Balsam Plant Plants for Phyto Design

Latin name: Impatiens
Family: Balsamic - Balsaminaceae
Homeland: East Africa, Zanzibar Island, the tropics and subtropics of Asia and Africa, temperate climate of Europe and America.
Growing up: For a beginner
Lighting: Bright light
Humidity: Moderate

Description:

Herbaceous plant up to 60 cm tall from the family balsamine, native of the tropics of East Africa. In Europe, first appeared in 1596. The people are called the light - for the bright colors of flowers that bloom most of the year. Stems are fragile and juicy, easily broken, juice flows out of the break. The leaves are fleshy, ovate, with a lack of moisture quickly sag. Flowers in the axils of the leaves are red, purple-pink, with a long curved spur. Hybrids with double flowers, with bicolor and multi-color leaves, variegated flowers were bred.

Folk names: Spark, Impatiens, Roly-wet.

Note: Balsam is an unpretentious plant that is willingly grown even by beginning amateur growers. The plant can be used to decorate shop windows in bright rooms. Particularly spectacular group container planting, in which plants form a solid carpet of green, decorated with bright flowers. Balsams look great in hanging pots by the window.

Conditions of detention

Location

The plant is light-requiring, but requires protection from direct sunlight. It is best to place it in the southern and eastern windows, but balsam can grow well in partial shade areas, but in this case the plants will be higher, lanky, and flowering less abundant. In winter, they contain at a temperature of 10-16C. A plant can tolerate a higher temperature in good light and high humidity. In the summer it is recommended to take out to the open air. For flowering in winter you need a few hours of direct sun.

Lighting

Bright light.

Watering

Abundant, the soil should always remain wet. In winter, watering is reduced.

Air humidity

Moderate.

Humidity: additional information

From time to time the leaves should be sprayed avoiding water on the opened flowers.

Care

The soil should always be wet, but without stagnant water. In winter, watering is less intense. The leaves are periodically sprayed, but so that the water on the flowers do not fall. Balsam is transplanted if necessary in the spring, but we must remember that it blooms well only in a cramped pot. The reason for weak flowering may be a lack of light or power. From spring to autumn, the plant is regularly fed with liquid fertilizer 1 time in 2 weeks. When the temperature is too high and there is a lack of light, the stems are drawn out, the plant sheds leaves. It should resume the plant by cutting. Adult plants are pruned in the spring, young ones pinch the ends of the stems to achieve branching. Stems need supports. If the old plants are stretched, cut them, leaving a low stump - usually grow new shoots. It is preferable to regularly grow new copies and eliminate old ones.

Breeding

Sown in early spring, seeds germinate in the light. The plant blooms 3-4 months after sowing. In spring and summer balsam can also be easily propagated by top and stem cuttings. From spring cuttings, plants flowering in summer are obtained, and cuttings cut in July-August produce plants that flowering throughout the winter.

Transfer

The soil mixture consists of equal parts of turf, leaf soil, peat, humus and sand. It blooms well only in a cramped pot. Replace as needed in spring.