Thunbergia erect - flowering indoor shrub
The luxurious tunbergia, which in Europe is called the “black-eyed Susannah,” is one of the brightest annual garden vines. These tropical plants are so good at vertical gardening that the ability to grow different types of tunbergia in greenhouses and rooms is often forgotten. As well as the diversity of these plants, including not only the treetop. In temperate climates, indoor cultivation is the only way to preserve the tunbergias as perennials. One star became the star of the plant, the most spectacular of the shrub species - Thunbergia erect. Large and elegant funnel flowers and whole leaves give it a special nobility.
Thunbergia erect - bushy cousin of the black-eyed
Among the species of tunbergia, the majority of highly decorative plants are vines. Curly, with flexible shoots up to 2 m long, they easily fill any supports and affect the brightness of foliage to the same extent as abundant color.
Shrub species are less common and are almost never used in horticultural culture. But then in the greenhouses and rooms it was the shrubby tunbergia that proved themselves much better. While winged tunbergia and other climbing species suffer indoors from a lack of lighting, shrubs such as upright tunbergia adapt well to living rooms.
Strictly speaking, upright thurbergia (Thunbergia erecta) to full shrubs can not be reckoned. It produces thin, straight, without control stretching to more than a meter and drooping shoots, easily acquiring the shape of a half-vine (without formation).
But drooping branches should not be misleading. The tetrahedral, strong, sparsely branching, thin, but amazingly numerous branches of tunbergia create strong and lush bushes.
The height of the plant is usually limited to 60-70 cm, but in fact it all depends on the pruning: indoor tunnels upright can be more compact and larger. When grown in open ground, this tunbergia can exceed 1.5 m.
These are fast-growing shrubs that can bloom in the second year when grown from seeds and usually achieve full decorativeness in the third or fourth year after sowing. The ability to grow rapidly determines the need for circumcisions, but also allows the plant to recover quickly and cope well with damage.
The leaves of this tunbergia are typical of the entire genus. They sit in pairs, rarely enough, with large internodes, which creates the illusion of a much rarer and more elegant crown than that of garden vines and especially winged tunbergia. The maximum length of the leaves is 7 cm. They are triangular-ovate, with a wedge-shaped base, a strongly-pointed apex and a serrated edge.
Unlike other tunbergias, upright is not characterized by a soft edge, giving the leaves a muffled bluish color. The main dark green color with a cold tint is greatly softened by the dull surface.
How does erect tunbergia bloom?
Blooming upright thunbergia is very plentiful. On long pedicels, singly, not huge, but large flowers up to 5 cm in diameter bloom from the axils of the leaves. Funnel-shaped flowers with a sufficiently large and narrow tube and a wide open corolla resemble morning glory and gloxinia in shape. A light, almost white tube, large sepals emphasize the dark, violet-purple color of the flat five-petalled corolla and make the yellow-orange spot in the throat even brighter.
This is not the most fragrant plant, but in a closed room its light and very pleasant, unobtrusive smell is felt much better than in the open air.
Tunbergia erect, like all tunbergias, blooms in the garden only from mid-summer until the arrival of severe colds. But in room culture, she is one of the candidates for the role of a continuously flowering perennial. With the right selection of conditions and quality care, flowering can continue even during the cold wintering period. The start of flowering directly depends on what kind of lighting the plant is in. In the absence of illumination, upright tunbergia blooms from May to September.
Thunbergia erect has several decorative forms with other colors. White-flowered Alba - a small-flowered variety with dark leaves. And here Caerulea - a very interesting form with a lighter and brighter shade of lilac-violet color.
Growing conditions for upright room tunbergia
For the successful cultivation of tunbergia of this species, it is enough to take care of a cool wintering and proper lighting. This is a typical flowering plant, not too demanding and not the most capricious. In many ways, the room format tunbergia is similar to ordinary indoor shrubs and trees with a pronounced rest period. Only fresh air is even more important to them.
Lighting and placement
Thunbergia erect adapts very well to any bright place. Unlike many garden crops, it is not afraid of direct sunlight and light shading (but you should not experiment with a strong shadow). The brighter the lighting, the more abundantly this plant blooms and the thicker its foliage.
The eastern and western, and also partially southern window sills are considered to be the best place for upright tunbergia. She feels great in office rooms, halls, lobbies, conservatories - where there are no problems with lighting and low temperatures.
Good upright tunbergia lighting will be required even during wintering. Despite moving in cool, the plant still requires normal lighting. Otherwise, the bush will stretch, drop the leaves and, most likely, die. If you rearrange the tunbergia for the winter in a more illuminated place or organize illumination, you can achieve a continuation of the flowering period.
When changing a place, it is better to adapt the tumbria to changes in lighting gradually, without subjecting it to severe stress.
Temperature and ventilation
Upright Tunbergia is very difficult to call heat-resistant. This plant, when grown in both rooms and greenhouses, prefers moderate temperatures and rather cool contents. During the period of active growth of this tunbergia it is quite comfortable at ordinary room temperatures from 21 to 25 degrees Celsius. Sharp jumps of these indicators are best avoided, especially during flowering plants.
The rest period for all tunbergias that are grown as perennials should be the same. Temperature drops below 12-15 degrees should not be allowed (standing upright tunbergia can also withstand 10 degrees of heat, but only for a short time). The optimal value of air temperature throughout the winter is about 15-16 degrees.
If there is no opportunity to provide a cool wintering, it will be extremely difficult to preserve turgia and it is better to use it as an annual plant with a replacement for new ones grown from cuttings.
