Gloxinia is a perennial tuberous plant native to Brazil and South America.
To date it is known a large number of all kinds of gloxinia hybrids, which are widely used as ornamental plants.
However, the most popular in indoor floriculture is the gloxinia hybrid, obtained by crossing beautiful gloxinia and royal gloxinia.
Gloxinia - home care in winter
After flowering is completed, in late autumn, a dormant period begins, which lasts until the end of winter. When the foliage begins to turn yellow, reduce watering. After complete drying of the ground part, it is completely stopped. There are two ways to overwinter tubers - in a pot and with digging.
Wintering in a pot.
- the remains of the plant, if they have not completely disappeared, remove;
- fill the pot with sand to the very top;
- cover with a suitable object, you can use a pallet;
- put in plastic bag, but do not tie;
- put it in a cool room without access to light, optimum temperature- 10°С;
- periodically check that the tuber does not wake up, and also control the humidity;
- If the soil is completely dry, you need to slightly moisten.
Wintering with digging
- at the end of the active period, get the tubers from the ground;
- slightly clear of the soil, decompose to dry;
- reconsider for health;
- rotten and damaged to remove;
- put in a plastic bag, add moistened sawdust or soil with vermiculite, perlite;
- tie bags, store in the refrigerator in the warmest section (for vegetables);
- in January-February, take the tubers out of the refrigerator and place them in the light to wake up. If the tuber gets enough heat and moisture during the winter, it can sprout. Here you need to evaluate how strong the root is. If powerful, the sprout must be carefully removed. If it is weak and small, removing the sprout can destroy the plant. Then it is better to plant it in the ground and let it grow.
How to keep gloxinia until spring
In November or December, when the plant stops flowering, you need to stop watering and move it to a dry and dark place. 
In the place where the flower will be stored, there should be good ventilation and temperature regime air should be between 12 and 14 degrees.
After the aerial part dies off, it must be removed, leaving a small trunk one centimeter in size. The flower has a dormant period.
Before sending a flower for a dormant period, its tubers must be cleaned from the ground, rinsed thoroughly in cold running water and dried. If it is dried poorly, the process of decay will be inevitable. The prepared composition must be placed in a regular plastic bag and a tuber placed in it. It is necessary to store the container with the tuber in a cool and darkened room. 
Reproduction of gloxinia from seeds
At home, gloxinia seeds are best sown in wide and shallow containers. For this, boxes, bowls or containers are suitable. The soil for sowing should be sufficiently loose and nutritious, with a good content of humus and organic matter.
Therefore, to obtain a soil that meets such requirements, sand, leafy soil and coniferous soil are mixed. To improve the hygroscopic properties and aeration of the soil, perlite or vermiculite, as well as crushed moss, can be added to it. The soil mixture is preliminarily disinfected. This can be done by watering it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, boiling water, or placing the soil in hot oven for 15 minutes and ignite the soil in it. 
Sowing gloxinia seeds
To speed up the cultivation of gloxinia, some flower growers treat the seeds with various growth stimulants before sowing. They contribute to a faster and more friendly emergence of seedlings. But you need to use such drugs strictly according to the instructions, otherwise the seeds can be destroyed. Seeds need to be sown on the surface of the soil and do not need to be sprinkled. Since gloxinia seeds are very small, for convenience, you can mix them with sand. It is best to leave a small distance between the seeds when sowing, about 1-2 centimeters. After sowing, the soil in the bowls is sprayed with a sprayer, and then they need to be covered with sheets of glass to create a greenhouse effect. 
Boxes with seedlings should be placed in a well-lit place, but not allowed direct impact sun. Since sowing is carried out in winter time, then the seedlings may suffer from a lack of lighting. You can replenish it by placing a fluorescent lamp next to the boxes. Such lighting has a positive effect on the sprouts and at the same time emits little heat.
The temperature of the content of gloxinia crops
In order for the seeds to sprout well and amicably, they need heat. Therefore, the temperature under the glass should be at least 22 degrees Celsius. It is necessary to carefully monitor the soil moisture in the boxes, and spray it in a timely manner. 
Reproduction of gloxinia leaf
Most of the hybrids are characterized by the presence of impressive juicy leaves, which are just perfect for vegetative propagation. This is especially suitable for those who want to have several copies of a certain type or when it is not possible to buy the gloxinia they like. Leaf propagation is carried out in summer or early autumn. Its size doesn't matter. Large leaves can be divided into several parts, each subsequently giving a new plant, and root the whole small ones. In addition, individual sprouts from an awakened tuber are suitable for vegetative propagation. For abundant flowering and good growth it is recommended to leave only one shoot at the mother plant, while the rest should be removed and used to obtain a new gloxinia bush. 
