Blooming hippeastrum is very beautiful. Only once a year he has large flower-stars. But sometimes they do not appear. In order to prevent this, as well as protect the plant from wilting, proper care at home is required. Hippeastrum after flowering and before that needs a special attitude. Rules for plant care are presented in the article.
Appearance
Hippeastrum is a perennial bulbous plant. It has linear shiny leaves. They have shallow grooves. Leaves are arranged in 2 rows. During flowering, a high and powerful peduncle is observed.
The flowers have a funnel shape. In color, they can be different: red, white, orange, pink, purple. The basic tone is complemented by strokes or dots. The size of the flowers reaches up to 20 cm in diameter. The plant has a weak aroma, and some species do not have it at all.
Varieties
The flower has an attractive appearance, as can be seen from the photo of the hippeastrum. Leaving at home leads to excellent flowering. The plant is part of the Amaryllis family and includes about 90 species and over 2 thousand varieties.
Hybrid hippeastrum is usually grown indoors. The following varieties are available:
- Large-flowered - “ell blossom”, “charisma”, “showmaster”.
- Mid-flowered - “Lemon Star”, “Sedzhik Green”.
- Small flowered - “Santa Cruz”.
- Large-flowered terry - "peacock blossom".
- Terry mid-flowered - "Alfresco".
If hippeastrum is grown at home, care after flowering and before it is important. Properly performed procedures lead to the appearance of beautiful flowers.
Suitable conditions
When growing red hippeastrum at home, care after flowering is to select the appropriate temperature, humidity and lighting. Strong flowering occurs with a full dormant period in a dark, dry, cool room for 8-10 weeks. A “tired” plant usually gives small flowers on a short peduncle or does not.
During the onset of the bulb, the conditions must be gradually changed: the plant is transferred to a warm, but not very brightly lit room. Watering should be moderate. This is how flower stalks are formed and developed. In cold climates, this process slows down.
If a flower from the dark immediately falls into bright light in a complex with a lot of moisture, then the rapid growth of green mass is stimulated, but the development of the peduncle is significantly slowed down. In order for the plant to develop fully, compliance with the growing conditions is required.
Features of landing and transplanting
When growing hippeastrum care at home, transplantation requires compliance with established rules. The planting period is selected based on the desired flowering time. This can be done regardless of the season. Flowers appear 5-9 weeks after the formation of shoots. Bulbs that are sold through the distribution network can bloom. They had a period of rest, and they did not need darkness.
To plant a plant, you need a deep (up to 15 cm) and narrow pot. It is better to choose ceramic. A narrow container is required to protect against strong moisture and root decay. The optimal substrate is drainage, which fill the lower part of the pot, as well as the soil mixture, including equal parts of sand, sod land, humus or peat.
The bulb must be planted in moist soil, deepening it at 2/3 of the height. After that, heat is required. Watering before the emergence of sprouts should not be. When growing a hippeastrum flower, home care, transplantation allows you to get a beautiful plant that will delight with its flowering. But if there is damage on the bulb, it needs to be healed in advance. This procedure consists in trimming the rotten parts, keeping it for 30 minutes in a solution of fungicide (Fundazolum) or ordinary brilliant green, as well as drying for 24 hours.
The bulb is planted in the ground, where instead of humus there is a small amount of sphagnum. Deepening of the resuscitated bulb into the soil should be performed no more than ¼ of the height. In this case, it is easier to control its condition and, if necessary, carry out spraying. When the bulb recovers, the soil mixture is sprinkled to a standard level.
After planting the plant in moist soil, it should be placed in a warm, slightly shaded place and watering should be excluded before the peduncle is distilled to a height of 10 cm. It is advisable to transplant it once every 3-4 years. This is best done before or at the end of peace. It is advisable to use the transshipment method - moving a plant with an earthen lump. In this case, the root system is less damaged, which quickly roots the bulbs and leads to its rapid development.
Watering
When growing hippeastrum home care consists in proper watering. It is important not only to provide the required amount of moisture, but also to properly deliver it to the root system. For example, do not pour water on the bulb, as it can rot.
It is advisable to combine top watering with watering in the pan. So moisture will be evenly distributed over the earthen coma, to prevent root decay. It is preferable to underfill than to overfill. Even the leaves are wiped from dust and washed with warm water.
Top dressing
If there is a hippeastrum at home, home care after flowering consists in feeding. With the growth of the peduncle, the plant will be 12-15 cm high. Then you need to water the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. After 5-6 days, it is necessary to feed the plant with phosphorus fertilizer.
Hippestrum top dressing is performed regularly, during the growing season - 1 time in 2 weeks using liquid nitrogen-potassium fertilizer (7: 3: 6). When the leaves appeared, you need less nitrogen and more potassium, so the proportion should be 4: 6: 12. The frequency of feeding is the same. A month before dormancy, the plant needs fertilizers with a small amount of nitrogen and phosphorus and a large amount of potassium (4: 4: 12).
It is important to read the features of fertilizer application on packaging and not exceed the concentration of minerals. Otherwise, there is a risk of burning the root system. Thanks to timely balanced dressing, high-quality flowering is ensured. If nutrition is insufficient, then nutrient components from the leaves will be used, but this will not be enough for flowering.
