Streptocarpus. Care of the plant at home

Streptocarpus came to us from warm countries, hishomeland are the countries of the African continent (Madagascar island), Asia. The flower belongs to the family of Gesneria and is closely related to gloxinia and violet. In nature, grows more than a hundred "wild" species of this plant, in addition, the breeders managed to create a huge number of hybrids and thus multiply streptocarpus. Care for the flower has its own characteristics, there is nothing complicated, it is necessary only to observe certain conditions of watering, lighting, temperature regime.

Streptocarpus is a rosette oflarge leaves not less than 25 cm long and more than 6 cm wide. The stem of the plant is short, but its main decoration is beautiful bell-shaped flowers that amaze the imagination with a huge variety of colors. Florists can buy red, blue, yellow, white, almost black, striped, with interspersed streptocarpus. Care and cultivation do not take much time, so every fan of these beautiful flowers can have such a miracle at home.

The main mistake of the flower growers is that theyrefer to streptocarpuses as violets. Although these plants belong to the same family, care of them is completely different. Lighting is something that a streptocarpus loves. Care for him involves maintaining a light day about 14 hours a day. In order to achieve this, the plant can be put on a window sill or use artificial lighting. If the latter option is used, it is recommended to alternately turn on the phytolamp and the fluorescent lamp.

Since the streptocarpus came to us from warmcountries, he likes high temperatures. The flower is ideal for moderately hot weather, when the room is stored up to 26 ° C. Increasing the temperature to 30 ° C or more is not very good for streptocarpus. Care in this case involves shading the plant from direct sunlight, otherwise the appearance of the leaves may deteriorate, they will begin to dry out around the edges or fade. In winter, the streptocarpus begins a period of rest, at this time it can be kept at a temperature of 15 ° C, reduce the frequency of watering and do not apply fertilizing.

Depending on the variety, it is necessary to choosesuitable substrate. In dense soil it is recommended to make perlite, sphagnum moss, leaves and vermiculite, in a mixture of peat with vermiculite, too, the streptocarpus feels well. Care for the flower involves compliance with the rules of watering. The plant allows a slight drying out of the earth coma, but waterlogging affects the roots negatively. At the same time, high humidity of air streptocarpus is very fond of, so it is recommended to create above it a cloud of water droplets.

To fertilize the plant is favorable.It is better for children to make nitrogen fertilizers, and for adult flowers phosphorus and potash. Feeding can be done weekly, then you can grow a luxurious streptocarpus foliage. Care and reproduction also do not cause certain problems. If there is already a bush at home, then during transplantation it can be divided into several plants. Seed and cuttings can also be propagated.