Gloxinia diseases
Septoria
Fungal disease is caused high humidity, insufficient illumination and long contact with water. Rust-like spots form on the sheets. The stem, buds and leaves quickly wither and dry. Treatment is carried out with copper-based preparations or fungicides Maneb, Benomyl. 
late blight
The most dangerous disease, since no drugs give good results. Late blight develops due to high humidity and temperature changes - 9-20 degrees, stagnant water and insufficient soil ventilation. When infected with late blight, a general wilting of the plant occurs, on the leaves appear brown spots with a pale rim white coating With inside sheet. Infection occurs everywhere and spreads very quickly.
How to whitewash trees with lime in spring?
powdery mildew
Appears when high humidity and temperature fluctuations. It is characterized by the appearance of a white cobweb plaque. Sometimes infection occurs with the soil or through inventory. Any fungicide is suitable for processing. Processing should be carried out on all neighboring plants.
The best prevention against the appearance of fungal diseases is the correct ratio of humidity and temperature.
The dormant period of gloxinia.
In autumn, after flowering, gloxinia begins a dormant period. The plant slows down growth, does not pick up buds, the leaves begin to turn yellow and dry out. The leaves of such a plant are cut off and removed for winter storage. The optimal time for pruning gloxinia and sending the tuber for winter storage is October-November.
Sometimes it happens that gloxinia do not want to go to hibernation themselves. If the tuber is more than a year old, then gloxinia still needs to be put to bed.
Such gloxinia must first be prepared for a dormant period, i.e. reduce watering, move to a darker and cooler place, stop feeding. After the plant stops growing, the leaves begin to turn yellow, the stems and leaves are cut off.
Gloxinia tubers are stored in a dark, cool place at a temperature of 12-16 degrees Celsius. My gloxinia are stored in a closed closet on an insulated loggia. Some flower growers store tubers in the refrigerator, having previously measured the air temperature on the refrigerator shelf.
Methods for storing tubers:
1. The plant can be left in the same pot in which gloxinia grew. The soil in which gloxinia is stored should be slightly damp, but not wet. Gloxinia with this method of storage must be watered, slightly moistening the soil, about a spoonful of water. Watering is done 1-2 times a month, making sure that the soil does not dry out and the tuber does not dry out. You can make it easier: place the pot with the tuber in a plastic bag and tie it tightly. With this method, there is no need to water gloxinia and the possibility of drying out of the soil is excluded. Once a month, it is necessary to check the soil moisture and the condition of the tuber.
2. In a plastic container.
Currently in pavilions with disposable tableware various plastic containers with lid. It is convenient to store small gloxinia tubers in such containers. We pour a small amount of moist soil on the bottom of the container, place the tuber, sprinkle it with earth. Close the container tightly with a lid to prevent overdrying of the soil. Such containers allow you to save space during storage, the possibility of drying out of the soil is excluded. 
Awakening gloxinia.
The dormant period of gloxinia lasts from one to five months. After that, the tubers wake up and release new shoots. The optimal time for awakening is February, March, April. If the gloxinia tuber has not woken up before May, it can be forced to wake it up. To do this, the gloxinia tuber should be placed in a transparent bag, add a little moist soil, and put in a well-lit place, but not direct sunlight. Usually after this, the tuber releases sprouts within one to two weeks.
After waking up, it is necessary to remove the tuber from the old soil, shake it off, rinse in water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate, cut off the old thin roots, while leaving thick roots.
Awakened gloxinia should be transplanted into fresh nutritious light soil, lightly watered. When planting, it is impossible to deepen the gloxinia tuber, you need to plant the tuber with a recess upwards, sprinkling the tuber itself with soil no more than 1 cm. At the same time, you need to make sure that the young sprout is not covered up.
The first time after waking up, the plant should be watered moderately, without waterlogging the soil, in order to avoid rotting of the tuber.
It often happens that gloxinia produces several sprouts. I always leave one, the strongest. The remaining sprouts can be carefully removed by cutting with a blade. Leaving one sprout on the tuber, a more accurate bush is obtained, and the flowers are larger.
If you want to get a more lush plant, then you can leave two sprouts.
Cut off "extra" sprouts can be easily rooted by placing them in water until the roots appear 1-2 cm, and then plant them in the soil. Thus, you can get another plant that will bloom in the same year. In this case, it should be borne in mind that slightly grown sprouts are suitable for rooting, on which there will be 4 leaves.
Pot size for gloxinia tuber.
