Propagation of gloxinia by leaves, cuttings and seeds at home. Gloxinia, its vegetative propagation

Gloxinia, one of the most beautiful representatives of the Gesneriaceae family, in Europe gloxinia flower care at home began to be produced already in the second half of the 19th century. The plant comes from tropical forests distant Brazil. The botanical name of gloxinia is hybrid Sinningia (Sinningia hybrida).


General information

The tropical beauty received it in honor of Wilhelm Sinning, a gardener at Boston University, who “fell in love” with the flower and devoted a lot of time to its selection and hybridization. The name Gloxinia comes from the German “Glocke”, which translates as bell. Indeed, the shape of the flowers of the plant is very similar to bells.

Gloxinia Sinningia is a perennial tuberous plant with a short stem and thick dark green velvety leaves. The flowers, as mentioned above, are bell-shaped and come in a wide variety of colors and shades.

Some types of gloxinia have bright, eye-catching spots inner surface flowers, while others surprise with the beauty of their frilled edge of the flower, painted in a contrasting color. Depending on the variety, gramophone flowers can be simple or double.

Gloxinia care at home

Gloxinia is an undemanding plant and can be grown even by an inexperienced gardener. The flower loves a lot of light, but without direct contact sun rays, as they can cause burns on the leaves. The optimal air temperature is 18-21 degrees in summer and 10-15 degrees in winter.

Gloxinia when cared for at home in which it is very “afraid” of spraying and drafts. If water gets on its leaves during spraying, dark spots and rotting on the leaves and flowers may appear.

To ensure the necessary humidity, plants are placed on a tray with pebbles filled with water. As water evaporates, it will humidify the air around the flowers.

Watering gloxinia

Water the gloxinia with soft warm water so that it does not get on the leaves or flowers. You can pour water into the pan and leave the plants to “drink” for half an hour. The remaining water after the procedure is removed.

During the period of growth and flowering, watering gloxinia is carried out 2-3 times a week, and during dormancy - no more than once a month. When watering a gloxinia flower, you must ensure that there is no excess moisture, as the plant can rot and die.

Gloxinia dormant period

Gloxinia pleases with its flowering from April to September, and then a period of rest begins. At this time, the above-ground part of the plant dies and the tubers “fall asleep” for several months (3-4). After the upper part of the plant has completely died, it is cut off, leaving approximately 1 cm above the ground.

The pots with “dormant” tubers are moved to a dry, dark and cool place, making sure that the soil does not dry out. Accordingly, water occasionally. You don’t have to take the plants out, but simply cover them on top of the soil with a thick layer of clean and dry sand and leave them in the room.

Some gardeners, 2-3 weeks after the above-ground part dies, dig up the tubers and, having cleared them of dead roots, store them in sawdust or peat in a dark, cool place. The tubers are periodically inspected for dryness or high humidity, which are eliminated as necessary.

Gloxinia after a period of rest

Gloxinias begin to wake up somewhere in January-March. If the flower has overwintered in a pot, then dig it up, clean it of soil, and remove diseased and dried tubers. If rotten areas are found, they are cut out sharp knife and sprinkle the cut with powdered coal. After these procedures, the tuber is left to dry for a day.

Gloxinia tuber planting

Before planting a gloxinia tuber, it is advisable to soak it for 30 minutes in a solution of a fungicidal agent (for example, Funzadol, Maxim) or a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate to prevent the formation of rot.

Pots are selected so that they are 1-1.5 cm larger in diameter than the previous ones, since, once in a pot that is too large, gloxinia will begin to grow tubers, and flowering may not be expected. It is necessary to plant the plant in such a way that the upper part of the tuber “peeks out” slightly above the soil.

Soil for gloxinia

Soil for planting can be purchased at a flower shop. "Saintpaulia" or "Violet" will do. You can also prepare the planting mixture yourself. To do this, mix sand, humus and leaf soil in a ratio of 1:4:4. Good drainage must be ensured. Transplanted gloxinias are placed on a windowsill and watered once a week.

Fertilizers for gloxinia

It is imperative to fertilize the plant. When using liquid complex fertilizer, this is done every two weeks. If you use fertilizer in the form of sticks, then one such stick is enough for about 2-3 months.

Gloxinia from seeds at home

Gloxinia can be propagated by seeds, leaf cuttings and dividing tubers. It is almost impossible to obtain seeds at home. It's easier to buy them in the store.

Sowing is carried out in November-February in low boxes, which are filled with sand, peat and leaf soil, taken in equal quantities and thoroughly mixed. The seeds are simply sown on top of the soil, without sprinkling, and placed in a well-lit place.

