Despite their toxicity, capriciousness and extreme sensitivity, brunfelsia of all kinds and varieties in the West are considered one of the most fashionable flowering crops. This exotic beauty is sometimes called a competitor of violets, then their tropical replacement. But one thing is certain: brunfelsia is a plant that is really richly flowering and graceful. Beautiful and very bright foliage, simple and touching brunfelsia flowers can become the main decoration of the interior. But to enjoy the beauty of a unique plant, you will have to make a lot of effort.
Expressive appearance of capricious brunfelsia
Brunfelsia (Brunfelsia) Is a fairly large genus of flowering herbaceous perennials with evergreen leaves and similar flowering, some species of which differ only in the size of the bushes and forms of growth. The main advantage of the plant is its colorful flowering, limited only by a cold palette of colors. Among gardeners around the world, Brunfelsias are known as “Morning-day-night” (or “Yesterday-today-tomorrow”) for the ability of flowers to change colors. These exotic crops belong to the Solanaceae family and are the closest relatives of eggplants and tomatoes.
Brunfelsia pauciflora Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Steve Slater
A bushy and somewhat sloppy plant on sale is represented by modest and compact crumbs – bushes with a height of 15 to 35 cm.But in room conditions, brunfelsia, unlike flower centers, is not treated with growth inhibitors and it quickly makes up for lost time, becoming hardly bulky. It is a lush and spreading, far from compact crop, with age exceeding 50 cm in height and turning into a tree or bush without proper control.
Brunfelsia has very beautiful leaves. Leathery, large, they are painted in a bright and cold shade of dark green, which seems surprisingly fresh in the interior. Pointed at the ends, oval-elongated leaves are not densely arranged, alternately, sit on short petioles, but create a lush crown.
This culture is not in vain ranked among the flowering indoor stars. Brunfelsia’s flowers are very similar to gentian flowers. The wide-open, simple tubular flowers appear elegant and modest, but are surprisingly striking due to the contrast with the leaves. They reach 5 cm in diameter, more often they are collected in small inflorescences with up to 10 flowers in each. Brunfelsia begins to bloom when even the winter stars are already completing their parade – in February. This charming exotic flower flaunts from late winter to late spring, and sometimes in the first month of summer, and then gives way to other plants with more typical terms.
Brunfelsia grandiflora (Brunfelsia grandiflora). Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Alejandro Bayer
The brunfelsia color scheme includes cold shades of the white and blue spectrum. Most varieties are colored blue and purple, but there are also varieties with white, yellow, purple colors. A distinctive feature of brunfelsia is the loss of a bright original color over time. Purple, blue, lilac flowers of the plant turn white after a couple of days. Since they bloom in waves, unevenly, flowers of various colors can be observed on the plant, which only adds brunfelsia’s charm. The most common brunfelsias do not smell, and the rare large species have a strong pleasant aroma, delicate spring and rather sweet.
Species and varietal diversity of brunfelsias
Today in room culture, one species is most common brunfelsium – low-flowered (Brunfelsia pauciflora). Compact, easy to mold and less capricious, it adapts better to indoor conditions and is more durable. It is her appearance that is considered typical of Brunfelsias. On the basis of small-flowered brunfelsia, many attractive varieties have been bred:
- dark purple, with flowers up to 8 cm in diameter “Makranta” form;
- light purple with a white eye “Floribunda” form;
- purple-flowered variety “Eximia”.
In addition to small-flowered, occasionally larger species are on sale:
- Brunfelsia one-flowered (Brunfelsia uniflora) with large, up to 10 cm in length leaves and single, up to 2,5 m flowers, changing lilac color to blue and white;
- Brunfelsia broadleaf (Brunfelsia latifolia) with short, wide, dull leaves and very large, but not too elegant flowers;
- “Night beauty” Brunfelsia American (Brunfelsia americana) with light oval leaves and cream flowers with a small corolla and a long tube, the aroma of which becomes very intense in the evening and at night.
Brunfelsia is difficult to grow. This is a plant for experienced flower growers who can provide Brunfelsias with vigilant care and a quick response to any developmental disabilities. All difficulties with this culture are primarily associated with the need to stimulate flowering in cool conditions and the extreme intolerance of the plant to any changes. This exotic beauty needs stable lighting and temperatures, scrupulous care.
ะััะฝัะตะปััะธั ะผะฐะปะพัะฒะตัะบะพะฒะฐั. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com plantsrescue
Lighting for brunfelsia
Despite belonging to capricious plants, brunfelsia is able to adapt and bloom beautifully in sometimes not similar conditions. This is a light-loving plant that tolerates partial shade well, but only in one case: if the lighting does not change, remaining stable throughout the year. In typical room conditions in Brunfelsia, it is best to provide bright, but not too bright lighting in a place without direct sunlight. The classic location for brunfelsia is the east or west window sills and shaded areas on the south windowsills.
With the arrival of autumn, brunfelsia is necessarily rearranged to a more illuminated place. The plant is displayed either on the southern windowsills, or in the brightest places in the east and west. For brunfelsia, you can partially use artificial lighting.
