A beautiful and bright balsam flower can be found in almost any home and any garden. This flower has another more familiar name for us, "Roly wet." He received his balsam for sugar drops that form on the serrated edges of its leaves. This plant is ideal for beginner gardeners, as it is unpretentious, tolerates any whims of nature and is often used in the design of flower beds, as a beautiful balsam from seeds is grown quite simply.
general description
Balsam is a species of perennial and annual plants belonging to the Balsam family. The countries of East Africa are considered his homeland . In Europe, this flower appeared in 1596. And from that time, his flowers began to adorn our homes.
The stems of the plant are smooth, juicy and branched. The height of the leaves reaches a length of 13 centimeters, and most often have an oval shape. The leaves themselves are deep green, fleshy. The color of the flowers of the plant is white, pink and red. You can also purchase hybrids with double flowers with different colors, of course, except for yellow and blue. To grow balsam from seeds, you must wait until the flowering period ends. Then the flower forms fruits of green color, and when these fruits ripen, dry boxes with seeds appear. Propagated by balsam seeds, as well as apical cuttings.
How to grow balsam from seeds
Growing balsam from seeds is as follows.
First you need to prepare the seeds and soil for planting.
Experienced gardeners advise sprouting balsam from seeds in flower pots, and then planting plants in open ground.
If you want to get a plant in the summer, then sow the seeds in the spring. Soak the seeds in cool water, before processing them with a solution of potassium permanganate. Then plant them in the prepared soil.
Balsam is unpretentious to the soil, the most important thing is that it is nutritious. Make a substrate of humus, sand, turf and sheet land in equal parts. Then put it in a flower pot of any shape. After that, cover the seeds with a plastic bag and maintain the temperature within 20 degrees of heat. Seeds should germinate on the fifth day after soaking. Next, when the plant appears leaves, pinch them to give the shape of a bush.
Balsam from seeds is best planted in open ground in mid-June. Any penumbra place is suitable for the plant. Although, if your balsam has grown in room conditions, then it will almost immediately get used to the open ground. Balsam blooms well from early June until mid-October (when the first frost attacks occur). At the end of summer, dig a plant, carefully cut the tops of the cuttings and root them.
We provide watering.
In summer, the plant requires abundant watering. The first watering should be done after the top layer of the substrate has dried. Water the plant with water at room temperature. Then make sure that the soil is not dry and waterlogged.
Feeding
Fertilize the plant from the beginning of spring until late autumn once every two weeks with complex fertilizers.
Pruning.
If you do not grow balsam for the first time, then in spring, cut the plants that have grown during the winter to half the length, and pinch the tops. This contributes to the formation of new shoots and better flowering. The more shoots the plant has, the better will be the flowering period. Also prune plants from diseased or weak twigs.
Diseases and pests.
Remember that, like any other plant, balsam can be sick and damaged by insects.
Signs of the disease can be as follows: gray plaque and gray rot on the leaves, yellowness, loss of color and falling of leaves during the flowering period, or vice versa pale stems.
The causes of disease can be different. This and waterlogging, lack of nutrients, harmful insects, such as aphids or whiteflies.
Therefore, constantly monitor the plant and provide it with the necessary conditions for good growth and flowering.