It is necessary to regularly spray with warm water and maintain the temperature at 24-26 °C. Shoots can be expected no earlier than in 2 weeks. When the seedlings grow and they have 2 leaves, they are planted at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other, and when the third pair of leaves appears, the distance between the plants is increased to 5–7 cm. They are transplanted into pots when the plants begin to touch each other with their leaves. The diameter of the pots should be 10–12 cm.

Propagation of gloxinia by cuttings

It is quite easy to propagate Gloxinia at home using cuttings. To do this, select large and healthy leaves, cut them obliquely with a sharp knife and place them in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate for 8 hours. Then the leaf cuttings are placed in cups with clean water, which is changed weekly.

When the roots appear, the future beauties are planted in cups with soil or on peat tablets and covered with plastic bags. The bags are removed once a day for a few minutes to ensure ventilation. After the formation of tiny tubers at the ends of the cuttings, the bags are removed completely, and the grown plant can please the owner with its flowering in the same year.

Gloxinia propagation by leaf

It is also possible to propagate gloxinia with one leaf blade without a cutting. To do this, cut off a healthy leaf and cut it along the central vein between the branches.

Next, the sheet is laid with the cuts down on moistened peat or sand and covered with a bag. Gloxinia “babies” are formed from notches on the leaf. They are transplanted into pots when more than 3 true leaves appear.

Reproduction of gloxinia by dividing the tuber

To propagate gloxinia by dividing the tuber, it is necessary to select highly overgrown tubers. They are cut into pieces with a knife so that each of them is left with 1-2 sprouts. Fresh cuts are covered with crushed coal and planted in pots with moist soil.

Diseases and pests

Like all houseplants, gloxinia is susceptible to diseases and pest damage. Of the latter, the flower “lovers” are thrips, spider mite, aphids, caterpillars and nematodes. They are destroyed using special insecticides.

At the same time, you need to be very careful when choosing a product, since some of them are capable of not only destroying pests, but also the plant itself.

Among the diseases, the most common are tuber rot, black leg, fusarium and gray mold. Usually the cause of their occurrence is excessive watering.

For prevention, tubers are treated with a solution of potassium permanganate, Immunocytophyte or other fungicide before planting. To “treat” the affected plant tissues are removed with a knife, and the cut sites are covered with crushed charcoal and treated with suitable fungicidal agents.

Possible difficulties

At proper care The tropical beauty Gloxinia can live up to 10 years, delighting its owners with colorful blooms. Moreover, the older and more developed the plant, the more flowers it will have. Sometimes their number reaches 50 pieces!

  • On the leaves of gloxinia brown spots- this indicates that water has gotten on them, as well as the use of too cold water for irrigation.
  • Gloxinia leaves turn yellow - a sign of dry or too humid air, exposure to direct sunlight or excess fertilizer.
  • Gloxinia leaves curl - this happens with excessive feeding and when exposed to drafts.
  • Elongated, pale leaves are a sign of lack of lighting.
  • Raid gray on flowers and leaves - this indicates that the plant is infected with gray rot.
  • The flowers remain hidden under the leaves - this happens when the daylight hours are short or the temperature is too low.

Gloxinia is one of the most popular and beautiful indoor plants in the world. Gloxinia, whose care at home does not cause great difficulties, has become so widespread thanks to decorative flowers various colors and shapes. Surely every passionate gardener has at least once thought about purchasing this miracle. How to grow gloxinia at home? How to properly care for her? What soils does Sinningia like? We will answer these and many other questions in this review.

The species is named after the German botanist Benjamin Peter Gloksin, who was the first to cultivate this strange plant from the other side of the world in Europe. The second father of gloxinia was another German botanist, Wilhelm Sinning, who became seriously involved in its selection and hybridization. As a result, gloxinia became a houseplant.

Types and varieties

Gloxinia is a tropical perennial herb. The flower grows wild in Mexico and South America, from where European colonialists brought it to the Old World in the second half of the 19th century. The peculiarity of its root system is the presence of a pronounced tuber, which during the wintering period can even be dug up and stored cool until spring, like potatoes. The leaves, growing from the root in the form of a rosette, are soft, fleshy, covered with small hairs. The stem is short but thick. Gloxinia flowers vary depending on the variety.

The most common types of gloxinia:

  • Royal (purple flowers);
  • Avante (white petals);
  • Tigrina Red (bright red);
  • Hollywood (dark purple);
  • Yesenia (pink velvet flowers);
  • Kaiser Wilhelm (black and purple flowers with a white border);
  • Blanche De Meru (elongated pink flowers);
  • Shagane (domestic variety with bright purple small flowers);
  • Anfisa (pink petals with white spots).

