Too dry indoor air leads to plant damage by aphids and thrips.
To achieve flowering of calceolaria in winter at home, it must be illuminated with fluorescent lamps, bringing daylight hours to 10-12 hours. The room temperature should not exceed 15°C. (Fig. 4)
To keep the humidity at an acceptable level for good growth and flowering plants at the level, potted calceolaria should be installed on a pallet with gravel, expanded clay, coarse sand. Pour water into the pan so that it reaches half the height of the stone layer. It is also possible to keep calceolaria in a flowerpot, where the gap between it and the pot is filled with wet moss or peat. Evaporation of moisture in these cases is quite enough for plant comfort.
Demanding on air humidity, the beauty does not tolerate stagnant water at all. It is necessary to ensure that the liquid does not accumulate in the pan, closing the lower openings of the pot. Watering an adult plant can be done from above, moistening the clod of earth when its top layer dries.
It is important to avoid getting water on the leaves and stems of the plant, as their pubescence retains moisture, creating an environment for the development of rot and fungal diseases.
Plants need to be fed once every 10 days. For top dressing suitable complex mineral fertilizer for flowers, which is used in the form of a solution prepared according to the instructions for the drug. The first top dressing is carried out 10-14 days after transplanting into a permanent pot for potted forms or after the 2nd transplant for seedlings. Top dressing is stopped with the beginning of flowering.
Caring for the plant after flowering, if it is planned to leave it for the 2nd year, consists in removing the peduncles and pruning. Storing plants for 1.5 - 2 months in a cool place with a temperature of about 10 ° C simulates the winter season. During this time, it is necessary to monitor the moisture of the soil, preventing the coma from drying out. When new shoots appear, move the plants to a lighted place and resume feeding.
Usually the second flowering is weaker, so this method is rarely used. It is possible to preserve the decorative effect of calceolaria in the second year by resorting to cuttings of the bush, cutting and rooting young shoots.
On a flowering bush of calceolaria, up to 50 flowers can be at the same time. The decorativeness of this plant makes it a welcome guest on windowsills and gardens, despite the difficulties of growing it.
Calceolaria - ornamental plant with bright multi-colored flowers of a two-lipped, spherical shape and dense, green, pubescent with inside, leaves. Experts distinguish 2 groups of this flower - shrub and herbaceous. In the latter, the flowers are larger, and their coloring is more diverse. The plant is suitable for both flower beds and home maintenance.
Types of calceolaria with a photo
Calceolaria wrinkled
upright annual plant with small yellow flowers. The height of the stem can reach half a meter. The active phase of flowering begins in June and ends in late autumn.
Calceolaria purpurea
Herbaceous perennial with spatulate leaves and small buds-boxes. The photo shows a calceolaria with purple-red flowering, but the shade may vary. Stem height 40-50 cm. The plant blooms until late autumn.
Calceolaria mexican
bright, original plant with rich yellow corollas of inflorescences. The trunk is small-leaved, the diameter of the flowers-“shoes” is only 5 mm. Planted for border decoration or in balcony boxes.
Calceolaria hybrid
This species has soft, fluffy on the inside, leaves and multi-colored corolla buds. Often the color of the inflorescences is diluted with spots or dots, as in the photo of calceolaria. Buds may have different shades on one bush.
Calceolaria care at home
Calceolaria does not like too high air temperature and dryness. To home flower calceolaria pleasing to the eye, he needs humidity. Therefore, it is best to install a pot with a plant in a planter in which it will be laid peat. Drainage should be constantly moistened. When caring for calceolaria, do not use spraying of leaves and flowers, this harms the delicate pubescent buds and shoots of the plant. Optimal temperature the room should be between 15-17 degrees. If the room is too hot, the calceolaria stops blooming and may die.
The home flower of calceolaria does not tolerate bright sun. For its maintenance, it is better to choose bright places that do not get direct sunlight. If you grow this flower on the balcony, then protect it from the wind. Particular attention should be paid to calceolaria in flowering period. At this time, it is better to set aside the pot with the plant in a slightly darkened place, then it will give more buds. V winter time, in order to provide sufficient lighting, the calceolaria is illuminated with electric lamps.
Calceolaria requires enhanced glaze during flowering, and moderate when it stops. During the formation of buds, the home flower of calceolaria should be watered regularly, but make sure that there is no stagnant water. V winter months when the plant is resting, it is watered less frequently, slightly moistening the substrate.
