Hardy or sensitive to frost?

South American flower dream with pronounced frost sensitivity

The subspecies of the plant genus Calibrachoa are available in many different flower colors originally from Brazil, therefore they usually thrive in a sunny and warm location especially good. While the thankful balcony flowers can cope well with great heat with sufficient water supply, they are far less resistant to cold temperatures. Plants grown on the windowsill should therefore only be cleared outside after the Ice Saints and should first be accustomed to direct sunlight for hours. The sun-hungry magic bell is annual in Central Europe without protective measures and does not survive the winter outdoors.

Attempts to hibernate can be worthwhile with the magic bell

Contrary to the opinion that magic bells can only be cultivated once a year, some gardeners have from successful wintering

their richly blooming protégés reported. For this purpose, the plants should be shortened to a shoot length of about 10 centimeters in autumn. Calibrachoa have the best chances of overwintering if they are in a bright place in a conservatory or rooms where the temperatures are frost-free, but also not above 14 degrees Celsius rise. Dry damage can be prevented by regular, well-dosed watering with low-lime rainwater. In addition, the plants should be used during the winter time not fertilized will.

The increase of the magic bell for the following year

When the ice saints are over in spring, there are various ways to enrich the garden with the beauty of the magic bells:

• with new plants from specialist gardeners
• by sowing
• Extraction of offshoots from cuttings of overwintered specimens

For the cultivation from seeds, the seeds collected in autumn or purchased commercially are placed on the windowsill in bowls from January onwards. These should be covered with cling film so that a stable high level of humidity can be maintained underneath. Since the magic bell depends on a slightly acidic substrate, only petunia or rhododendron soil and water with little lime (preferably rainwater) should be used for cultivation.