Hyacinth is called the flower of love, happiness and easy sadness. The name of the flower in Greek means "rainy flower", associated with it is the Greek legend of the favorite of the god Apollo - a young man named Hyacinth. According to legend, Apollo and Hyacinth participated in a sports event, and when Apollo threw a heavy disk, he accidentally hit the nearby Hyacinth. In the place where the blood of the deceased youth fell, marvelous lilac-red flowers grew.
Let us consider in more detail what kind of flower is hyacinth, and how its reproduction occurs. Hyacinth native to North America, Southern Europe, Asia. It belongs to perennial bulbous plants of the lily family. The plant can reach 20 cm in height. Flowers with curved lobes, bell-shaped, collected in inflorescence. Interestingly, reproduction occurs in this plant. Hyacinth reproduces vegetatively - near the base of the mother’s bulb, "babies" are formed. It happens rather slowly. In an adult bulb, an average of 3-4 "babies" are formed per year. Gardeners complain that the most beautiful and vibrant varieties produce few bulbs per season.
The question of how to propagate hyacinth worries many gardeners. There is artificial reproduction - a plant with this method will produce more daughter bulbs. Artificial options include: cutting the bottom, annular and cross-shaped incisions, dividing the bulbs into parts. There is also a method used in the laboratory - this is a tissue culture method. Consider the two most common methods.
What do experienced gardeners do to accelerate reproduction? Hyacinth (bulb) is prepared by donut incision. This procedure is carried out from the beginning to mid-July. For this, healthy adult bulbs are taken with a diameter of about 6 cm. They are washed in running water and treated for about ten minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate (1%) and a weak solution of fufanone, then dried for two days (at a temperature of up to 23 ° C). A sharp clean knife makes an incision crosswise at the bottom of the bulb, while the central bud with a flower arrow should remain intact on the bottom. Stack the treated onions in one layer (you can use mesh boxes) and sprinkle with chopped charcoal. The boxes are transferred to a dark room, where the humidity is up to 75%, and the temperature is up to 30 ° C. On hot days, the bulbs are sprayed with warm water. By the end of September, mother bulbs form many small “babies”. But on this, the propagation of hyacinths is only beginning.
Let us now consider how the process of planting "children" with mother bulbs occurs. This happens in early October. Adult bulbs with "children" are planted upside down on beds with loose sandy soil, the depth of the pits should be about 8 cm. Bulbs should not be planted close to each other. In June next year, the “children” are separated from the mother’s bulbs, disinfected, sorted and planted again with the beginning of autumn. Only after two, and sometimes even three years, young hyacinths please with their bright colors.
"Surgical intervention" in the bulb can cause a viral disease, this will reduce the chance of getting a beautiful and healthy hyacinth.
How the plant propagates in a safer way, we will consider in the second option. It is almost no different from the first method. The bulbs are also disinfected, then, without any incisions, they are stacked in boxes upside down. They need to be kept at temperatures up to 37 degrees. This temperature stimulates the appearance of new bulbs. Periodically they need to be treated with warm water. Bulbs are planted in the same way as in the first method.
Hyacinths growing in the soil need top dressing. They are carried out with the appearance of shoots, during the formation of buds and after flowering. Bulbs are dug up after the leaves die. It is necessary to carefully separate the baby, disinfect and dry the bulbs. They should be stored in the attic or in another dry, dark place at temperatures up to 28 degrees.