| Life form | Shrub: upright or climbing plants |
| Family | Acanthaceae |
| Origin | Tropical Africa |
| Ease of cultivation | Easy to grow, but cool wintering is necessary |
| The size | Up to 1.8-3 m in height (or in length for climbing species) |
| Growth rate | Fast-growing plant. |
| Lifespan | They live a long time, but it is desirable to rejuvenate the plant from the cuttings or cut off, because after 2 years they lose decorativeness. You can grow as an annual. |
| Temperature | In the summer: the usual room temperature (about 69,8 ° F); in winter – the optimum temperature is 53,6-57,2 ° F. |
| Humidity | The average, optimal level is 50%, but the tunberia adapts to dry air. Sometimes it is useful to spray by avoiding the flowers. |
| Lighting | The plant needs a bright diffused light and it can grow on a southern window with a shade from the midday sun. The east and west windows are also suitable. |
| The soil | 1 part of sod land, 1/2 part of coarse-grained sand or perlite, 1 part of humus earth. Always use a pot with an opening. |
| Watering | Requires abundant watering at room temperature, at least 2-4 times a week in the summer, every 12-14 days in winter. The soil should be moist and not dry out in dry weather, otherwise the plant will quickly wither. |
| Fertilizer | Once every 2 weeks, with liquid fertilizer. From the moment of budding, fertilizer with an increased content of potassium is useful. |
| Reproduction | In spring cut cuttings should be 8-10 cm long. Remove the lower leaves and plant cuttings, pre-treated with hormones, place in a mixture of moist sand and peat under a polyethylene film. After rooting, plant cuttings and pinch the top for better branching. Thunbergia reproduces by cuttings quite easily.Can be propagated by seeds at a temperature of not less than 64,4-68 ° F, which are sown in February-March in a mixture of peat and sand and kept under a film. Germination occurs after 2-3 weeks. When the seedlings become stronger, they are dived and transplanted into 6-cm pots, and later (at the end of May) after a single plucked pass into 10-cm pots. Usually, 3.5-4 months after sowing Tunberg blooms. |
| Bloom | Blossom from May to September. Flowers – orange or purple, tubular, up to 7 cm. |
| Transfer | Transplant every 2 years in the spring, when the roots appear from the drainage hole. Ensure that there is good drainage. |
| Features of care | Climbing species are grown in hanging baskets or special supports are used, while shoots should be evenly distributed along the support to prevent them from tangling. The summer requires ventilation, but leaves are spoiled by drafts. Young plants should be nipped for better branching. After 2 years of growth, one third of the shoot should be cut,old stretched plants bloom worse. It is necessary to remove wilted flowers in time. The plant requires regular hygienic procedures – rubbing the leaves with a damp cloth. |
| Difficulties | It is affected by a spider mite, scutellum and whitefly. The lack of flowering is most often associated with insufficient lighting. Perhaps the appearance of spots on the leaves associated with fungal infection when kept in conditions of low airing and high humidity. (Remove damaged leaves, use fungicides). |
| Air cleaning | – |
| Toxicity | – |
