The sloping plate is a beautiful houseplant that loses all its flowers in winter. So that they sprout again after the winter, here are 6 tips for caring for the sloping plate.
Anyone who sees the plant, which actually comes from the tropics, usually recognizes it immediately from a purely visual point of view. Because the lush flowering slanted plate - closely related to the African violet - has enjoyed great popularity among numerous gardeners as a houseplant and potted outdoor plant for many years. Mainly because of its extremely long flowering period from spring to summer with recurring flowers.
Slanting plates are even ideal for planting hanging baskets. However, you should pay attention to a few things when caring for this plant, regardless of whether you have it in the house or in the garden. The most important points are mentioned here.
Care for the slanting plate properly
» Tip 1 - Repotting:
Slanted plates are sold as potted plants in specialist garden shops. You should repot them in fresh substrate every year before new growth (reading tip: repotting plants in 8 steps). Especially since they lose all of their leafy green just before winter and are only overwintered as a rhizome.
» Tip 2 - Increase:
When repotting, you can also separate individual rhizomes and plant them fresh. Alternatively, you can also separate fresh shoots in early summer and repot them. Afterwards, it is best to always water the new plants with lukewarm water, as this accelerates the growth of the sloping plates.
» Tip 3 - Location:
Slanted plates always prefer a bright location. They do not like direct sunlight in the midday hours. If you set up the slanting plate outdoors, you should select an east (southeast) or west (southwest) oriented location.
You should always put the plants outdoors when the temperature is constant (from around 12 degrees). In addition, slanting plates do not like drafts at all and react negatively to it very quickly.
» Tip 4 - Watering:
When watering the plants, you must choose between the resting phase (no watering), the growth phase (more vigorous watering) and thebloom phase (minimized watering but steady light moisture). In all phases, however, you must absolutely avoid waterlogging.
For watering, you should use water that is as warm as possible, as sloping plates do not like cold water and sometimes even react to it with yellow leaf spots.
» Tip 5 - Fertilize:
During the growth, you can supply the slanted plate with liquid fertilizer once a week. However, as soon as the flowering phase begins, one application per month is sufficient in most cases.
» Tip 6 - Encourage flowering:
By the way, the individual flowers of the slanting plates always fade very quickly, but immediately form new ones again. You can speed up this process by plucking wilted flowers as soon as possible.