Eustoma - one of the most mysterious and delicate flowers in our garden. Beauty has other interesting names - Irish rose, lisianthus. Having such a plant in your flower garden is a real luxury, but accessible to every gardener. In order for the plant to delight you with flowering in the summer, you need to start growing eustoma flowers from seeds at home in advance.
What you need to know about eustoma
Eustoma in our rather cool climate is grown as an annual. Although by nature it is a perennial plant. Suitable for growing both in open and protected ground. The Irish rose, as it is also called, blooms for 5-7 months. Lisantius is picky about temperature and lighting. Therefore, early varieties are used for flower beds (so that the cold does not shorten the flowering period).
It is difficult to grow eustoma without additional lighting, so it is usually planted in late February - early March, when daylight hours increase.
Content:
- Biological features of eustoma
- How to sow seeds for seedlings
- How to care for eustoma seedlings
- How to transplant eustoma seedlings into OG
- How to care for eustoma in the garden
- How to organize wintering of eustoma
Eustoma is a perennial flowering plant with flowers that resemble paper clouds. It comes from Central America, but also grows in our latitudes. It is believed that eustoma is difficult to grow, but FORUMHOUSE gardeners succeed - moreover, on our portal this plant is considered quite unpretentious, the main thing is to grow seedlings. Eustoma is grown in the garden, in pots, as an indoor plant; it stays cut for a long time. Many parents of schoolchildren grow it by the first of September, for a bouquet as a gift to the teacher.
In flower beds, large-flowered eustoma (Russell's lisianthus) is usually the most spectacular. One plant produces up to 20 bushes, each up to 15 centimeters in size. Another advantage: eustoma blooms for a long, long time, one flower on the plant replaces another.
Choosing a pot/container
You can grow indoor eustoma in a permanent pot to save yourself the need to pick.
If you plan to transplant it into a flowerbed in the future, you will need 3 types of containers:
- A plastic rectangular container with holes in the bottom - for germination.
- Plastic cups - for diving.
- 0.5-liter plastic glasses or peat pots (they do not need to be removed when transplanting to a flowerbed) - for transferring.
Common mistakes gardeners make
Fertilizer application carried out in violation of technology will not bring the expected result. Many gardeners make the following mistakes:
- They overfeed the eustoma - the principle “you can’t spoil the porridge with butter” does not work here. It is better to add a little less nutrients than to have an excess of them. An imbalance of elements impairs the absorption of other compounds and the decorative qualities of the crop. With a severe overdose, the eustoma may die.
- Inappropriate formulations are used - nutritional needs change as they grow. In the early stages, crops need nitrogen, and during budding and flowering - phosphorus and potassium. The introduction of the wrong formulations will not bring a positive effect.
- Fertilizers are applied to dry soil - in order for the substances to dissolve in the soil and pass into an accessible form, water is needed. Contact of the solution with the roots can cause burns.
- They use expired fertilizers - after the period specified by the manufacturer has expired, they stop working. Products marked with “unlimited agrotechnical use” are allowed to be introduced only under strict observance of storage conditions. Fresh and crumbly preparations dissolve faster and are better absorbed.
- Fertilizers are selected incorrectly - some types of fertilizers cannot be mixed and applied at the same time. In this form they do not bring positive results.
Proper feeding will allow you to grow a strong and beautiful eustoma. When choosing a drug, take into account the needs of the crop at a certain stage of growth. In order not to harm the flower, follow the permitted dosage and application rules.
How to dive and transfer
Do not be alarmed if the seedlings, at first glance, have stopped growing. They just grow roots.
Picking is carried out immediately after the appearance of the first pair of leaves. Together with the earthen lump, I transfer them into special containers for diving, which we talked about earlier. It is important not to deepen the root collar - it should remain at the same level as before picking.
After transshipment, the seedlings are watered with a solution of Fundazol. Feed once every 15 days. To do this, use potassium- and phosphorus-containing preparations. Water only when the top layer of soil begins to dry out.
When the risk of frost completely disappears, you can replant the plant in open ground or a permanent pot. The procedure is no different from the diving process. It's better to do it in the late afternoon.
In the Becker store you will find a large assortment of flower seeds.
From us you can buy seeds of biennial flowers, seeds of annual flowers, perennials and indoor plants. Author: Natalya Palamarchuk
Caring for eustoma in open ground
From the moment you plant it, growing this beautiful plant will be easy. Soon it will bloom and will bloom almost until frost. The beauty of flowers will justify all our dances around seedlings a hundredfold. In principle, you can skip all these difficulties altogether and immediately buy ready-made seedlings. If you live in a warm region, then at the end of summer radically trim the eustoma so that two pairs of leaves remain on the stump, and in a month it will delight you with new flowers. It is better to place supports near each plant so that the bushes do not fall when they bloom. Not everyone dares to disfigure this beauty with ordinary sticks, and decorative supports for orchids come into play.
frosikFORUMHOUSE member
I didn’t have the courage to tie such beauties to sticks, so I used holders for orchids, somehow they still look nobler and more delicate.