To make the plant bloom more magnificently, it is fertilized mineral supplements. This should be done no more than 3-4 times a month. The first time fertilizer is applied 2 weeks after the plant is transplanted, and when it stops blooming, they stop fertilizing.
Calceolaria: home care
To form a beautiful, lush bush, pinching and pinching are used:
- at stepchildren clean up side shoots growing along the edges;
- at pinching a part is removed above 2-3 pairs of leaves, you can also remove the shoots that form in the leaf axils.
If you remove the extra leaves, the calceolaria begins to bloom more magnificently. But such plant care leads to crushing of the buds.
If you want a beautiful, brightly flowering plant to grow on the windowsill, do not be lazy to plant new specimens every year. Overwintered calceolaria, as a rule, stretches and produces smaller and rarer buds than a young plant. For the winter, the home flower of calceolaria is removed from the light, and watering is reduced to a minimum, making sure that the soil does not dry out. In spring, the plant is returned to the illuminated window sill, and it begins to bloom.
Optimal soil composition:
- turf - 2 parts;
- sheet soil - 1 part;
- peat substrate - 1 part;
- sand - ½ part.
Caring for calceolaria at home is quite troublesome, it requires timely watering and fertilization, but long flowering plants are worth it. If you decide to grow this flower by spring so that it blooms all summer, then you need to sow it for seedlings in June. Seeds are laid in sandy soil, trying not to deepen. The soil container is placed in a warm place, not too sunny place covered with foil. The soil is moistened and constantly ventilated so that it does not rot. Young shoots dive as soon as 5-6 shoots appear, and after another 6 weeks they are seated in a larger pot.
You can propagate calceolaria cuttings. To do this, use the side stems. To make the calceolaria look more lush, several cuttings are planted in one pot, which will fully take root in a month.
Calceolaria - an interesting plant with such unusual flowers, bright, eye-catching, gives great pleasure to lush flowering. The unusual shape of the color, similar to a slipper, and the saturation of colors delight the soul and give a wonderful mood.
Pictured is a calceolaria flower A native of the cold slopes of the Andes ( South America) the exotic handsome man is very whimsical, and in order to grow him at home, you need to create conditions for him as close as possible to the harsh conditions of the habitat. Proper care for calceolaria affects the quality of its flowering.
Calceolaria flower: planting and reproduction
This original plant is herbaceous. V wild nature there are about 400 types of exotic shoes. It is grown both in greenhouses and at home, as well as in the summer - in the open air. The flower is a biennial, however, it fully blooms only in the first year, so it is recommended to transplant it after the first year of growth.
If there is no desire to bother with a transplant, then a year later the plant is completely pruned, and the pot is placed in a dark place for two months, maintaining soil moisture.
Calceolaria is propagated by seeds that are planted in the soil in spring (April - May). The seeds are placed on a specially prepared or store-bought soil (a mixture of sand and peat), and covered with gauze on top, which is periodically moistened. Seeds germinate at a temperature of +18 - +20 degrees. When the first sprouts appear, they need to be picked.
As the outlet appears, it should be transplanted into a larger container so that there is sufficient area for growth. This is what calceolaria looks like, growing from seeds, the photo of which is shown below.
Two months later, the plant is again transplanted into a pot. larger area, while pinching upper part. After 4-5 months, the flower is already planted in a permanent container - a flower pot with a large volume. The soil must be nutritious and sufficiently fertilized. Flowering occurs approximately 10 months after planting the seeds.
The calceolaria flower, the cultivation and care of which is quite troublesome, is worth it - funny bright flowers it will decorate any apartment or house, as well as a flower bed or greenhouse.
Video: Calceolaria flower, sowing
plant care
The plant is quite whimsical, and for full flowering it requires painstaking care:
- Calceolaria does not like a lot of light, the most favorable place for growth and flowering is the eastern window. If direct sunlight hits the leaves and flowers, burns can occur, therefore, if it is not possible to put the pot in the east, shade the window from the bright sun.
- Flowering can occur only at a temperature of +14 - +16 degrees, and if you want to enjoy the beauty unusual colors, it is necessary to provide for this a suitable temperature regime.
- The plant does not require high humidity - it is not necessary to spray it. You can only wipe the leaves from dust from time to time and ventilate the room more often.
- Watering should be moderate - when pouring large quantity water, the root system will begin to rot, and the slipper will die. It is enough to water three times a week, and in the hot summer period a little more often. You can not let the soil dry out, otherwise the handsome flower may die.
