Video on how to plant streptocarpus

Home — Botany — Houseplants — Charming, colorful and fashionable streptocarpus — subtleties of care

Streptocarpus today is both a fashionable indoor flower, a source of pride for collectors, and a wonderful home decoration. One thing is known - perennial flower species from the Genseriaceae family are capable of blooming for 3/4 of the year, and with proper lighting arrangements, flowering will continue all year round .

Do you want the same one?

Interesting! The name of the flower means “twisted box” - this is what the fruits of this “bell” look like.

How Streptocarpus propagate by leaf

Streptocarpus is a herbaceous plant. It is difficult to grow it at home, since it is capricious and requires some care.

For such cuttings, it is important not to make a mistake with the age of the leaf. Too young will still gain strength, and the old one may wither. When Streptocarpus propagates by leaves, adventitious buds are formed. They form outside the sinuses in unusual places.

There are several techniques for propagating streptocarpus by leaf - rooting in water or soil, or fragments.

Preparatory activities

Streptocarpus is a capricious plant that has difficulty taking root. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully prepare the soil and choose the right material.

Recommended timing

The best time for streptocarpus propagation is early spring. At this time, active growth of the plant begins. The signal for replanting is a well-developed root system that has mastered all the soil in the pot.

In winter, propagation is not recommended. At this time, streptocarpus is resting. It is not recommended to propagate it because there is insufficient lighting and the root system does not develop well. The transplanted fragment may not take root.

Preparing containers and soil

To propagate streptocarpus, it is necessary to prepare the soil. Planting is carried out in light and loose soil. If it is very downed, add peat, perlite, sphagnum moss or vermiculite.

Attention! You cannot take soil from your garden or flower bed. She may be infected.

The soil must be purchased at the store. It is desirable to have the opportunity to touch and immediately purchase the necessary substances to obtain looser soil. You can mix peat and vermiculite in equal proportions. You will just have to water the plant more often.

The compost should be sterile and you should always use a good brand of soil. Before propagating streptocarpus, you need to sterilize all previously used pots and trays.

Selection of propagation material

For propagation, you can use material that is not limp, has a natural color and is free of spots. It will be difficult to get good children from a sick leaf.

Reproduction of streptocarpus by leaf

Flower propagation is carried out in several ways. Rooting methods may seem complicated at first glance. In fact, they are light and almost identical.

How to root a streptocarpus leaf in the ground

Rooting occurs after 14 days. Babies begin to appear after 1.5-2 months.

Rooting streptocarpus with a leaf is chosen by gardeners more often than other methods. If you carry out the process competently, the plant will certainly delight you with healthy offspring.

How to plant streptocarpus in the ground:

Take a pot no larger than 100 ml in volume. A plastic cup with holes will do. It's better to use a glass. This will allow you to easily monitor the development of the root system.
Fill ⅓ of the part with soil and make a hole.
Disinfect the cut leaf with a solution to protect the plant from infections and fungal diseases.
Deepen it 1.5-2 cm into the soil. Do not compact.

When the babies appear and grow up to 2 cm, you can transplant them into a separate container.
It is recommended to keep them in a greenhouse, sometimes ventilating them. This way the children will gradually get used to the room conditions.

How to propagate streptocarpus from a leaf can be seen in the video:

How to root a streptocarpus leaf in water

The chances of propagating the plant in water are very low. It is more effective to use a fragment of a leaf with a central and lateral veins.

Reproduction in water is a long and painstaking procedure. If it is enough to cut off a small shoot of Saintpaulia, then with streptocarpus everything is more complicated.

Reproduction of streptocarpus in water:

Cut a leaf 5 cm long or take a small cutting. Dust the cut with charcoal.
Fill the glass halfway with water and place the streptocarpus in the water. Use the liquid boiled and cooled to room temperature. You can take rainwater.
Periodically it is necessary to add water. Sometimes even children are formed.

When a good root system is formed, the plant should be transplanted into the ground.

A greenhouse is not needed for propagation in water.

Reproduction of streptocarpus with a leaf fragment

Propagation of Streptocarpus from leaves is very easy, in many ways easier than African violets and many other indoor plants. It happens quite quickly and abundantly.

If you follow these simple, step-by-step instructions, you'll have no problem getting more of your favorite varieties:

Cut off the healthy part with scissors. It is better to use a species that is mature but not too old. Those plants that have many veins are the best for propagation. To root streptocarpus with a leaf fragment, a portion of 1.5-3 cm is sufficient.
Remove the middle part - the large vein. If the leaf is large, trim some of the outer edges.
Create a gap or furrow in the root medium into which the leaf area can be placed. Make sure the soil is very light and porous. It should be moist, but not soggy.
Place the resulting fragment in a glass with soil to a depth of 6-10 mm. It is advisable to place it vertically, then the likelihood of rotting is small.

Be sure to label the pot with the name of the variety that will be propagated.

