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If there is gloxinia in the home collection of a grower, planting a tuber is an obligatory step in growing this amazingly beautiful indoor plant. When there is a dormant period after mass flowering at the ornamental culture, gloxinia retains its vitality due to the nutrients contained in the tuber. But as soon as sprouts sprout from the top, it is important not to delay. Tuber strength is running out, and the development of stems and foliage requires serious nourishment. Therefore, at the first signs of activity, gloxinia is prepared by transplanting into fresh soil.
How to prepare gloxinia tubers for planting to get strong and healthy indoor plants?
Preparing gloxinia tubers for planting
When the buds are ready to grow on the upper part, this means that it is time to take care of the tubers. To simplify gloxinia tuber planting and care for emerging sprouts, planting material is carefully examined to ensure that damaged, sick or completely unviable copies of
get into the substrate. Clean the remains of dry roots and soil and rinse in warm water. When traces of rot are found on the surface, moist or, on the contrary, completely dried areas, cracks or signs of pests, such places are:
- is cut with a sharp knife to healthy tissue;
- 18-24 hours at home dried;
- for a quarter of an hour immersed in a pink solution of potassium permanganate;
- is treated with crushed coal and fungicide.
When, after “hibernation”, the gloxinia tubers to be planted are wrinkled and soft, they cannot be transferred to the ground. To return the planting material due quality and elasticity, the tubers are wrapped in a damp napkin and left in this form for 2-3 days.
If you take care of the quality of the tubers falling into the soil in advance, you can seriously simplify the care of gloxinia, and on luscious plants get a more luxuriant long-term bloom.
Selection of soil and pot for planting gloxinia with tuber
Before planting gloxinia tubers, it is important to stock up with soil, drainage material and a pot for the plant.
Room culture is not too demanding on the composition of the substrate, but for planting Gloxinia tubers, it is advisable to choose a light, well-permeable for moisture and air soil with sufficient nutrient content. Ready-made peat-based substrates are quite suitable. If the soil mixture is too dense, lingering moisture and lack of air will provoke rotting, which can cause the death of the flower.
The size of a pot for growing gloxinia from a tuber should be 4-6 cm wider in diameter than the planting material itself. This will give the plant the opportunity:
- to develop a good root system;
- lay a large number of buds;
- to form beautiful foliage without sacrificing flowering.
You should not buy a growth 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 tuber?
For gloxinia, which is afraid of excessive soil moistening and stagnation of water, a drainage layer is needed from 1 to 3 cm thick, depending on the size of the pot and the properties of the substrate. Above the drainage sprinkle prepared sterile soil.
If roots appeared on a tuber, they are prudently made for them. During planting, the gloxinia tuber is deepened only by two thirds, leaving the top above the ground with peeping sprouts.
Substrate around the tuber gently moisturize, trying not to fall on the upper part and the concavity, where the shoots are located. We can not allow this area of the tuber was covered with soil. Only when the stems grow, the remaining top of the soil sprinkled with fresh substrate, finally leveling the surface.
Learn more about planting a gloxinia with a tuber on the video, which reveals all the details of the process and allows even a novice florist to correctly accomplish this demanding task.
How to wake a tuber for planting gloxinia?
Flower growers often complain that not all gloxinia tubers “wake up” at the same time. Some stubbornly show no signs of activity. Can they be planted, and how to grow gloxinia from a tuber that lags behind the rest?
A rest period of 3 to 4 months is characteristic of all gloxinia. But sometimes it takes a longer period for the tubers to plant sprouts and start a new growing season.
Until the growth of stems and roots began, the plant practically does not absorb moisture and nutrients from the soil. Therefore, if you plant a “sleeping” tuber, there is a high risk of its loss due to decay.
One way out 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 above-ground part.
For this, washed, inspected and dried gloxinium growing tubers are laid out in tightly closed bags, to which add a little wet peat substrate.
Packages are closed and sent to heat under fitolampy or under diffused but bright sunlight. It is not necessary to air such containers:
- The duration of daylight hours for gloxinium is usually 12–14 hours.
- A comfortable temperature should be between 24 and 26 ° C.
This rule remains 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.
