The bright scarlet inflorescences of the episode seem like a fiery miracle against the background of its textured, distinctive leaves. This extravagant-looking plant is not for everyone. After all, it is far from easy to give an episode the necessary care. Even experienced flower growers often have stunted, almost bare bushes instead of the desired lush pillows with luxuriously hanging shoots. Plant problems are not easy to spot when they can still be avoided. But it’s much easier to prevent problems than to deal with them. And for this it is enough not to forget about the main points in leaving.
5 Steps to Episode Health
Description of the plant
Episcia is a unique representative of the Gesneriev family with decorative leaves, fragile shoots and bright flowering. It can be grown both in a conventional pot culture and in ampelous form.
Oppositely located on long, drooping, thin stems, the leaves seem large and spectacular – from 4-5 to 20 cm, depending on the species and variety, with a width of up to 10 cm.They seem to be exemplary pointed-elliptical in shape and at the same time – extravagant in texture. The dense edge makes the variegated color with fancifully highlighted veins even more unusual. Olive, light green, pink, cream, light yellow patterns bloom on a dark green or purple background. Tubular flowers with a flat limb in any variety are bright red and dazzling.
It is not surprising that the plant is becoming more and more popular, because there are not so many cultures equal to the episode in appearance and role. But the demand for episodes also has its opposite effect: the plant is often offered as very easy to grow and suitable for all growers without exception, which is not entirely true. An episode is only good if it is well cared for.
Episodes often get sick. Pests – thrips, mealybug, aphids, whitefly, scale insects – they are found on neglected plants. They need to be dealt with with insecticides using mist sprayers and acting very carefully. But the disease is much more common. Episcii are one of the most rot-prone plants, in which, when wet, overflow, both aerial parts and roots rot surprisingly quickly.
Most often, plant health problems are caused by care misses or improper selection of conditions.
To guarantee the preservation of the decorativeness of the episodes, it is enough to take care of just a few steps, which form the basis of the “average” care of this crop. Only attention and care reveal one of the main advantages of the episode – the ability to preserve old leaves even at a respectable age.
Эписция (Episcia). Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Jerzy Opioła
1. Constancy of conditions of detention
Episode loves consistency in everything. You should not expose the plant to drastic changes without “compensation”. Even after transplanting, it is worth softening the conditions by increasing the humidity and choosing more secluded lighting. Drafts, cold rooms with temperatures below 18 degrees – not for episodes. But the heat immediately affects the state of the leaves.
You should be very careful when choosing lighting. A soft, diffused, slightly shaded place, well protected from direct sun, is ideal for an episode. The maximum possible shading is determined by the preservation of variegated patterns and shades of leaves. The episode will not grow well in the depths of the rooms, but it can be placed in the interior not far from the window. You should focus on the east and north windows and their lighting mode.
For the winter, for the episode, the lighting must be corrected: it will be difficult to keep the bushes healthy without rearranging them to brighter places and window sills.
Read about the types and varieties of plants in the article Episation – a classic that does not go out of fashion.
2. All attention is to watering
The episode is very afraid of waterlogging, which can lead not only to root rot, but also to loss of resistance to pests, rapid decay and loss of succulent shoots and pubescent leaves. Watering for the episode should always be careful and rare, allowing the substrate to dry well – by about 4-5 cm. Any stagnation of water or excessive watering is unacceptable, as is the wetting of leaves or shoots, careless watering at the root. You should be especially careful in winter, but even in summer the episodes are watered carefully, in moderation, with a small amount of water, but often.
The safest irrigation strategy to irrigate is to use auto irrigation systems or bottom irrigation. It is difficult not to wet the sprawling bushes with classic watering, so watering through the pallet eliminates many risks.
You should be very careful when choosing the lighting for the episode. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Daytime_Raccoon
3. Top dressing should be applied reasonably
It is necessary to feed the episodes in a special way. They begin to apply fertilizers with water for irrigation only when the plant enters a phase of rapid growth, and not with its first signs. Approximately from mid-April to early August, it is better to use halved doses for the episode, but feed them often, with an interval of 2 weeks (or a quarter of a portion, but every week). From the beginning of August, feeding is reduced and completely stopped by September.
If you use the wrong fertilizers for the episode, even very careful care will not lead to anything good. In order not to put the health of the plant at risk, it is better to limit the options for fertilizers with special preparations for flowering plants. And let the mass and variegation of the leaves do not mislead: the excess of nitrogen in universal fertilizers or fertilizers for decorative deciduous plants is not for description.
Read also our article 10 plants that are better not to water than to overflow.
4. Always monitor the humidity of the air
The beautiful edge on the leaves of the episode is deceiving. Despite its texture, this delightful plant, due to its origin, does not tolerate dry environments and does not do well in ordinary living spaces. Without measures that would compensate for low air humidity, success cannot be achieved. Episode loves moisture levels above 60%, and, as you might guess, spraying will not work for her.
In order to keep the bushes healthy and in excellent shape, you need to install a special pallet with pebbles, expanded clay, moss for the episode, avoiding contact with the bottom of the container with water, or place it near a group of tropical colleagues with a humidifier device.
To make the bushes of the episode lush and neat, the first shoots are usually tied up or shortened, creating a rounded base. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com queencommie
5. Control over sprawling shoots
One of the main reasons why an episode quickly degenerates and loses shape is a complete lack of control. In order for the bushes to be lush, uniform and neat, the first shoots are usually tied up or shortened, creating a rounded base, and only then they are allowed to creep out new branches. At the same time, regular pinching or pruning of branches to half can avoid many problems.
Episation shoots not only tend to hang beautifully from the pots, but also easily take root in the soil. And as soon as the process of root growth in the nodes begins, the leaves gradually lose their decorative effect and fade before our eyes. It is necessary to monitor not only that the episode does not take root in its own container, preventing the shoots from growing around the perimeter of the pot, but also for the neighbors. Flexible shoots very often spread and imperceptibly, rooting surprisingly easily in pots next door.
The safest option is to expose the description slightly distantly, hang it up, use a stand or flowerpots with legs. And if the episodes want to thicken due to the rooting of lateral shoots, then it is better to cut off the branches first and place them in the substrate for rooting, already separated.
If you have any problems with the episodes, do not despair. Rapid growth allows the plant to regenerate just as easily and quickly grow its own replacement. If the episode still has healthy shoots, they can be easily rooted. Stem fragments with at least a couple of leaves, and tops, and individual leaves are also suitable. Even seedlings develop remarkably fast in the episodes. You need fresh seeds, you can buy them or collect them yourself. True, in the latter case there is no hope of preserving varietal characteristics, but on the other hand the plants will be much more hardy and unpretentious.