Temperature range for brunfelsia
From the beginning of spring until the arrival of autumn, brunfelsia is similar in its requirements to all other indoor cultures. It will feel great in ordinary room temperatures, but it will achieve the greatest effect if the temperatures remain within the range of 16 to 18 degrees Celsius (in summer, the permissible values โโare increased to 20-22 degrees Celsius). Brunfelsia does not like heat, too high air temperatures, even with appropriate measures to increase humidity, can still lead to dropping not only leaves, but also buds.
With the arrival of October, you need to stimulate flowering. And there is only one way to do this – to lower the temperature to the range from 9 to 14 degrees. By keeping it cool in October and November, you will get the buds open and flowering. The total duration of the “cold period” should be 8 weeks (Brunfelsia cannot be kept in the cold longer than 12 weeks). A decrease in temperature should be accompanied by maintaining the usual level of lighting by exposing it to more illuminated places. At this stage, you need to be careful: if the brunfelsia is left in warm conditions, the plant will not show that it is uncomfortable, it will look attractive. But later, Brunfelsia will not only not bloom, but will also shed its leaves.
Brunfelsia broadleaf (Brunfelsia latifolia). Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Izu navi
Change of conditions should be done gradually, slowly. Brunfelsi do not tolerate constant fluctuations in air temperature, drafts, especially cold ones.
Watering and moisture for brunfelsia
The love of this plant for stable growing conditions is fully manifested precisely in the requirements for watering procedures. Brunfelsia potting medium should remain constantly moist, but without excess water. If watering is not regular, and the soil is at least slightly dry or waterlogged, brunfelsia will begin to shed flower buds, instantly react with a loss of decorativeness. That is why, for brunfelsia, you need to build an irrigation system, choosing the ideal frequency by trial and error: between procedures, only the top layer of the substrate should dry out, no deeper than 2-3 cm.In summer, brunfelsia is usually watered 2-3 times a week. With a decrease in temperatures to stimulate flowering, watering must be reduced in accordance with the change in the rate of drying out of the substrate, but the drying of the earthy coma still cannot be allowed in any case.
A vital condition for the normal development of the plant is the provision of high humidity. Brunfelsia loves frequent spraying, but spraying alone is not enough to create stable conditions. Yes, and during flowering it cannot be carried out. For this crop, it is better to take additional measures – install humidifiers or trays with moss and pebbles.
Top dressing for brunfelsia
Despite the rather long flowering, Brunfelsia are fed in moderation. They cannot stand an excess of nutrients in the same way as their lack. Top dressing is carried out throughout the year, even during dormancy and flowering stimulation. But from November to February, fertilizers are rarely applied and in reduced doses (every 3-4 weeks, a half or three times less dose of conventional mixtures or ammonium nitrate every 3 days at a concentration of 1,5 g per 1 liter of water). During the period of active growth (in the warm season), fertilizers are applied every two weeks.
Brunfelsia uniflora (Brunfelsia uniflora). Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com B.navez
For brunfelsia, it is better to use complex fertilizers for flowering plants, rather than universal mixtures.
Brunfelsia transplantation
It is possible to transplant brunfelsia only after flowering, when the plant is at the stage of complete dormancy. It is better to change the substrate and capacity only if necessary – the first signs of a lack of free soil. Young bushes are transplanted annually, adults – no more than 1 time in 2-3 years. When transplanting, it is necessary to lay a thick layer of drainage.
Substrate: slightly sour or sour, loose and fertile soil mixtures are suitable for brunfelsia. This culture grows very well in a substrate consisting of equal parts of leafy, sod, coniferous soils and sand. The Brunfelsias will gratefully respond to the bone fart supplement.
Capacities: the size of the containers, which should only be a few centimeters larger than the previous pot, is critical for Brunfelsia, as well as the presence of a high-quality drain hole.
Brunfelsia pruning
Without treatment with growth inhibitors, brunfelsia are strongly elongated and grow. To maintain the compact, beautiful shape of the bushes, the usual appearance of the plant, it is imperative to include pruning shoots in the care program. It is carried out immediately after the end of flowering, shortening all shoots by a quarter to a third of the height. If the plant develops too actively, grows or stretches, in the warm season, you can also pinch the tops of the branches.
Diseases and pests
Exotic brunfelsia, despite its status as a capricious culture, is quite resistant to indoor pests. Only aphids and spider mites pose a danger to her, and even then with a serious violation of the rules of care and deviation from comfortable growing conditions.
Brunfelsia americana (Brunfelsia americana). Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Leonardo L
Of the diseases, Brunfelsia is only threatened by chlorosis, associated with improper soil acidity and a lack of iron, as well as various rot that develop on the shoots when the substrate is waterlogged.
Common problems in growing Brunfelsia:
- too pale leaves in bright light;
- yellowing of leaves with insufficient iron in the soil, watering with hard water or stagnant water in pots.
Reproduction of brunfelsia
Breeding Brunfelsia on your own is not easy. After all, the plant shows capriciousness at the stage of rooting and adaptation of young seedlings. Reproduction by cuttings is considered the simplest, but far from easy method. Annual shoot pruning yields a large number of top cuttings up to 10 cm in height, which can be treated with growth stimulants and rooted in greenhouse conditions under a hood. With old brunfelsias, it is possible to divide the curtains. But delenki (even large ones) do not take root well and recovery takes a lot of time.
