Ampelia lobelia belongs to the Bellflower family. The genus includes more than 300 species. Most grow in the subtropics and in temperate regions. In Russia, in the wild, you can find the Dortman lobelia, Sidyachelistnaya. In the climatic conditions of the middle strip of our country, a flower is grown as an annual plant. It has earned love among flower growers due to its attractive appearance and long flowering period. It is actively used in the design of landscape design, they are decorated with balconies and gardens, summer cottages, alleys, parks, planting in hanging pots.
Description of ampel lobelia
The plant is named after the scientist, who lived in the 16-17th century, Matthias de L'Obel. He was a court doctor and a botanist of the English king James I.
In the natural habitat, it is a tropical perennial plant. The leaves are small, located on the hanging shoots in turn. The plates have a lanceolate shape, most often a dark emerald color.
Compact in size, but blooms luxuriantly. The flowers are bisexual, so there is no need for artificial pollination. The buds grow densely along the entire length of the stems. The coloring is varied: from bright to pastel colors.
Ampel lobelia can be planted singly or in composition with other plants. She calmly endures any neighborhood and perfectly complements any floral arrangement.
Popular varieties
There are many species, but only part of them is cultivated. Almost all of them are hybrids of Erinus or Sadovaya lobelia. Some of the most beautiful varieties grown in artificial conditions:
| Title | Description | Flowers |
| Sapphire | With hanging branches, up to 35 cm in length. | Small, sapphire with bright dots. |
| Blue fountain | Has 6-8 falling branches with inflorescences. In length up to 30 cm. | Sky shade with a white spot in the middle. |
| Red cascade | With strong, well-developed lateral processes reaching 35 cm. | Dark pink or raspberry. Flowering is plentiful and long. |
| Blue Sky Regatta | Early grade. Shoots in length up to 20-25 cm. The stems reach 25-30 cm. First grow up, and then fall. | Small, collected in multiple inflorescences. Cornflower petals with amethyst outflow. There are specimens with blue, blue buds. |
| Regatta lilac spesh | Violet-white. | |
| Regatta Marine Blue | Undemanding to care. The most important thing is not to oversaturate the soil with moisture and minerals. | Saturated blue tone. |
| Regatta rose | An early variety, the beginning of vegetation 4 weeks earlier than in other species. | Pink with a beige core. |
| Ricardi | Hybrid. Reproduction occurs not by seeds, but by cuttings. The shoots are long, strong. | Various coloring. |
| Marquise | Cascading bush with a dense crown. Stems hanging, well branched immediately at the base, leafy. In length up to 40 cm. Leaves are dense, oblong, shiny, small in size. On the shoots are located next. | Purple-red, in structure have 2 lips. In a circle they reach 2 cm. With proper care, they bloom until the first frosts. |
| Niagara | The branches of a dense, cascading bush reach 35-40 cm. The greenery is small, brightly malachite. It grows along the entire stem. | Small, two-lipped, dark blue or violet. Formation begins in June. |
| Blue cascade | Shoots up to 30-35 cm, highly branching, with developed green mass. Plates are glossy, compacted. | Bright sapphire, small. Inflorescences are located close to neighboring, this gives the bush volume. |
Growing ampelous lobelia from seeds
Seeds are pecked for a very long time, about 80-90 days. Therefore, you need to sow the seeds in late winter or early spring. In the first case, they must be germinated under fluorescent lamps, because there is not enough natural light. When sown in March, they will emerge without additional help.
Lobelia seeds are microscopic, so they are sown in groups in wide containers and plates, peat containers. For landing use:
- garden and peat land in equal amounts;
- soil mixture purchased in the store.
Before sowing, the soil must be disinfected. There are two ways to do this:
- soak in a solution of potassium permanganate;
- warm in the oven.
Growing from seeds step by step:
- Mix the prepared substrate with the same amount of sand.
- To lay out a drainage layer from chipped brick or expanded clay.
- Sprinkle moist soil on top.
- Sprinkle seeds in small groups on it.
- Spray with a solution of potassium permanganate or soft warm water from a spray bottle. Sprinkle on top with a layer of earth is not necessary.
