Growing gatsania at home in a pot as a houseplant
The adorable gatsania garden flower is rarely grown at home. Compact bushes of African chamomile are usually decorated with flower beds and borders. She pleases with abundant flowering until frost. The plant comes from Africa, so it does not hibernate in temperate climates. Not all gardeners know that gatsania grows well in an apartment, on a loggia.
Can gatsania be grown as a houseplant?
The African chamomile decorates the garden. It is planted in flower beds, in the foreground of the rock garden, along the paths. The plant has a powerful root system, a compact, low (25-30 cm) aerial part. Narrow carved leaves are collected in a rosette.
During flowering, which lasts all summer, the gatsania throws out tall, straight flower stalks, on which single buds are formed. The shape of the flowers resembles a chamomile. The color of the baskets is very bright, 5-9 cm in diameter.
In the garden, the culture is grown as an annual. Where in winter the temperature is not lower than +10 ° C - like a perennial. You can keep African chamomile in an apartment. In summer, take the pot out to the balcony, loggia, terrace.
The heat-loving plant develops well at room temperature. With proper agricultural technology, it blooms profusely (15-20 baskets per season) and for a long time. At home in Africa, wild gatsania blooms all year round.
Growing specifics
This is a thermophilic culture. For growth, development, abundant flowering, she needs sunlight. Gatsania is a special flower in which the baskets open fully at noon, when the sun shines on them. In the evening, the petals close. Considering this love of light, they choose a suitable place in the apartment.
Choosing a place for gating
South and southwest windows will do. The plant needs a long day of light (15 hours) and 6 hours of direct sunlight. The buds do not open on cloudy days. They also close at night.
When grown in an apartment, the flower is illuminated, phytolamps with a blue spectrum are used. In summer, the room temperature is maintained at + 20-28 ° C. In winter, the flower must prepare for the new growing season, therefore, conditions for rest are created for it. For several months they are transferred to a room where the temperature is + 10-16 ° C.
Planting capacity
The flower has a rod-type root system. The main root is long, it is impossible to bend it when planting (transplanting), therefore, high pots with a diameter of 40 cm are chosen. The bottom should have several drainage holes. A layer of expanded clay must be poured into the container.
Soil mixture
The quality of the soil affects the decorative properties of the plant, its lifespan.Gatsania roots feel comfortable in a lightweight substrate. It must conduct air and moisture well. In heavy clay soil it stops growing. A soil mixture for a flower is prepared on the basis of ordinary garden soil:
- take 2 parts of fertile soil;
- sift 1 part of humus;
- add 1 part of coarse river sand;
- add the hydrogel.
All components of the substrate are well mixed. The hydrogel is an important ingredient. It helps maintain a constant soil moisture level. This is very important for gating. She equally badly tolerates severe waterlogging and prolonged drying out of an earthen coma.
Store-bought potting soil mixes are suitable for growing gatsania. On the packaging of the soil there should be a note that the substrate is intended for cacti and succulents:
- Peter Peat Hobby;
- "Cactus";
- bio-soil from the Ekoflora company with the addition of sapropel;
- soil for cacti from "Fasco".
How to plant correctly?
A large selection of hybrid and varietal gatsania seeds is on sale. The colors are very different. Seedlings are sown for seedlings in February and early March. 3-month-old seedlings are planted in the ground. They dive into a container for home cultivation at any time. You can buy gatsania in the nursery. They offer seedlings in containers.
Sowing
When grown in seedlings, gatsaniya blooms 3-4 months after germination. When buying seeds, be sure to look at the dates. Germination lasts only 2 years. Sowing gatsaniya is not difficult. Her seeds are large enough.
The landing algorithm is simple:
- take tall cups with a volume of 0.5 liters;
- drainage (small expanded clay) is poured to the bottom, filled almost to the top with a substrate for cacti;
- the soil is watered with warm water, 1-2 seeds are placed in each glass, they are slightly pressed down, the entire surface is sprayed with water from a spray bottle;
- the container is covered with cling film, transferred to a warm, bright place.
