Description, photo and care of the hybrid variety Petunia F1 Mona Lisa

Petunia F1 Gioconda is a new hybrid variety that was obtained as a result of selection work. The uniqueness of the species is that it is the first petunia in the world that has such a large number of flowers.
This is due to male sterility. The fact is that this type of petunia cannot produce seeds.

Gioconda blooms at an early stage in the development of culture, and with proper care, petunia can bloom without interruption throughout the year.

Botanical Description and History

Gioconda is a multi-flowering cascading culturewhose homeland is South America. The plant belongs to herbaceous perennials, to the Solanaceae family. This name petunia received from the Portuguese petun, which means tobacco.

Gioconda is a powerful plant with strong and branching stems. Their length reaches 1 m. Due to the low growth (20 cm), petunia is able to cover the ground with a continuous floral carpet. Inflorescences are also small in size, their diameter is 6 cm.

If you grow a plant in flowerpots or flowerpots, then the shoots will fall in cascades over the edges of the container.

Reference! The peculiarity of the variety is that it is able to tolerate a slight temperature difference from -8 to +40 degrees.

In addition, Gioconda's petunia is able to quickly adapt to lower temperature conditions. In this case, the plant does not die, but only slows down its growth.

Gioconda is a photophilous culture. For comfortable growth, the duration of daylight hours should be at least 11 hours. Keep the flower in the most optimal conditions, and then the flowering will last throughout the year.

As for the color of flowers, here it is incredibly huge. During flowering, decorative culture is literally breathtaking. Among the wide variety of colors, the following colors remain popular:

• purple;
• pink;
• Violet;
• scarlet;
• bright scarlet;
• Orange;
• neon;
• salmon;
• white.

The main types and their photos

Multicolor Creeping Cascading

This variety of petunia in decorativeness can be compared with an ampelous plant. Only ampelous petunia can be grown in flower pots and hanging baskets, but cascaded petunias can be grown in open ground. This is due to the presence of powerful and densely branched stems, as well as the resistance of the plant to changes in temperature and humidity.

As variety resists root rot, then it became possible to grow it even as a carpet spreading in all directions.

Orange

The variety has a beautiful and incredibly rare color. The diameter of the flowers is 6 cm, and the length of the shoots is 100 cm. Petunia is a multiflowered creeping cascade culture. It is strewn from top to bottom with bright orange-colored inflorescences. This will create an effective cascade of meter-long powerful branches.

It as if beckons everyone with its originality. To grow this type of petunia, you can use hanging baskets, a cache-pot or open ground.

Features of growing petunias in the garden and their design options in beautiful flower arrangements, we considered here.

Scarlet

This multi-flowered and attractive culture is characterized by a variety of bright scarlet inflorescences that cover the flower bed with a fluffy hat. Scarlet petunias are grown in hanging baskets.. This is a great opportunity to create a beautiful waterfall from bright colors. But to maintain this beauty of the plant requires proper care. About the rules for growing multiflowered petunia and its other varieties, read here.

Mini

The plant is represented by small flowers, which come off gradually from the center to the periphery. It is characterized by abundant and prolonged flowering throughout the growing season, resistance to rain and wind. In addition, the variety lacks yellowness on leaves and branching. And the center of the petunia is strewn with flowers that do not decay from the inside. You can find other varieties of small-flowered petunias here.

Landing Features

Reference! Peat or coconut tablets are excellent for planting Gioconda petunia seed. If they are absent, then tanks with a moist fertile soil mixture will do.

Procedure for transplanting a plant:

1. The optimal time for planting a hybrid is January-March.
2. Deepen the seeds is not worth it, just scatter them on the surface of the earth.
3. To maintain humidity, then cover the container with seedlings with a film and set it closer to the light source.
4. As soon as 1-2 pairs of true leaves are formed, you can proceed to picking. In this regard, the Mona Lisa petunia is not picky.
5. In the process of picking, it is worth pinching the root of the shoots. This will be an excellent stimulation to the growth of the bush.
6. Hold the spreading plants for a day in a shaded place so that they can grow stronger and take root.

