Saintpaulia is a beautiful luxurious plant with flowers of a bright saturated red hue. It features long flowering and high aesthetic characteristics.
About the history of appearance
The variety was bred in Togliatti by breeder Elena Korshunova. Because of this, the abbreviation EC is added to the name of the violet variety (in contrast to RS, the variety bred by Svetlana Repkina).
Violet "Bullfight" (Saintpaulia)
Grade description
This violet is easy to distinguish among other similar varieties. Belongs to large-flowered varieties. A distinctive feature of the plant is the presence of a constantly blooming magnificent hat of red flowers. Flowers are star-shaped, terry or semi-double.
Violet Bullfight blooms year-round. First appears 3 peduncles with two buds. As they bloom, 3 new buds grow. The result is a spectacular bouquet. If the plant is properly looked after and, very importantly, regularly fed, the flower rosette will reach 30 cm in diameter.
The leaves are large, somewhat elongated, bright green. Their edge is somewhat wavy.
From this variety comes the violet Bullfight gold (that is, "golden"). The leaves of Violet Gold Bullfight in the center of the outlet are white or with a lemon tint. The lower leaves are bright, green. Cherry flowers with these leaves look very beautiful and elegant.
EK Bullfighting is similar to the varieties of violets Corrida, Blackberry EK-Magaraja. Bullfighting violet, unlike violets Bullfight, has large semi-double flowers of white color.
Care Features
In order for the plant to please the eye with beautiful flowers and not hurt, you need to strictly and carefully adhere to the care recommendations.
Temperature
The flower feels great at an ambient temperature of 18 to 25 degrees. Violet is afraid of the cold and draft. Higher temperatures also have a detrimental effect on it.
Lighting
Violet is recommended to be grown on a flower rack with artificial lighting. You need to place it on the windows, "looking" to the north, northeast or northwest.
Violet loves bright light
Important! Direct violet rays of the sun are detrimental to the violet. Despite this, it is necessary to observe daylight hours from 12 to 14 hours. The deficit of light is compensated by a lamp with a yellow spectrum (not incandescent). And once every 3 days the plant turns the opposite side to the light source.
Watering
For growth and flowering, the plant needs a sufficient amount of moisture. The plant is watered when in a pot the earth dries by about a third. Water the violet with settled water, room temperature. The jet is directed under the root. Water should not be allowed to fall on the leaves - they not only change color, but also begin to rot.
There are several ways to water:
- Water is poured into the pot with a watering can having a long spout.
- The pot is placed in the water for 2/3 for about half an hour, so that moisture is absorbed into the soil through the drainage.
- A wick is drawn through the drain hole. Its end is placed in a container of water under the pot.
Spraying
You can not spray the plant. Spraying water is allowed at a distance of about 2 meters from the plant.
Humidity
The humidity in the room where the bullfight violet is located should be at least 50% and not more than 65%. Humidity can be increased by placing containers filled with water near the plants.
Priming
It is necessary to apply the purchased soil mixture for violets. It can be prepared independently by mixing peat, leaf, turf and coniferous earth, sand in equal proportions. A small amount of perlite or vermiculite is used to loosen the soil.
Soil for violets
Top dressing
Fertilizers are applied every 2 weeks. Nitrogen fertilizers are necessary during the formation of the outlet and the active growth of leaves.
When buds form, or when a plant blooms, it needs phosphorus and potassium, as well as trace elements. Feeding is carried out with mineral mixtures. The recommended concentration of fertilizer should be reduced by about 2 times.
Note! Top dressing is carried out only for a healthy plant. After transplanting, fertilizers are not applied within 2 months. The same restriction applies if the violet has been affected by disease.
During flowering
During the flowering period, the violet needs regular watering. The task of the grower is to maintain a normal level of soil moisture. It should not be dry and at the same time excessively flooded with water.
In addition, the plant regularly needs phosphate fertilizers, so that the flowers are powerful and rich in color. The plant is fed strictly according to the instructions for using fertilizer.
When and how it blooms
The plant has some features in flowering.
Color and pattern of flowers
Interesting. The hue of the petals varies depending on the lighting: in the sun they are scarlet, in cloudy weather ruby or cherry.
Violets of this variety have practically no flowers that would differ significantly from the red color scheme.
Saintpaulia flower
Shape and size of flowers
The size of the flowers is large - up to 8 cm. Star-shaped flowers, terry.
Flowering period
A distinctive feature of this variety of violets is that it blooms throughout the year. The outlet constantly throws new peduncles on which beautiful and lush flowers grow.
How to propagate a violet
There are several ways to propagate violets: by seed, leaf, daughter outlet.
Seed germination
Growing this violet with the help of seeds has many difficult stages, therefore it is available only to breeders.
Rooting cuttings
The sheet must be cut from the second row of the outlet. The cut is done with a sharp knife along an oblique line about 3 cm from the base of the sheet plate. The cutlery is placed in a small container with water or with a mixture of soil and sand. After the roots appear, the stalk should be planted in a pot with soil. Children will appear in about a month.
To get daughter sockets, they need to be cut and rooted. On the hemp remaining after cutting the plant, small daughter rosettes appear. When they increase by about 3 cm, they are separated from the outlet and then transplanted into small pots. From above they need to be covered with a package. Shelter is removed when new leaves appear on the outlet. When they grow to about 4 cm, they are removed.
Rooting and germination of cuttings
Other options
There is a way to propagate violets using a leaf. The sequence of actions will be as follows:
- cut the sheet;
- place it in the soil about 2 cm, slightly squeeze the earth around it;
- cover with a glass jar and pour.
Transplant after purchase
Violet is transplanted every year, around the beginning of March. This periodicity is due to the fact that prolonged flowering leads to depletion of the soil. The plant needs a fresh substrate with nutrients. The pot should be wide and low, because the root of the plant occupies the surface layer of the soil. Its other layers will be acidified. The diameter of the pot should be no more than 12 cm.
Important! In a bulky bowl, the violet will not bloom.
Drainage in the form of small pebbles, gravel, and foam is laid at the bottom of the pot. He will remove excess moisture, will not allow decay.
Possible problems
Violet diseases develop if it is deficient in sunlight or, on the contrary, is exposed to strong insolation, is watered with cold water, and is in a room with low temperature and high humidity. As soon as the first signs of damage appear, all diseased leaves should be removed, the plant should be transplanted into a new pot with new soil. Leaves are treated with an appropriate drug with fungicidal action.
Disease
The most common diseases of violet Bullfight is late blight, gray or powdery mildew, fusarium, gray rot. All of them develop due to excessive watering or non-compliance with the conditions of detention.
You can save the violet only on the early steel of the development of the disease. Affected parts of the plant are thrown away, healthy leaves are treated with drugs.
Powdery mildew
Pests
The greatest danger to the plant are such pests:
- aphid;
- thrips;
- ticks;
- nematodes;
- mushroom mosquitoes;
- scale insects.
If the leaves of the plant are affected by these pests, you need to wash them with a soapy solution, then treat them with the insecticidal solution of Alatar, Actellik, Furanon and so on.
Other problems
The variety is somewhat moody. Sometimes flowering is unstable, terry petals appear after the third flowering.
It happens that the leaves of the lower row begin to turn yellow prematurely. This phenomenon is independent of ambient temperature. Yellowing leaves does not mean that the plant is affected by any disease. The lower leaves can turn yellow constantly and fall, new ones grow in their place.
The violet of the Bullfight variety is an excellent decoration for any room. The undoubted advantage of the plant is its ability to bloom all year round. The plant is demanding care, in gratitude for which it gives beautiful flowers.
