Balsamine family. The birthplace of balsamine is tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa. In nature, according to various sources, from 800 to 1000 species of these herbaceous, shrub-like plants are known. Among them are annuals and perennials. Translated from Latin impatiens means "intolerant," so Balsamin received the name Undoing. This is due to the fact that the ripened fruits of this plant open at the slightest touch to them, and seeds scatter from them.
Balsamine also has other names: Lizzie the troublemaker or Vanka the wet. The first name appeared in connection with the ability of this plant to bloom almost all year round. Vanka wet balsamine was dubbed for its moisture-loving, with a lack of moisture in the soil, the stems and leaves immediately droop in the plant.
- Waller's balsamine (Under-touch) Impatiens walleriana - this species and its hybrids are called Lizzie the Troublemaker. Perennial bushes from 20 to 60 cm tall, with erect juicy stems. The leaves are alternately arranged, broadly oval in shape, pointed at the end, light green in color and finely toothed along the edge. Leaves up to 10 cm long, flowers about 4 cm in diameter single or in small-flowered inflorescences with long pedicels. The flowers may be red, pink, white, reddish orange, or red and white. This species is the source for many hybrids and cultivars, which can have different leaf colors, colors and flower structures (simple or terry, one or two colors). It is sometimes called Wallera's Balsamin.
- Balsamin (Nedotroga) New Guinean New Guinea Impatiens is a perennial herbaceous plant, or Balsamin of the New Guinea group. Hybrid based on the species Balsamin Hawker Impatiens hawkeri. The name came from historical habitats - its homeland of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The bushes are spreading, generously branching, with leaves larger than those of Balsamin Waller, ovoid, finely toothed along the edge. The color of the leaves is diverse - there are dark green, there are green with a bronze tint, variegated and even red. Flowers are mainly simple or semi-double, of different colors.
Balsamin Care
Temperature
Balsamine is quite thermophilic, in the spring it can be taken to the balcony when the temperature does not drop below 15 ° C. In winter, Balsamin prefers a cooler temperature, optimally about 15-18 ° C, not higher than 20 ° C, not lower than 13 ° C, and for variegated varieties not lower than 15 ° C.
Lighting
Balsamine is photophilous, preferably some direct sunlight in the morning or evening, shading from the hot sun in summer on the south and west windows. In other words, bright diffused light. In the garden, balsamine can be placed under the openwork shade from trees, but where the sun's rays penetrate.
Watering
Plentiful from spring to autumn - the soil should be slightly moist all the time, but not too damp. In winter, when the temperature drops, watering is moderate - the soil should have time to dry out in the upper third of the pot for the next watering.
Fertilizer
From March to September, balsamine is fed with fertilizer for indoor ornamental flowering plants every two weeks. Feeding can begin as early as two weeks after transplantation. Fertilizers "fertica-lux," "uniflor-bud," "agricola for blooms," "Merry flower girl" for geranium and balcony flowers, or "Merry flower girl" for violets and begonias (blooms) are well suited.
Air humidity
The leaves are periodically sprayed. Balsamine does not like dry air, especially with central heating. Spraying, it is not desirable to get water on the flowers, so it is better to keep abundantly flowering plants on a pallet with wet moss-sphagnum or expanded clay.
Flight connections
The soil is the 1 part of the sod land, the 1 part of the sheet (peat), the 1 part of the humus, the 1 part of the sand. Drainage is required to the bottom. It is better to replant balsamine annually in spring (in March), while it is not necessary to take a larger pot, since Vanka wet does not like too spacious dishes, it is enough to completely replace the soil. In addition, you can quite often rejuvenate the plant, i.e. cut fresh, long, stronger cuttings, and, after rooting them, plant instead of the old plant, over the summer they will have time to grow greatly.
Multiplication of balsamine
Stem cuttings in spring, summer or autumn, they root well in the water for a week or two. As well as seeds that are sown in January with obligatory additional illumination with fluorescent lamps. Seeds are sown in wide plates, in a mixture of peat and vermiculite (or sand). You can make greenhouses (to maintain high humidity) from a plastic cake or cake box. The temperature for germination is about 25 ° C.
The challenges of growing balsamine
- The stems stretch, the leaves are small and pale - with a lack of nutrients in the soil, or when the pot has become cramped, as well as with a lack of lighting. In addition, most types of balsamine are characterized by rapid "swelling," which causes the plant to stretch, the stems at the base are exposed, and decorative attractiveness is lost. This is facilitated by high temperatures (above 22 ° C). Therefore, it is advisable to renew balsamine in the spring, cutting and rooting several young cuttings in one pot.
- The stems rot (brown and soften), the leaves curl, fall - if it is too cold and damp. This can happen if the plant is exposed in the summer in the garden, with the onset of cold rainy nights.
- The leaves curl, dry and fly around - if the dry air is too hot. This should be feared in winter if the plant is not far from the heating battery. As well as in summer, on hot sunny days, then the plant must be put on the floor in the coolest place of the apartment, and periodically sprayed.
- Variegated forms lose their color - with a lack of lighting, for example, on the northern windowsill.
- Flowering is weak or absent - the reason may be a lack of light, a lack of nutrients in the soil or an excess of fertilizer (improper feeding, for example, with nitrogenous fertilizers).
- Unexpected flyby of flowers and cessation of flowering - can be caused by a sharp cold snap, severe overdrinking of the soil, transplantation into too large a pot, or untimely transplantation (flowering or budding time).
Balsamine pests:
Spider mite often affects balsamine, especially in hot, dry weather - in internodes, cobwebs appear on the stems, the leaves become lethargic, pale and fall off.
Control measures. The entire ground part must be rinsed in soapy water. To do this, a steep soap solution is diluted in a bucket of warm water (you can use green soap, tar, and even foam for washing dishes). Then lower the plant down "with your head" and leave for five minutes. Wash off the foam with warm, clean water from the shower. Repeat the procedure in a week. If soap baths do not help, balsamine must be sprayed with acaricide solution (drugs: apollo, nissoran, vermitek, actellic and others).
Also, aphids, whiteflies and thrips can harm balsamin, especially growing in the garden in summer. Be sure to inspect the underside of the leaves (pests usually hide there), pay attention if the leaves curl, turn yellow or acquire a gray-silver tint. The above pests are easiest to deal with using systemic insecticides - actara or confidor, the solution of which is poured over the soil. All sick, spoiled leaves must be cut.