During the summer, the tunbergia will prefer to be outdoors or in rooms with constantly ajar windows. It looks great in gardens and on terraces, can replenish the collection of plants on the balcony. It is possible to take upright erect turgery to fresh air as soon as the values of night temperatures exceed 15 degrees. At the same time, it is better to protect upright turbulence from drafts in rooms.
Caring for upright turgeria at home
This is not the easiest plant to care for, but you can’t even call it tricky whimsical. Standard watering and top dressing, regular pruning, removal of fading flowers - these are just a few of the required care items. To avoid problems with the plant, you just need to carefully monitor it, noting any deviations from the norm.
Watering and humidity
For upright tunbergia, the standard irrigation strategy for all crops with a pronounced dormant period is quite suitable. During the entire phase of active vegetation, the tunbergia is watered abundantly, not allowing stagnant water in pallets and drying out only the topsoil. After flowering is complete or, even if it continues, with the advent of autumn and a shorter daylight hours, watering is gradually reduced. And by the time of carrying, the plant is transferred in cool to light substrate moisture.
But letting the substrate dry completely throughout the year is not a good idea. Thunbergia erect during a drought partially discards leaves, although it is restored quite quickly, but significantly loses its decorative effect. The average frequency of watering for this plant is up to 4 times a week in the summer and 1 time in 2 weeks in the winter.
Thunbergia erect prefers average air humidity, its leaves suffer in a very dry environment. But there is no need to raise performance by installing permanent humidifiers. Optimum humidity values are about 50-60%. Typically, a simple spraying of the leaves is sufficient for this crop. During flowering, these procedures must be carried out very carefully so that drops of water do not fall on the buds and blossoming flowers.
The leaves of this type of tunbergia can be cleaned from dust with a damp sponge.
Fertilizing and fertilizer composition
Fertilizers in water for irrigation of tunbergia are applied only during the active phase of growth and until the end of flowering. If flowering continues in the fall or winter, then feeding is halved. In spring and summer they are introduced at a frequency of 1 time in 2 weeks.
Thunbergia erect reacts equally well to both mineral and organic fertilizers. For this, plants use universal fertilizers with a balanced composition of elements. After all, with an insufficient amount of nitrogen, the plant will not release the mass of leaves so necessary for a magnificent crown.
But you should not use pure nitrogen fertilizers for her, preferring complex preparations. During the budding period, several fertilizing with fertilizers with a high potassium content can be carried out.
Trimming and forming an upright tunbergia
Most of the lianberghian vines are pruned quite strongly after flowering. Upright Tunbergia can be cut only easily, no more than a third of the length of the branches, and in completely different terms. If you do not conduct regular annual pruning, in the third year the bushes lose their decorativeness and need replacing with new plants. Cardinal trimming on this tunbergia is not carried out and does not produce results.
It is best to prune in the third decade of February or early March, before the plant begins to grow and transplant. The main task of pruning is to stimulate more abundant flowering on annual shoots.
As with any other plant, sanitary pruning is mandatory for tunbergia - cutting of weak, damaged, unproductive and oldest branches.
The formation of plants in more compact bushes should be started from the first year, so that in order to maintain their shape in the future it would not be necessary to trim the branches too much. You cannot create accurate strict figures from this shrub. Pinching the shoots stimulates the plant to thicken.
Despite the status of the shrub, the upright tunbergia, especially if the plant is large and could not be restrained in growth, most often needs support to maintain an upright shape. The installation of gratings or circular supports is necessary only for tunbergia, the height of which exceeds 60 cm.
As in garden tunbergias, flowering flowers should be nipped regularly on upright indoor tunnels, since seed formation stops flowering.
Planting, containers and substrate
This plant does not require an annual transplant. Only very young plants are transplanted annually in the first two years. Adults with tranbergia are enough transshipment with a frequency of 1 time in 2-3 years.
For tunbergia, medium-sized, standard containers with a height slightly exceeding the diameter are used. The presence of drainage holes is required.
Upright Tunbergia can be grown only in loose, permeable and nutritious soil. When choosing ready-made substrates, it is worth stopping at special soil mixtures for trees and shrubs or a universal substrate with a rough texture. If the soil is mixed independently, it is better to prefer a simple soil mixture of equal parts of humus, sand and soddy soil. For this plant, only neutral or slightly acidic substrates are suitable.
If it is necessary for the plant to establish supports, this is done before it is transferred to a new container. At the bottom of the tanks lay a high drainage. When transplanting the soil is not heavily compacted.
Diseases, pests and growing problems
Moving into rooms, tunbergia does not lose its stamina. Even in enclosed greenhouses or living quarters, it is amazingly resistant to diseases and pests. Only in the vicinity of already infected cultures and a serious violation of the conditions can it be affected by whiteflies or spider mites.
Propagation of Tunbergia erect
In spite of the fact that erect turgery can also be grown from seeds, another method is most often used - cuttings. The tops of the shoots remaining after pre-spring pruning are shortened to cuttings of 8-10 cm, treated with rooting accelerators. They are easily rooted in water, sand and substrate.
For tunbergia it is not even necessary (although desirable) to create greenhouse conditions. After rooting, the plants are planted several in separate containers. They are able to bloom this year.
Plant seeds can only be obtained by artificial pollination. They are sown in the spring, in an ordinary sand-peat substrate, deepening by 3-5 mm. Germination requires moderate heat (about 18-20 degrees) and bright lighting, covering with a film or glass with daily ventilation.
Seedlings dive or thin out at the stage of the second real leaf. Such tunbergia will bloom fully only in the second year, but the first flowers can be estimated by autumn.