Gloxinia: basic requirements for cultivation

Caring for gloxinia is not as difficult as caring for some other green pets. She loves properly selected soil, moderate watering and sunlight.

Requirements for soil and pot

Plant the flower in soil made up of 1 part turf soil, 1 part leaf humus, 1 part simple garden soil and 1 part sand, preferably coarse river sand. If it is not possible to provide such a variety of substrates, then soil taken from a meadow, from under a linden or birch tree, as well as a purchased composition, which is best diluted with ordinary soil in a one-to-one ratio, will do. Sometimes it makes sense to add it to the mix. small quantity sawdust or perlite. The decision to add disintegrants is made based on the consistency of the resulting soil. It should be light, breathable and crumbly.

An important condition is to ensure good drainage. There must be a hole in the bottom of the pot. At 15-25% of the height, the pot should be filled with pebbles, crushed stone, fragments of pottery, or at least small stones.

Ideally, water should wet the soil well, be easily absorbed and flow freely from the drainage hole.

Watering, fertilizing and fertilizing

In terms of fertilizers, gloxinia is not too demanding. Theoretically, it can not be fertilized at all, but then it is unlikely to please the owners abundant flowering. During spring and summer, you can apply universal complex fertilizers for indoor plants from time to time, but not more than twice a month. Feeding should be stopped in mid-August, due to the approaching cold season.

As for watering, it is important to observe the measure. Young plants root system which have not yet been completely covered by the earthen ball, are prone to root rot and fungal diseases. However, even adult specimens often suffer from the flood. The best way to avoid this is to lay drainage at the bottom of the pot and correctly compose an earthen mixture, which will be discussed later. If possible, it is better to water the flower with warm water.

Optimal conditions of detention

Another feature of gloxinia: unlike many other indoor plants, it does not need spraying, although wet air loves and grows somewhat faster if there are many sources of moisture evaporation around it. Unfortunately, the benefit of several bowls of water is almost imperceptible. It’s better to place gloxinia on a windowsill where other indoor plants are already placed: green leaves release moisture well. If desired, you can add moss to some large pots.

Gloxinia prefers not direct light, but diffused light, but quite intense and long-lasting. A great option is to place the pot in a south, east or west window behind a very thin or mesh curtain. Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight, especially coupled with careless watering, can leave sunburn. For this reason, try to water at the root rather than sprinkling.

Do not place the plant where there may be drafts. When overcooled, the leaves become drooping, as if limp. If they lose their saturated green color, then this may indicate either overcooling of the root system, or rotting processes that have begun in the soil.

If the buds do not bloom, drafts and cold water may be the cause.

If possible, it is better to keep gloxinia in the winter months in a cool, bright room with a temperature of +10... +17 degrees. This will allow the tuber to rest, gain strength and “shoot” in the spring, which increases the chances of abundant and beautiful flowering. Just don’t be afraid of the leaves falling off when you move the plant into a cool place: as winter recedes, new shoots will grow from the tuber.

Pruning and replanting

Contrary to erroneous claims, you should not cut off almost all the leaves - there is simply no point in doing so. It is argued that after radical pruning, stepsons begin to grow from the tuber, which in the future should bloom profusely. This is not entirely true. The stepchildren, of course, will grow up, but you can do without these sacrifices. But excessive removal of leaves is fraught with rotting of the roots, which will have nothing to nourish. By the way, towards the end of summer it is often possible to achieve a second wave of flowering, which, however, is not as intense as the first.

When replanting, the size of the container is selected according to the volume of the root system. Newly rooted leaves are planted in the smallest pots. For older plants, select a container whose volume is equal to or slightly larger than the volume occupied by straightened roots. Intensively growing specimens are transferred to a slightly larger container every year at the beginning of the growing season.

Remember: a pot that is too large is a risk factor in terms of flooding and rotting of the root system!

Gloxinia has faded, what to do next?

Blooms from March to August. The gloxinia flower lasts for about a month, after which the shriveled peduncle can be safely cut off. When gloxinia has faded, not everyone knows what to do next. The first thing you need to do when flowering ends is to remove the remains of flowers, weak and too “fat” leaves. The latter, by the way, can be used for reproduction.

Work on mistakes

What to do if mistakes are made in caring for gloxinia? With progressive signs of flooding and rotting of the roots, the flower needs to be replanted. You need to take it out of the pot, clean it from the soil, remove rotten roots and too weak leaves and plant it in new light soil. The “reanimation” soil composition should contain more coarse sand and disintegrants than the standard one. After this, the plant is watered moderately and hermetically covered with transparent plastic bag and stored in partial shade until it begins to grow. You can ventilate the mini-greenhouse 1-2 times a week. If the outcome is favorable, it can be gradually removed.

