We grow balsam from seeds.

A beautiful and bright balsam flower can be found in almost any home and in any garden. This flower has one more familiar name for us: "Vanka wet". His balsam was received for sugary drops, which are formed on the jagged edges of its leaves. This plant is ideal for beginners, as it is unpretentious, well tolerates any vagaries of nature and is often used in the flower beds, as beautiful balsam from seeds is grown quite simply.

general description

Balsamin - a kind of perennial and annual plants belonging to the family "Balsaminov". His country is the country of East Africa. In Europe, this flower appeared in 1596. And since that time his flowers have been decorating our homes.

The stems of the plant are smooth, juicy and branched. The height of the leaves reaches a length of up to 13 centimeters, and they often have an oval shape. The leaves themselves are rich green, fleshy. The color of the flowers is white, pink and red. Also you can buy 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 is over. Then the flower forms fruits of green color, and when these fruits mature, dry capsules with seeds appear. Balsamin reproduces with seeds, as well as apical cuttings.

How to grow balsam from seeds

Cultivation of balsam from seeds is as follows.

First, you need to prepare seeds and soil for planting.

Experienced gardeners are advised to germinate balsam from seeds in flower pots, and then plant the plants in the 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 treating it with a solution of potassium permanganate. Then drop them into the prepared soil.

Balsam is unpretentious to the soil, the most important is that it is nutritious. Make a substrate of humus, sand, turf and leaf land in equal parts. Then place it in a flower pot of any shape. After that, cover the seeds with a plastic bag and keep the temperature within 20 degrees of heat. Seeds should germinate on the fifth day after soaking. Further, when the plant has leaves, prick them to shape the bush.

Balsam from the seeds is best planted in the open ground in mid-June. For a plant, any semi-shady place is suitable. Although, if your balsam grew up in a roomy environment, it will almost immediately get used to the open ground. Balsam blossoms well from the beginning of June to the middle of October (when the first frosts occur). At the end of summer, dig out the plant, gently cut off the tops of the cuttings and root them.

We provide watering.

In the summer, the plant requires abundant watering. The first watering should be done after the top layer of the substrate has dried up. Water the plant with water at room temperature. Make sure that the soil is not over-dried and waterlogged.

Feeding

Fertilize the plant from the beginning of spring and until late autumn, once every two weeks, with complex fertilizers.

Pruning.

If you grow balsam not for the first time, then in spring, plants grown over the winter cut off to half the length, and pinch the tops. This contributes to the formation of new shoots and better flowering. The more the plant will have shoots, the better the flowering period will be. Also cut the plants from diseased or weak branches.

Diseases and pests.

Remember that, like any other plant, balsam can be hurt and damaged by insects.

Symptoms of the disease can be as follows: gray plaque and gray rot on the leaves, yellowness, loss of color and loss of leaves during the flowering period, or vice versa pale stems.

Causes of diseases can be different. This and waterlogging, lack of nutrients, harmful insects, such as aphids or whitefly.

Therefore, constantly observe the plant and provide it with the necessary conditions for good growth and flowering.