To create coziness, emphasize the design of the room, take free time and fill the empty space, or just to please the eye - this is an incomplete list of the reasons why we plant plants. The choice of such a "pet" is a matter of taste and acceptability of the requirements for caring for it. Episcia - a flower that can satisfy this eternal desire of a person to get the maximum at the lowest cost! The luxurious appearance combined with the austere modesty in the care make the episode desirable in many homes, and the widest range of varieties will not leave indifferent even the most creative person.
Epice: what is this plant
Houseplant episcia won the attention of flower growers unusual color and structure of the leaves, as well as a wide range of colors. The plant belongs to the Hesnerian family., well-known for such popular ornamental plants as gloxinia (bell) or saintpaulia (African violet). 
All members of the family are characterized by bright, saturated colors and mostly dense, often velvety leaves. Such characteristics make episi an ideal ornamental plant with high aesthetic indicators. Episcia is an evergreen perennial plant with many species that differ in the shape and color of flowers and leaves.
Did you know? The many hairs that cover the leaves and flowers of the plant have light-reflecting properties, therefore, if a direct sunlight hits the flower, a very beautiful glow effect is created. But, unfortunately, you will not have to admire this for a long time, since a bright sun is detrimental to a plant that prefers shade..
The most common types of episi
Today, there are many types of episi, their lists occupy dozens of pages of specialized directories. All this riot of colors and forms was created on the basis of three types: episcia of copper-red (Episcia cupreata), Violet flame (Episcia lilacina) and episode creeping (Episcia reptans). The following describes the most popular types of epictions. Most often in the houses you can find hybrids of epice copper.
- Silver shine (Silver Sheen). The plant has large pubescent leaves with light green veins, the border is olive. Most of the leaf has a silver color most dense in the center and interrupted by brown-violet patches of square shape closer to the edges.
- Forest beauty (Silvans Beauty). The color spectrum of the leaves of this species is light green-silver: the streaks of saturated light green color are clearly traced on an almost completely silver background. The colors of such an epic are red.
- Chocolate Velor. This variety has a special charm: densely pubescent dense leaves of brown-purple color with pink mother-of-pearl and lilac-blue flowers make you want to stroke the plant. The variety is resistant to environmental factors and unpretentious in the care.
Did you know? Of greatest interest, as well as the greatest aesthetic value, are precisely hybrid plants. Due to the peculiarities of inheritance of the hybrid genes of the parental individuals, the most bizarre colors and shades of leaves and flowers that people like so much are obtained.Lovers of delicate shades will especially appreciate such varieties with pink flowers as Pink Brocade and Pink panther.
- Pink brocade One of the brightest representatives of the species: in some places chlorophyll-deprived leaves, the episodes have a wide margin of pinkish color, the middle of the leaf is colored silver and light green.
- Pink panter (Pink Panther). This variety borrowed the color and shape of the leaves from its progenitor, the epicemia of copper-red. Sheets have a color ranging from dark green to brownish-purple.
- Episcia creeping. The description of this type of epitations is to start with the characteristics of the bush: long creeping shoots form a lush bush and make it a profitable option for planting in hanging pots or, if necessary, to fill a lot of empty space.
Important! This view is best not to place near the pots with other plants. Fast-growing shoots can take root in neighboring pots and eventually suppress the vital activity of these flowers or even cause their death.Episcia (alsobia) clove color It is so different from the representatives of its own kind that it was even isolated into a separate species - alsobi. The flower is devoid of fancy leaves, characteristic of epices, the absence of which, however, is compensated by an unusual inflorescence decorated with fringe. Alsobia grows lush bush, its small densely planted leaves have a rich green color.
Optimal conditions for the content
Having chosen this plant, you should know how to care for epice for the flower to be healthy and to please the eye. Episoia does not apply to plants requiring painstaking specific care. The temperature conditions in the living room are as close as possible to its natural climatic conditions, so care is minimal.
If you are already an experienced florist, then you will be able to grow other indoor plants that are more capricious in the care: anthurium, azalea indica, arrowroot, indoor boxwood, orchid.
Lighting
Episcia needs sunlight, because it is necessary for photosynthesis, but the long-term exposure to direct sunlight has a negative effect. Ideal would be scattered sunlight or partial shade. There is a direct relationship between the amount and intensity of light produced and the appearance of the sheet. 
Excess and high intensity rays will appear thinning and twisted leaves, which will lose elasticity and become soft to the touch. In advanced cases, signs of drying out appear: yellowing, wilting, loss of foliage.
Important! Experienced growers say that even if all the recommendations for choosing a place for a flower are followed, it is sometimes necessary to rearrange it several times until the place you like is found.Lack of light. The fact that the caring owner overdid, trying to protect the flower from drying out, prompted shredded leaves on lengthened petioles. The lengthened petiole is an attempt to reach the light.
Temperature
Episcea is a heat-loving plant, and cold can be the reason why it does not bloom in the spring-summer season. The temperature at 18-23 ° C - the usual for a heated dwelling, is ideal for the content of epitsy. It is worth noting that a higher temperature is preferable to a lower one. It is also worth avoiding drafts.