How to calculate rotted roots? They are diagnosed based on several signs, and let's start with the most obvious. If the root easily comes off the taproot, it means it is 100% rotten. If it does not come off completely, but seems to be peeling off, then this is also a sure sign of its death. Such a root is cut off either to a healthy part or to the branching point. Less obvious signs are black or dark brown root color and a putrid odor. Healthy parts are light brown or even White color. In advanced cases, the root system rots so much that nothing remains of it. The only option in this case is to take the remaining leaves and try to root them.

Features of reproduction

In practice, propagation of gloxinia is most easily accomplished by leaf cuttings. Less often they resort to sowing seeds and dividing the tuber.

Reproduction of Gloxinia by leaf

For this purpose, a large mature leaf is cut from the plant. It is recommended to shorten the petiole to a length of 1.5-2 cm to avoid rotting. After this, the leaf is planted in moist coarse sand and placed in an airtight mini-greenhouse. Instead of coarse sand, you can also use fine quarry sand, but it is slightly less preferable. In this form, the leaf takes about 1 month to sprout small roots. When they reach a length of 1-2 cm, you can move the plant to a small pot with soil. At first, you should still keep the sheet under cover, only not airtight, but with a small hole. As the sheet gets used to dry room air, you can increase the gap, and after 2 weeks the film can be removed. Around this time, a rosette of small leaves should shoot out from the base of the petiole. This means that gloxinia propagation was successful! In the future, it is important to ensure that you do not overwater the young plant, which at this age is especially sensitive to waterlogging.

Stem cuttings

You can propagate Gloxinia and stem cuttings, only this method is complicated because their length is very short. Therefore, they rarely resort to it. The technology is the same as for rooting leaves: the cutting is placed in coarse-grained wet sand and hermetically covered with a mini-wig. The appearance of the first roots can be expected in a month.

Pests, diseases and treatments

Gloxinia is rarely affected by pests. Sometimes she is attacked by red spider mites. These insects look like small red dots on the surface of the leaf blade. Under no circumstances should they be allowed to reproduce! First, you can try to remove the tick with Fitoverm, but if there is too much of it, you will have to resort to more powerful means: Omite, Oberon, Sunmite.

Among diseases, gloxinia often suffers from root rot. This is treated by replacing the earthen clod and watering the plant with a weak solution of Fitosporin.

In general, growing gloxinia on a windowsill does not cause much trouble. This is beautiful ornamental plant With beautiful flowers, which with proper care have a more saturated color. Behind good attitude Gloxinia is always happy to reciprocate with abundant and lush flowering.

Not so long ago, you could walk into any house and see these unpretentious flowers on the window - gloxinia, or “glasses”, as they are popularly called. And now these “charms” are quite popular among flower growers. How to make propagation of gloxinia at home accessible even to a novice gardener? I will try to tell you what methods of reproduction will help you with this.

These babies do not require special attention.

Methods of propagation of gloxinia

There are several ways to propagate gloxinia:

  1. Leaf cuttings.
  2. Part of a leaf.
  3. Seed propagation.
  4. By dividing the tuber.
  5. Rooting of the peduncle.

Let's look at each of these methods in more detail.

Propagation by leaf cuttings

Propagating gloxinia by leaf is one of the simplest and most accessible ways.

Take young leaves only when the plant is budding. The length of the leaf petiole is three to four centimeters. If the leaf is wilted, put it in water - it will gain elasticity.

1 way

Method 2


Reproduction by part of a leaf


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Seed propagation

This method is quite labor-intensive. Seedlings require especially careful care. But the strongest and most viable are gloxinias grown from seeds.
You can buy seeds in the store, or you can collect them from your own plants. To do this, you need to pollinate the gloxinia flower with pollen from another flower and wait until the seeds ripen. So, the seeds are ready. Let's start sowing.


How to properly divide a tuber?

Well, now let's talk about propagation by tubers. This method is quite risky. Divided plants suffer for a long time. But sometimes there is no way out, and you have to share. How to do it right? How to care for planted trees?


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We propagate by flower stalks

To propagate especially valuable varieties of gloxinia, you can also use faded flower stalks. The rooting technique is the same as for leaf cuttings. I note that simple gloxinias take root without difficulty using this method. But terry ones often rot. Therefore, cutting them using this method requires increased attention.

Errors when propagating gloxinia

It happens that when trying to propagate gloxinia at home, difficulties arise.
The most common problem is that the rooted leaves have rotted. If 2-3 leaves are missing, it’s not a big deal. But if all or most of them rot, then it’s because of your mistakes.

