Southern beauty on your window - ruella, home care, photo of a flowering bush

Is there a dormant period for a plant such as ruella, home care (photo of flowers) will not be difficult to clarify and show? I took rooted cuttings from a neighbor, but she herself cannot tell about the flower. I just bought it in the spring, it will be wintering for the first time, so now the two of us are wondering what will become of him. A neighbor's bush bloomed all summer, my cuttings did not have buds due to their young age. What does ruella love and how to care for her?

At first glance, from a distance, it looks like a Vanka-Wet flower and can shoot out seeds in the same way. Even their leaves are similar in shape, but differ in their texture. This is a beautiful ruella, home care for which is much easier than for a capricious balsam. Although ruelia is not inferior to him in decorativeness, because everything is beautiful in it, both flowers and leaves.

Under natural conditions, the plant lives in a hot African climate and has an impressive size, up to 2 m in height. In our country, due to its thermophilic nature, it is possible to grow ruella as a perennial only in pots. Units of two hundred varieties of culture are used for this, but they are all low and compact, just for window sills.

Features of growing ruella in a pot - what kind of microclimate does she need

Ruella belongs to the acanthus family and grows in the form of a branchy lush bush. She has beautiful elongated leaves with a velvety surface. At the same time, the reverse side of the leaves, regardless of the variety, is always painted in a contrasting color, purple or red. Most varieties bloom in summer, but there are also "winter" varieties, which bloom in autumn. The flowering itself lasts a very long time, 3-4 months, but each flower lives no more than 6 hours. Having opened in the morning, by lunchtime it already loses its petals.

Winter-flowering ruellas need the most light, so place them on the south window at this time of year. But other varieties also do not particularly like the lack of lighting and begin to stretch out. In summer, on the contrary, protect the bushes from direct rays. Keep them on oriental windowsills or shade them.

Since ruelia grows naturally in warm climates, it also needs warmth indoors. The minimum temperature for a flower is plus 16 ° C in winter, but it is better to keep it at a comfortable 20 ° C warmth.

The only culture requirement is high air humidity. Moreover, the hotter it is in the house, the more it should be. And keep in mind that the flower absolutely cannot stand smoky rooms. Therefore, do not put it in the kitchen or on the loggia where people smoke.

Ruella - home care

If initially you provide your beauty with warmth, light and moist air, it will not be difficult to take care of her:

• water the bush often and do not let the earth dry out in it, otherwise the ruella will shed its leaves;
• spray regularly and place on a pallet with damp pebbles;
• from spring and all summer, feed twice a month with a break of 2 weeks fertilizers for flowering plants;
• in the spring, do a shaping pruning, pinching the tops or shortening the shoots - with age, the ruelia tends to stretch;
• transplant young bushes into a larger pot every year in spring and old ones every 3 years.

Ruella reproduces in all possible ways, but at home it is more convenient to do it vegetatively.The fastest results are obtained by cuttings - just root the shoots remaining after pruning. And if your bush suddenly has long branches and hang down from the flowerpot, you can make layering. Pin the shoot to the soil directly in the container with the mother bush, or place a small flowerpot next to it. When the layer grows its own roots, it can be separated.

Ruellia Devos