Balsam is a very beautiful and unpretentious flower in care. Due to the long flowering, it is grown not only as a houseplant. Today, it adorns many flower gardens, front gardens, flowerbeds and borders. With proper observance of all the requirements for growing balsam, it will please for a long time with its flowering. More information about this wonderful flower is presented below.
Description of Balsam
This plant comes from subtropical and tropical regions of Africa and Asia. It belongs to the balsamic family and has approximately 400 species. The name of the flower itself is of Latin origin and in translation means "impatient." Since in many species, at the slightest touch, the bolls open and the seeds fly apart, this plant is also called touchy.
Balsam looks like a small bush, which grows in length from 25 to 70 cm. A characteristic feature of this plant is the appearance of droplets on leaves, because of which the flower is popularly called the Wet Vanka.
The plant has a straight stem with dense foliage, leaflets pointed at the edges. The flowers themselves are quite large and come in a wide variety of shades, but pink, purple and red balsam are most often found. There are also hybrid species of this beautiful and unpretentious plant. They are purple or burgundy. Flowers grow singly or inflorescences, which can combine two shades at once. On the flowerbed, garden balsam begins to bloom in the month of May and continues to delight with its flowering appearance until the first cold weather.
After flowering, fruits are formed - fragile capsules with seeds inside. In gardening today there are more than 500 species of this plant.
Balsamin: types and varieties
Garden balsam is the most famous type of plant. The flower does not tolerate frosts, so only one season can be grown in an open area. The room version of balsam can grow more than two years.
The most common varieties of balsam:
- Waller balsam is a beautiful plant, characterized by a variety of shapes and colors of flowers. The flowering period falls at the beginning of summer and lasts until the first cold weather. The shades of the flowers are different: bright red, orange, purple. This type of balsam grows 30 cm long. This species is used as a houseplant.
- Garden Balsam Tom Tamb - a bush with great branching. Its height is about 25 cm. Leaflets are pointed at the edges, velvety flowers of various shades: white, purple, red, pink, lilac.
- Flowers Symphony balsam is a small bush that grows up to 20 cm high with a variety of shades of flowers. Grows within one year, often planted in flower beds.
- Balsam Novogvineinsky - a hybrid plant that can grow more than one season. The stem of this variety is quite thick. The bush grows up to 50 cm high. The shades of flowers and leaves of this type of balsam are quite bright and saturated. Often used as a houseplant.
- Salt-shaped balsam flowers - characterized by unusual shades of leaves. Leaflets in the middle are yellow, along the edges of green, with red patches throughout the leaf area. The flowers are large, saturated pink or red.
- Terry balsam - a flower with a strong branching, can please with its appearance only for one season. Like other varieties, it loves light, moisture, heat and does not tolerate direct sunlight and cold. It looks beautiful in flowerpots or containers on balconies and flower beds. Large double flowers of pink, red or lilac hue will become a real decoration in the interior.
How to plant?
Annual varieties are planted in open ground with seedlings, seeds or a ready-made adult plant. The most optimal most common way to plant balsam is through seedlings. It is obtained at room conditions, the seeds are sown in the early spring in one pot, when the sprouts grow, they are transplanted into individual containers, for example, plastic cups. Sprouts need to be periodically put out for a while for hardening. As soon as the last spring cold ends, the seedlings are moved to the open ground.
To grow a balsam flower on a flower bed, you can buy seeds for sowing in the gardening shop, or seedlings, or a prepared bush. If you follow all the rules for transplanting, the plant will easily take root and will delight with its flowering.
How to choose a place for planting
For planting balsam, it is best to choose a site located in partial shade, where diffused sunlight enters, or in an open area. In direct sunlight, the flower will most likely wither or die completely. But even in a strong shadow, balsam will not grow normally and will not bloom. You should also choose a calm place for landing.
An ideal site for balsam would be a place next to some body of water. But it should be noted that the flower does not tolerate excessive dampness and coolness. The soil should be loose, loose, light, fertilized with low acidity.
Planting principle
For planting seedlings prepared in advance in the soil pits. Organic fertilizers such as manure or compost can be added immediately to them. Depressions abundantly shed with water, if the soil has a high acidity, you can add sand or peat. Sprouts in glasses are abundantly poured with water, then the seedlings are carefully taken out and transferred to the ground.
The size of the recess should be equal to the height of the container where the seedling was before transplanting. After being placed in the ground, they are sprinkled on top with earth and lightly compacted. Seedlings of balsam bush before planting a little cut from the tops. Planted in the ground with a small distance of about 30 cm.
It is necessary to plant seeds in warm soil when the outdoor temperature is about 25 ° C. The first sprouts will appear within two weeks. If the air temperature drops, it is advisable to use a film to cover on top, otherwise the balsam flower will not survive the cold.
Care Features
When caring for this plant, it is important to remember: balsam is a thermophilic plant, quite fragile, hygrophilous with a tender and rather thin stalk. That is why gardeners use appropriate agricultural technology to care for him.
Soil and watering
Balzamin, the care of which is not at all difficult, prefers light and drained soils, so it is very important to carry out regular weed removal and loosening.
It is necessary to water the plant evenly, often and moderately, spray the foliage with water. High humidity promotes proper development and protects balsam from a pest, a tick. However, the water should not stagnate, otherwise the process of root rotting will begin and the plant will die. It is better to water in the evening.
Balsam Fertilizer
Nitrogen-rich fertilizers are best used for young sprouts before buds appear.
The flowering balsam flower should be fertilized up to 2 times a month. For this, complex dressings containing phosphorus and potassium are used.