The subtleties of flowering
Normal development is ensured only with proper care at home. The photo of the hippeastrum flower shows that the flowering plant is magnificent. But sometimes it does not occur. This is due to the following reasons:
- Typically, a plant does not throw a peduncle if the bulb is depleted. Hippeastrum needs many nutritional components for flowering. Therefore, the soil is rapidly depleted. To eliminate this problem, you need to regularly and sufficiently feed the plant.
- A flower affected by pests will fight them, so it will not have the strength to bloom.
- The problem arises when the bulb is rotted, which is observed due to waterlogging of the soil.
Recommendations
So that every year there is a flowering plant, you should not allow such situations. You should also familiarize yourself with some recommendations of experienced gardeners to improve flowering:
- Bulbs must be treated with hot water (43-45 degrees) for 3 hours before planting. Thanks to this, the hippeastrum will bloom after 3 weeks.
- If you finish watering in August, you should put the plant in a dark, dry place and keep it there until January, and then resume watering. Flowers will appear in 1.5 months.
- If in July all leaves will be cut off and there will be no watering for a month, then the first watering requires the introduction of a liquid complex top dressing. Flowers bloom in August or September.
To prevent root burns, fertilizer is applied after moistening the soil. After flowering, a wilted peduncle is cut, watering and feeding. And the plant needs to provide a dormant period that affects flowering.
Rest time
When growing hippeastrum, home care in the fall should also be performed. Rest time lasts from September to January. If the plant was outdoors in the summer, then by autumn it is brought into the house and watering is reduced until the leaves cease and dry. You can trim the yellowed leaves from which the bulb has already absorbed the nutritional components.
Then the plant is placed in a dark and cool place (5-12 degrees). Some gardeners contain flowers at elevated temperatures (17-18 degrees). The soil is slightly moistened every 2-3 weeks to protect against drying out of the roots. It is not necessary to wet and spray the bulb.
Rest time lasts 1.5-3 months. During this period, the plant "has no signs of life." The development of leaves and peduncles is carried out only inside the bulb. After the end of rest time, the hippeastrum wakes up. Onion leaves and peduncles are formed.
After wintering
Growing hippeastrum and leaving at home involves observing the smallest subtleties. If the bulb does not wake up, patience and the expectation of its independent awakening is required. But usually flowering from it does not work.
In this situation, it is necessary to remember what state the flower had before rest, since the peduncle of the peduncle occurs in the sinus of each 4 leaves. If last year the green mass was not sufficiently expanded, the bulb will be weak. And if there were less than 4 leaves, then, probably, there will be no flowering in the new season. Dry content is unlikely to help. It is necessary to ensure warm temperature, active watering and feeding.
Mistakes
When growing amaryllis hippeastrum, home care consists in taking errors into account and correcting them:
- In the absence of peace, low temperature during flowering, poor lighting during the period of active company, violation of the rules of the policy and feeding, flower buds will not be laid. It is necessary to observe the irrigation and fertilizer rules specified above. Still important is temperature support.
- Due to heavy watering, growth stops, bulbs rot, pests develop. It is required to dig up the plant, free it from the ground, eliminate the damaged areas, transplant it into clean soil.
- At low temperature or dampness, flowers darken. They need to be cut. Another plant can be placed in a warm and dry place and provide suitable growing conditions.
- With insufficient top dressing with potash fertilizers or keeping vegetation in a very dry room, the tips of the leaves brown. Need feeding with mineral fertilizers with macro - and microelements, humidification.
- In very bright light the flowers fade. Need diffused lighting, protection from direct sunlight.
Diseases and pests
The plant is not much affected by disease. Usually a red burn, red rot and downy mildew occurs. The appearance of spider mites, scale insects, aphids, and worms is also likely. With proper hippeastrum cultivation and home care, why do diseases occur? Causes depend on the problem:
- A red burn appears from a fungal infectious disease. Red spots form in all areas of the plant. Due to severe damage, leaves, flower stalks bend and fade. If the disease is minor, fungicide spraying is needed. Copper vitamins are effective: copper sulfate, Hom, Abiga Peak. With significant damage, the bulbs are dug up, diseased areas are removed. Only urgent treatment gives a positive result.
- Powdery mildew occurs from a viral illness. With it, silver spots on the leaves are observed. Their treatment with fungicide is necessary.
- The formation of red rot is observed from severe waterlogging. Leaves will sluggishly dangle, rot will form on the scales of the bulb and roots. It is required to eliminate the damaged areas, diseased roots, dry the bulb for 7 days, and before planting, treat with foundationazole. Then planted in a sterilized new soil.
- Mealybug, scale insects, aphids, spider mites are formed from infection from other plants, through open windows, the acquisition of an infected bulb. It is necessary to remove surface soil and diseased leaves. The plant is cleaned of pests with cotton swabs. Then it is treated with insecticides, for example, Aktara. The windowsill is wiped with alcohol. Repeated insecticide treatments are needed after a week. Inspection of the plant is periodically required.
Conclusion
Hippeastrum is a beautiful houseplant. It develops correctly only with proper care. Why is hippeastrum at home exposed to various dangers and how to deal with them, is described in the article.