- Cover with glass or film to create greenhouse conditions.
- Place the container in a room at room temperature until germination occurs.
Seeds are sown and immediately to a permanent place. This method among flower growers is called "lazy." With this method, flowering can be expected only in mid-August. Germination will be low.
Sowing is done in late spring. Seeds are mixed with sand and spread over moistened soil. Further care for them is the same as when planting in room conditions.
How to care for seedlings
It is quite difficult to grow seedlings from seeds. It is necessary to constantly monitor the growth process:
| Care | Recommendations |
| Shelter | Remove to remove fumes from the walls. Keep seedlings open for 15 minutes twice a day. After the first shoots appear, remove the shelter. Do this gradually, increasing the airing time every day for several hours. This will strengthen the immunity of young bushes. |
| Watering | Regular and plentiful, as the lobelia has a poorly developed root system. Drying of the substrate must not be allowed. Water the soil through a spray bottle or drip tray. It is necessary to ensure that there is no stagnation of water. This will provoke root rot. |
| Ventilation | When it is warmer outside +10 ° ะก, take it out onto the balcony, loggia or terrace. The time of "walking" is gradually increased, a week later left in the open air for the whole evening and night. Young shrubs shade, direct rays of the sun can cause burns, and plants will die. |
| Top dressing | Once, 30-40 days after sowing. It is better to use mineral fertilizers purchased in the store. They must be diluted with water in the concentration indicated on the package. After that, spray the bush with a solution. |
| Dive | Only necessary if the seeds are randomly distributed throughout the container. Transplanting can be done when 2-3 real leaves grow on the seedlings. Dive is done in groups of 4-8 bushes. The root system of lobelia has the ability to quickly recover. Therefore, for transplanting sprouts, you can cut the earth with a blade into squares. Pieces of soil to move into more spacious containers. |
| Pruning | To avoid strong overgrowth of bushes in length, it is necessary to prune sprouts that have reached 5-6 cm. If the goal is to obtain long and drooping shoots, pinching is not necessary. After flowering, wilted peduncles must be cut. This contributes to the repeated and magnificent formation of buds. The second time pruning is carried out in August. If you plan to collect the seeds, you do not need to do it (the seed should have time to ripen before the first frost). |
Landing and care of ampel lobelia
Planting and flower care must be performed in accordance with certain rules. Only in this case, the plant will grow rapidly, bloom, and maintain decorativeness.
The cache-pot with lobelia must be suspended in partial shade, so that direct UV rays do not fall on the greens. The soil should be neutral, the optimum indicator of acidity is 6 ph. It is not recommended to plant bushes in the earth enriched with organic matter. From this, the greens will quickly gain mass, but the flowers will be plain and very small.
Shoots are planted at a distance of 30 cm from each other. Bushes quickly grow wide and will soon form decorative thickets.
The flower needs constant care:
- regular watering (do not allow drying of the soil mixture);
- feeding (potassium mixtures without nitrogen);
- shortening of shoots in mid-July (after 2 weeks they will again grow and begin to intensively form inflorescences);
- pruning of yellowed and fading leaves;
- periodic loosening of the soil with a wooden peg (this contributes to better penetration of oxygen, the soil will not sour).
Ampel lobelia is a strong plant with good immunity. If you do not make mistakes in the cultivation, it will not be affected by various diseases. Subject to all the rules, you can observe flowering several times during the season.
Mr. summer resident advises: how to keep lobelia for next year
Ampel lobelia is a thermophilic plant and does not tolerate cold at all. At the first frost, it dies. That is why in Russia it is cultivated as an annual.
However, the flower can be grown as a perennial plant:
- Dig out the bush carefully for the winter.
- Transplant into a pot and bring to a warm place.
- After warming the earth, separate the cuttings.
- Root them in nutrient ground.
- When the shoots get stronger, put in a permanent place in compliance with the recommendations given in the chapter "Landing and care for ampel lobelia."
In the southern regions of Russia, a flower can winter on the street. Provided that the air temperature is not below zero. To prevent freezing after the vegetative period, it is advisable to mulch the trunk circle with peat, spruce spruce branches, wood shavings or straw.