A pot for gloxinia must be selected in such a way that the diameter of the pot is 3-4 centimeters larger than the diameter of the tuber.
For example, a very small nodule, about one or two centimeters in size, I plant in a hundred gram a plastic cup, medium tuber - in a pot with a diameter of 7 cm, adult tubers feel good in 9 cm pots.
As small nodules grow and the root system develops, gloxinia will need to be transplanted into a larger pot.
If you plant a small tuber immediately in a large diameter pot, then there is a possibility of acidification of the soil and rotting of the tuber.
This beauty from the world of flowers demands special treatment. Previously, not all flower growers knew that the inhabitant of the tropics, gloxinia, sheds leaves for the winter and waits out a dormant period in the form of a tuber, which is why this flower sometimes turned out to be thrown out. Now everything is different. We know that winter rest is needed, but how to provide it correctly?
In the photo gloxinia
Sinningia comes from mountain forests South America. Only not from the evergreen selva, but from the upper reaches of the Amazon, where the summer rainy months give way to winter dry relative coolness. Why does the physiology of Gesneriaceae require observance of a dormant period. Otherwise, you can not only weaken the plant, not allowing it to bloom next spring, but completely destroy it.
There are two main ways to store gloxinia tubers in winter.
- We store the tuber removed from the pot;
- The plant hibernates together with an earthy clod.
Video about gloxinia care
Let's take a closer look at them. So, the first one.
The foliage begins to fade - we slowly stop watering, complete the fertilizing cycle with fertilizers. Thus, we prepare the plant for winter sleep. Toward the end of September-mid-October, the sinningia drops its leaves. Its roots are dying. Only the tuber that has ripened over the summer remains. We are going to keep it. To do this, carefully remove from the soil.
The best way to do this is by transshipment:
- We take a large container for the soil, for example, a basin
- We turn over the planter with gloxinia over it
- Gently knead the earthen lump with your fingers until it breaks into several parts.
- We clean the tuber from pieces of soil and remnants of the roots
We can wash the tuber under running water, after which it is necessary to dry it. It is highly not recommended to lay a wet tuber for storage - this is fraught with the development of putrefactive processes.
We will store the developed spine in a bag with wet sand or wet sawdust. But sand is more preferable. Only you need to use gray river, first we wash it from dust, and then we calcine it in the oven thin layer on the contrary. Thus, we get rid of the infection.
Sand for storage should be slightly damp, but do not over-moisten it. Otherwise, the roots may turn sour from a lack of oxygen and excess fluid. Now we are preparing a strong bag, pour wet sand on the bottom, put the tuber, cover it with sand to hide it from sight. Now you need to decide on a place.
The wintering of the root systems of domestic Gesneriaceae must meet three conditions:
- Lack of bright light
- Temperature +3 °C to +15 °C
- The air should not be drier than 60%, but not more than 90%
This provides normal conditions close to the natural ones of the places where synningia comes from. Winter storage works best at the bottom of the refrigerator, where we usually store vegetables and herbs. If you have a lot of free space and some gloxinia tubers, then put your bags there. But remember that the air inside is very dry. You need to periodically check if the sand is dry. Most likely, once or twice during the winter it will have to be slightly moistened.
Another option is to consider an insulated unheated loggia or balcony. It is important that the temperature does not rise to +20 °C. This can provoke tubers to wake up early from sleep.
It is also good to hide the plants in a warm deep cellar, where winter temperatures keep around +5 °C, high relative humidity, no or almost no fungal mold growth on walls and shelves. Then you do not even have to check the humidity of the sandy or sawdust substrate - it will always be optimal.
You can also store bags under the tub. This is the most compromise option. Not everyone has a lot of space in the refrigerator, warm cellar or balcony. Humidity and darkness of the bathroom allow us to hope for a good winter. Only the temperature is high.
Another option is to store bags of tubers on the mezzanine of the hallway. But you can forget about them, do not water on time. And this is bad for the bulbs.
It is recommended to periodically check the tubers for the presence of putrefactive formations. If they make themselves felt, cut them out sharp knife or razor to healthy tissue. Be careful and careful. If you don’t notice rot in time, you risk losing the entire plant. The place of the cut for disinfection is powdered with ash.
We wait until spring. We watch when the first sprouts appear. After that, we remove the tuber, inspect for rot, clean it in which case, dip it into a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate. You can then place it in the root - very nutritious for future flowers. Now we plant in a new substrate for leaf growth and flowering.
If you bought tubers in the fall, then we store them without soil with mandatory pre-winter and pre-spring treatment with disinfectants, such as potassium permanganate.
