How to grow a violet

Violet, it will be more correct to say the violet of Mozambique, now occupies, perhaps, the first place in popularity in our homes. I never liked violets. About 20 years ago they were on the windowsills of every grandmother. Only then did they not please me with their bloom. Some unpretentious flowers of blue and pink flowers. Boring. But time has passed ... About 4 years ago, for the sake of curiosity, I visited the exhibition of violets and disappeared. The variety of shapes, colors, varieties made me, if not a professional, but a great fan of such unusual colors. Currently, the number of existing varieties is hundreds. To grow a chic plant, we must try hard. I will tell you what to look for.

Classification of violets.

  1. According to the size of the rosettes, violets are divided into standard, miniature, semi-and microminiature varieties (about 25, 15, 20 and 6 cm in diameter, respectively).
  2. The shape of the flower is shared by "Anyutka", "Bells," Osu, "Stars."
  3. The color of foliage violets are ordinary and variegated.

In a separate group violets-trailers are distinguished - violets, in which the stem grows in length and at the same time gives lateral shoots. And trailers are both ampel (hanging over the edge of the pot), and bush. Some specimens themselves form a beautiful cap, and some have to be formed manually, pruning the tops.

Another unique group of violets - chimeras. It is characterized by the fact that the petals have an unusual color: a clearly defined band of white or bright color in the middle of the petal.

And if you consider the palette of shades, then you will find flowers of any shade, starting from the standard blue and ending with a fantasy color (in specks, with strokes, a multicolored eye, etc.).

Usambar violets are considered flowers, which practically do not need care. Like, where I stick, there and grow up. But this is not so. Violets also require care, sometimes uneasy. And yet, how to properly grow a violet, so she longed for the eye with its long flowering? Consider in detail every step of the transformation of a tiny violet into a luxurious plant.

Purchase a plant and choose a pot.

Here you have acquired a long-awaited plant and are thinking how to proceed. If the flower was purchased by a leaf, then it must be immediately planted. If a baby or an adult plant, then usually in the near future transplant may not be required. To grow violets healthy properly selected planting material. Therefore, we must make sure that when buying on a plant or leaves there are no spots, rotting, cobwebs and living creatures.

As for the choice of a pot for violets, one must remember one rule: the diameter of the pot must be necessarily smaller than the diameter of the rosette 3 times. This allows the plant to grow and form properly. Usually, pots with a diameter of 5-9 cm are used for children or young plants, for adults - about 15 cm. As the violet system is located at the surface of the earth, the pots are chosen to be flat, or they use bowls. For leaves it is very convenient to use ordinary food plastic cups with holes made on the bottom.

Soil for planting.

Now on the market sell many ready-made earth mixtures, choose specially made for violets. If there is a lot of time, you can prepare your own mixture. To do this, mix peat, coniferous humus, river sand, foliage, sod land, sphagnum moss, in a ratio of 1: 1: 0.5: 2: 1: 1, respectively. In addition, add fertilizer superphosphate at a rate of 5 grams per 10 liters of earth mixture and garden lime (10 g per 10 liters). Recipes for the earth mixture is very much, you just need to choose the one that suits you. When making your own soil, you must remember that you need to steal the earth or spill it with steep boiling water. Important acidity of the soil. It should be for the violet PH 6. 5. If lower, then it is necessary to pour the soil with an alkaline solution of dolomite flour (1 table spoon for 4.5 liters of water), and if higher, pour vinegar (2 tablespoons per 4 , 5 liters of water).

The violet should be properly planted: put a drain on the bottom of the pot (broken shards, polystyrene or expanded clay), pour a little ground, make a groove and put the plant there. Then sprinkle with earth and slightly compact, so that the plant does not stagger. A little bit, pour the violet and isolate for a month from the entire collection.

Watering and lighting violets.

Violet is a tender plant. It does not like drafts, low temperatures and direct sunlight. Therefore, in the case of a strong sun, in order to avoid a burn, flowers should be pritenyat. The optimum temperature for growing violets is 20-25 ºС and at night is five degrees lower. The difference between day and night temperatures allows you to lay buds for flowering. To water it is necessary to be restrained or warm boiled water, not giving the earth completely to dry out. The water is poured from above, into the edge of the pot, or the pots are immersed in the basin for 15 minutes. Watering the violet should carefully avoid getting water droplets to the point of growth, so that there is no decay.

Reasonably selected lighting will help to grow a flower correctly. So, for a violet, the light day should be 12-14 hours, which is also responsible for the coloring of flowers. In case of insufficient illumination, it is necessary to carry out the lightening artificially, including fluorescent lamps at the same time.

Top dressing.

Land mixture for a while provides the violet with all nutrients. But additional fertilizing is necessary. In stores you can buy fertilizers for violets or flowering plants. In winter, it is enough to fertilize violets once a month, in the warm season - every 10 days. When preparing a fertilizer solution, the dose indicated in the annotation should be reduced by a factor of 2. Pour violets with fertilizers should be an hour after the standard watering, to avoid root burns.

Following such simple recommendations, your favorite vials will be happy for a long time with their healthy appearance and will generously be thankful for their abundant flowering.