Gymenokallis (izmene) is a perennial bulbous plant of white color with large flowers. They are combined in inflorescences, having the shape of umbrellas and emitting a pleasant smell. The stamens are long, half interconnected and form a crown similar to a daffodil. The upper part of the stamens in which pollen is formed has a bright dark orange color.
The plant gimenokallis has several more names. Those who are fond of flower breeding know him as a pankratsium, and from Holland they deliver him to us under the name Ismen. How to grow this amazing flower is described in the article.
The uniqueness of this extraordinary plant is that the opening of the ripened buds occurs accurate to the second at the same time and is complemented by the pleasant aroma of the opened flower. This unusual property makes it even more attractive and mysterious.
The difference between ismen and representatives of the genus Gimenokallis
- Plants have different directions and shapes of flowers. In Izmena they are slightly tilted and presented in the form of luxurious bells. In Gimenokallis, a flower resembles a bindweed, wide open and directed with its petals up.
- In the flowers of the plant, and inside the carved crown, formed from the fused bases of the stamens, greenish stripes are visible in contrast to the hymenocallis.
- Izmena has a false stem, which is formed due to the death of the leaves, but Gimenokallis does not.
Ismene: how to grow at home
The flower will delight you all year round, subject to simple manipulations:
- Lighting. The plant prefers bright light. Direct sunlight is contraindicated, although it grows on the southern windows. In the summer season, you can take it to the garden until the fall. In winter, the bulbs are kept at a temperature of 10 degrees in a dry place.
- Moderate watering is required. With a lack of moisture, the leaves lose their elasticity and lie down. Excess moisture also adversely affects the indoor plant. With yellowing of the lower leaves, watering should be reduced.
- Top dressing. It is carried out once every three weeks, starting with the appearance of young leaves and ending at the end of flowering. Use liquid mineral fertilizers for indoor plants, apply according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
- Plant transplantation is carried out every 3-4 years during the dormant period. After this procedure, the leaves can fade, so they shade for a few days. The composition of the soil should include land containing one part of humus, peat, sand, leaves and two parts of clay-soddy soil.
- Propagation in the isme, the cultivation of which is carried out from the seeds or part of the cut onion, can also occur from children, but they rarely form.
- Air humidity. Dry indoor air can harm the plant, so it is necessary to spray it, excluding the dormant period.
Disease
Ismene, the cultivation and care of which requires compliance with certain rules, is quite unpretentious in content. Plant diseases are mainly due to improper care: high temperature and humidity.
Anthracnosis can be determined by the appearance of black blotches and brown smudges on the tips of the leaves. To recover the plant requires:
- tear off diseased leaves;
- reduce the amount of watering;
- carry out treatment with a fungicidal agent;
- ventilate the apartment.
The staganospore appears as red spots on the bulb, and then they pass on to the leaves. At the beginning of the disease, treatment of the bulb with a solution of foundationazole will help (dissolve 2 g in a liter of water). With the advanced stage of the disease, the following mixture should be treated: add 100 g of chalk, 5 g of copper sulphate, 10 g of adherent to 300 g of water, mix everything to the density of sour cream and treat the bulb, leaves and peduncles.
Gray rot is one of the common diseases. It affects the bulb of a plant. If rot is detected, it is removed with a sharp knife, and the cut is dusted with crushed charcoal. In case of severe damage, the bulb is thrown away. The disease occurs with heavy watering and low temperature.
Pests
In addition to the aforementioned diseases, the scale and the mealybug can be harmful. You can get rid of these parasites like this: wash them off with soapy water, treat them with garlic infusion or calendula alcohol tincture.
With proper care, the plant will bloom profusely and delight even in cold climates.
Ismene: outdoor cultivation and care
Bulbs intended for planting in the garden are germinated to speed up the flowering of the plant. To do this, take a small container and fill the onion half with peat or sawdust, it must be ensured that water does not stagnate. The temperature in the room should not exceed 15 degrees.
Germinated bulbs are planted in fertile land in a sunny place in early May, deepening them by 5 cm. It is necessary to protect the plantings from frost. Leaflets will appear in early June. When caring for Ismen, proper watering is necessary: ββwith excess water, it will decay, and with a deficiency it will not bloom. Ten centimeters from the plant make small grooves, where they pour water.
They do not recommend feeding plants with organic fertilizers, they can die. And complex fertilizers do top dressing up to 4 times a season.
Growing in a container
Bulbs and change, cultivation and care (photo below) which can be carried out both in open ground and in containers, sprout quite quickly. The second method gives the best results. They begin to prepare containers in mid-March. They make drainage and fill it with fertile loose soil. Before planting the bulbs, the soil is moistened. When planting, the neck of the bulb should protrude slightly above the soil.
Boxes are placed in a warm and desirable lighted place. They are watered periodically. About a month and a half later, a peduncle will appear, and rosettes of leaves will form. In order for the plants to bloom as long as possible in the summer, it is recommended that the bulbs be planted at different times. Twice a month, plants should be fed with complex liquid fertilizer.
In August, watering plants is reduced, when cold weather sets in, they should be moved to a room where the air temperature is not higher than 15 degrees.
Winter storage of bulbs
Ismene, cultivation and care of which continues until late autumn, decorates the garden with greenery. Before the onset of cold weather, you need to dig out the bulbs. They are dried together with leaves and children and placed in a cool room. The dried leaves are separated, all the onions are washed, dried and stored in a dry pantry in plastic mesh boxes at room temperature.
They are well stored with roots and do not dry out. During the winter period, the contents of the boxes should be checked several times. When signs of awakening appear, they should be planted in the ground and taken care of as a houseplant.
How to breed
If you decide to buy a plant in good shape, growing and caring for it when propagating from children, how to produce it correctly? Children on the bulb begin to appear only after her four years of age.
Small children are not separated from the motherβs bulb during storage, in winter they receive food from it, and remain until spring. With the onset of warm days in early May, children are planted in the garden.
Kinds
Ismene is an undemanding plant. It can grow in any conditions, but in dark rooms there are problems with flowering, although it looks beautiful and without flowering. There are several types of change, cultivation and care at room conditions for which is different.
The Caribbean has a round underground bulb, narrow-lanceolate or threiform leaves, which taper to the base. From 6 to 12 large white flowers are connected in an umbrella inflorescence. Blooms in the winter.
The coastal appearance has leaflets of green color. Fragrant white flowers are collected in an inflorescence of an umbrella, a peduncle is straight, smooth and green. There are six narrow bending petals in the flower, in the middle of which there is a white bowl with thin, long stamens, painted white, with yellow anthers.
The coastal subspecies varicoloured fragrances with a pleasant aroma, which emit white flowers located on a strong direct peduncle. The shape of the leaves is the same as in the previous species, and at the edges there are wide stripes of a whitish-gray hue.
Early is a popular variety of isme, the cultivation and care of which is carried out at home. This variety has short leaf blades of dark green color with a glossy belt-shaped surface. The plant will bloom in April and will delight you with flowers with white large petals until July.
The daffodil species is an evergreen plant with dark green leaves with xiphoid contours. The flowers are very large yellow. In some subspecies, the petals are cast in white and purple. It blooms from July to October.
Beautiful has snow-white flowers and a leaf plate of a lanceolate-elliptical shape.
Cordypholus from all the above varieties is significantly different. Has pale narrow hanging flowers, the crown is absent. Leaves with long petioles of an elongated heart-shaped shape.
Tubiflora is very similar to the previous species. It differs only in the elongated-oval shape of the leaves.
The original and bizarre shape of a flower in its place, the cultivation and care of the house which does not require much effort, will give you real pleasure.