Gesneria - Gesneria

Gesneria description

Gesneria: photo of a flower

Gesneria is considered an evergreen plant that has been growing for several years and belongs to the Gisneria family. The native lands of this herbaceous are the territory of the tropical part of America and the Antilles.

This family was named after the Swiss naturalist, Konrad Gesner, who was born in fifteen hundred and sixteen and died in fifteen hundred and sixty-five.

Gesneria is a semi-shrub or shrub, the height of which usually reaches sixty centimeters. At the top of the upright branches, there is a fluff, and the rhizome in the form of a tuber is velvety in texture. Full foliage is in the shape of a regular oval. Flowers in tubes can be in a single copy, or they are formed in inflorescences that look like an umbrella. The petals are most often yellowish or reddish in color, slightly inclined.

Gesneria: home care

Gesneria: photo of a flower

Required amount of light

You need bright, but you need diffused light. It is required to create a partially shaded area from direct sunlight. It is advised to place it on the windowsills of the west or east side. On the windowsill on the south side, partial shading from direct sunlight is required. They will be able to grow well in completely unnatural light.

Required temperature indicator

In the spring season and summer for gesneria, a temperature regime of twenty to twenty-five degrees is required. At the same time, in the winter season, the plant needs a temperature regime of more than eighteen degrees, but only if the herbaceous is not at rest.

Required moisture level

Gesneria grows well and develops exclusively at a high level of air moisture. But it should be borne in mind that it is forbidden to water the herbaceous from the spray bottle. In order to increase the moisture level, summer residents with experience recommend purchasing a rather large pallet and placing sphagnum in it or adding expanded clay and adding a small amount of liquid. It is necessary to ensure that the bottom of the container does not come into contact with water.

How to moisturize correctly?

In the process of abundant growth, it is necessary to thoroughly moisturize. It is carried out immediately after the first layer of soil has dried. For gesneria, the complete drying of the earthy coma and excessive moisture with liquid (stimulating the formation of rot) are equally negatively affected. Moisturize only with a soft, not cold liquid. After the gesneria completes the flowering process, moisture needs to be reduced. We recommend moistening through a drip tray to avoid water contact with the sheet plates.

Fertilizer

Fertilizer is produced in the spring and summer seasons once every fourteen days. For this, fertilizing is used in a complex for herbaceous plants during flowering.

Resting state

Gesneria has a distinct state of rest, which lasts two to two and a half months (most often, from the last week of the second autumn month to the second winter month). When the gesneria completes the flowering process, the moisture must be reduced, and after the leaves are completely dry, the tubers must be removed from the ground and transferred to the sand for maintenance. Contain tubers in a damp cold room (from twelve to fourteen degrees).

Specificity of changing the place of growth

Gesneria tubers should be removed from the sand in the second winter month or at the beginning of the third winter month.They are transferred for one third of an hour into a weak solution of potassium permanganate or fungicide. Then the tubers are planted in a fresh soil mixture, for the manufacture of which it is necessary to combine peat, leafy soil and humus, and also sand, must be taken in identical proportions. Remember to place a drainage layer on the bottom of the container.

It is necessary to plant Gesneria tubers in such a way that the buds are above the ground. With this option, the stems are formed by acceleration.

Gesneria: growing at home

It is possible to breed Gesneria using cuttings or seed material.

Sowing of seed material is carried out in the spring or autumn seasons, while it does not need to be deepened into the ground. It is advised to maintain the temperature regime, approximately twenty-two degrees. Seedlings must be planted in different containers with a space of two centimeters by two centimeters. Immediately after the seedlings grow, they are again seated in different containers, while the space between them should be four centimeters by four centimeters. Do not let the temperature drop below twenty degrees and create partial shade from direct sunlight. Regular hydration is necessary.

Grown seedlings of Gesneria dive in containers with a width of about six to seven centimeters. After the root system begins to extend beyond the container, young herbaceous plants should be transplanted into a container with a width of nine to eleven centimeters. The first flowering process begins twenty-four to thirty-six months later.

With the help of cuttings, it is advised to produce in the last spring month - the last summer month. Leaves or their components are acquired as cuttings (the front side of the leaf must be cut in half into two or three parts). Cuttings are planted in sand, and it is necessary to deepen the base or lower part of the leaf plate. A temperature regime of at least twenty-five degrees is required. Small tubers are formed in a month and a half. Herbaceous plants need to be regularly moisturized and protected from direct sunlight. In the last weeks of the first autumn month, moisture should be reduced to twenty degrees. Remove young tubers from the ground in the second autumn month and keep them in a dry, cold (twelve to fourteen degrees) room until the spring season. These representatives of herbaceous crops produce the flowering process when they reach the age of two years.

Various parasites and diseases

Usually gesneria suffers from non-observance of instructions on agricultural technology, for example: incorrect humidification regime, too low level of moisture in the air, insufficient amount of light in the winter season.

Still frequent formation of burns on the sheet plate from direct sunlight. Also, yellow spots can form from icy liquid used for moisturizing or from contact of water with foliage.

On the grassy can form: aphids, spider mite, thrips, whiteflies, scale insects.

Varieties

Gesneria swollen, or Gesneria ventricosa

Gesneria: photo of a flower

This slightly branching bush has been growing for several years. The petiole foliage is elongated, pointed towards the base, and blade-shaped towards the tips. Large, sinewy, bare leaves have an uneven edge, their length varies from ten to fifteen centimeters, and their diameter is approximately three to five centimeters. The inflorescence on the top has four to five flowers and is located on an elongated peduncle. The calyx has narrow, elongated teeth, approximately 5 pieces. The rim has the shape of a funnel and is up to three centimeters long. It has a red and orange color, while the inner part of the corolla, pharynx and swelling towards the base have a yellowish color.

Gesneria breeding, or Gesneria hybrida

Gesneria: photo of a flower

This gesneria has been growing for several years with tubers.Its velvety greenish leaves are large in size. Slightly swollen, reddish tubular flowers reach a length of five to seven centimeters.

Gesneria cardinal, or scarlet, or Gesneria cardinalis

This gesneria has been growing for several years. The growth of erect branches can reach up to thirty centimeters. Juicy greenish obtuse-toothed leaves at the edges have the shape of a wide regular oval, and there is a dense fluff on the leaf surface. They can be up to ten centimeters long. Flowers can be in a single copy or form in inflorescences. These tubular flowers are considered to be two-lipped, while the half that is located below is slightly smaller than the upper one. In length, they can reach five to seven centimeters. Usually the flowers are painted in a bright reddish color, and there are dark spots in the throat (there are various colors).

Gesneria wedge-shaped, or Gesneria cuneifolia

Gesneria: photo of a flower

This gesneria has been growing for several years. Its growth reaches thirty centimeters, and its reduced shoots are a little woody. Almost sessile or short-petiolate leaves are wedge-shaped, but vice versa, while the tip is round. In length, the foliage can reach ten to twelve centimeters and has a diameter of approximately three centimeters. The leaf plate has a greenish color, and the reverse has a pale greenish color, there are small fluffs on it. The bright reddish flowers are orange at the tip. The peduncle is elongated and refined.

Gesneria Lebanese, or Gesneria libanensis

Gesneria: photo of a flower

This small evergreen shrub is slightly branching and grows for several years. On the upper part of the branches there are lanceolate leaves, which are formed into a rosette, and they are serrate at the edges. There is a fluff on the leaf plate, on the reverse side there are a couple of veins. Their length is eight to ten centimeters. The length of the bright reddish flowers of this species is three to five centimeters.