Balsam at home, balsam planting, care
Often in the gardens you can find a rather bright, attractive plant that is called touchy. It is not only domestic gardeners who grow it willingly, its popularity in Europe and America can be envied. Each nation gave its name to the plant, noting its fragility (untouched, capricious), droplets of sugar dew gathering at the tips of leaves (wet vanka), constant active flowering (Clapper Lizzy). Biologists call this plant balsamic garden, the features of its reproduction and cultivation will be discussed in this article.
Content:
- Types of Balsam Gardens video
- Garden Balsam: planting, reproduction video
- How to preserve garden balsam in winter
- Balsam in landscape design
Types of Balsam Gardens
There are many relatives of balsam, about four hundred, these are herbaceous plants, annual or perennial. Until recently, only one species was used as a horticultural culture, impassable, which, in fact, was called garden balsam. The plant is quite large, about 0.7 m high, branched, with irregularly shaped flowers.
An attractive moment is a long flowering period, from June to the onset of frost. The plant is also afraid of spring frosts, planted in the ground in early June. Breeders are not particularly interested in this species, several varieties are bred in Europe, in our flower shops it is sold under the name Balsam Garden.
Of much greater interest to breeders and gardeners is the bright, extremely colorful flowering of the summerman, called Balsam Waller, or Waller. Its hybrids and varieties appear systematically, they are systematized by the height of the plant, the range of shades or the shape of the flowers. Note that flowers can have a different degree of terry. As for the color scheme, it has 17 shades of red white and purple, some flowers are bicolor.
New Guinean balsamins are larger, in the conditions of an apartment it can bloom year-round. It enters the distribution network in containers, like an adult plant, usually without specifying the variety. You can recognize by the very bright color of the leaves and fairly large colors of white, purple, pink and red.
Balsamins are very popular among garden landscape creators today:
- harmony series, characterized by variegated, very bright leaves.
- mini Gini series, attractive by abundant flowering, the flowers themselves are small, dark green color of leaves,
- java series, with amazingly bright flowers and shiny bronze or green leaves,
- jang Rain series, with delicate, pastel shades of flowers,
- Rainforest Exotic, attractive two-tone colors,
- Macarena, with orange, luminescent flowers and bronze leaves.
Of non-decorative, the following varieties should be mentioned:
iron bone
common, which is attributed to medicinal plants
small-flowered, which in agriculture is considered a weed.
Of the rare varieties, exotic should be called the most popular:
himalayan balsam Balfur, a rare plant, it is almost impossible to get seeds,
beloved by the Europeans, the Niamniam balsam, or African, its flowers are plain. but the sepals are elongated, large and rather bright, having the shape of a jug.
And:
- superhigh grade African Orchids and miniature Jungle Jewels,
- surprisingly bright, the first variety to have a yellow flower is Blondie.
About the amazingly beautiful balsam plant, about its different varieties - in the video:
Garden Balsam: planting, reproduction
There are several ways to reproduce balsam; in practice, seed cultivation and cuttings are more often used. Seeds allow you to breed new varieties and hybrids that are particularly attractive. If we are talking about mass planting of plants, then sometimes it is more expedient to obtain seedlings by grafting existing plants.
About the reproduction and cultivation of balsamins we watch the video:
balsam garden seed cultivation
To see the summer flowering of balsam, you need to prepare seeds for seedlings. One hundred days before the planned planting (around March), the seeds are placed in a container with the ground.
At this time of daylight for good growth and development, it will be enough for them. Those who wish to observe flowering balsamins a little earlier than usual - sowing should be organized even earlier and do not forget about providing plants with additional lighting.
For planting, special soil with a pH of 6.06.4 should be prepared. To create such a pH, you need to mix vermiculite, compost, peat and sand, in approximately equal proportions. To prevent the appearance of fungal formations, the container and the prepared soil are pre-treated with any composition in which fungicide is present.
Immediately before planting the seeds in the soil, they must be dipped for 10 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate, and then rinse thoroughly in warm water. This procedure should only be carried out in cases where the producer has not carried out any seed treatment. Information on this issue can be found either on the packaging or from the seller.
After processing, the seeds are placed on the surface of the prepared and processed land mixture, squeezing them in a little or sprinkling with sand, you can not fill it with soil - you can’t!
For good and high-quality germination, certain conditions are needed: temperature conditions from 23 to 25 degrees, a minimum supply of nutrients, and sufficiently moist soil.
Particular attention should be paid to humidity. For fast seed germination, it must be high. You can create it as follows: either place the container with seeds in a plastic bag, or cover it with glass.
The container with seeds must be put in a bright place. As a result, condensation will form under the film or glass. It must be removed daily, that is, remove the cover for a while. Also at this time, the seeds will receive the necessary fresh air.
After shoots appear, airing should not be stopped. If necessary, moisten the soil. The time spent sprouting under cover should be gradually reduced and come to naught.
After the first true leaflet appears, the daily temperature must be reduced to 20 degrees and do not leave the container under direct sunlight. When three leaves appear on the seedlings, they can be transplanted into pots.
Watering seedlings should be done regularly and to prevent drying out of the soil. Every ten days, you must not forget to make fertilizing with liquid fertilizer specially designed for this.
Proper lighting and long daylight hours will positively affect the time of the first flowering. To avoid stretching the plant, the pots should be placed at some distance from each other.
