plants will not become leggy and enough 
shade so that they will have good color. 
The plants should be kept growing 
actively until about August. At that 
time water should be gradually with- 
held until the tops begin to look un- 
sightly. The plants are then ready to be 
placed in the cellar for their rest period. 
which ordinarily should last from six to 
ten weeks. If new growth starts sooner, 
they should be watered and kept grow- 
ing, as this is a sign that a new growth 
cycle has begun, and to check it would 
only weaken the tuber. 
When gloxinias are raised from seed, 
the first consideration is that the seed 
should be fresh. Gloxinia seed is small 
and shows a marked decrease in viability 
after it is one year old. Therefore, be 
sure the seed is obtained from a reliable 
source and that the age of the seed is 
stated. The second point of major con- 
sideration is that the seed must not be 
allowed to become dry after it has been 
sown, especially from the fifth to the 
ninth days. Thirdly, the soil must be 
loose. 
The sowing medium which I have 
found most satisfactory consists of equal 
Here seedling plants are growing in 214” 
pots where they stay for 6 to 8 weeks 
before they are moved into larger’ pots. 
parts of peatmoss (or sphagnum moss), 
sand and leafmold soil. The peat or 
sphagnum moss should be _ screened 
through a quarter-inch screen and the 
soil should be sterilized. After steriliz- 
ing, the soil should be allowed to cool 
and then placed in a container at least 
3 inches deep so as not to dry out too 
rapidly. 
After the moss, sand and leafmold 
soil have been thoroughly mixed _to- 
gether, the mixture is placed in a seed 
flat or seed pan with drainage material 
at the bottom. The surface, after level- 
ing, should then be covered with a 
1-inch layer of finely sifted sphagnum 
moss. The seed is sown onto this layer 
of moss. 
A convenient method of sprinkling the 
seed onto the sowing medium is to first 
place the seed on a small pane of glass 
and then, holding the glass on a slant, to 
tap the glass lightly with a pencil, so 
that the seed will roll off the edge 
gradually and can thus be sown quite 
evenly. After sowing. I water the seed 
into the moss, but I do not press it 
down. The final step is to cover the 
container with a pane of glass and a 
piece of newspaper. A small chip should 
be placed under one edge of the glass. 
so as to prevent excess condensation, and 
the container placed in a warm location. 
Seed should be sown July 1 and the 
plants grown through the winter in order 
to produce the largest plants. At a 62° 
night temperature they will begin flower- 
ing in April or May and will continue 
to bloom during most of the summer if 
kept watered and the weather is moder- 
ately cool. A protected porch seems to 
be an ideal location. 
I sow seed from July 1 to August 1 
for early blooming plants. After August 
1, | wait for the new seed, which is har- 
vested in September. After new seed 
becomes available, I continue to sow 
until March 1. I do not sow any gloxinia 
seed during March, April and May, be- 
cause the plants would then mature very 
rapidly, before attaining a good size. 
This would be especially true if they 
were grown in a greenhouse. Some en- 
thusiasts, however, prefer to sow during 
April and May, since by this method the 
plants do not take up so much space— 
they can be grown in 4-inch instead of 
5-inch pots—and when the plants bloom 
the choicer ones can be picked out and 
the others discarded. In this way a fine 
collection can be had at a reasonable 
price. 
I transplant the seedlings as soon as 
they are large enough to handle, that is, 
when they measure approximately %¢ 
inch across the true leaves. I plant the 
seedlings in a greenhouse bench. contain- 
ing the same soil as I use for potting, 
spacing them 11% inches apart each way. 
They could. of course, be planted into a 
The slipper type of gloxinia resembles a 
foxglove but its flowers are much larger. 
Some of these bloom as long as 14 weeks. 
seed flat or coldframe bed instead of 
the greenhouse bench. 
As soon as the seedlings begin to 
crowd each other—usually within about 
a month—they are potted up into 214- 
inch pots. They remain in these pots for 
six to eight weeks. From 2'%-inch pots 
I recommend a shift into 5-inch pots. I 
know this would not usually be consid- 
ered horticulturally correct, but there 
are two very good reasons for it. In the 
first place, a vigorously growing gloxinia 
in a 3%- or 4-inch pot is likely to dry 
out quite fast, and if it is subjected to 
too much dryness it will mature and set 
flowers before it has attained a good size. 
In the second place, many people neglect 
to repot their plants after they are in 
Note difference 
in the size of the 
Buell hybrid 
gloxinia, right, 
and the usual 
named variety, left. 
