The jungle name, or how to grow creepers of winding gloxinia at home and in the garden

There is a special charm for climbing plants. They are not only able to create a romantic picture in the garden, but also serve as a hedge, or a screen.

In this article, we will get acquainted with curly gloxinia. We learn how to care for this plant and learn about the possible troubles that may threaten this flower.

General information

The correct, scientific name for this plant is lophos, or lofospermum. One of the Russian folk is the comb-seeder. But its flowers are similar in shape to gloxinia flowers, which is why the lofos received another name - winding gloxinia. Lophos is a perennial liana, whose homeland is North and Central America. It belongs to evergreens.

The similarity with gloxinia is given by the velvety to the touch lophos leaves. In fact, the plant does not even belong to the Hersenia family, but belongs to the Noric representatives of the flora. Often, plants such as azarin red and Maurandia are attributed to lofos, but this is not scientifically true. They are relatives, but separate species.

Reference! During the season, curly gloxinia can reach 3 meters in length. Since the 17th century, lophos has been known among flower growers. It was used in greenhouse compositions to decorate balconies and gazebos. In temperate latitudes, it is possible to grow vines as an annual in the garden, and perennial in the house.

Appearance and features

The shoot is long, slightly woody, light green and green in shape resembling grape, bell-shaped flowers with curved edges. The buds are single, large, white, pink and saturated raspberry shade.

Features:

1. The main feature: the plant is ampelous, it can grow on a support, but feels better when it falls from an elevated landing site. That is why it is planted in hanging pots.
2. A feature of growing in temperate latitudes is that with the onset of the first frosts, the plant must be moved to the house. You can cut long shoots, but if you do not, continue to bloom the plant at home until winter.

Where and how to plant her?

First, of course, you need to purchase seedlings, or grow them from seeds. The plant is transferred to the garden, with the end of the period of the last frost.

Lighting and location

Curly gloxinia loves good lightingbut does not tolerate the direct rays of the scorching summer sun. Therefore, it is better to place it so that the lighting is diffused. For example, at the wall of a house, or under the roof of a gazebo. Since the plant is ampelous, it is necessary to place it in a container at an elevation. Lophos shoots are quite fragile, so you need to provide a spacious place, protected from gusts of wind.

In order for the shoot to not grow up at the edge of the pot, it is necessary to install a small support for the base of the shoot. It should look like this: first, the liana curls along a small support about 20 cm, and only then falls down.

Advice! The pot should be large enough, at least 25 cm deep.

Soil requirements

Curly gloxinia does not have any special soil composition requirements, but considering its location in the reservoir, fertility and soil structure must be taken care of. It is necessary to prepare the soil according to the following parameters:

• Fertility will give the addition of leaf humus, or compost.
• Porosity will provide fine sand.
• Neutral or slightly alkaline soil reaction. Here you need to check the soil. If in doubt, you can add a handful of wood ash.
• Moisture content will provide peat.

From this we obtain the following soil composition: turf land, sand, peat and leaf humus in a ratio of 3: 1: 1: 1 plus a handful of ash per 5 liters of soil mix. You can take ready-made soil mix for vines, or universal for flowering plants.

How to care?

Consider the rules for caring for a climbing gloxinia:

1. Watering.

   A fast-growing plant with a large green mass requires abundant and regular watering. Every day you need to spill the soil well, on hot days, check the ground in the evening, if necessary, repeat watering. In winter, watering is significantly reduced, just so that the earth does not dry out.

2. Top dressing.

   Abundant flowering and rapid growth requires constant nutrition, so 3 times a month it is necessary to feed the plant with universal complex fertilizer for flowering garden plants. The composition must necessarily contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium plus other elements.

3. Plant formation.

   The overwintered plant is pruned, sometimes it is done before wintering, cutting off all shoots to a height of 10-15 cm. Young seedlings must be nipped when they grow to 10 cm. As you grow, you can shorten long shoots and thin out excess ones. However, without unnecessary zeal, otherwise the plant may fall into a state of stress.

