Balsam has many names. This is impassable, and everlasting, and light. The most famous name, of course, is a wet vanka, which he received for his passionate love for water and for sugar drops on leaves. This plant is also famous for its bright flowers, for which he was given such a cute nickname - a light.
Plant description
The wet vanka flower (lat. Impatiens) is a herbaceous annual or perennial plant and belongs to the balsamic family.
The light comes from the subtropics and tropics of Africa and Asia; some species can also be found in Central Asia. He was introduced to Europe in 1596 and immediately gained popularity as a houseplant.
The wet flower has got its wet name due to its ability to secrete excess moisture, which it accumulates on the ends of leaves. A low-priced balsam is called for the ability of its seed box to sharply curl its walls when it is touched, after which the seeds fly like a shot in all directions.
Adult indoor balsam, depending on the variety and species, grows in height from 20 to 60 cm. Its stem is painted in light green in color and has a translucent structure. The leaves of the flame are oval in shape with small serrated edges; they are from 8 to 12 cm in size. The color of the leaf is from green to purple-bronze.
The flower of a wet vanka (photo shows this) reaches a diameter of up to 4 cm and can be either terry or flat in shape. It is located on a flat whisk and has almost no smell. It is painted differently, but there is no blue and pure yellow balsam.
Varieties of indoor balsamins
The wet flower of Vanka belongs to the family of balsam, which includes about five hundred species. However, for home floriculture, such species as Holst's balsam, Sultansky, Waller, and New Guinean hybrids are used more often.
The wet home flower is different in various shades: from white and light pink to dark red and burgundy. Varieties with two-color petals are bred. And there are those whose flowers are two, or even three times the size of ordinary balsamines. In this case, the bushes of the plant remain compact.
Considering the fact that balsamins are very popular among lovers of home plants, breeding in this direction is ongoing. The latest hybrids surprise and delight in the size of the flowers, and their shape, and color. Recently bred plants with double flowers and even with variegated leaves.
The variegated flower of Vanka wet in care is almost no different from other species. However, in winter, it needs a higher air temperature than plants with monophonic leaf blades.
How to care?
A wet flower at home almost does not require care. But he still has some preferences for his content. For example, to balsam bloom densely, it is better to plant it in a slightly cramped pot.
Temperature mode
Although the flower is wet, it comes from warm countries, but does not like strong heat. The best temperature for it is +22 ° C in summer and not lower than +13 ° C in winter. In extreme heat and dry air, balsam leaves will curl and fall.
This plant does not like sudden changes in temperature. But for the winter, he needs to ensure a period of rest by lowering the temperature to 14 or 16 ° C.
Lighting
Do not allow exposure to direct sunlight on the flower when caring for a wet vanka. This plant loves bright, but diffused lighting, so southern windows are forbidden for it in the summer. In winter, experienced flower growers are even advised to rearrange the light on the south window.
In addition, in the hot sun, the air quickly becomes dry, and this tropical balsam will not survive at all. He definitely needs a comfortable humidity, but not dampness.
Watering
You should know how to water a flower with a wet rodent and how to care for it correctly, without harming excessive zeal or indifference to its needs. In summer, balsam must be watered often - 2-3 times a week. In winter, when the temperature in the apartment decreases, watering is also reduced to 1 time in 7-10 days.
In no case should waterlogging be allowed, especially in the cold season. This can not only lead to disease of the plant, but also to its death. Before the next watering, it is necessary to allow the soil in the pot to dry properly.
When the temperature reaches +22 ° C in summer, it is better to place a container with balsamin in a tray with moistened pebbles. But it is best to completely abandon the spraying of the plant. This can cause flower spots and fungal diseases.
Dust from the leaves is convenient to clean with a soft brush, and in the summer it will be useful to refresh the leaves (but not the flowers) with a warm shower. However, after this, the water from the plant must be shaken off.