If streptocarpus is propagated from a leaf fragment, it may lose turgor immediately after transplantation. To do this, the pot must be placed in a greenhouse, and after 14 days the turgor will be restored.

Attention! In hot weather, you can’t make a greenhouse for a plant. Due to the confined space and high humidity, there is a high risk of putrefactive infections.

How to root a fragment of a streptocarpus leaf

Reproduction is also carried out from fragments. To do this, you should choose a large sheet with a noticeable number of veins. The more there are, the more children there will be.

Varieties and types of streptocarpus

Just a few years ago, indoor streptocarpus was not very common, since only its simple form was cultivated. Today, many hybrid forms are offered - bright, variegated, unusual. Flowers differ not only in the shades and patterns of the petals, but also in the color of the leaves. Double flowers, fancy colors, a combination of 2-3 tones in one flower, variegated or bright green leaves - all this variety pleases the eye.

Graceful, with soft pubescent inflorescences always delight the eye with their beauty.

The following types are common:

Snow-white: rosette abundantly flowering plants, flower size - 2.5 cm, color - white, with purple and yellow stripes.
Large: with one 40-centimeter leaf and a stem 0.5 meters in height, at the top of the stem there are light purple flowers collected in racemose inflorescences.
Cornflower: a rosette plant with a 15-centimeter stem, on which there are 2 pink flowers.
Wendlanda, native to South Africa, with large meter-long leaves and a long peduncle, 5-centimeter purple-white flowers.
Glandulosissimus with a 15 cm stem and bright purple to dark blue flowers.
Johansky: a rosette plant with a tall stem and large leaves, on the stem - up to 30 2-centimeter flowers of a lilac-blue hue.
Korola: with pubescent long leaves, blooms long and intensely, light lavender flowers.
Primrose: unifoliate South African species, densely pubescent leaves, tall peduncles, 4 cm flowers bluish-yellow.
Primufolia: can simultaneously form up to 4 flowers, covered with dots and stripes, the height of the stem is no more than 25 cm.
Rocky: with 50cm drooping stems, small elliptical leaves, short stalks and light purple flowers.
Stem: with a straight half-meter stem and flowers reminiscent of Saintpaulia.
Canvasa: with fleshy, very flexible stems up to 50 cm in height, pubescent leaves and purple 3 cm flowers.

But the most popular are hybrid varieties - for example, streptocarpus ds, that is, hybrids of the Dimetris selection (DIMETRIS), one of the creators and collectors of which was Pavel Enikeev.

Streptocarpus - long, lush, fashionable.

In the selection you can find varieties of different colors - from light red to almost black, velvet purple, differing in the shape of the petals and the size of the flowers:

with 2 or 3 tone color: Bristol's Blue Lemon and Texas Hot Chilly, Branwen;
with texture coloring: Persian Carpet; Bristol's Moon Mist;
with variegated leaves: Iced Texas Twilight;
fantasy: Streaker, Bristol's Party Girl;
with many small flowers forming a cloud on the peduncle: Gator's Tail;
with several or one, but giant flower: Margarita, Moonlit Velvet and Christmas Morning.

Most often, children or seeds are purchased by mail - for convenient selection, breeders offer extensive catalogs. The sale is carried out with delivery, and the conformity of the varieties is guaranteed.

How to grow streptocarpus from a leaf

When growing streptocarpus from a leaf, it is important to provide the plant with proper care. It loves moderate watering. This is the main basis of a healthy root system. For irrigation use settled or rain water. It should be a few degrees above room temperature.

Attention! With abundant and frequent watering, the leaves will begin to rot.

Streptocarpus easily tolerates drying out. Therefore, the soil should dry out between waterings.

The best prevention of rot is dry soil.

The air in the room must be humid. Due to dryness, the rooted leaves will begin to dry out. To humidify, you can spray the air around with a small spray bottle. But water should not get on the plants.

Diseases, pests, possible difficulties

Most often, streptocarpus is affected by thrips that settle on the buds. To save the plant, it must be isolated and all flower ovaries removed. After this, the plant and substrate are sprayed with an insecticide.

Common problems also include:

Spider mites, due to which flower stalks dry out and leaves become covered with cobwebs, will require washing the plant and treating it with an insecticide.
Powdery mildew, characterized by a recognizable coating and sores on the leaves - a fungicide is used to eliminate it, but in advanced stages the entire plant may die.
Late blight is a fungal disease that cannot be cured.
Gray rot, due to which the leaves are covered with a gray coating, occurs as a result of high humidity; a fungicide is used for treatment, and the damaged areas are removed.

Proper care will save you from the appearance of gray rot.

Rotting of roots and stems is a fungal infection, which can be caused by watering with too cold water, waterlogging and sudden temperature changes. The disease cannot be cured, but the rare variety can be saved if a healthy leaf is rooted in time.

So, in order for streptocarpus to constantly please you, you need to monitor the humidity level and hide it from the bright sun. The substrate, which must be light, is also of decisive importance. If you follow simple recommendations, streps will delight you with flowering 9 months out of 12.