Recommendation points
- The timing of planting lisianthus
- Conditions for eustoma seedlings
- Soil preparation for planting
- Sowing
- From seed to sprout
- Picking
- Growing in a pot
- Transfer to soil
- Care
- Top dressing
- Flowering care
- Diseases and pests, prevention
- Wintering
- Types and varieties of eustoma
- Finally
During flowering, eustoma (lisianthus) is very similar to a rose, but more graceful, with a long, thin stem and leaves arranged in a spiral. Eustoma is not a capricious plant, it prefers well-developed soil and spraying, especially in the heat. Let’s talk about growing eustoma at home from seeds.
It is quite difficult to grow eustoma, but if you approach with all responsibility and pay due attention to the plant at first, then the result is such beauty that the efforts spent on forcing the plant will pay off many times over.
The plant propagates by seeds, which are not so cheap, and are sold, as a rule, in granular form, as they are very small, in ampoules of 5 pieces.
The timing of planting lisianthus
Seeds are best sown in January, they germinate for a very long time – from 12 to 21 days. If sown in January, then in July-August you can admire the beautiful flowers.
In general, it is allowed to sow seeds for seedlings in January-February-March, but you need to know that when sowing seeds in February or March, eustoma will bloom only in autumn.
When growing eustoma in a house or apartment, in order to admire flowers by December, seeds are sown in July-August.
Conditions for eustoma seedlings
Seedlings must be placed in a very bright place in the house, since they need up to 17 hours of daylight for germination. Some growers suggest using a special lamp for supplementary lighting of the plant..
For your information.If, when sowing seeds, the temperature in the house is 23-24 ° C, then flowering can be observed already in the first year. If you sow seeds at 29-30 ° C, then in the first year only a rosette will form, and only the next year – a flower.
Hence the conclusion: the cooler the room where the seedlings are, the more likely the plant will bloom in the first year. The eustoma cannot be overheated, it is very sensitive to the ambient temperature, it is necessary to look for such a place for the seeds so that all conditions are met.
Soil preparation for planting
For planting seeds, a micro-greenhouse is arranged – a small box is placed under glass or film. The soil can be bought in the store, universal for Saintpaulias, or you can prepare it yourself: add peat and charcoal to ordinary soil.
Sowing
The next step is sowing seeds in a home greenhouse. To do this, the seeds must be thrown into the soil, but not buried, but pressed, cover the greenhouse from above with a bag. The condensate formed on the surface of the film is quite enough to moisten the soil. For additional moisture, seedlings are occasionally sprayed.
From seed to sprout
After 10-12 days (up to 21), you can see small shoots, 5-6 mm each, very small and fragile.
Seedlings must be protected from fungal diseases: black leg. In order to prevent the disease, solutions “Fitosporin” or “Gamair” are used (dissolve 1 tablet of the drug in 1 liter of water). The prepared solutions are used for watering the soil with seedlings or spraying the sprouts that have appeared once a week. Before germination, the soil is fed with mineral fertilizers.
Picking
When the seedlings grow to 1.5–2 cm, with the appearance of the third true leaf (after 6–8 weeks), they are picked into separate containers. They are planted in bunches of 3-5 pieces in the soil with peat and charcoal and fertilized with mineral complex fertilizer (liquid) NPK.
Watering the sprouts is carried out moderately, without waiting for the soil to dry out. The ambient temperature is maintained at 18–20 ° С.
Saplings grow slowly, but for the sake of such beauty it is worth enduring.
Growing in a pot
When plants grow, after the first pick, a transplant is carried out, more precisely, the soil is transferred together with the root system into a pot with a diameter of 25-30 cm, but not very deep.
Drainage is placed under the soil in the pot.
Eustoma grows well at home on the windowsill of the western window at an air temperature of 18-20 ° С.
Attention! If a pot of lisianthus is placed over a central heating battery, the plant will wither and die..
Transfer to soil
In May, when a constant warm air temperature is established, eustoma sprouts can already be planted in open ground. In order to protect delicate seedlings from unexpected frosts in May, the sprouts are covered with cut halves of plastic bottles. This should be done until warm weather is established from 21 ° C during the day and 15 ° C at night.
The place for planting seedlings is chosen light, but the sunlight should be half-scattered, in extreme cases, partial shade.
Care
Eustoma is an unpretentious plant, it needs a humid microclimate, for this it is sprayed with water, especially when it is hot, regular watering is carried out (but not “overflow”). The soil around the plant must be loosened regularly. Eustoma loves well-groomed soil, enriched with minerals and nutrients.
Top dressing
During the season, Lisianthus is fed with a complex mineral or organic fertilizer, alternating them at least 3 times:
- the first time – 14 days after disembarkation;
- the second time before flowering;
- the third – during the formation of buds.
It is recommended to use “Plantafol” or “Kemira” as a mineral fertilizer.
Flowering care
During the flowering period, each flower looks like a half-open rosebud, but more delicate and graceful. Bud color depends on the variety.
Eustoma blooms for a long time, until October. After some buds have faded, others are formed, up to 35 in total on one plant.
Flowers need to be cut off after flowering, it is highly likely that they will bloom again in 6-7 weeks.
Diseases and pests, prevention
Eustoma leaves can be affected by fusarium, gray mold and powdery mildew. For the prevention of these diseases, drugs “Fundazol” or “Ridomir” are used.
Of the insect pests, aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, slugs are dangerous for lisianthus. They fight pests with the help of Fitoverm, Confidor preparations.
Wintering
For the winter, the plants are transplanted into a pot (this must be done in October), cut to 25 cm, leaving two internodes, and put in a winter garden, if any. If not, then the plant hibernates on the windowsill from the east or west side at a temperature of 10-15 degrees.
During the wintering period, eustoma leaves are sprayed with “Fitoverm” to protect against ticks, aphids and other pests.
It is very rarely recommended to water the plant during the dormant period, but do not allow it to dry out..
In the spring, eustoma is transplanted into open ground again..
Types and varieties of eustoma
The variety of Lisianthus varieties is quite large: double or smooth, with pink, white, purple flowers or white with a purple border.
For cultivation on the site, varieties of large-flowered eustoma are used:
- “Aurora” – blue, pink and white, reaches a height of 100 cm.
- “Flamenco” – a wide variety of shades of this color, height 100 cm.
- “Heidi” – up to 15 different color options, height 90 cm.
Cut lisianthus flowers can stand in a vase for up to 3 weeks.
For growing on window sills, varieties of the Carmen series are common:
- “Carmen blue” – blue buds.
- “Carmen Rose” – flowers of pale pink color. Plants are low – 25 cm, begin to bloom 22 weeks after sowing.
Low-growing varieties of Russell’s eustoma also grow well in a pot:
- “Mermaid” – flowers of white, pink and blue.
- LittleBell – buds with a wide variety of colors.
- “Fidelity” – white flowers.
- Floriada Pink – pale pink inflorescences.
Finally
If you want to decorate a house or a backyard with this beautiful delicate plant, very few conditions are observed: temperature, feeding and pest control.
To prolong the flowering of eustoma, you just need to transfer it to the house in the fall. According to experienced gardeners, the eustoma grown in the second year after a successful wintering is especially beautiful: it blooms even more abundantly on lush spreading bushes.