Soil and fertilizing
The wet wet flower of the vanka prefers to live in nutritious, but loose soil, consisting of greenhouse and deciduous soil with the addition of a small fraction of sand.
Fertilizers must be applied during flowering and active growth once every two weeks, alternating mineral and organic. It is better to use special ready-made fertilizers for flowering indoor plants. At the same time, when recruiting green mass, it is recommended to fertilize with nitrogen fertilizing, and during flowering - phosphorus or potash.
It is necessary to transplant wet vanka once a year into fresh soil. Balsam is used to stretch, so every spring from an old plant you need to cut the stalk and root it.
Breeding methods
There are two ways to propagate a twinkle - seeds and cuttings.
Seeds can be purchased at the store or collected from your plant. To get a quality planting material, the plant should be pollinated. Seeds of balsam emerge in two weeks.
It takes the same two weeks to root the stalk. To do this, cut off the top of the side shoot so that it has at least 3 buds and about 8 cm in length. Dissolve 3 charcoal tablets in a container of water and place the stalk there. When sufficiently long roots grow, shoots should be planted in a small pot and covered with a film to ensure high humidity.
Diseases and Pests
The hydrophilicity of balsam attracts pathogenic bacteria and various pests to it. For the prevention of diseases, the following recommendations must be observed:
- For irrigation use clean and warm water.
- Provide a flower pot with a good drainage system in the form of a drainage layer and holes at the bottom of the tank.
- The soil should be loose and pass moisture and air well.
- To disinfect the soil, charcoal must be added to prevent invasion of putrefactive bacteria and fungi on the flower.
The causes of falling balsam leaves and buds may be as follows:
- Adaptation period after purchase or transplant. All recommendations for proper care must be observed.
- Overdried soil. Timely watering will help.
- Waterlogging. If the land after watering does not begin to dry for a long time, then the plant must be transplanted into a smaller pot.
- The appearance of white plaque on the leaves is a spider mite. Chemical treatment with Fitoverm or Actelik will help.
- Brown spots appeared. Too wet soil. Reduce watering and treat with Fitosporin-M.
- The appearance of brown spots of gray rot. This is a fungus. Cut off infected areas, and transplant healthy ones and treat them with Fundazol. You can spray it with garlic infusion.
- When infected with bacteriosis (watery spots), the affected parts should be cut off the rest of the plant and treated with a preparation with copper.
- When powdery mildew appears, remove the diseased part of the plant, and treat the healthy part with a solution of soda ash or a copper-soap solution.
- The appearance of thrips, aphids and mosaic disease on balsam. At the first sign, the diseased areas should be removed and destroyed, and the healthy ones treated with insecticides with a frequency of 5 days.
- Infection with whitefly (white moth). The treatment of leaves with larvae with the infusion of garlic and spraying with isecticides twice with an interval of 6 days will help.
- The appearance on the roots of a root aphid or root worm. For a long time you can not notice the pest. Full soil replacement and insecticide treatment will help. If the damage is too strong, then you can only cut the stalk, treat it with an insecticide and root.
Signs and superstitions
There are several beliefs associated with wet Vanka people and will take, mostly positive ones. For instance:
- In order for the family to be okay, you need to monitor the condition of the flower while it’s good, and the family is good, as soon as the balsam is sick, you have to wait for quarrels and discord.
- To stop arguing, you need to buy balsam in the house. The same thing works for offices.
- Roly wet attracts inspiration. It’s useful for creative people to keep it near them.
- It has a good effect on men, helps them in gaining masculinity, and attracts luck, strength, courage and physical health.
However, there are a couple of bad signs. The appearance of this flower was once associated with the fact that a man in the family began to drink hard.
And if balsam stinks, then something is wrong in the house. It was believed that this flower is very sensitive to scandals, squabbles and an unhealthy atmosphere in the family.
Roly wet must be on every windowsill, and not only because it brings good luck and removes the negative, but also because it pleases the eye and softens the heart.