4. Wintering.

   As soon as there is a threat of freezing, curly gloxinia is transferred to the room. In general, any place where the temperature does not fall below +5 degrees is suitable. You can transplant it into another pot and cut the shoots. If the house has a place for such a plant, the shoots are left, and the lophos will bloom until December, and then again in the middle of winter.

   Curly gloxinia does not have a pronounced dormant period, and can slightly slow down its development by 1-2 months a year. At the time of wintering, it is necessary to provide a reduced temperature in the range from 10 to 12 degrees. When moving to a room, it is necessary to monitor the safety of fragile shoots, to ensure that they are not mixed up.

5. What to do in the spring.

   With the onset of the first sunny days, the curling gloxinia is cut off, freeing from the weak, elongated lianas during the winter. The shoots leave up to 10 cm. Cut off shoots can be used as cuttings for propagation. The plant is carefully watered so as not to overmoisten the soil. As soon as new leaves appear, they begin to fertilize. You can plant lophos in the garden at the end of the last night frosts.

Diseases and Pests

Since lophos is a rare plant for our flower beds, there is no specific data on what diseases and pests it is affected. Therefore, we will talk about this problem in a general context.

Disease

Diseases of garden plants that can occur on the site, and spread to all plants, can be divided into 3 groups:

• Fungal infection.

  Fusarium, powdery mildew, leaf spot, rust, peronosporosis and others. They respond to treatment with special drugs - fungicides. Processing is carried out twice. With an interval of 14 days. Effective fungicides are preparations based on copper, for example, oxychrome. A package of 10 g will cost 60 rubles.

  When diluted with this amount of the drug, a large area can be treated. In addition to treatments, it is necessary to thin out frequently planted plants and remove excess foliage. Because thickening of plantings paired with high humidity contribute to the development of the fungus.

• Viral infections of garden plants are not treatable.

  Affected specimens must be destroyed immediately. The virus is transmitted by insects, pests, dirty tools when cutting plants. The manifestation of a viral infection is a mosaic on the leaves, curl, curl, a change in the appearance of the flower.

• Bacterial infections.

  Similar to fungal, but the spots on the leaves are oily on the edge. Removal of affected areas and treatment with antiseptics or antibacterial drugs may help.

Pests

A variety of pests can invade the garden. Flowers most often affect aphids, thrips, spider mites and whiteflies. It is easiest to treat with insecticides, but after rain, the insects are likely to return. Therefore, you will have to re-process.

If aphid appeared, then there are ants that are engaged in its breeding. Ants need to be bred, otherwise aphids will appear again and again. There are special preparations for ants. Most insects breed actively in dry, hot weather.

Propagation Features

Curly gloxinia reproduces in two ways.

Cuttings

In the spring, when pruning the shoots, you can cut the cuttings and root them in soil from sand and ordinary earth. You need to take more cuttings, because they are difficult to root. For landing, they take not the apical, but the middle part 10 cm in length. They stick a few pieces into one container 3 cm deep.

Important! The soil should be moist and drainage holes should be in the bottom of the tank. The container is covered with a plastic bag and placed in a warm, bright place. It will take a long time to wait. As soon as the leaves appear, the plant is rooted. Cuttings bloom much later than wintering adult plants.

Seeds

At the end of February, you can start sowing seeds of lophos. They are laid out on the surface of moist soil, you can lightly sprinkle with sand. The container is closed with a transparent material and watch the emergence of seedlings. Dive plants 3 weeks after germination. They plant on the street, simultaneously with adult plants. Such plants will bloom only in the second year. Own seeds of curly gloxinia ripen in winter, if you do not cut the shoots in the fall.

Conclusion

Curly gloxinia (lophos) - a plant for us is still unfamiliar. It requires some special conditions, but all the more interesting for enthusiastic gardeners. In addition, the beautiful view of the lush mop of falling branches with "grape" leaves and beautiful large flowers can decorate any garden corner. The perfect solution for decorating loggias and balconies, as well as home greenhouses and gazebos. Experiment, start new plants, let them please you and your loved ones!

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