By the spring holidays, plants with beautiful and unusual flowers called calceolaria, or colloquially “shoe”, often appear on flower markets. Having bought such a plant, after flowering is over, people often throw it away, believing that it is an annual, and there is nothing more to expect from it. However, continuing to care for it, you can enjoy its flowering the next year. Calceolaria flower is easy to care for and suitable even for a beginner florist. It is enough to adhere to simple rules - and the plant will thank the rapid and long flowering.
Get to know: Calceolaria
Calceolaria - flowers grown as an annual, biennial or perennial plant. It can be cultivated as an indoor culture or used to decorate flower beds and alpine slides. Pretty unpretentious in care and very effective. This is a flowering plant, which is valued precisely for the shape of its inflorescences. Calceolaria flower is unusual in its shape and color. People call it “slipper” because its petals resemble the shape of a woman’s shoe. The flowers are one-color, but can have different spots, stripes, giving a more decorative and interesting look. This plant can be either a small shrub or a low herbaceous plant. The leaves are densely pubescent, can have both a rounded shape and be deeply cut.
Varieties
Among calceolaria there are about 300 varieties, but the most widespread are:
- Calceolaria is tender. Valued for its decorative appearance, as it has yellow inflorescences densely decorated with red dots. This small plant, not exceeding 15 centimeters in height, is grown as an indoor crop, however, in summer it can easily tolerate outdoor conditions. On window sills grown as a perennial.
- Wrinkled calceolaria is another representative of perennials. It grows in the form of a bush, about 1 meter high. In places where winters are not too severe, it is grown as a perennial in a flower bed.
- Thin calceolaria is a medium-sized variety that reaches up to 40 centimeters and is intended for growing on flower beds in open ground. Has light delicate lemon flowers.
- Multi-root calceolaria is a type of creeping perennial plant. This subspecies is grown as an indoor culture and as a decoration for flower beds in open ground.
- Hybrid calceolaria is the widest of the species. Since under this name numerous varieties of different colors are combined with one common property - this is a room culture, low, with wide, round, strongly pubescent leaves, having large and original flowers in their form. It has a very long flowering period, which is approximately 6-8 weeks. The height does not exceed 15 centimeters, while the flowers can reach a diameter of 5 centimeters.
Temperature mode
Calceolaria - thermophilic flowers. They do not tolerate frosty winters; therefore, they are most often grown as a house crop or, for the period of wintering, transplanted into pots and brought into the house. At the same time, they can easily tolerate high temperatures, but die at 10 degrees Celsius and below.
Lighting
Calceolaria - southern flowers, so they are very photophilous. However, they should be slightly shaded from the summer scorching sun. Under direct rays, the leaves can get burned, but with a strong darkening, the plant loses its decorativeness and stops blooming.
Watering and feeding
Indoor flowers of calceolaria do not tolerate drying out of the soil, so you need to carefully ensure that they are moistened all the time. The higher the air temperature, the more plentiful and frequent watering should become. Calceolaria is watered in the same way as delicate violets and senpolia, - gently along the edge of the pot, without affecting the leaves and basal shoots. But the safest and most effective way is to water through a pan. Calceolaria is very fond of moist soil and does not tolerate drying out, however, when the water overflows or stagnates, the plant instantly dies. Therefore, you need to take care of a small but frequent watering and the presence of good drainage in the pot.
The plant is protected from water on the leaves. In no case do not use spraying. This can lead to decay of the leaves and death of the flower.
A universal fertilizer or intended for flowering plants, which is bred in accordance with the instructions on the package, is suitable for feeding.
Calceolaria flower: how to care
Mandatory removal of faded and wilted inflorescences and yellowed leaves. If you do not remove the old flower stalks, then new ones will cease to form, therefore, for stable flowering, it is imperative to regularly prune. Varieties such as wrinkled calceolaria are subjected to spring bush formation, which helps to form a more compact plant with a large number of peduncles. Potted varieties of "shoes" delight with their flowering from spring to autumn.
Quite unpretentious in growing flowers of calceolaria. Care consists in the timely transplantation of perennial varieties, which is done every two years, in the middle of spring. When the size of the transplant pot reaches a diameter of 20 centimeters, in the future the plant is no longer transplanted into large containers, but only the soil is replaced. When using wider pots, root decay and plant death are very likely.
When breeding indoor crops and the need to create compact plants even at the stage of the appearance of 6 leaves, pinch the flower, thereby forming a small bush with many peduncles. After flowering, the plant is necessarily cut, wilted flower stalks are removed.
Breeding
Calceolaria - flowers that reproduce with the help of seeds that have a very good germination. When sown in soil, seeds are scattered on the soil surface and do not sprinkle on top, after which they are watered abundantly and covered with polyethylene or glass to create the effect of a greenhouse. Periodically, the glass rises and condensate is removed, and after the formation of 6 leaves, the calceolaria is transplanted into separate pots for further growth. Seeds germinate in the best way at a temperature of about 20 degrees. They are sown in the period from May to July, the first shoots appear within two weeks later. And after a month they can be dived into separate pots. Calceolaria blooms 8-10 months after the appearance of the first seedlings.
The option of propagation by cuttings is also possible. This method is suitable for medium and tall species, which are periodically pruned, forming more lush bushes with a large number of new peduncles. Cropped shoots take root in the soil.
When planting, universal soil is used for indoor plants or soil, suitable for growing violets and saintpaulias. With independent production of the soil mixture, it is necessary to make the composition:
- Sod - 2 parts.
- Sheet earth - 2 parts.
- Peat - 1 part.
- Sand - ½.
Calceolaria flowers are sold in flower shops; their average price is 500 rubles per plant.
Diseases and Pests
The main dangers in the way of growing calceolaria are diseases such as late blight and pitium. These are varieties of mushrooms that can cause decay and death of young shoots. To eliminate such a problem, it is calcined or treated with poisonous fungicides before planting in the ground. Also, due to the need for constant soil moisture, gray rot may appear. It is formed when water enters the delicate leaves of plants. Calceolaria is an indoor flower often attacked by pests such as aphids, whiteflies and nematodes. At the first signs of occurrence, it is necessary to use special drugs to destroy them.
A fairly unpretentious plant, which will always delight with its lush flowering and unusualness, is a calceolaria flower. How to care and grow, even the most inexperienced grower can master. But calceolaria one of the very first blooms in the spring on the windowsill.