Exacum

 
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Gentian family. Homeland East and South Asia, Malay archipelago, about. Socotra. There are about 20-30 species in the culture. More often grown as an annual plant.

Exacum related "Exacum affine" is a biennial herb about 20-30 cm tall. The stems are erect, the leaves are ovoid, about 3.5 cm long, bright green. The flowers are small - about 1 cm in diameter, lilac-bluish in color, fragrant. Flowering is usually very abundant.

Exacum - care and cultivation

Temperature: moderate, preferably in the fresh air (balcony, loggias), not higher than 26 ° C. In winter, exacum does not tolerate the heat of heated rooms in low light, ideal conditions for it are 16-18 ° C.

Lighting: The exacum is light-loving, requiring bright light with few direct sunlight. In summer, during the hottest hours, shading is needed. With too intense lighting, the flowers of the exacum can turn pale.

Watering: Plentiful from spring to autumn. The soil should be moist all the time inside the pot, but have time to dry out in the upper layers.

Fertilizer: weekly with special fertilizer for ornamental and flowering plants. Feeding begins a month after planting seedlings in permanent pots and stops in the fall, when the upper part of the plant begins to dry out.

Air humidity: medium, optimal 60-65%. Therefore, regular spraying is required, you can place the pot on a tray with water and wet pebbles.

Transplant: Annually in the spring. The soil is the 1 part of the sod, the 1 part of the humus, the 1 part of the sheet earth and 1 part of the sand. Prefers containers for planting - wide plates.

Breeding: cuttings in spring and seeds. Exacum blooms six months after sowing, so they are sown earlier, if necessary, seedlings are illuminated. Seedlings plant several pieces. It is pinched several times as it grows.

By the way

Exacum or Persian violet, more often grown as an annual plant. It's quite simple to grow it from seed. To do this, in early spring (or late winter), the seeds are sown in a wide tray, in a ready-made soil mixture for seeds.

Since the seeds are very small, it is easier to mix them with sand and sprinkle them on the soil surface - "how to salt." It is not necessary to sprinkle. Moisten the soil from the sprayer. The seed tray is placed in a plastic bag or covered with glass.

It must be covered with a sheet of paper on top to provide shading. After the shoots appear, and this happens about three weeks after sowing, the bag or glass can be removed, and the pallet can be put on the light. Seeds germinate at 16 ° C.

After flowering, the plant can overwinter on the windowsill if the temperature is not higher than 12-14S. After the leaves of the plant dry in the fall, watering is reduced, and the pot is transferred to a cool room, where the temperature does not drop below 8 ° C. In March, Persian violet can be transplanted into a small pot and put in a warmer and lighter room .