- Calceolaria loves to be pampered with top dressing. You should feed the beauty once every two weeks - this will be enough for good growth. When buds appear, top dressing is increased - fertilizers are applied every 10 days.
Calceolaria - a truly original plant. Its flowering is compared with a lady's slipper, ballerina's pointe shoes. Large flowers, depending on the species, reach up to 25 cm. They have a variety of colors: bright yellow, red, purple. Sometimes, flowers are painted in several shades and covered with original spots.
Calceolaria leaves are medium-sized, slightly pubescent. A flowering plant looks like a nest with chickens. It looks very impressive and improves mood on a gloomy day.
It's hard to imagine, but bright, sunny calceolaria grows in the cold Andes mountains, so in room conditions requires a cool content. Breeding calceolaria is not an easy task, but with due diligence, the plant will delight you with flowering for up to 8 weeks. At good conditions may re-bloom.
Calceolaria is considered a one-season plant that loses its decorative effect after flowering. Usually, the faded plant is thrown away, and if desired, seeds are sown for the next season.
Growing calceolaria is not too troublesome, but even exciting. The reward for a patient grower will be festive, elegant bushes of a beautiful flower.
Calceolaria care at home
Calceolaria is not a very common plant, which is difficult to find on sale in a flowering state. Usually it is grown from purchased seeds.
Reproduction of calceolaria from seeds
Before sowing the seeds, you need to decide on the time of the desired flowering. In order for calceolaria to bloom in spring, it is necessary to sow in June, and if in autumn - in March.
For sowing seeds, you can use peat and sand in a ratio (7: 1) or a common universal substrate. Seeds are scattered on the surface of the substrate without sprinkling with earth. Crops can be left under damp paper. It must be constantly kept moist, so the seeds will receive the necessary nutrition.
The second way is to cover the crops with film or glass, do not allow drops of condensate to fall directly on the seeds. It is important to keep the soil moist.
When the seedlings have the first pair of fully developed leaves, they can be planted in pots. Growing calceolaria are kept on bright windows, with diffused lighting, at a temperature of +15, +17 degrees.
As they grow, you need to transplant plants into larger pots. Before each next transplant, you need to pinch the plants, leaving 3 pairs of leaves. This stimulates the formation of new shoots. To form a beautiful bush of decorative calceolaria, the rudiments of new leaves are removed by pinching.
At the age of 6-7 months, the calceolaria is transplanted into a permanent pot with a nutrient substrate, for flowering indoor plants. Under good conditions, flowering is expected in the 8-10th month from sowing the seeds.
Calceolaria from seeds grows excellent. The process of growing a plant is interesting for enthusiastic flower growers. You can do this business with a growing child, a long process of plant development from the seed stage to luxurious flowering bush evokes feelings of pride and satisfaction.
Requirements for the maintenance of calceolaria:
Lighting
Calceolaria prefers cool content. The best place for a flower pot - north, east or west window. On the south window, the plant can get sick and get sunburn.
Air temperature
At any time of the year, calceolaria needs a temperature of +12 to +17 degrees. In hot rooms it will be difficult to achieve flowering and grow a healthy plant.
Air humidity
Required high humidity air. But there is one feature - the leaves of calceolaria are pubescent and do not tolerate spraying. You can spray only flowers. It is best to put pots in pots filled with wet peat or on a pallet with wet pebbles or expanded clay.
Watering
Watering is required uniform. The substrate must not dry out. Particular attention should be paid to the regularity of watering during the period of budding and flowering. The slightest overdrying of the earth will lead to the dropping of buds. When flowering ends, watering is slightly reduced, and increased with the beginning of the formation of new leaves and shoots.
top dressing
Liquid mineral fertilizers, universal for flowering indoor plants, will fit for top dressing. The first feeding at 6-7 months, when the plant is transplanted into a permanent pot. Top dressing is continued until the end of flowering.
Calceolaria - flower one season. But if you want, you can make it bloom again. To do this, the calceolaria that has finished flowering must be cut off. All dry shoots and stems are cut off. The trimmed flower is removed in a dark place. It is necessary to regularly, but moderately moisten the earthen lump. This is a kind of respite for calceolaria. When you notice that young shoots have appeared, the plant can be put in a permanent place and cared for in the usual way. Such a calceolaria blooms a couple of months earlier than grown from seeds. But the re-flowering plant loses its decorative effect, grows thin shoots, and will not bloom as profusely as it did for the first time.
It is better to grow a new calceolaria from seeds every year.
