| Life form | Grassy, bush |
| Family | Acanthaceae |
| Origin | Brazil |
| Ease of cultivation | Easy with small difficulties |
| The size | 20 cm in height, but it is better to form a plant of lower height, because better bloom is low plants. |
| Growth rate | Slow. 8-10 cm per year. |
| Lifespan | Perennial plant, you can periodically update. |
| Temperature | In the summer: 69,8-82,4 ° F, in winter it is better to keep the temperature at least + 64,4 ° F. |
| Humidity | Not less than 50%, the plant cannot tolerate dry air. Sprinkle with soft water and keep in moist pebbles, but during flowering during spraying, you can not get on the inflorescence. In winter, spray on a daily basis. |
| Lighting | Bright diffused light. Shade on the southern window. The east window is ideal. With a lack of light, the plant will not bloom. |
| The soil | The soil must be breathable, sand or perlite with peat should be added if it is too dense. To a mixture of homemade should be taken: 1 part of humus, 1 part of coarse sand or perlite and 2 parts of peat or humus (leaf land). Always use a pot with an opening and a powerful drain. |
| Watering | The soil must be constantly moist and do not dry out. However, one should also beware of overflow. In summer it is necessary to water every 3 days. In winter every 10-14 days. |
| Fertilizer | In the summer no more than once every 2 weeks. |
| Reproduction | For reproduction, you can use cuttings obtained by pruning shoots that have not yet blossomed. The stalk must have at least 2 leaves. Root in a mixture of moist peat and perlite in conditions of high humidity at a temperature of 68 ° F and above, pre-treating the stalk with heteroauxin. It is required to cover the container with polyethylene or glass, which can be removed after about 3 weeks. The plant’s seeds germinate at 71,6-75,2 ° F for 10 days. |
| Bloom | Spicate inflorescences, flowers with bright red bracts and blue-violet flowers, blooms in summer, the flower lasts 1-2 days, faded inflorescences should be removed. |
| Transfer | Every year in April. |
| Features of care | Poorly carries drafts. Plants should be cut on a regular basis, if it is very stretched, shoots should be left about 5-15 cm. In summer it is good to take out into the street in the shade. |
| Difficulties | The lower leaves fade and fall off from the drying of the substrate. Also, the lower leaves may fall from the cold. The plant does not bloom most often because of insufficient lighting. The flowers rot and fall off either as a result of getting water on them during spraying, or because of insufficient airing. The leaves turn pale when the plant needs feeding. Affected mites and whiteflies. |
| Air cleaning | – |
| Toxicity | – |