    • When planting the cutting, you pressed hard on it. You can't do this. It is better to use a stick to make a hole in the soil, place the cutting in it and carefully press the soil around it.
    • The greenhouse with rooted plants is exposed to the sun's rays. Urgently protect the cuttings from them.
    • Plants don't have enough light. Increase the lighting by moving the cuttings closer to the window, or turn on the backlight.

Sunlight is very beneficial for sprouted plants.

    • The cuts are made with a poorly disinfected blade or simply broken off from the mother plant.
    • Very hot or, conversely, very cold.
    • Old leaves were taken for rooting. It is better to take leaves when the plant is budding or flowering.

For planting you need to take the best of the best.

  • Waterlogging of the soil. Gloxinias do not tolerate high humidity.

Florists about the propagation of “glasses”

Gloxinia lovers have different opinions about the methods of propagating these cute flowers.
One florist writes:

“I tried to divide gloxinia tubers. As a result, all the sections rotted. It’s good that I managed to root the leaves, otherwise I would have lost my favorite varieties.”

Another lover echoes him:

"Most reliable way quickly and efficiently propagate your favorite variety - cut off the leaves with cuttings and put them in water. When sowing seeds, I got a lot of mismatched varieties.”

Let's summarize. You can propagate Gloxinia different ways.
The main thing is to comply the necessary conditions: warmth, bright diffused light, use of a mini-greenhouse. And then bright, beautiful gramophones will delight both you and your friends.

Just recently, these unpretentious “glasses” stood on the windows of most houses. Soft pubescent leaves and the “gramophone” opening one after another made the house very cozy. In those recent times, it was difficult to get seeds, so propagation of gloxinia at home was predominantly vegetative - by leaves.

Gloxinia in our house

Gloxinia can be considered unpretentious plant. This is a tuberous plant of the Gesneriaceae family. It has soft pubescent leaves, a shortened stem and velvety funnel-shaped flowers, flower color from white to almost black, with or without a border, speckled or plain.

Gloxinia loves bright, diffused light, but in direct sunlight it can get the leaves burned, so we place it on a table near a window or on an eastern or western windowsill. One more good option for gloxinia it is illuminated with artificial light - in this case the plant develops well and will definitely not get burned. With enough light, gloxinia leaves dark green, are located horizontally.

But in the summer, when the daylight hours are 14 hours or more, excess light is possible, then the leaves of the flower turn yellow and droop down, arching towards the ground, and the peduncles shorten.

For growing gloxinia optimal temperature it is considered 20 degrees Celsius, and the flower itself shows whether it is hot or cold. When overheated, it raises the leaves up to reduce the evaporation of moisture from the leaves, and when it gets cold or there is a lack of watering, the leaves drop down.

Gloxinia should be watered with warm water, after the top layer of soil has dried, from above or from a tray, but without getting on the leaves and flowers. For the same reason, gloxinia is not sprayed; it feels good in the dry air of the apartment.

Gloxinia blooms from March to October, sheds its leaves in the fall, stops watering and puts the tuber to “rest” until February in a dry room with a temperature of about 10 degrees.

Variety of colors in the photo

Funnel-shaped gloxinia flowers can be red with a white border. Modern hybrids with double flowers very beautiful
Yellow gloxinias are quite rare on our windows
Dark purple velvety flowers just want to be touched
You can often find gloxinia varieties with spots

Reproduction of gloxinia at home

Gloxinia reproduces well by seeds and vegetatively - by a whole leaf or part of it, stem cuttings, peduncles or tuber division. Let's look at them all.

How to propagate from leaf cuttings or part of a leaf

The most common method of propagating gloxinia is by rooting a leaf cutting (leaf). Young gloxinia leaves that appear in spring and early summer have greater vitality and take root more easily, so it is important to take them.

The best time for rooting is spring and early summer, since the plant needs time to form a tuber and prepare for winter.

Rooting of a leaf can occur in water or soil. Professionals often use rooting in the soil, because it reduces the time of caring for seedlings (there is no need to transplant from water to soil), and the plants immediately begin to receive nutrition from the ground and develop faster.

Rooting in the ground

  1. We cut a leaf from the mother plant with a sharp, disinfected razor; the length of the petiole should be about two centimeters.
  2. We cut cuttings from the leaf if we need to get a lot of babies. Each such piece will take root and produce a baby.