Calceolaria - amazing plant. Everyone who sees the spectacular flowering of this plant for the first time cannot remain indifferent. Blooming Calceolaria is a great gift for any holiday, and a unique accent in the interior.
Calceolaria photo
Indoor flower calceolaria (Calceolaria), as seen in the photo, is amazingly beautiful. In early spring he, one of the first, blooms and pleases those around him with his bright colorful outfit. At home, calceolaria is grown as an annual, less often a biennial, herbaceous plant. Abundant flowering can be observed only once - in the first year. In the second year, the decorative effect of the flower is greatly lost, it blooms more modestly, not as luxuriantly as a young plant. Therefore, it is important to learn how to propagate a flower so that every year you have a young specimen that can fascinate with its beauty and attractiveness.
Many scientists attribute the flower to the genus norichnikovyh. English scholars are of the opinion dissenting opinion. They believe that calceolaria belongs to the calceolaria family, since there are quite a lot of them - about 300 names. This plant came to us from America - South and Central. The name of the flower Calceolaria is translated as "little shoe". Calceolaria flowers really have the shape of a shoe. The flower, as it were, consists of two lips. The upper one is very small, convex, and the lower one is voluminous, spherical, as if pumped with air - several times larger than the upper one. At a glance, the flower looks like a wooden slipper like a clog. Calceolaria is a fashionista, she has all kinds of shoes in white, yellow, orange and red, with dark dots and specks on her petals and without them. This flower in the wild is found as a herbaceous plant in the form of a shrub or shrub. They also differ as perennial, biennial and annual plants.
Indoor calceolaria grows up to 25 - 35 cm in height, a maximum of 50 cm. It is not high. The leaves are quite large, grow up to 10 cm in length. They are lanceolate, corrugated, bright green. There is a barely noticeable fluff on the bottom of the leaf plate. Fancy flowers, similar to colorful shoes, appear on the plant in early spring. Inflorescences rise on thin stems, which are surrounded by graceful pubescent leaves. Flowering occurs in March - June, all specimens are different. It happens for several days, and it happens that the calceolaria pleases the owner with lush flowering for more than a month. On one plant, from 20 to 60 colored shoes can immediately bloom. The size of the flowers, depending on the variety, varies. Medium ones have a diameter of 2-3 cm, large ones - up to 7 cm.
Introduction to varieties
For growing calceolaria at home, it is better to purchase hybrid varieties of this plant, because they are most adapted to life on the windowsill. We recommend that you get acquainted with some types of calceolaria plants.
Calceolaria hybrid
On the basis of hybrid calceolaria, many other varieties of these miniature houseplants have been bred. In appearance, these are low bushes with rounded wide leaves, soft and slightly fluffy to the touch. Flowers open up to 5 cm in diameter. They come in all shades of yellow, orange and bright red, which show various stains, specks and blots of a different color. This species has the longest flowering - up to two months.
The following varieties of this hybrid won the greatest popularity among flower growers:
Aida 
Dervish 
Dainty
Aida- a low compact bush is literally dotted with dark red velvety shoes
Golden Rain- a variety of shrubby small-colored calceolaria. It is completely covered with bright flowers.
Dervish- its flowers, yellow-brown in color, are distinguished by contrasting variegation.
Dainty- a miniature compact plant, 15 cm high. It has large, soft, pubescent leaves. It blooms with charming red shoes.
Calceolaria Wrinkled (Whole-leaved)
This flower is distinguished by numerous small, up to 2 cm in diameter, wrinkled flowers of bright yellow color with brown spots. During flowering, the bush looks like a yellow cloud. This is a perennial plant. In warm regions of the country, it is grown in flowerbeds in parks and cottages. There it grows up to one meter in height. Flowers are usually collected in large rosettes. The leaves are narrow, oblong, beautiful light green. Based on this species, breeders have developed frost-resistant varieties that can tolerate frosts down to minus 5 ° C.
At home, the calceolaria of this species is grown as a biennial crop in flower pots, which, with the advent of heat, are taken out into the street, and with the advent of cold weather they are brought back into the house. In room conditions, it grows up to half a meter.
The following varieties are most popular in this type of calceolaria:
Sunset- his flowers are not only yellow, but also orange and red
golden bouquet- has larger flowers of bright yellow color.
Calceolaria Gentle
This miniature perennial plant can also be successfully grown at home if you take the flower pot out to the garden for the summer. Its leaves are not large, bright green, but the flowers are golden yellow with dark spots, very beautiful.