Two weeks after planting in the ground, the eustoma is fed with complex fertilizer and then the feeding is repeated twice a month.
Growing conditions: lighting, temperature, soil
In order to grow eustoma from seeds at home, it is necessary to comply with the growing conditions. Namely: lighting, air and soil temperature, air humidity level and substrate.
Lighting
Immediately after emergence, it is necessary to ensure a minimum of 13-16 hours of daylight. Therefore, you need to resort to artificial lighting.
Find out which lamp to choose here: LAMPS FOR LIGHTING PLANTS – TYPES AND TIPS!
Soil and air temperature
The optimal soil temperature for successfully growing seedlings is 13-23 °C. If the air temperature drops below 15 °C at night, the seedlings stop growing.
And if it is above 22 °C, then there is a high risk of the formation of a rosette of leaves and the flower will begin to develop like a biennial plant, i.e. will bloom next year.
Priming
During the first picking, lisianthus needs to be transplanted into more nutritious soil than the one in which the seeds were sown. Garden stores mainly sell peat-based soils (70-80%) with a similar composition.
Therefore, regardless of its name (“Universal”, “For seedlings”, etc.), the main condition for purchase will be a pH level close to 6.0-6.8. The packaging usually indicates pH 5.5-6.5.
Then, if possible, add 1/3 of your garden soil or turf soil, if you find it on sale, to the purchased peat-based soil.
To prepare your own soil mixture, we recommend the following composition: high-moor peat, humus (leaf soil, compost), garden soil and sand – 2:1:1:0.5.
WE ADVISE YOU TO READ:
- WHAT IS THE BEST SOIL TO USE FOR SEEDLINGS?
Examples of different soils with similar composition and pH levels
When to pick eustoma
You can pick out the eustoma as soon as 2-3 pairs of true leaves appear on it. This usually occurs after 6-8 weeks. It is very important to pick on time; this process cannot be delayed, and do not be alarmed by the small size of the seedlings. After all, if you miss the right moment and they manage to grow more than necessary, when picking, the danger of damaging the eustoma roots will increase.
Picking is a painstaking task and requires extreme caution. Your work should be truly exquisite, because it is this that will ensure rapid and high-quality growth for the eustoma in the future. In order to pick seedlings more quickly and efficiently, use a thin awl - this will help remove tiny bushes from the soil with the least damage.
Description of the flower
This plant has dense stems that grow up to 1 m. Even one branch of lisianthus is suitable for creating a bouquet due to its branching and lush flowering. Up to 35 buds grow on each branch, their density and number largely depend on the plant variety. They do not bloom all at once, but one by one.
Pink petals are more common than others, but in addition there are gray, white, and purple shades. The diameter of the cups does not exceed 8 cm. In the garden, eustoma lives only for 2 years; it is grown in one season. If the plant is kept in a pot, its lifespan increases to 5 years.
Wild plants are not suitable for growing on a windowsill, although some gardeners dig up eustoma flowers for the winter, replant them in a pot and bring them into the apartment. In this way, the crop is protected from freezing, since during severe frosts it dries out, and in favorable conditions it simply goes dormant.
About 5 varieties of perennial eustoma are suitable for indoor keeping:
- Large-flowered. This species has oval leaf blades, flowers grow in the shape of a bell, and there are red, blue and orange varieties.
- Loyalty. It got its name because of its snow-white petals, which are associated with honesty and decency. There are always many buds appearing on each branch.
- Little Bell. Eustomas grow up to 20 cm. They feel comfortable in a pot, but do not look as lush as other species. This variety has many green shoots that do not bloom immediately.
- Florida Pink. Pink eustoma most often attracts gardeners. The buds grow very large, so they look impressive.
- Mystery. These flowers have very bright double petals, they reach about 30 cm. The flowers appear blue or deep purple.
Where to buy seeds
Today we talked about growing eustoma from seeds - when to plant eustoma seedlings in 2022 and how to do it correctly. Despite all the capriciousness, the wondrous beauty of the flower is worth trying to tame the overseas beauty and place it in your garden or home.
Some sources:
- Bible of garden plants / I. Berezkina, N. Grigorieva.
- Garden flowers from snow to snow / L. Bobrovskaya
- The best garden flowers. Large illustrated encyclopedia / I. Peskova, A. Lysikov
- Garden flowers / R.A. Karpisonova
Elena Chursinova A practical gardener with twenty years of experience. I prefer organic farming and lazy gardening.
