Thunbergia, in Latin - Thunbergia alata, is an annual climbing plant, reaching a height of more than two meters, with bright yellow-orange inflorescences up to 5 cm in diameter, which have a very gentle, memorable smell.
It usually blooms from August to September. Tunbergia flower is most similar to a plate with a black center. The leaves of this plant are up to 8 cm long, serrated at the edges, of a gentle grassy green color. At the moment, gardeners have developed many flower shapes that differ only in the color of the petals, but they all have a dark core:
- Alba, Bakeri - white;
- Aurantiaca - yellow;
- Orange - orange.
The breeding methods of the popular flower tunbergia are seed cultivation, budding, and dividing the bush. To germinate a plant, it must be sown very early on seedlings. This should happen already at the end of February (the flower has a very long growth period). In summer, the plant is placed in fresh air to provide adequate ventilation. Winged Tunbergia is extremely fond of water, which is why it must be carefully and regularly watered. Thunbergia, growing from seeds of which will be an interesting test for beginners, is very sensitive to parasites at an early stage of their life. It is necessary to carefully protect the seedlings from enemies, for example, a red spider mite, which can destroy the plant in a few hours.
Having ensured optimal living conditions for tunbergia, in the autumn you can manage to collect your own seeds for the next year. This plant is bee pollinated, gives round, fairly large fruits that crack when ripe and produce volatile seed on their own. Seeds are collected in a separate paper bag and stored in a dry, dark place until sowing time. Sometimes seedlings can give a mutation in the form of flowers with a different color: instead of yellow - white.
This plant can both grow up the support, and beautifully go down if it is absent, which makes it an excellent option for cultivation in ampelous compositions. We need a beautiful tunbergia - cultivation should be conducted in accordance with all the rules and be sure to in a suitable pot or spacious pots. With abundant watering, it can bloom on the balcony or open loggia. With prolonged lack of watering and high temperature, the flower begins to quickly lose leaves and becomes extremely vulnerable to insect attacks.
What fertilizers are needed, how often does tunbergia need them? Growing from the seeds of this plant does not imply complicated care. When a large amount of fertilizer is applied to the soil, the flower will eject a large number of very beautiful leaves, but will produce very few buds and flowers. When planting this beauty indoors or on the balcony, it is likely to get a small amount of viable seeds.
During the autumn cooling, the pot with turgia must be placed in a closed cool place, cutting off its shoots as low as possible. A plant that has been preserved using this technology will bloom very quickly in the new year. Thunbergia, growing from seeds of which usually takes several months, develops much faster with cuttings. Strong winter shoots and fresh summer shoots are suitable for this procedure. Cuttings successfully develop the indigenous system, being in the water for several weeks.