Calceolaria Mexicana
Depending on the conditions of detention, it grows from 30 to 50 cm in different directions. Its soft yellow flowers are medium in size, up to 5 cm in diameter, the bush is strewn with almost two months.
Calceolaria Purple
This low, up to half a meter, plant is a perennial. Spatulate leaves have jagged edges. The flowers are oblong shaped beautiful magenta with a lilac tint and reddish patches. In room conditions, grown as an annual.
Calceolaria is a rather capricious plant. He is contraindicated in high and low temperatures, dryness and waterlogging, strong and low light. At home, growing such a flower is problematic, but possible. You need to follow some rules for its content.
Temperature
In the winter-spring period, the rooms are very hot from heating. Do you have a heated veranda or glazed balcony. Perhaps your house has a temperature controller, and you can maintain the optimum temperature for it. Then it makes sense to mess with the cultivation of room calceolaria because of the irresistible desire to see it bloom.
But this is a fact - calceolaria does not tolerate high temperatures and dry air! This flower prefers a cool, but bright room, where the ambient temperature does not exceed 17 ° C. With more high temperature, the plant sheds flowers and buds, loses its decorative effect, can get sick. It even runs the risk of pests.
Lighting
Calceolaria prefers bright but diffused light. In direct sunlight, it can get a burn of the leaves, which will wither and fall off. Therefore, find a place for her on the windowsills. north side apartments or, at least, eastern or northwestern. At midday, protect it from the sun's rays with blinds or curtains. In the summer, take pots of flowers to the loggia or balcony on the north side of the apartment. The place should be protected from wind, drafts and direct sunlight.
With a lack of lighting, the calceolaria becomes unhealthy in appearance, develops poorly and does not bloom. In early spring, when there is not enough light, we recommend applying for additional lighting phytolamps or fluorescent lamps.
Watering
Calceolaria loves abundant watering with settled water at room temperature. Ideally - good soft rainwater. The soil in the pot should not dry out. But the excess liquid from the pan after watering must be removed on time to prevent stagnation of moisture in the root system. We recommend watering carefully so that water does not fall on the delicate pubescent leaves of plants. After the end of flowering, calceolaria are watered less frequently, gradually reducing watering to a minimum.
Air humidity
Calceolaria loves high humidity air in the room. In addition to regular watering, it is advisable to place the flower pot in a container, at the bottom of which lies a layer of wet expanded clay or large river pebbles. If the humidity in the room is not sufficient, we recommend spraying the air around the pot with water, without getting on the plant. If the flowers of calceolaria still tolerate careful spraying in the warm season, then this wetting is contraindicated for the leaves.
top dressing
It is advisable to feed Calceolaria before and during flowering with liquid mineral supplements. Moreover, after planting a young plant in a pot, in the spring, you should not immediately feed it if you have chosen a nutritious soil suitable for flowering houseplants. Only after a couple of weeks, you can start feeding with complex fertilizers, until the end of flowering, but not often, once every 2 weeks. After flowering, in the autumn and winter months, calceolaria does not need to be fertilized.
Soil and transplanting into a new pot
For growing indoor calceolaria, a loose nutrient soil mixture of leafy, soddy soil, peat and a small part of coarse river sand is suitable. Purchased soil for flowering houseplants, for example, for geraniums, with pH = 5.5, is also suitable.
If you bought a flower in a store, see if the roots of the purchased plant stick out of the drainage holes. If the pot is obviously too small, or you want to transplant the calceolaria into your own, more beautiful pot, transplant as follows. Take a prepared pot, slightly larger than the purchased one. Lay on the bottom good layer drainage from expanded clay or other drainage material. Pour in some of the new soil. If the soil is homemade - do not forget to disinfect it! Gently remove the bush with calceolaria from the purchased pot along with the earthy clod and transfer it to a new pot using the transfer method. Try not to injure yourself root system. Gently shake the pot to fill all the voids inside it. Add new soil on the sides, cover the roots on top of the plant with it. Pour the flower with settled water at room temperature plentifully to soak the earth ball properly. Drain after some time excess water from the pallet.
Rules for the care of calceolaria after flowering
When growing calceolaria as an annual, immediately after flowering, the bush is dug out of the pot and thrown away. The maximum life of this indoor flower- two years, or two flowering.