  3. In a transparent plastic cup with drainage holes pour the prepared soil for violets; can be rooted in pure vermiculite, but after the roots have formed, gloxinia will have to be transplanted into nutrient soil.
  4. We moisten the substrate, dust the cut with powdered root formation stimulator “Kornevin” and place the leaf there at an angle of 45 degrees. It is important to powder the planting material to a height of no more than 1 cm from the cut.
  5. You can stick it into a peat tablet previously soaked in water.
  6. The cuttings in a glass are placed in a mini-greenhouse or in a transparent bag to maintain humidity.
  7. Place the greenhouse on a bright, warm windowsill, but not in direct sunlight. The soil temperature should not fall below 16–18 degrees. The greenhouse is ventilated once a day, and when the soil dries out, it is watered a little.
  8. After 1.5–2 months, a baby forms on the leaf. If pieces of leaf were used, then the babies can appear anywhere; they need to be carefully cut off and placed in a separate pot for rooting.
  9. Cuttings planted in perlite or vermiculite must be transplanted into soil for gloxinias or violets (Saintpaulias).
  10. When a rooted leaf begins to interfere with the development of young shoots, it is cut off by treating the cut area with charcoal.

Rooting leaves in water

  1. Cut a leaf from the mother plant.
  2. We divide a large sheet into several parts, as in the photo.
  3. In small transparent plastic cups pour chilled boiled water and place pieces of leaves there. Make sure that only the lower part of the cutting is in the water.
  4. Cover with a plastic bag and place in a warm place with a temperature of 20–25 degrees. We ventilate once a day, opening the greenhouse for 2-3 minutes. If necessary, add water to the glass with the cutting.
  5. After 1–2 weeks, the first roots will appear, and when they reach 1 cm, replant them in the ground.
  6. In small pots with holes we place drainage (very fine expanded clay) and a nutritious soil mixture - loose, air-permeable and water-permeable. You can use soil for violets.
  7. We water the soil and make a hole with a pencil about 1 centimeter deep.
  8. Carefully place the roots of the petiole in the soil and sprinkle with soil.
  9. Cover the finished planted gloxinia with a bag, place it in a bright place and wait for the babies to appear.

Further care of young plants comes down to regular watering; plants should be fed no earlier than a month after planting in the ground, provided the seedlings are well developed.

How to plant using seeds

If there is no plant for vegetative propagation, then you can plant gloxinia with seeds, especially since stores offer a huge number of hybrids of various colors.

For getting good seedlings by autumn, gloxinia seeds are sown in January - February.

  1. For better germination, take disposable tableware with a lid that will serve as a greenhouse for young plants.
  2. We prepare the soil for sowing: add 1 tablespoon of vermiculite or perlite and 1 cup of washed sand to 1 liter of peat-based soil.
  3. Mix the seeds with sand and sow on the surface of the soil. Purchased seeds are usually pelleted; they are simply laid out without being buried.
  4. Spray with water from a spray bottle.
  5. Cover with glass, film or lid.
  6. Place in a warm, bright place. The air temperature must be at least 23 degrees.
  7. Periodically spray the soil and ventilate the greenhouse.
  8. Shoots appear for a long time, after 3–4 weeks.
  9. Do not remove the greenhouse for about another month, during which time the young gloxinia will get stronger and produce several pairs of leaves. It is useful to transplant these small seedlings into individual cups.
  10. A week after the first transplant, you can gradually accustom the seedlings to dry room air, starting with ventilating the greenhouse for one to two hours a day and increasing the air baths to a day. If the plants do not wither, you can safely remove the lid, but watering should be increased slightly, as the moisture will evaporate faster.
  11. During the first six months of the seedlings’ life, it is recommended to carry out at least 4 transplants to develop a powerful root system.
  12. After 8 months, the first buds may appear; they must be pinched off so that the gloxinia bush becomes more lush.

Getting your own seeds

If you have a varietal gloxinia growing and not a hybrid, you can get your own seeds.


Setting seeds weakens the flowering of gloxinia, so if you do not plan to receive seeds, then remove the faded buds.

How to propagate with a peduncle: photo tutorial

In order not to throw away the faded “gramophones”, but at the same time to increase the number of gloxinias, you can root the flower stalks.

However, not all varieties and hybrids provide 100% rooting using this method. Simple gloxinias take root best, and among terry ones, the Carousel variety, as well as pollinated peduncles.


How to grow new flowers from tubers

Gloxinia can be propagated by cutting the tuber into several parts, each of which must have a growth bud. However, if this method fails, you may lose the entire plant.

  1. Take a healthy large tuber approximately 6 cm in diameter; it should have several sprouts, preferably growing by 1–2 cm.
  2. Using a sharp, disinfected blade or knife, divide the tuber into 2 or more parts, with each part containing a sprout or bud.
  3. Coat the sections with a solution of brilliant green or sprinkle with charcoal. Air dry.
  4. Seal the dried cut tightly garden varnish.
  5. To prevent gloxinia tubers from rotting, it is necessary to lay 2-3 centimeters of expanded clay drainage at the bottom of the pots, then add light peat-based soil with the addition of sand and vermiculite (for 1 liter of soil, take 1 glass of washed sand and 1 tablespoon of vermiculite). It is better to take transparent pots to make it easier to monitor the young roots.
  6. Moisten the soil and plant the cut tubers. The bud or emerging sprout should be level with the ground.
  7. Water rarely, through a tray or by immersing the pot in water halfway. Replanting into large pots is possible only after the roots have entwined the entire earthen coma.

