How to Grow Gloxinia? Full Guide to Care Methods and Precautions

Gloxinia (Sinningia speciosa) is a highly ornamental plant, valued mainly for its flowers, which are commonly seen in red, pink, purple, white and so on, with the blooming season in summer each year. Many people now grow gloxinia, but before growing it, you still need to master some techniques to avoid problems caused by improper care.

How to Grow Gloxinia

1. Temperature. The growing temperature for gloxinia differs from season to season: from January to October it is 18—25°C, and from October to January of the following year it is 10—12°C. A suitable temperature allows the leaves to grow lushly and the flowers to be vivid in color.

2. Light. Gloxinia prefers a semi-shaded, warm environment. During cultivation, take care to provide proper shade, avoid direct sunlight, and best of all let it receive diffused light, adjusting continuously according to its actual growth.

3. Soil. Gloxinia prefers loose, fertile humus soil. So use a loose, slightly acidic soil rich in humus for cultivation.

Gloxinia Care Methods and Precautions

I. Care methods:

1. Potting soil. A lush potted plant is inseparable from soil that suits it. This plant likes loose soil with relatively good water permeability. If we want to mix it ourselves, we can use relatively coarse-grained sand and gravel mixed with some soil, then mix a small amount of already decomposed poultry manure into the soil.

2. Fertilizing. From leaf expansion to before flowering, gloxinia should be fertilized once a week, preferably with decomposed dilute organic liquid fertilizer, and about every 10 days apply dilute cake fertilizer water once. After the flower buds form, phosphorus fertilizer needs to be added, and bone meal or calcium phosphate should also be applied once.

3. Watering. Watering should be moderate; too much easily causes tuber rot and yellowing leaves. In summer's high temperatures, appropriately increase the frequency of watering and often spray water mist around the plant to maintain environmental humidity.

II. Precautions:

1. Avoid getting water on the leaves. The flowers and leaves of gloxinia are covered with fine hairs, and once they get wet they rot very easily, so remember never to spray water on the flowers and leaves; it is best to use the immersion method for watering.

2. Control the temperature during the flowering period. During the flowering period, take care to avoid rain, and the temperature should not be too high, which can extend the flowering period.

3. Do not let fertilizer stain the leaves. When fertilizing, never let it stain the leaves. After each fertilizing, spray clean water once to keep the leaf surface clean. But after cleaning, wipe the leaf surface dry immediately to prevent rot.

How to Prune Gloxinia

1. Pruning during flowering. After gloxinia blooms, if the leaves around the flowers hinder the normal growth of the flowers, you can, according to the actual situation and needs, cut off some leaves entirely, or cut off half of a leaf. Pruning the leaves this way allows the flowers to concentrate and open all together at the top of the plant, forming a bouquet, which gives a better ornamental effect. After pruning, a gloxinia can bloom as many as 18 flowers at one time. Among them, a gloxinia grown in a flower pot with a diameter of 12 cm, with a plant height not exceeding 15 cm and only 2 branches, can bloom 16 flowers at the same time, a rich cluster of flowers, very beautiful.

2. Pruning after flowering. After flowering, if the potting soil is fertile and management is proper, it will send out a second batch of buds. After gloxinia finishes flowering, if you do not need to keep seeds, it is best to cut off the flower stems to control the loss of nutrients, which helps continued flowering and the growth and development of the tubers.

Common Diseases and Their Control

1. Wilt nematode disease. Control method: Before cultivation, the potting soil should be sterilized with steam or chloropicrin, and the gloxinia tubers should be soaked in warm water at 60°C for 5 minutes, or disinfected with Uspulum. If gloxinia is found to have already been infected with this disease, the affected plants must be pulled up and burned.

2. Rot disease. Control method: Before cultivating gloxinia, spray the ground surface with 3 parts formaldehyde mixed with 1 part water and cover with plastic film, or mix 7 parts 70% Dexon powder with 3 parts fine soil and spread it on the ground surface for disinfection. In daily care, take care to promptly pull up diseased plants and burn them in time.

The methods for growing gloxinia are actually not difficult; you can start from its growth habits. When growing it, be sure to control the temperature, and timely light exposure is also essential. In the later stages of cultivation, you also need to strengthen the management of fertilizer, water and pruning, so as to ensure the growth of the gloxinia flowers.