Storage in the ground
Gloxinia care in winter is greatly simplified if we leave the plant untouched. We also stop watering in the fall. We are waiting for the complete fall of the leaves. Then we put a pot with a wintering nodule closer to coolness. For example, if you have cold balcony, then keep the pot closer to its door, away from the battery - this will provide the required wintering temperature.
You can also take the wintering planters to the cellar, put them on the balcony if you have it insulated. It is important that gloxinia in pots experience temperatures significantly lower in winter than those + 30 ° C that are sometimes observed in apartments.
It is also required sometimes to moisten the top layer with water. Do not over-moisten, but do not over-dry the soil. By the way, potted storage is more appropriate in the bathroom. To create a lower temperature for the tuber, stack ice cubes on the surface of the soil. This will lower the temperature of the substrate surrounding the tuber to the most acceptable levels.
Video about peace in gloxinia
The tuber that remains to winter in the ground is much less exposed to putrefactive processes.
Pros and cons of off-ground and ground storage of gloxinia in winter
- It is better to store young synningia without removing it from the ground. So less risk of drying out;
- Pots with earth are bulky, if there is little space and a lot of flowers, choose off-ground storage;
- Bags of tubers should be checked frequently for rot;
- It is convenient to store packages in the refrigerator - the most suitable method of wintering a flower, named gloxinia;
- Wintering in the bathroom is an option if there is no cellar, balcony, large refrigerator;
- Moisten the top layer of the earth ice is the best a way to store gloxinia in winter in a warm room.
- We store purchased tubers without soil with mandatory disinfection.
Attention: Winter for adults room gloxinia- rest period. A plant that has bloomed at least once and managed to grow tubers enters a dormant state. The larger the tuber, the better it is stored. A young copy of the first year of life may not fall asleep for the winter.
When to retire? This should not be forced. Such gloxinia has a small tuber less than two centimeters in diameter, which, under wintering conditions without watering, can dry out and die. A young plant in the winter season needs special care:
- Provide the correct temperature. Indicators should not rise above + 20 ° C. If the room is too hot, the stem will stretch to the detriment of tuber growth.
- Watered less often than in the summer season(on how to properly water and feed gloxinia for long flowering, read). Otherwise, waterlogging will lead to root rot.
- Organize the backlight. Light day should last at least 12 hours a day. Without additional lighting the flower is strongly stretched. To prevent this, the room temperature is reduced to +18°C. Or at the end of February, a long stem is cut, leaving only the lower leaves.
rest period
When to remove gloxinia for the winter, for rest? Usually in September-October, the plant goes into a midnight state, when the dry season begins in their homeland - in South America.
In the case when the plant has faded and does not want to fall asleep, it needs help. If gloxinia does not go to rest on time, the flowering time will shift, which should fall in the spring and summer months.
To prevent this from happening, at the beginning of autumn, the faded gloxinia begins to be prepared for wintering. With late flowering, wait for its end. After complete self-death of the aerial part, the tuber is ready for storage. If everything is done correctly, gloxinia will begin to wake up no earlier than January - February.
Detailed description
- In September-October, after flowering, place the gloxinia in a less lit place, for example, on the northern windowsill. Provide a temperature of +15°C. feed once potash fertilizer. Gradually reduce watering. Moisten the soil with small portions of water no more than once a week.
- When the leaves begin to dry, stop moistening the substrate. You can not immediately cut off the aerial part of the plant. Should be allowed nutrients gradually move into a tuber from the stem and leaves. If you cut off the green foliage, the vegetation processes can resume.
- After the complete independent death of the upper part, cut it off, leaving a small stump one and a half centimeters high.
Methods and conditions of storage
When the preparation is completed, you need to send the tuber for the winter. Storage methods:
- Leave the tuber in the pot. You can sprinkle with river sand. Cover the flowerpot with a saucer, place in polyethylene and place in a cool place with a temperature of +10 to +15°C. Make sure that the tuber does not dry out completely. Lightly moisten the soil by spraying several times during the winter.
- Two weeks after the complete death of the aerial part, dig out the tuber. Remove root debris. You can wash it in water, dry it and treat it with Fitosporin. Take a plastic bag with a zipper, pour slightly damp sawdust into it or river sand or crushed peat. Or take a mixture of substrate with vermiculite. Rinse the sand beforehand and hold it in a hot oven.
- Put the tuber in the bag. Store in a box in a cool place at a temperature of +10 to +15°C. The middle or bottom shelf of the refrigerator door will do. Take out and inspect the tuber monthly. If the substrate is dry, spray it with warm water and return the tuber to its place. Avoid excess moisture.
In the case when the grower has several gloxinia, make labels indicating the variety and date of dispatch for wintering.