Video - propagation of gloxinia with leaf cuttings

Video - propagation of gloxinia by peduncle and pieces of leaf

Peculiarities of gloxinia reproduction in autumn and winter

Since at the end of autumn, adult plants hibernate and shed their leaves, young plants may also fall asleep or dry out. In order for rooting to be successful in the autumn-winter season, you need to create summer conditions for the cuttings:

  • Daylight hours up to 12–14 hours using additional lighting
  • Ambient heat 20–25 degrees - put in a greenhouse
  • Minimum temperature changes and protection from drafts

Breeding problems

Usually gloxinias take root very well, and if out of 10 only one of them does not take root, this is a good indicator. But sometimes all the cuttings die due to improper care.

Rotting of the cuttings

  • The most common problem with vegetative propagation of gloxinia is rotting of cuttings, both in water and in soil. Therefore, treat the planting material for 1–2 minutes in a chlorine solution: 1 part white and 10 parts warm water. After the procedure, rinse the leaves in running water and dry it a little, then plant it in the ground.
  • Pressing the petiole when planting also leads to rotting, so use a pencil when making holes in the soil or peat tablets when rooting gloxinia.
  • Rotting from excess or lack of light - when exposed to direct sunlight or vice versa, when rooted in dark room seedlings rot.
  • Infection - when cutting a cutting, the knife or blade must always be disinfected; cuttings should never be broken off.
  • Violation of the thermal regime - cuttings rot from too low and very high temperatures air and soil. Do not place cuttings on a hot south window or near a stove.
  • Incorrect planting material - sometimes in quality planting material take leaves that you don’t mind - old or diseased. Such cuttings will not take root. The best offspring will be produced only by the best cuttings - young, healthy, cut during the period of budding and flowering of gloxinia.
  • Wrong time of year - gloxinia takes root more easily in spring and summer than in autumn or winter.

Rooted leaves wither

In a very large rooted leaf, evaporation is very intense, so such cuttings often wither. To avoid this, you need to initially plant small pieces of leaf. But sometimes they also wither, there may be several reasons.

  • Lack of moisture due to strong evaporation from the leaf plate. Place the sprouts away from sunlight and be sure to make a greenhouse out of a transparent plastic bag.
  • Poor quality, too wet soil due to overflow.
  • Damage to the roots after transplanting gloxinia, due to which the remaining roots cannot cope with the nutrition of the entire plant. Try to replant very carefully.
  • Excessive evaporation of moisture due to the large size of the leaf - cut off the top of the leaf with a blade to reduce evaporation.

Gloxinia can be propagated in different ways. To be more precise, there are five ways to propagate gloxinia. In principle, all of them are available to the beginning gardener. They differ only in the timing of obtaining the final result - the flowering of a young plant and, of course, in complexity. The most popular of them are - propagation by leaf, tuber division and seeds.

Let's start with the simplest, which means the most common and reliable.

Reproduction of Gloxinia by leaf

By by and large, there are no special differences from this process.

A strong, healthy leaf is cut from an adult plant. Trim the tip of the petiole at an angle to increase its area. Moreover, if it is long, then shorten it at the same time. A long petiole of a gloxinia leaf is not good; there is a high probability that it may rot. Optimally, its length should be 1.5-2 centimeters, this is quite enough.

The gloxinia leaf can be placed either in a glass of water or directly in the ground. I advise beginning flower growers to use the first method. In this case, you will be able to control the entire process of root formation and intervene in time if something suddenly goes wrong. In about a couple of weeks (or sooner) roots will appear. Wait until they grow to 1-1.5 cm and plant them in the ground. The disadvantages of this method include rotting, the probability of which is very high.

Rooting a gloxinia leaf in an earthen substrate, although not such a visual method, is considered to be safer. The substrate itself should be very light, freely allowing water and air to pass through. Often clean coarse sand is used for these purposes, but special soil for gloxinia can also be used. Moisten the soil before planting. The cutting should not be completely buried in the ground. It will be enough to deepen it one centimeter, this will facilitate the germination of children. Next, to root the gloxinia leaf you will need greenhouse conditions. To do this, it is not at all necessary to have a greenhouse. It will be enough to cover the pot with a leaf glass jar or a cap made of a plastic bag.

