2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Alsobia (Latin Alsobia) - a ground cover flowering plant belonging to the Gesneriev family. The plant grows wild in the tropics. In nature, the plant forms dense grassy rugs, over which snow-white flowers flaunt.
Characteristics of culture
Alsobia is a graceful herbaceous perennial. Alsobia shoots are of 2 types - some are short; others are long and weak, ending in leafy rosettes up to 17 cm in diameter. The leaves are always green (light or dark), oval in shape, dark veins, velvety surface.
The flowers are tubular, white, fringed along the edge. Long bloom, from April to August. The plant is especially impressive at the time of the formation of rosettes of leaves on the antennae. At home, asolbia is made as an ampelous culture. Alsobia is also grown as a cultivator in winter gardens, and is often used to create alpine slides. In indoor floriculture, two species are known: Alsobia speckled (Latin Alsobia punctata) and Alsobia carnation (Latin Alsobia dianthiflora).
Conditions of detention
Alsobia is a light-loving plant, loves an open location. It is advisable to place plants on western windows. On the southern side, the alsobia require protection from the bright sun. In winter, plants need additional artificial lighting.
Alsobia is a thermophilic crop, the optimum temperature of the content is 18-25C. At below 16C, alsobia lags behind in growth, the leaves wilt, and flowering stops. The culture has a negative attitude towards sudden changes in temperature. You should not place alsobia and blown window sills.
The plant does not put forward special requirements for air humidity, although with low humidity, young shoots slow down growth, flowering often stops. Many growers advise placing the plant pots on a pallet filled with moistened expanded clay.
Care
Alsobia need regular hydration. Warm and soft water should be used for irrigation. In no case should the soil dry out or waterlogged. Plants are fed only in spring and summer a couple of times a month. For dressing, liquid complex mineral fertilizers are used, intended for indoor plants.
Plants also require systematic pruning. Too long stems of alsobia are cut or pinched. It is also important to monitor the condition of the stolon antennae, because they can intertwine with each other.
Reproduction and transplantation
Alsobia is propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering and leaf rosettes. Among flower growers, the second and fourth methods are most common. The rosette of leaves is separated from the mother plant and transplanted into a separate container filled with moist moss and vermiculite. Planting cuttings for rooting is carried out in the same way, in the same mixture. Young plants take root in 15-20 days, but to a greater extent it depends on the conditions of detention. Rosettes and cuttings, as a rule, always take root. Rooted plants are transplanted into separate containers and cultivated as independent specimens.
Alsobia is transplanted every three years. The soil substrate for the culture should be loose, permeable, nutritious. You can also use ready-made soil mixtures for violets with the addition of sand, perlite or vermiculite. Florists often add sphagnum moss and charcoal to the soil, this is necessary to disinfect and improve the structure of the soil.
