Mimeo HO-2
yard'n garden
Cooperative Extension Service PURDUE UNIVERSITY Lafayette, Indiana
GLOXINIAS and their relatives
Department of Horticulture
The gesneria family of house plants provides almost anything the house plant enthusiast could want in beauty and variety.
Best known member of the family is the African violet. But the gloxinia far surpasses it in flower size and brilliance. In fact, few, if any, indoor plants are more striking.
Gloxinia relatives, like episcia and streptocarpas, add to the family’s endless variety--from bright to pastel flower shades and from full to trailing, petite foliage.
GLOXINIAS
Varieties
Hybrid gloxinias are available in a wide variety of colors and flower forms. Flowers are red, purple, blue, white and pastels. Some are solid colors; others are bordered, spotted or ruffled, Blooms may measure as much as 5 inches across, and they come in both single and double forms.
Buy gloxinia tubers ("bulbs") from reputable garden centers or from commercial companies who specialize in this plant. You'll find their ads in garden magazines. Tubers are readily available starting in early winter.
Growing and Resting
Gloxinias naturally rest in the fall and early winter, start growth in late winter, and bloom 6 months later--in summer.
Even at this season they are welcome, since garden flowers can't compare with them in beauty.
For winter bloom, start them 6 months beforehand and grow under fluorescent lights. Artificial lights not only give bloom when you want it, but greatly improve growth.
Plant the tubers in a 4 or 5-inch flower pot, depending upon their size--one tuber per pot. Invert a piece of broken crockery over the hole in the bottom of the pot for good drainage. The planting soil should be half peat moss and half topsoil. Plant the rounded side down, the concave or flattened side (where the buds are located) up. Cover the tuber with a half inch of the soil mixture. And keep it in a fairly warm place to encourage sprouting.
Water sparingly before the tuber sprouts and while the plant is small. Once the plant is large, water until moisture starts to drip out the bottom. But don't wet the foliage. Instead of top watering, you can set the pot in water until the soil surface is moist, then remove.
Once gloxinias are started, they'll flourish under normal room temperatures. To encourage proper bud development, raise