If you are growing Calceolaria as a biennial plant, you will need to keep your plant healthy after flowering until the next bloom. To do this, immediately after the flower has faded, its shoots must be cut off, and the pot with the root system must be removed in a cool, dark place for one and a half to two months. The temperature should not be higher than 10-12°C. Water occasionally so that the earth ball does not dry out too much. Absolute drying of the root system must not be allowed - otherwise the calceolaria will not rest, but will die. Look at the flower. After a month or two, you will see how new shoots will appear from the soil. This means that the hibernation period of calceolaria is ending, it is preparing for a new life stage. The pot must be put back on a bright, cool window sill. Start watering the plant moderately, feed. If your bush successfully endures the dormant period, it will begin to develop again, even gain buds. At this time, we recommend removing weak shoots, and shortening healthy and strong shoots by 2/3 of their length. This will help the active growth of the bush later. It will bloom much earlier - in February or March. But you do not expect the former riot of colors and abundant flowering! An elongated, pale-looking bush with a few flowers is not at all like how young and beautiful it was last year.
Reproduction of calceolaria
Indoor calceolaria flower propagates in two ways: cuttings and seeds.
Reproduction by cuttings
From saved to winter period flower, in the spring, you can cut off healthy green shoots for rooting. First, we recommend treating the ends of the cuttings with preparations for better rooting (for example, Kornevin). Place the cuttings in a damp substrate under the film. The temperature in the room should be cool, not higher than 20 ° C. The place of rooting should be well lit, planting should be ventilated. A glazed balcony is suitable for this, only from direct sun you need additional protection. Shoots will take root for about two months. The probability that all cuttings will be accepted is 50%. When the cuttings take root, they are planted in separate small pots with drainage and begin to care for them, as for adult plants.
To make the calceolaria bushes more fluffy, we recommend planting two or three cuttings in one pot.
Growing from seed
Growing calceolaria from seeds is much easier and therefore more commonly practiced. A plant grown from seeds with normal care has the best decorative look and abundant flowering. The seeds of calceolaria are very small. There are up to 30 thousand of them in one gram. The process from seed germination to seedling flowering takes more than six months. Therefore, the timing of sowing seeds can be different and depends on when you want to see your calceolaria bloom. For spring flowering, seeds are sown in early June, and in autumn, calceolaria bushes sown in March will bloom with seeds.
In a container with a moist substrate, sow calceolaria seeds on the surface, do not fall asleep with anything on top. The land can be used purchased, suitable for flowering indoor flowers, or prepared by yourself from a mixture of sod, leaf, peat, with the addition of sand. Cover the top of the planting with a lid or plastic wrap. Place the box in a bright, cool place. The temperature should not exceed 20°C. Keep the humidity high. In greenhouse conditions, seeds will sprout faster and grow better. You will see the first shoots in two weeks. After another two to three weeks, the sprouts need to be speared, planting them in rows every 5 cm. Water gently every other day. Ventilate the greenhouse daily. Remove condensate. When the seedlings grow up, after two months, they must be transplanted again. This time in small pots 7 - 9 cm in diameter.
After transplantation, pinch the young bushes, leaving only two or three pairs of leaves. Young shoots will soon begin to appear. Plants will grow noticeably, get stronger. The strengthened calceolaria bushes must be transplanted again into flower pots with more nutritious and heavy soil. You will need a slightly acidic humus substrate with a pH of no more than 5.5. You can prepare the substrate yourself. Take two parts: peat, humus and sod, as well as one part of sand. You can add mineral fertilizer for flowering in the amount of 2-3 grams. per kg of substrate. Now it can be transplanted into permanent, more spacious pots. We have already written about soil and drainage. Now the temperature needs to be somewhat reduced, to 18 ° C - calceolaria does not tolerate heat and dry air. Now you just have to wait for the next flowering.
Try to fulfill all the conditions for growing this interesting plant, and it will delight you with lush flowering in 8 - 9 months from the moment of sowing the seeds.
If you master the methods of reproduction of your pet well, you will not worry about saving the faded flower - you will simply throw it away.
Pests
Of the possible diseases of room calceolaria, one can name gray rot. It appears with prolonged waterlogging of heavy soil, at too low a temperature and overfeeding. nitrogen fertilizers. Severely affected parts of the plant are cut and destroyed. The bush is transplanted into a new soil and sprayed with preparations containing copper: Bordeaux liquid, oxychome, topaz and others.
Conclusion
Despite some difficulties of growing at home, calceolaria, for its decorative effect, originality and lush bloom extraordinarily beautiful flowers, is on a par with many flower growers' favorite indoor flowers. She is a welcome guest in many homes and on household plots. Try and you grow it with your own hands. Colorful flowering will be your best reward for your efforts and love for indoor flowers.