Landing in open ground can only be done after the threat of a significant drop in temperature disappears.
balsam flower propagated by our own seeds
As an experiment, you can try to grow a plant of this species from self-collected seeds. 1 gram of seeds may contain a different number of pieces (from 100 to 2000). Suitable for sowing, they remain for eight years. But, experts advise planting seeds throughout the year after collection.
Sowing the largest seeds occurs usually. Less commonly, they are planted in different containers and do not dive. Hybrid varieties of balsamic seeds have very few. Seed collection from such plants can be done only in cases when plants of the same variety grew on the flowerbed. Different varieties growing in close proximity can be pollinated by the same insects. What exactly will grow after planting remains a mystery. Of course, the result of such a planting can become very original and new, or it may not give germination at all.
Regarding the pollination of indoor flowers, it is produced artificially with a brush. They collect pollen and apply it to pistils. Seed collection can be done only after the boxes with them become almost transparent. The color of fully ripened seeds should be dark. It is better to remove seed boxes in the morning, and it should be done as carefully as possible. Gathered carefully packaged in a paper bag and left there until completely dry.
propagation by cuttings
Favorite balsam bush can be propagated by cuttings. This vegetative variant of breeding is considered the safest. Propagation by cuttings occurs without particular difficulty and occurs in the same temperature regime as propagation by seeds.
The plant from which the cuttings are planned to be cut must be healthy. Only the tops of the youngest branches are subject to cutting. The length of the cut part should be approximately 8 centimeters. The lower leaves of the slice must be removed, the upper ones (on the crown) are left untouched. The lower part of the cuttings is immersed in a container filled with water so that the remaining leaves do not have contact with water. A container with cuttings set in a well-lit place.
After about a week, the root system begins to form. At this time, cuttings can be transplanted into pots. After two months, it will be possible to observe the appearance of buds.
Cuttings of balsamins can be performed in another way. Place the cuttings one third in the container with soil. The formation of the root system will occur from the internodes, in place of the removed leaves.
Immediately before planting, to accelerate the appearance of roots, cuttings of the cuttings are treated with a compound called Kornevin or another similar composition. Then a transparent, suitable-sized plastic bag is put on a container with cuttings and the entire structure is placed on a well-lit window sill. The bag will maintain the required moisture concentration. Watering is carried out only with settled water; pouring it is recommended along the edges of the flowerpot, without soaking the plant itself.
Cutting cuttings are best done in the summer or spring. If the room has a specially equipped backlight, then cuttings can be made in the winter. Pruning of branches for such cuttings is carried out in mid-autumn. Experienced flower growers claim that such branches take root well and throw buds.
If necessary, with the advent of spring, cuttings can be cut from them again. Balsamins propagated by cuttings begin flowering much earlier than those that were grown from seeds.
Reproduction by any of the described options is interesting and fascinating. If desired, such a hobby can be made financially profitable.
Read more about the propagation of balsamins by cuttings - in the video:
How to preserve garden balsam in winter
Under properly organized conditions, the flowering of balsam can be observed in the winter. To do this, you need a phytolamp, proper watering and the appropriate temperature. In addition, the flower will need strength for flowering. Fertilizing will help to solve this problem. But here you need to know the measure: top dressing can be done no more than 1 time per month.
The preservation of active life in winter, including flowering, of such a whimsical plant as balsam, is a complicated matter. Even the creation of all necessary conditions may not give the expected results. It will be better for the plant if the owner allows him to winter at rest.
With the advent of autumn and a decrease in the number of light hours, balsam leaves gradually showered. During this period, it is important to maintain a temperature of 15 - 16 degrees. Periodically water the plant and spraying.
There are situations when all the conditions described above are met exactly, and the plant begins to die. Experts advise not to take special measures to save him, but to extract a peculiar benefit from the current situation: put him on the cuttings.
The capricious balsam plant quite often does not survive wintering well. Some owners do this: with the advent of autumn, parts for cuttings are cut from old plants, and in the spring they are planted and young, healthy seedlings are obtained.
Balsam in landscape design
Balsamins are plants that are often used for landscaping local areas and creating a landscaped garden. An attractive point is the possibility of planting plants in the shade and partial shade, but with the condition. that will be able to maintain high soil moisture. Even when growing in shaded areas, the plants will bloom, it is possible that their flowers will be brighter.
Usually balsamins are used to create mixborders, flower beds and borders. A variety of shades of flowers allows you to create original patterns with a contrasting or smooth transition of color.
Often, Waller's balsam is grown in garden vases, ordinary flowerpots or containers, hanging baskets, it is decorated with verandas and balconies, terraces.
The use of special technologies allows the use of Waller balsam for vertical gardening.
Creating a vertical flowering screen from balsam bushes is quite simple:
- on 4 pegs deeply driven into the ground, a plastic mesh with a large cell connected to a black film should be fixed,
- the resulting space should be filled with soil, you get a container for planting plants,
- when assembling the container, do not forget to insert tubes into it for comfortable watering of plants,
- then in the film it will be necessary to make incisions of the appropriate size, plant balsam bushes in them.
Actively growing young bushes, as they grow, will fill their entire branches with their twigs, and they will get a beautiful, bright screen of leaves and flowers. If experience allows, you can create an original panel using multi-colored varieties.
If you place them on a slightly shaded area, they will delight the eye with their flowering throughout the summer.
But growing balsamins in the garden, in the open, involves:
- planting in a soil mixture containing peat,
- systematic watering and top dressing,
- placement on shaded plots, protected from strong winds - it should be remembered that the plants are quite fragile.
Sometimes Waller balsam is used as a groundcover.