Seedlings growing without picking bloom faster. She quickly adapts to a new place. But many growers prefer to sow African chamomile seeds in a common box.
The capacity is taken high, with sides 15-20 cm. Before planting, the gatsania seeds are not soaked. They are laid dry on the surface of the soil with a step of 2-3 cm. Be sure to press the seeds shallowly or sprinkle them with a thin layer of sand.
The box is tightly closed with foil. Keep in a warm place until sprouts appear. Seedlings appear quickly. After 10 days, they are seated in separate cups. Gatsaniya picking tolerates well.
How to plant a purchased sprout
Gatsania seedlings are sold in cassettes. The height of the plants is 15-20 cm, the diameter of the root system is 7 cm. To decorate the loggia, apartments choose beautiful pots. A layer of expanded clay is poured at the bottom. Acquire soil for cacti. They fill a container with it to ⅓ of the height, water.
Carefully remove the gatsania seedling from the cassette and place it in a pot. Make sure that the central root does not bend. They add soil, compact and water it. The root collar of the flower is not buried. It should be 3 cm below the edge of the pot. Then there will be enough watering space.
Care advice
Gatsania flower growers note its unpretentiousness, drought resistance. You don't need any special skills to keep it. It is enough to know the features of the flower and love it.
Watering and feeding the plant
Gatsania does not need frequent watering. With a systematic waterlogging of the earthy coma, the roots begin to rot, it stops growing. The soil is moistened no more than 1 time per week. For control, check whether the top layer is dry (3-4 cm). Leaves are not sprayed. They are not necessary.
About 2-3 times a week, gatzaniya in a pot is watered with low concentration flower fertilizer.When preparing a working solution, the dose indicated in the instructions is reduced by 2 times. They are not carried away with nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Excess nitrogen prevents abundant flowering.
Potted soil care
The topsoil is renewed. A layer of 1-2 cm is removed and a new one is added. When the root fills the entire volume of the pot, the flower is transplanted. A deeper container is selected. Its height should be one third higher than the old planter.
The transplant is carried out according to the usual scheme:
- drainage layer;
- substrate - ⅓ from the height of the pots;
- transshipment of a flower along with an earthen clod;
- adding soil, watering.
Pruning gatsania
The bush throws up to 15 peduncles per season. Stimulate their formation by pruning old flowers. They live for 2 weeks. In late autumn, all old peduncles are removed from the plant at the root.
Diseases and pests of the flower
On gatsania bushes growing at home, mealybugs, spider mites, and aphids can parasitize. Due to insects, the flower loses its decorative effect. They destroy pests with insecticides:
- Actellik;
- Akarin;
- "Oberon".
With poor agricultural technology, irregular, abundant watering, gatsania can suffer from gray rot. Its symptom is a dusty coating on the buds, the underside of the leaves. A sick flower is treated with fungicides:
- "Gamair";
- "Speed";
- "Alirin-B".
Reproduction of gatsania
Most often, gatsania is propagated by seeds. A good time for planting seedlings is at the end of winter - early spring (February, March). They practice vegetative propagation methods:
- dividing the bush;
- grafting.
For the purpose of reproduction, gatsania bushes are transplanted into a container for the winter, the above-ground part is cut off. Keep the flower in a cool (10 ° C) room, rarely watered. With the onset of spring, the air temperature is raised to + 20-25 ° C, watered, fertilized. Start breeding:
- divide the bush into sockets, root them in separate pots, and plant them in the garden when warm weather sets in;
- cuttings are cut from side shoots 10 cm long or more, and they are rooted.
Shoots are cut with a heel, using a sharp scalpel. The bottom sheet is removed, the cut is dipped into powder of a root stimulator (Kornevin). Cuttings are planted in pots with a diameter of 9 cm.
They create comfortable conditions for rooting. Cover with a transparent film cut off with a plastic bottle. Provide diffused lighting, favorable temperature. After 5 weeks, a small bush is formed from each cutting, which can be transplanted into a garden or a beautiful planter.