Necessarily! Throughout the rooting period, regularly remove the cap and ventilate the leaf. Remove condensation from the walls of the hood. Monitor soil moisture. In the conditions of an improvised greenhouse, it should not dry out particularly, but anything can happen. Don’t let the soil dry out too much, but don’t get carried away with watering. The soil should be moderately moist.

The rooting process of a gloxinia leaf usually takes a month. But you will be able to see its result only after 2-3 months, when the leaf gives birth to babies. But even after that, continue to keep them under the cap. At the same time, remove it more often so that the young plants gradually get used to the conditions of the room. It will be possible to remove it completely when the children produce 3-4 leaves. After this, you can cut off the mother sheet.

Note! Propagation of gloxinia by leaves should begin in the spring - early summer, so that there is a lot of warm time ahead. If you start rooting late, at the end of summer or autumn, then you may not wait for the babies to appear. In this case, the leaf will look quite healthy. This will indicate that he has entered a state of rest, and you will not receive anything from him until spring. In this case, simply move it to a cooler and less lit area. Also reduce watering during this period.

Reproduction of gloxinia by part of a leaf

This method is no different from the propagation of streptocarpus, another close relative of Gloxinia. It is described in detail -. It consists in the fact that the gloxinia leaf is cut along the central vein on both sides. The vein is removed, and parts of the gloxinia leaf, in places of cuts, are slightly buried in light soil. After this, it must be covered with a transparent cap to create a greenhouse effect. With this method of propagation of gloxinia it is necessary Special attention pay attention to soil moisture and temperature. At low temperatures and high humidity, parts of the leaf will inevitably rot.

Reproduction of gloxinia by dividing the tuber

Attention! This is the most the hard way Gloxinia reproduction. Even experienced flower growers try to abstain from it, and I don’t recommend it to beginners at all.

Its complexity lies in the fact that there is a very high probability of rotting of parts of the tuber. But this method is used and is considered the most effective if you want to quickly get several flowering plants.

For division, select a large tuber without rot or damage, which has several sprouts. Minimum diameter such a tuber should not be less than five centimeters, or better yet larger.

Cut it with a clean, disinfected knife so that each section has at least one sprout.

Necessarily! Treat the cut of each section with garden varnish, and if it is not available, crushed activated carbon. Also, grease them with brilliant green around the circumference of the cuts.

For planting, take light soil. You can use a mixture for gloxinia, adding a little perlite to it, about a fifth of the total volume. Transparent plastic cups work well as dishes for planting. It will be convenient to observe the development of roots in them and they do not have a particularly large volume, which will reduce the likelihood of water stagnation.

Water moderately! Overwatering will lead to rotting. Be sure to choose the warmest place. Even a short-term drop in temperature below +18 degrees, coupled with wet soil, will lead to the same rotting. Avoid overhead watering. It is preferable to water part of the gloxinia tuber from below, into a tray.

If everything is done correctly and goes as it should, then the division will produce roots. When they grow and fill the entire volume of the glass, the plant can be transplanted into permanent soil and a pot.

Propagation of gloxinia by seeds

This is the most time-consuming and labor-intensive method. It will take a long time for such plants to bloom.

Sowing of seeds is carried out traditionally, the end of winter - the beginning of spring. Basically, it is practically no different from growing flowers from seeds or seedlings.

For sowing, it is better to take a wide, shallow bowl or seedling box. The soil can be used universally, based on peat.

Gloxinia seeds, as you will see, are very small. For ease of sowing and so that they are evenly distributed on the surface of the earth, you can mix them with coarse sand. Moisten the soil before sowing. Scatter the seeds as evenly as possible over the surface of the soil. You should not sprinkle soil on top of them. Gently moisten the seeds using a spray bottle.

Note! A large amount of water will inevitably drag small seeds deep into the earth and their germination can take a long time, or even not at all. Therefore, before the emergence of shoots, carry out all watering only from a spray bottle.

Cover the bowl with the crops with a piece of glass or plastic film and place it in a place with good lighting and a temperature of about +25 degrees. Considering that on initial stage When growing gloxinia from seeds, daylight hours are still short; phytolamps can be used for illumination. Things will go faster with them.

Shoots usually appear within a month. It is likely that they will not sprout together, but when most of the gloxinia seeds sprout, the cover can be removed.

In the process of growing seedlings, they must be watered regularly, but the soil should not be allowed to become excessively moist. During this period, they are especially susceptible to waterlogging.

When the seedlings are old enough and have a couple of leaves, they can be planted separately.

Note! As a rule, gloxinia grown from seeds blooms after nine months. But the first flowering weakens it. Therefore, in order to get a strong plant, it is better to sacrifice this flowering and remove the flowers.

One of the ways to propagate gloxinia by leaf - video

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