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In recent years, climbing or ampelous plants have become especially popular among flower growers and summer residents. Given the fact that they can be used outdoors in flowerbeds to create vertical compositions, and in tall containers, and in hanging planters, and to decorate the balconies of city apartments, it is not surprising that more and more people are interested in such flowers. In addition, the choice among them is not so great compared to the usual grassy or shrubby flowers.
One of the typical representatives of the kingdom of lianas is tunbergia – a flower with a rather exotic look. Despite the fact that its inflorescences look rustic, their colors conquer with brightness and richness of colors.
The homeland of tunbergia is the tropical regions of Africa and Asia – therefore the plant is very thermophilic. On the other hand, its big plus is the fact that it gets along well in normal room conditions, so it can be brought into the house before the onset of cold weather and, when the appropriate conditions are created, tunbergia is able to delight you with its flowering all winter.
After all, growing tunbergia from seeds does not require any special knowledge and conditions. She does not need, like many other sissies, warm conditions in the winter, she will be quite content with normal room temperature. But for flowering, she will need additional lighting and a fairly spacious pot. But even if you cannot please her, and she refuses to bloom in winter, the tunbergia will also look interesting as a small room liana.
Varieties of tunbergia and their description
Thunbergia is a perennial flower from the acanthus family. The name was given to him in honor of the Swedish natural scientist Carl Thunberg, who studied plants and animals in South Africa in the 200th century. The genus is quite extensive, and in the wild you can find up to XNUMX species of this exotic flower. But in culture, only a few species are most often found.
Multi-flowered or blue, or grandiflora (T. Grandiflora)
Homeland is India. The plant is quite powerful, broadly oval bright green leaves reach a length of 18-20 cm, there is pubescence on the underside. Actively twists, can reach a length of 7-8 meters. Flowers of blue or purple hue with a white center are collected in racemose inflorescences. Their size can be up to 8-9 cm in diameter.
Fragrant (T. fragnans)
This flower is native to Southeast Asia and Australia. It is an evergreen vine that grows up to 6 meters. The ovate leaves are dark green above and light with a white vein in the center below. Single white flowers up to 5 cm in diameter have a pleasant aroma.
Mysore or Mizoren (T. Mysorensis)
This type of tunbergia is also from India. Outwardly, it looks very exotic and resembles some kind of orchid rather than tunbergia. In height, the shoots can reach 5-6 meters, the leaves are elongated-lanceolate. Flowers of an amazing shape in warm shades hang on long racemose peduncles, sometimes 50 cm in length.
Winged (T. alata)
This type of tunbergia is not only the most famous and widespread, but also practically the only one that is grown everywhere in Our Country and in most European countries. The people call him Black-eyed Suzanne for the characteristic, peephole-like, black centers of the inflorescences. Although there are varieties without peepholes, they look no less attractive.
The stem is ribbed, strongly branched, the leaves are triangular – heart-shaped, pubescent from below. Single flowers of medium size (up to 4 cm) are most often orange, yellow, beige, and sometimes pinkish and salmon. In culture, the species has been known since 1823.
Usually, in the open ground of the middle lane, shoots grow no more than two meters in length. And in room conditions, she most likely will not have enough lighting. Therefore, to see the tunbergia in all its glory in our latitudes is possible only in greenhouses or winter gardens.
flower use
Among the annual lianas, tunbergia looks the most impressive – after all, its cheerful flowers-eyes can positively affect your mood throughout the summer. In the garden, tunbergia can be sown with seeds or planted with seedlings at the bases of walls, various kinds of fences or decorative lattices. In this case, the shoots, clinging to the supports, will be able to grow up, beautifully wrapping around the pillars. Thus, it is possible not only to revive individual corners of the garden or yard, but also to disguise ugly sections of the fence or wall.
Thunbergia, in combination with other climbing annuals, can perfectly enliven a garden gazebo or serve to create a green flowering wall that will separate a cozy corner for relaxing on your site.
It is also good to plant tunbergia along the southern or western wall of the greenhouse to shade greenhouse plants from the sun.
In general, the appearance of the tunbergia will greatly depend on the type of support that you choose for it. If you put it on the net, you can get a low wall, if it is a single stick, then a fountain of flowering stems will hang from above. The pyramids narrowing or, conversely, expanding upwards will look most impressive.
And it can also be allowed to curl along the south side of conifers or shrubs that have faded in spring.
If you plant several tunbergia plants near an alpine hill, then it will be able to spread on the surface of stones and boulders and decorate their gray bases in sunny colors. The same effect can be obtained by planting tunbergia simply on flower beds with small supports diverging upwards. In this case, some of the stems will be able to crawl up, while others will decorate the surface of the flower bed with bright multi-colored flowers against the background of abundant green foliage. Thunbergia can also serve as an excellent lawn frame if planted along the edge in a row at a distance of 40-50 cm from each other.