Soil requirements

When growing Gioconda, you can use a variety of soil compositions. But it is best to opt for strongly acid and alkaline soil mixtures. It should be loose, nutritious, remain moist for a long time, but at the same time let in excess water and not jam.

You can go to a specialized store and purchase a ready-made substrate, but it’s best to prepare the mixture for planting yourself. This will require thoroughly rotted humus, leaf or sod land, peat. Take the components in a ratio of 2: 2: 2: 1.

Lighting and location

Petunia Gioconda grows rapidly and gives abundant flowering only if it is planted in a well-lit place. If you select a darkened area, the plant will stop growth, flowering will become rare, and even this is fraught with disease damage. When choosing a site for the Mona Lisa, it is necessary that it be illuminated, but the sunlight is diffused. Direct rays of the sun will cause burns.

How to care?

Watering

Petunia Gioconda is a moisture-loving crop. In hot weather, moisturize it twice a day - in the morning and in the evening. Use preferably not cold water. Despite the fact that the plant responds positively to heavy watering, excessive moisture and stagnation of water is unacceptable, as this will lead to the development of diseases and death of the flower.

Fertilizers

It is worth feeding once every 7 days throughout the entire flowering period. Complex compositions for flowers with a high concentration of potassium are suitable for these purposes. Combine top dressing preferably with watering.

Common Diseases and Pests

Petunia Gioconda is a fairly hardy plant. But in the presence of adverse conditions for its cultivation, this is fraught with the development of diseases and the attack of pests.

Fungus

The main reasons for their development are thick sowing, excessive moisture, improperly selected soil. The plant may die from basal rot. To save him, you will need:

1. Remove all affected plants with part of the soil that is adjacent to it.
2. Treat all remaining flowers with fungicides.
3. When wet, do not overdo it and prevent water stagnation.

Powdery mildew should be attributed to fungal diseases. It can be recognized by a characteristic whitish coating on leaves and flowers. The reasons for the development are sharp jumps in temperature and importance. To combat it, you need to remove all the affected fragments, carry out the treatment with sulfur.

For the prevention of fungal diseases, the following recommendations must be observed:

1. For sowing, use not heavy soil.
2. Steam before sowing.
3. Sowing and planting plants is not very dense.
4. Observe temperature conditions.
5. Avoid excessive nitrogen and stagnant water in the soil.

Parasites

The following parasites can hit Gioconda:

• whitefly;
• aphid;
• spider mite.

To combat them, use the following methods:

1. Spraying and washing the leaves with tobacco infusion, water, insecticide treatment.
2. Processing a solution of nicotine sulfate in soapy water - 1: 1.
3. Treatment with Permethrin 2%. Conduct it with an interval of 3 days.

Breeding

Important! The reproduction of Gioconda petunia occurs in two ways: seed and cuttings.

The first method, although it is considered the simplest, but does not always give the desired result. This is due to the fact that today it is very difficult to purchase really high-quality planting material.

So that the optimal method of propagation is cuttings. For this, it is necessary to cut off a healthy shoot, process it in a growth stimulator and plant it in nutrient soil. After 10 days, the stalk will begin to take root.

Possible problems

When growing Gioconda petunias, the following problems are possible:

1. Rotting of the roots. This problem is the most common, as many flower growers fill the plant with an inexperienced one. Stagnant water contributes to the spread of rot. To save a flower in this case can be difficult.
2. Yellowing leaves. This problem can occur for several reasons: violation of the temperature regime, damage by pests, the development of true chlorosis.
3. Lack of flowering and stretching seedlings. Such changes are due to insufficient lighting in the shaded area of ​​the petunia will not bloom and develop.

Petunia Gioconda is a decorative culture that has been loved by many gardeners. There are several reasons: ease of care, a decorative look, a variety of colors. This is the choice of true beauty lovers.