Kobeya is an amazingly beautiful decorative liana of the cyanide family. She comes from the humid mountain forests of South America. And it got its name in honor of the Spanish monk Barnabas Cobo, a famous naturalist.
Kobei have very tenacious climbing stems, often reaching six meters in length. Multiple tendrils help the plant to cling to any support.
The root system is strong, fibrous, with ramifications and cord-like processes. The flowers are large, up to 8 cm in diameter. They grow singly, and can be grouped in the leaf sinuses of 3-4 pieces. They have an elongated peduncle and a graceful bell-shaped shape.
The stamens and pistil protrude significantly beyond the petals, which gives the flowers a special sophistication. Soft leaves have a light green hue and a complex-pinnate shape that includes three lobes. In vertical gardening, gardeners began to use kobei since the end of the 18th century.
Popular types and varieties of kobei
At home, the flower is represented by 9 species, however, in our gardens and at home, only one is grown - the climbing kobe.
Other names for it are creeping, curly, Mexican ivy and monastery bells. Kobeya produces a large number of shoots reaching 4 meters in length. The leaves are feather-shaped, very delicate with small wrinkles, and the ends are crowned with branched tendrils. During blooming, the buds of the plant are greenish and smell like musk. Gradually they acquire a lilac hue, later - dark purple and exude a honey smell. Breeders have bred another variety of kobei - Alba, which has white flowers.
We grow a kobei at home
In South America, this plant is perennial, however, in our gardens, the kobei is grown as an annual - because of its thermophilicity, it does not survive the winter. It is usually bred with seeds. This is a simple but rather interesting procedure. Here you need to know the specific features of seed preparation. Sometimes kobei are propagated by cuttings from uterine stems.
Sowing Kobei seeds
You can prepare seeds for planting at the end of winter. They are quite large with a hard shell, which makes it difficult to germinate. Therefore, before sowing, a certain preparation is carried out, which makes it possible to remove the crusts manually. To do this, the seeds are laid out in a wide container at some distance from each other, filled with water and covered in such a way that the moisture evaporates as slowly as possible. After the shell is soaked, it is removed, and the seeds are folded back.
When the planting material is cleaned, take toilet paper, fold it in 2-3 layers and moisten it with a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate. Seeds are carefully placed on it and placed in a plastic bag, which should be warm and well-lit. The germination process takes about 2 weeks, during which time you need to ensure that the seeds are moist.If mold appears, they are carefully washed and the paper is changed.
After the seeds germinate, they are transferred to loose soil, placed on a flat barrel, and covered with about one and a half centimeter of soil. Due to the fact that the kobeya does not withstand the first pick, it will be optimal to use small individual cups, tightening them on top with polyethylene. The containers are placed in a light room at a temperature of 20 ° C. The film should be removed daily to ventilate and moisturize the planting. If you have previously germinated the seeds, then the seedlings will appear in the second week.
Diving seedlings
When the first two leaves develop well on the plants, they dive. To do this, use volumetric pots (at least 3 liters), which are filled with drainage and on top of a nutritious soil composition. Due to the large volume of containers, by the time of transplanting into open ground, the seedlings will form a strong root system. And this is the key to active growth, strong shoots, size and multiplicity of buds. Before the dive, the soil is spilled well, then the sprouts are carefully removed, preserving the earthen lump as much as possible, and transplanted into new containers. Youngsters definitely need supports to support fast-growing stems.
Transplanting a kobei into the open ground
Plants should be planted in an open, bright area, but protected from drafts. Kobeya is able to endure partial shade, but shady places are contraindicated for her - growth and flowering will greatly slow down. Young seedlings do not like cold weather, therefore, it is optimal to pre-harden the plants, for example, by rearranging the flower on a glazed loggia.
The seedlings are transferred to their permanent residence when the threat of frost has passed - this is the end of May or the beginning of June. If low temperatures are still possible, the kobei is covered with non-woven material folded in 2-3 layers.
Plants are planted at a distance of 0.5-1 m from each other. Sod soil, peat and humus are poured into the pits in equal volumes. The soil must certainly be loose. The seedlings are watered for easy extraction, and after transplanting, they are covered with earth and slightly moistened. Subsequently, the soil around the kobei can be covered with sawdust or peat mulch. It is imperative to install supports for weaving, along which the stems will climb with tendrils, or plant plants near trees, walls, gazebos, and a fence.
Note! If you want to admire a more lush and compact bush, periodically pinch the tops of the stems. So the shoots will gain great strength, they will not be strongly intertwined with each other and will not lose their decorative effect.
Watering kobei
The tropical beauty is very moisture-loving and needs systematic abundant watering, especially during the heat. But an excess of water should not be allowed at the same time - the roots will rot, so water after the upper soil layer dries.
Fertilizing and fertilizing plants
From the moment of development of the first leaves until the stage of forcing the buds, the plant needs nitrogen-containing fertilizers, which contribute to the growth of green mass. Then they are replaced with phosphorus-potassium to stimulate and maintain flowering. Due to the fact that the kobea is a large liana, it is fed every two weeks. Mineral fertilizers and organic matter, if desired, can be alternated.
Kobei in winter
If you don't want to mess around with the seeds every year, you can try saving the plant as a perennial. For this, after the end of flowering (usually October is the month), the kobei is dug out, trying not to injure the roots and transplanted into a container of a suitable volume. Then the plant is placed in a dark and cool (8-10 ° C) room, in a cellar, and left there until spring. At the same time, the soil is moistened once a month so that the root system does not dry out and die. In March, the kobei is taken out of the winter shelter and transferred to a bright and warm room, the amount of watering is increased, and when the first leaves appear, they begin to feed them with nitrogen compounds.
After activation of growth, young plant cuttings can be taken for propagation. But at the same time, their fragility should be taken into account and cut off very carefully. The shoots are immersed in pots of wet sand and placed in a bright place, covered with glass jars. Until the beginning of June, the branches will take root, after which they are transplanted to a permanent place.
Important! Kobeya, grown by cuttings, blooms earlier, but the flowers of plants obtained from seeds are richer and more spectacular.
Disease and pest control
Aphids and spider mites often like to settle on kobei. That is why the plant needs to be regularly examined for preventive maintenance, and, having noticed an infection, treatment should be started in a timely manner. The plant is treated with solutions of household or green soap, infusions of onion peel and garlic. If these methods do not help - with insecticides.
Black spots found on leaves and flowers indicate root rot. In this case, remove all damaged areas, dry and loosen the soil. Then the soil is spilled with a fungicide solution. So that the problem does not recur, in the future you need to adjust the amount and volume of irrigation.
Causes of poor growth kobei
If the flower does not please you with tall, lush stems, then it is not satisfied with the planting site or care. In order for the kobei to initially be distinguished by active growth and early flowering, if possible, the seedlings should be covered for the first time. In this case, young seedlings adapt faster, develop a more powerful root system and form buds earlier.
How and when to collect Kobei seeds
In our country, the kobea begins to bloom in July and pleases with its purple lights until October. That is why, in most regions, the seed material simply does not have time to ripen. And since the seeds of even the best producers have a germination percentage of only about thirty, it makes no sense to collect them yourself in an unripe form, since seedlings will hardly appear. Therefore, the best option would be to buy planting material in a specialized store.
If you take good care of a kobe, it will very quickly please you with a lush green carpet with large bright bells. This gorgeous shelter will perfectly shade the gazebo, become a hedge, climb any uneven surface without assistance and decorate your garden in an original way. Often, flower growers breed kobei on balconies if they are facing south. And with the help of this wonderful liana, they create original compositions and amazing living curtains, attaching the stems to a variety of supports.