But the most impressive tunbergia will look in vertical flowerpots, or hanging planters and baskets, when its shoots will beautifully go down, creating a waterfall of flowers and greenery.
Cultivation from seeds
Winged Thunbergia is quite easy to propagate using seeds. Most often, the seedling method is used to grow it from seeds, although in the southern regions with an early and warm spring, you can try to sow it directly into the ground. Most of the most popular varieties of tunbergia bloom about 3-3,5 months after germination. Therefore, when sowing seeds in open ground, you will be able to see the flowering Black-eyed Suzanne only at the end of summer. After all, this flower, being a native of the tropics, does not tolerate frost, which means that it can be sown only at the end of May, and even then under temporary shelters.
When to plant seedlings
The timing of planting tunbergia for seedlings depends on when you can plant it in open ground. But the sooner you do this, the
- the plant will have time to develop more powerful shoots during the summer season;
- you will be able to observe its flowering faster;
- the flowering itself will be more abundant;
- more seeds will be able to set on plants.
Usually, tunbergia seeds are planted for seedlings from February to April.
It is interesting that it is possible to sow the seeds of tunbergia even in August and keep it indoors all winter, although for this it is imperative to arrange additional lighting for it in the winter. But if you plant tunbergia plants grown in this way in the ground at the very beginning of June, they will amaze you with their growth, as well as early and abundant flowering.
In the same way, you can dig up and save plants that bloom in summer for the winter period, after cutting the shoots at a level of 10-15 cm from the ground.
Seed sowing
The photo below shows how large the tunbergia seeds are (their diameter is 3-4 mm), so it is relatively easy to sow them.
Before sowing, it is advisable to soak the seeds for 6-12 hours in a solution of stimulants: Humates, Epine, Zircon.
The substrate for sowing requires non-acidic, light and breathable, but retains moisture well. You can take:
- A mixture of equal amounts of humus, leafy soil and sand.
- Add about 1/10 by volume of vermiculite to any seedling soil.
You can grow tunbergia seeds both in common medium-sized bowls and in individual cups. Young plants tolerate picking and transplanting well, so the method of growing depends on the amount of space you can allocate to seedlings of thunbergia and the time you want to spend on transplanting it. If you have little space, but a lot of time, then it is better to initially sow the tunbergia seeds in a common container in order to transplant the sprouts into separate pots when three or four leaves are unfolded.
In the video below, you can see the process of sowing tunbergia seeds for seedlings in all details.
If you have problems with time, but there is enough space, then it is better to sow the soaked seeds immediately in separate cups so that you do not bother with transplanting seedlings in the future.
Seeds should not be deeply buried in the ground, you can only sprinkle them with loose soil, with a layer no more than 0,5 cm thick. Tunbergia seeds do not need light for germination, and it is desirable to maintain the temperature in the region of + 22 ° + 24 ° С. Under these conditions and constant moisture maintenance, seedlings should appear from 6 to 14 days. When the first sprouts appear, tunbergia seedlings are placed under additional lighting, and it is advisable to slightly reduce the temperature to + 18 ° + 20 ° С.
Care of seedlings
If you planted tunbergia seeds in a common container, then when 3-4 leaves of the plant are formed, it is advisable to plant them in separate pots. And a few days after the transplant, feed it with a complex mineral fertilizer diluted in a small proportion (about 70-80 mg per 1 liter of water).
An important procedure during this period will be pinching the main stem over 3-4 leaves for good branching of the tunbergia. It is also better to immediately put separate supports in order to avoid tangling the stems even before planting the seedlings on the street. Before planting, tunbergia seedlings must be hardened off, gradually accustoming the plants to a temperature of + 10 ° + 12 ° С.
In the rest of the seedlings, nothing else is required, except for an abundance of light, without which it will not be able to fully develop.
When sowing tunbergia seeds at the end of February, you will be able to plant seedlings in flower beds on the street at the end of May – beginning of June, and buds will already open on it.
Growing tunbergia means only abundant watering, especially in hot summer conditions, and periodic top dressing. The rest of the plant is very unpretentious and will delight you with its abundant and colorful flowering.
If you want to collect your seeds from thunbergia so that you can grow flowers next season, then watch the plants. In place of faded flowers, seed pods soon form, which must be collected before they open and fall to the ground. In this case, it will be almost impossible to collect them. The collected seed boxes are dried, the seeds are taken out and stored in a cool, dry place.
Seeds remain viable for about two years and, as practice shows, self-collected tunbergia seeds germinate much better and faster than those bought in a store.
Conclusion
Thunbergia is a very interesting and spectacular flowering liana that will not only help you decorate the site in the summer, but if you wish, you can save it to decorate rooms in the winter. It is easily propagated by both seeds and cuttings.