Peculiarities of home care
If the epiction will receive proper care, you can think about plant reproduction. Care should be taken, given the time of year, soil quality and humidity. Home care includes watering, shrub formation and seasonal fertilizing - the three components of a healthy plant. 
Watering
The frequency and abundance of irrigation depends on the season. During the growing season (spring-summer period) it is necessary to water the epice quite often and regularly - every 2-4 days. In the autumn-winter period, the flower is at rest, and the frequency of watering is reduced. A good guideline for the correct calculation of the frequency of watering in the autumn-winter period is the dried up top layer of the earth.
Air humidity
Episcia is a tropical plant that prefers high air humidity. That is why it feels great in greenhouses and greenhouses, and grows in such conditions to enormous size in a short period. The problems associated with the lack of moisture in the air usually begin with a heating period. Sometimes, to solve a problem, it is enough just to move the flowerpot away from the heater, but this does not always help. 
The most common mistakes in trying to humidify the air:
- Spraying plants. Spraying really helps to increase the humidity of the air, but this method is completely unsuitable for plants with pubescent leaves, since the moisture accumulating on the villi disrupts the heat exchange of these colors.
- Spraying the air around the flower. It is curious that many people continue to do this despite the low efficiency of the procedure: only a small percentage of moisture will go into the right gaseous flower; moistened air will not concentrate around the plant and will soon dissipate in the room.
Top dressing
Top dressing is done in spring and summer. For this, mineral fertilizers are used, from which a weak aqueous solution is prepared - the concentration of fertilizer in the final solution should be twice as indicated on the package. This is due to the requirements of the flower to the soil. 
The fact is that the soil in the natural habitats of Epice is rather poor in minerals, and their excess can negatively affect the plant.
Trimming and shaping
The fast-growing flower will “burden” with pleasant troubles in cutting and shaping the bush. Long shoots (like E. creeping) are cut with special tools or scissors, and the stalks are carefully separated from the stem with further planting in the same pot around the mother plant to create a lush bush.
It is worth noting that E. creeping has a lush bush from nature and spreads naturally through self-growing shoots that depart from the mother plant. Pruning and shaping is always done in spring and summer.
Transplant: pot and soil
The episode, as the description of the species states, has a rather voluminous root system, growing in depth and in breadth with almost the same intensity, therefore the pot must be sufficiently large. But its size should match the size of the flower: you should not plant a tiny plant in a huge pot. It is much more expedient to do a transplantation of the episi every few months. There are several options for suitable soil for a flower:
- Mixture for Saintpaulia. The most optimal option, since all the necessary components are already connected in the right proportions, and the soil is ready for use.
- Universal soil. Acceptable option, but this soil necessarily needs the addition of perlite, which makes it optimally loose for epification and has antimicrobial properties.
- Mix the soil yourself. This option is also possible. To do this, you will need to combine the leafy substrate, perlite and peat in a ratio of 3: 1: 1.
Breeding methods
Requests of friends and acquaintances, or simply the desire to acquire another pot with a favorite flower, will make you think about how to propagate the epice. Episcia multiplies with seeds and vegetatively (cuttings and leaves). The most convenient is the vegetative mode of reproduction. This is much easier to do technically, and in addition, this method allows you to save a grade. If all the rules of transplantation and maintenance are observed, rooting occurs rather quickly - within a week. 
Reproduction using seeds requires the creation of greenhouse conditions, for which the pot with seedlings covered with glass, controlling the constant soil moisture. During the reproduction of epiction by a leaf, it is separated from the parent plant and instilled in moist soil to a depth of 1-1.5 cm.
Propagation side shoots. If at the moment you do not have a pot or a suitable substrate, the separated shoot for the first time is placed in water. Before the appearance of roots, a sprout that has up to 4 nodes is placed in water, submerging by 3-4 cm. Another easy way of reproduction of epice in the home is reproduction by stem cuttings. For this, the stalk is cut and rooted into the substrate to a depth of 1.5-2 cm.
Did you know? The sexual mode of reproduction (with the help of seeds) will in time lead to the loss of the varietal qualities of epicea. This is due to the peculiarities of inheritance of the genetic material of the daughter plants from the parent.
Diseases and pests: prevention and treatment
Most diseases, like the appearance of pests, are triggered by the peculiarities of the conditions that are necessary for epicemia: increased soil moisture, inaccessibility for direct sunlight are ideal conditions for fungus. Also, the flower can suffer from mealybugs and root nematodes. It is worth noting that, with proper care, episodes get sick very rarely. Perlite, which must be present in the soil, is an excellent fungal prevention.
With parasites, however, they fight with the help of special means, such as Actellic or Fitoverm. Of particular danger is the root nematode. When infected with this parasite, the petioles are cut, and the mother plant has to be thrown away with the further disinfection of the pot. 
If you decide to opt for epipsii, this flower can be a grateful decoration of your home with minimal, but proper care. The requirements for the conditions of its maintenance are not so great as to be burdensome for the owner, but sufficient to feel the participation and responsibility for the life of another being, as well as to acquire minimal skills in floriculture and botany. To create bushes of different shapes or to deduce new hybrids of these plants is an interesting activity in your free time, to which you can also include children.
