Caring for balsam at home: a photo and description of the indoor flower, pruning it, and also whether it is possible to spray with water, how to pinch and how to save in winter?

Balsamine is one of the most popular plants. This plant is unpretentious to the conditions of detention, has a beautiful view, especially during the flowering period.

Caring for balsam is simple enough even for novice gardeners. There are a lot of varieties of this flower.

Balsam is actively grown both at home and in household plots. Let's find out what kind of indoor flower is and how to properly care for it.

Description of the plant and its photo

Balsam is an ornamental flowering plant that can be grown in a living room, on a balcony, porch or in the yard. Depending on the variety, the plant may be grassy or semi-shrub. Initially, balsam was grown in the tropics, the alleged homeland of this flower is the island of Zanzibar. In Europe, the flower appeared at the end of the sixteenth century, where the cultivars of balsam were bred.

With proper care, balsam blooms almost the whole year. The flowers of the plant are large and bright, most often red, but pink, yellow, orange, white, and burgundy are also found. There are varieties with two-color flowers, that is, a contrasting “eye” in the center of the flower. The leaves are usually dark green, sometimes burgundy or variegated.

Advice! The plant is hygrophilous, requires regular frequent watering, especially in the warm season. In summer, scorching sunlight should not be allowed to enter the balsam; it is necessary to shade the plant. In winter, it is not recommended to moisten the soil heavily to avoid hypothermia. Drafts are also fatal to a flower.

Balsam does not need to create additional conditions, this flower feels great at the temperature and humidity of an ordinary living room.

Check out the photo of what balsam looks like:

Planting seeds and cuttings

Planting balsam is made in two ways:

Cuttings.
It is considered a simpler way of planting a plant and is recommended for beginner gardeners who want to maintain the quality of the variety. For planting use cuttings obtained after spring pruning of the plant. The cut-off shoot is put into the water until the roots appear, this happens after about 2 weeks.
After that, the sprout is planted in sand or a substratum prepared from a mixture of peat and perlite in a ratio of 2: 1. When the flower is strong, it is transplanted into a larger container with ordinary soil for adult plants.
Planting seeds.
It is used by experienced gardeners and, as a rule, for growing garden varieties. However, it can also be used for indoor plants. It is important to remember that balsam grown from seeds may not have the characteristics of the selected variety. For planting, seeds are placed on the surface of the substrate.
It is allowed to slightly deepen the seed, but it is undesirable to sprinkle on top. After that, the container is covered with a film or a glass cap. After about 10 days, sprouts with two leaves appear. This means that seedlings can be transplanted into separate pots.

You will learn all the details of plant propagation by cuttings and seeds by reading this article.

Flower transplant

Transplanting balsam is necessary in order to replace the old depleted soil with a new and nutritious, as well as provide additional space for root growth.

Wherein it is important to remember that some crowding is even useful for this flower, since the flowering of balsam occurs only after the root system fills the space of the pot. If the capacity is too large, all the strength and nutrients of balsam will go to the development of the roots, and not to flowering.

Transplantation is carried out once a year - in spring, or twice a year - in spring and autumn, depending on the intensity of flower growth. It is also necessary to transplant a plant purchased in a store 2 weeks after purchase - this time is necessary for the plant to adapt to new conditions. Read about the intricacies of balsam transplantation and its subsequent care here.

Necessary soil

This flower requires loose soil with a low acidity. An excess of nutrients in the soil is not desirable, because it will lead to the growth of green mass and weak flowering. In a specialized store you can buy a mixture of earth for flowering plants, or prepare the soil yourself:

The first option for homemade soil is a mixture of sheet soil, turf, humus, sand and peat in a ratio of 2: 2: 2: 2: 1.
A mixture of leafy land with peat and river sand (2: 1: 1) is also used. It is important to remember that all components taken from the street must be disinfected.

Reference! Despite the fact that balsam is very hygroscopic, a thin layer of drainage in the pot is still very desirable. They can be medium-sized pebbles or pebbles laid in a layer of no more than 2-3 cm.

How to care?