Ill and just planted plants do not fertilize for 3 weeks. For feeding, choose a cloudy day or add it along with watering. Toward the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, fertilizers are no longer used.
During feeding, the dosage should be observed, excessive use will lead to an overabundance of minerals in the soil, which will adversely affect the plant. Therefore, some experts advise using a dosage slightly less than prescribed in the instructions.
Getting rid of diseases and pests
Like other flowers, this plant can be affected by various diseases and parasites.
The most common pests and diseases of balsam flower:
Usually it appears in a room with dry air and high air temperature. The spider mite infects the foliage of the plant, weaves a cobweb and sucks the juice. For prevention, you need to constantly spray the foliage with water and wipe it with a solution of laundry soap once a week. To avoid the spread of the parasite, the affected parts of the flower are removed. If the lesions are minor, you can wipe the leaves with soapy water. If the disease has already spread greatly, the leaflets must be treated with a chemical preparation.
It is a carrier of leaf bronze. A sign of thripsal sabotage is considered to be the curvature of young leaves and the appearance of spots on the flowers and stripes on the petals at the edges. To deal with thrips, you need to immediately remove the affected leaves and flowers. It is important to carefully monitor young plants, as even from a short contact with insects they can become infected and the flower can not be saved. They treat the plant with insecticides.
Rot appears if the plant is excessively watered, in particular in the cold season. It is important that the water in the ground does not stagnate, so the soil should be loosened regularly.
This is a small insect with white wings, its size is only 2-3 mm, the larvae are also white in color and they do much more harm. Parasites can be detected by yellow leaves and sticky drops on them, leaves subsequently fall off. The most effective means to combat this pest is a special chemical drug.
It is expressed in the formation of twisted leaflets with yellow spots. The disease is spread by aphids and thrips. When a plant is affected by a viral mosaic, it is treated with a chemical agent.
It changes the appearance of the foliage: spots, cracks appear. The affected flower dries out and then dies. To get rid of the ring mosaic, you need to cut the diseased leaves, treat the plant with a fungicide.
Taking care of the plant, it is advisable to prune wilted leaves and inflorescences in time. This will contribute to a longer flowering period.
Since balsam is an annual flower, they dig it out towards the end of the season. After a year, the plant is again planted using seedlings, or seeds are sown.
Propagation of balsam
Balsam at home can be propagated by cuttings or sowing.
When grafting, you need to choose strong shoots, the length of which is approximately 5 or 10 cm. Then the shoots are placed for one week in a container of water. Leaves from the bottom of the handle must be cut so that they do not rot. To get more cuttings, you can put the plant in a dark place, then the shoots will grow faster.
After one week, the roots will begin to appear and the shoots can be transferred to the soil. The soil mixture is made in this way: equal parts of soil, sand and peat are taken, mixed and loosened.
Prepared in spring seedlings will begin to bloom in the summer. This method is the easiest and most effective.
Also, this method can be used when transplanting balsam into a pot, then the plant will bloom by the end of the year.
It is possible to grow a balsam flower from seeds. They are first left in a solution of potassium permanganate for 15 minutes to disinfect.
Getting a large number of seeds is quite simple. In one balsam fruit, many of them ripen. The only moment - the fruit box is very fragile, it is worth touching, and the seeds will crumble around. That is why you need to be careful and before you collect the seeds, keep some capacity under the fruit box, where they will be strewed.
The ripe balsam fruit is determined by color - it should be yellow. You can also collect unripe fruits that are left in a dry place where they will dry and become suitable for use. The shelf life of seeds is 8 years, during this time they will not lose their germination.
Seeds are sown in one large box, or in small pots. You can sprinkle some earth on top, but this is not necessary at all, and cover the containers with polyethylene. Such a mini-greenhouse should be periodically ventilated.
The soil in which balsamine is planted and subsequently grows must be moist and loose, and the temperature should not fall below 20 ° . Then the grown seedlings are moved to separate containers for growing, then planted in a flower bed. When the plant is moved to the open ground, it should have about 6-8 leaves, the main root is slightly shortened, thus, the growth of lateral roots is stimulated. In order to get good seedlings by mid-spring, the seeds are sown around February.
This method of growing balsam is also used: the seeds are sown immediately in the ground. This is done in mid-spring, covered with polyethylene on top to create greenhouse conditions. Balsam is a rather tender plant, prefers warmth and does not tolerate cold, which can be in the middle of spring, especially at night. Under favorable conditions and proper watering, seedlings appear after a couple of weeks. Gardeners often use this method of growing balsam.
The use of balsam
Balsam is a fairly well-known plant among gardeners. These beautiful bright bushes are often used for landscaping. Balsam is distinguished by a variety of shades of its flowers, and skillfully composed compositions with it will delight the eye from spring to the very first cold weather. Balsam is effectively combined with other flowers, such as begonia, bluebells, violets.
The plant is undoubtedly a real decoration of any flowerbed. The main thing is to choose the right companion plants, against which the bright flowering balsam will look incomparable.
Low-growing types of indoor balsam look good in separate flower pots. Flower pots will transform any garden or balcony. Balsamine is also used in traditional medicine. Infusions from this plant are used for urolithiasis. Fresh leaves are applied to ulcers and wounds. Decoction is used for rheumatism. Like other folk methods, the benefits of using this plant have been little studied and not proven, you need to be careful about this issue, since balsam is also a poisonous plant.
Growing room or garden balsam is not at all difficult. It does not take much time and effort. To transform a flowerbed on a site or a window sill at home is a pleasure.