Growing gatsaniya at home in a pot as a houseplant

The lovely garden flower gatsaniya is rarely grown at home. Compact bushes of African chamomile usually decorate flower beds and borders. It pleases with abundant flowering until frost. The plant comes from Africa, so it does not overwinter in temperate climates. Not all gardeners know that gatsaniya grows well in an apartment, on a loggia.

Can gazania be grown as a houseplant?

African chamomile decorates the garden.It is planted in flower beds, in the foreground of rock gardens, along paths. The plant has a powerful root system, a compact, low (25-30 cm) above-ground part. Narrow carved leaves are collected in a rosette.

During flowering, which lasts all summer, gatsaniya throws out tall, straight peduncles, on which single buds are formed. The shape of the flowers resembles a chamomile. The color of the baskets is very bright, diameter 5-9 cm.

In the garden the crop is grown as a summer plant. Where in winter the temperature is not lower than +10 °C - as a perennial. You can keep African chamomile in an apartment. In the summer, take the pot out onto the balcony, loggia, or 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. In its homeland in Africa, wild gazania blooms all year round.

Specifics of cultivation

This is a heat-loving crop. For growth, development, abundant flowering, it needs sunlight. Gatsania is a special flower whose baskets fully open at midday when the sun shines on them. By evening the petals close. Taking into account this love of light, they choose a suitable place in the apartment.

Choosing a place for gatsaniya

South and south-west windows are suitable. The plant needs long daylight hours (15 hours) and 6 hours of direct sunlight. The buds do not open on cloudy days. They also close at night.

When growing in an apartment, the flower is illuminated using phytolamps with a blue spectrum. In summer, the temperature in the room is maintained at +20-28 °C. In winter, the flower must prepare for the new growing season, so conditions are created for it to rest.For several months they are transferred to a room where the temperature is kept at +10-16 °C.

Planting container

The flower has a tap-type root system. The main root is long and cannot be bent when planting (transplanting), so choose tall pots with a diameter of 40 cm. 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 and its life expectancy. Gatsania roots feel comfortable in a light substrate. It should conduct air and moisture well. In heavy clay soil it stops growing. The soil mixture for the flower is prepared on the basis of ordinary garden soil:

• take 2 parts of fertile soil;
• sift 1 part of the humus;
• add 1 part of coarse river sand;
• add hydrogel.

All substrate components are mixed well. Hydrogel is an important ingredient. It helps maintain a constant level of soil moisture. This is very important for gatsaniya. It equally does not tolerate severe waterlogging and prolonged drying out of the earthen clod.

Store-bought soil mixtures are suitable for growing gatsania. The packaging of the soil should be marked that the substrate is intended for cacti and succulents:

• Peter Peat Hobby;
• "Cactus";
• biosoil from the Ecoflora company with the addition of sapropel;
• soil for cacti from "Fasco".

How to plant correctly?

There is a large selection of hybrid and varietal gatsanias seeds on sale. The colors are very different. Seeds for seedlings are sown in February and early March. 3-month-old seedlings are planted in the ground. They dive into a container for home growing at any time. You can buy gatsaniya at a nursery. They offer seedlings in containers.

Sowing

At growing seedlings using gatsaniya method blooms 3-4 months after germination. When purchasing seeds, be sure to look at the dates. Germination lasts only 2 years. It is not difficult to sow gatsaniya. Its seeds are quite large.

The landing algorithm is simple:

• take tall glasses with a volume of 0.5 liters;
• drainage (fine expanded clay) is poured onto the bottom and filled almost to the top with substrate for cacti;
• water the soil with warm water, put 1-2 seeds in each glass, press them down lightly, spray the entire surface with water from a spray bottle;
• Cover the container with cling film and transfer it to a warm, bright place.

Seedlings growing without picking bloom faster. She adapts faster to a new place. But many gardeners prefer to sow African chamomile seeds in a common box.

Take a tall container, with sides 15-20 cm. Gatsania seeds are not soaked before planting. They are laid out dry on the surface of the soil in increments of 2-3 cm. Be sure to press the seeds shallowly or sprinkle them with a thin layer of sand.

The box is tightly covered with film. Keep in a warm place until sprouts appear. Shoots appear quickly. After 10 days, they are seated in separate cups. Gatsaniya tolerates picking 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 and apartments, choose beautiful flowerpots. A layer of expanded clay is poured onto the bottom. Purchase soil for cacti. Fill the container with it to ⅓ of the height and water it.

Carefully remove the gatsaniya seedling from the cassette and place it in the pot. Make sure that the central root does not bend. Add soil, compact it and water it. The root neck of the flower is not buried.It should be 3 cm below the edge of the pot. Then there will be enough space for watering.

Care instructions

Flower growers who grow gatsaniya note its unpretentiousness and drought resistance. No special skills are required to maintain it. It is enough to know the characteristics of a flower and love it.

Watering and fertilizing the plant

Gatsaniya does not need frequent watering. When a clod of earth is systematically waterlogged, the roots begin to rot and it stops growing. The soil is moistened no more than once a week. To control, check whether the top layer (3-4 cm) has dried. Leaves are not sprayed. They are not necessary.

About 2-3 times a week, the gatsaniya in the pot is watered with low concentration flower fertilizer. When preparing the working solution, the dose indicated in the instructions is reduced by 2 times. They are not fond of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Excess nitrogen prevents abundant flowering.

Caring for soil in a pot

The top layer of soil is renewed. Remove a layer of 1-2 cm and add a new one. When the root fills the entire volume of the pot, the flower is replanted. Select a deeper container. Its height should be one third higher than the old flowerpot.

The transplant is carried out according to the usual scheme:

• drainage layer;
• substrate - ⅓ of the height of the pot;
• transshipment of a flower together with a lump of earth;
• adding soil, watering.

Pruning gatsaniya

The bush produces up to 15 flower stalks per season. Their formation is stimulated by pruning old flowers. They live for 2 weeks. In late autumn, all old flower stalks are removed from the plant at the root.

Flower diseases and pests

Gatsania bushes growing at home can be parasitized by mealybugs, spider mites, and aphids. Because of insects, the flower loses its decorative effect. Destroy pests with insecticides:

• "Aktellik";
• "Akarin";
• "Oberon".

With poor agricultural technology, irregular, abundant watering, gatsaniya may suffer from gray rot. Its symptom is a dusty coating on the buds and the underside of the leaves. Treat a sick flower with fungicides:

• "Gamair";
• "Skor";
• "Alirin-B".

Gatsania propagation

Most often, gatsaniya is propagated by seeds. The best time to plant seedlings is at the end of winter - the beginning of spring (February, March). Vegetative methods of propagation are practiced:

• dividing the bush;
• cuttings

For the purpose of propagation, gatsaniya bushes are transplanted into a container for the winter, and the above-ground part is cut off. Keep the flower in a cool (10 °C) room and water it rarely. With the onset of spring, the air temperature is increased to +20-25 °C, watered and fertilized. Start breeding:

• divide the bush into rosettes, root them in separate pots, and plant them in the garden when warm weather arrives;
• Cuttings are cut from side shoots 10 cm or more long and rooted.

The shoots are cut off at the heel, using a sharp scalpel. The bottom leaf is removed, the cut is dipped in root formation stimulator powder (“Kornevin”). The cuttings are planted in pots with a diameter of 9 cm.

Comfortable conditions are created for rooting. Cover with a transparent film cut from a plastic bottle. Provide diffused lighting and favorable temperature. After 5 weeks, each cutting forms a small bush that can be transplanted into a garden or a beautiful flowerpot.