The plant is thermophilic and grows well at an air humidity of at least 50%. This is a tuberous type belonging to the Gesneriaceae. The second name is synningia. It came to us from the tropics. Gloxinia lived in the mountainous regions of the Amazon River, in its upper part. There, periods of heavy rains turn into winter drought with a decrease in temperature, and the flower is used to hiding and waiting until the showers that feed the soil come again. Therefore, gloxinia refers to flowers that require a dormant period.
Interestingly, in the past, amateur flower growers often believed that dropping leaves and withering, gloxinia passes away like that and was simply thrown away. It is necessary to take care of it in resonance with its biorhythms, otherwise the plant will become exhausted, waste its vital potential in an abnormal way, will not have time to gain enough strength for the upcoming flowering, and even possibly die.
At home, it grows well in the kitchen and on the insulated loggia. because the humidity is higher there. conducted, leafy and from the tops, as well as tubers (read how to grow gloxinia from a leaf).
On a note. Gloxinia herself “knows” when she needs to rest, at this time the foliage begins to turn yellow.
Usually the plant is prepared for bed from September-October. Watering is gradually reduced to nothing, and the dried leaves are carefully cut off, the pots are moved to more shaded places. The dream of a flower is quite long, it takes more than one month.
How and when does it happen?
In autumn, the flowering of adult synningia is no longer so active and gradually stops altogether. In order not to bring down the natural process, gloxinia stop feeding, minimize watering. Enough time must elapse for the . You can cut the drying leaves to the very root, or you can, leaving arrows of 2-3 cm each. A semi-dark zone with a temperature of + 10 ° C to + 13 ° C is ideal for the winter.
During sleep, gloxinia is very poorly watered, once or twice a month. Pour some water strictly along the edge of the pots so as not to wet the surface of the tuber. When watering, take a little warm water.
The second hibernation option is the storage of tubers in a sandy substrate, or in peat, or in sphagnum moss. The tubers are removed from the pot and added dropwise to the selected substrate, keeping there until the end. winter period. Spray once a month warm water coma in which the tuber is stored.
The temperature is the same as in the first version, 10-13 degrees. More experienced flower growers-artists, knowing the nature and habits of the plant, having subtly studied them, are guided by other indicators using a labile dormant time schedule, where in each case the period is calculated individually.
young plants
How to get?
The method that will be optimally applied depends on which storage option is chosen - in the ground or without it.
Reference. Regular monitoring of moisture levels and rot is required. If rot has appeared, we clean it, process it with potassium permanganate.
A wounded place, eaten away by a fungus, after cleansing, sprinkle with ash. If the tuber is acquired in the fall, then during storage it is necessary to use a soil-free method, having carried out disinfection both before hibernation and after it (you can learn more about gloxinia diseases and how to treat them).
in the soil
It's more simple and reliable option, the danger of rotting is minimal. Preparation for sleep is carried out according to the same scenario. About how to pick best soil for gloxinia, you can find out.
- We move the pot with the tuber to a cool and shady place.
- Moisturize from time to time upper part soil.
- You can add ice cubes to lower the temperature.
Also, the pot can be covered with a bag and put in a cool place. Do not forget to check for moisture and make sure that the tuber does not sprout. To "control" the temperature, you can put the pot in a box and put a thermometer inside. The same applies to the groundless storage method. Tuber checks should be done twice a month.
The rest period lasts four to five months. By the end of January, you can expect awakening in the form of the first sprouts. When this happens, you should return the plant to a pot with fresh soil and put it in the brightest place (we wrote about what size pot is needed for the healthy development of gloxinia). They dip just a little bit. The sprout should rise slightly above the layer of earth, or be on a par with it. In the first seven days, watering is not done, then they start with moderate doses of moisture, gradually bringing it to normal.
Growth stimulation is not done until February, so that the tuber does not use up strength., because the more it is, the more abundant the flowering will become. Excess shoots are removed, leaving three or four things when they reach five centimeters in length.
You can use them for breeding, rooting in a jar, like a small greenhouse, periodically hardening and airing.
Attention! If it turned out that the tuber was rotten at the end of hibernation, then you need to disinfect it using the above method.
It can also be placed in the root for feeding.
Useful video
The dormant period of gloxinia. Storage of gloxinia tubers in winter at rest:
Conclusion
Advantages and disadvantages of soil and soilless methods:
- the risk of drying out during ground storage is minimal, this is especially important for young plants;
- storage in pots takes up a lot of space;
- when stored without soil in bags, it is possible to control for rot;
- the soilless method makes it possible to winter in the refrigerator.