Watering

It is extremely important for balsam to get enough moisture. In summer, the flower needs abundant watering, daily or every other day, depending on how quickly the top layer of soil in the pot dries. In no case should the soil be allowed to dry out.

In winter, watering is reduced, especially if the plant is in a cool room. Usually, in the cold season, balsam is enough 2 waterings per week.

Can I spray with water?

Spraying can be carried out if the air in the room is warm and dry. In addition to additional hydration, this procedure serves as a prophylaxis against the appearance of a spider mite. Balsam should be sprayed every 2-3 days.

After spraying, it is necessary to hold the plant in the shade, because bright sunlight can burn wet leaves.

It is also important to prevent drafts to avoid hypothermia. For the same reason, it is not recommended to spray balsam in the winter.

Top dressing

During flowering, balsam needs top dressing. Fertilizer should be applied once every 10 days from the beginning of spring to autumn, until the plant has a rest period, alternating nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizing. Among organic fertilizers, bone meal is considered the main source of nitrogen, phosphorus - wormwood compost.

Nitrogen is necessary for balsam for the successful development of green mass, and phosphorus contributes to high-quality flowering. Read about how to properly water and how to feed a plant for abundant flowering.

How to pinch?

To improve flowering and the formation of a neat bush, in spring it is necessary to pinch balsam, that is, remove the upper part of the shoot.

Together with pinching, damaged leaves and wilted flowers are usually removed. Thanks to this, the flower retains a neat appearance, and also reduces the risk of certain diseases and pests.

Important to remember: pinching is not required for dwarf balsamic varieties.

Pruning

How to prune a plant and when to do it? Pruning is carried out in March, while young shoots of balsam are cut, which can be used to propagate the flower. During pruning and pinching, it is necessary to increase watering so that the plant can tolerate painful procedures more easily.

How to save in the winter?

In order for the flower to develop well and actively bloom in the warm season, in winter it is necessary to provide it with a rest period. This will help the plant to relax and gain strength in the spring. By receiving less sunlight, balsam can discard leaves. With proper care, this phenomenon is not a cause for concern.

Lowering the temperature in winter is a desirable but not necessary condition for balsam. If the plant is placed in cooler conditions during wintering, then you need to remember that the indicator should not be lower than +16 degrees. Watering is gradually reduced from daily to one in 3-4 days.

Accumulation of water in the pan is not allowed. Fertilizers are completely excluded or applied no more than once a month. Fertilizers from nitrogen and phosphorus should be replaced by potassium-phosphorus.

In more detail about the cultivation and care of balsam at home, we wrote in a separate material.

Possible problems

When growing indoor balsam, you may encounter the following problems:

The plant does not bloom, in most cases, due to adverse factors. Typically, flowering does not occur if the balsam is planted in an oversized pot, does not receive enough water, or because of the excess nitrogen that it receives with fertilizers.
Yellowing leaves is a signal of a lack of moisture in the soil. In addition, the leaves may turn yellow as a result of a burn, if the flower is located in direct sunlight. In winter, this symptom indicates hypothermia of balsam.

Diseases and Pests

Like many other indoor plants, balsam is susceptible to attack by pests and the emergence of diseases. The following are considered the most common for this flower:

Whitefly - an insect dangerous to balsam, which appears in a dry, humid room, in which fresh air does not enter.Important! For prevention, regular spraying and airing of the room with flowers are necessary. To get rid of whiteflies that have already appeared, use an adhesive tape from insects.
Spider mite - eats the juice of balsam leaves, because of which the leaf withers and curls. Appears, like whitefly, under the wrong conditions for keeping the flower. Maintaining humidity and good ventilation will help prevent the occurrence of such a pest.
Mold mold - occurs with excess moisture. Despite the fact that balsam belongs to hygrophilous plants, it is important to ensure that the soil does not sour. If the upper part of the soil is still covered with mold, it is necessary to remove the affected layer of earth and fill up a new one.

Useful video

Watch a video about balsam care:

Conclusion

Balsam is ideal for beginner gardeners, because caring for this plant does not require much effort. At the same time, an unpretentious bright flower will become a wonderful decoration of a house or apartment.