BALSAM WALLER HOME CARE, GROWING, PHOTO, PLANTING

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Balsam Waller (Waller) (Impatiens walleriana), also known as "impatiens" - an herbaceous plant of the balsamic family, with wide successive serrated leaves of dark green or reddish color, about 60 cm high.

The homeland of balsam is the tropical zones of Africa and Asia; since 1596 it has spread to Europe and America. Its flowers, simple or double, are located singly, have a bright palette of all kinds of shades, except for yellow and blue. After the bud blooms, a box-shaped fruit is formed in the plant, which easily opens, releasing a large number of small seeds.

Impatiens is a perennial with high growth rates, blooming most of the year. When propagating already in the third month after the emergence of seedlings, balsam gives the first flowering.

Also be sure to see how to grow aptenia at home.

	Growth rate is high.
	It blooms from early winter to early spring.
	The plant is easy to grow.
	It is a perennial plant.

Caring for balsam at home. Briefly

Balsam at home is a fairly simple and not demanding care flower. Basic rules for the content of balsam:

Temperature mode	In the summer months - no more than 21 ºС, in the winter - from 10 to 16 ºС.
Air humidity	High humidity up to 80% is preferred.
Lighting	Regular, plentiful hydration at any time of the year.
Watering	The substrate must always be wet.
Priming	Permeable nutrient mixture of turf, humus, peat and sand with a drainage layer.
Fertilizer and fertilizer	In the vegetation phase, it needs liquid mineral fertilizers.
Balsam Transplant	Held annually, every spring.
Breeding	It is quite easily bred by both cuttings and seedlings.
Features of growing balsam	Every year, periodic pruning or pinching of shoots is required. Subject to frequent pests, does not tolerate a sharp temperature drop.

Balsam: home care

Flowering balsam

In favorable conditions, balsam flowering continues almost all year round, from the beginning of spring to December. Its flowers with a diameter of 4 to 6 cm, depending on the variety, can be single, with spurs, low-flowered, in the form of axillary inflorescences, and sometimes are located on elongated pedicels. The rich color palette of the plant allows you to use it as a decorative decoration of rooms, balconies, terraces.

In addition, balsam is often planted on the site as a garden annual.

Before rain or after heavy watering, balsam leaves produce clear drops of juice, which, after drying, are converted into sugar crystals. Under natural conditions, this protects the pollen of the plant from ants.

Flowers of ampelous varieties of balsam look great in hanging flower pots and flowerpots.

Temperature mode

Homemade balsam feels most comfortable in moderately warm conditions - without drafts, hot temperatures and dry air. In the summer, it is favorable for him to be on sunny glazed loggias and balconies, in winter it is better to place in a moderately lit room with a temperature of 15-18 ºС.

Spraying

The balsamic plant at home loves high humidity and it is possible to provide it in hot summers only with the help of regular spraying of the plant. To do this, use soft, settled water, spraying moisture on the ground and leaves, avoiding contact with flowers.

Lighting

This is an extremely photophilous plant, but it should be protected from the scorching sun. Oriental windows, places with soft sunlight are perfect. In winter time, additional illumination is organized for at least 14 hours a day using special lamps.

With the onset of the rest period, the illumination should be reduced.

Watering balsam

Water the flower exactly as much as is required to completely moisten the soil. If we allow the drying of an earthen coma with the root system - balsam drops buds, the edges of the leaves dry out. In winter, the amount of water should be reduced, but still not allowing the soil to dry out.

For irrigation, softened as well as rain or melt water is used, heated just above room temperature.

Balsam Pot

For regular abundant flowering of balsam, it is placed in a medium-sized, even slightly cramped flower pot. As a rule, this is a container with a diameter of 17 cm, which will allow the flower to direct forces precisely to the formation of buds, and not to the development of the root system. In addition, too large pots cause rot on the roots due to acidification of the soil.

Priming

Balsam at home perfectly survives in universal soil, but a slightly acidic soil of the following composition is also used:

turf land (1 part)
sand or perlite (1 part)
leaf soil (3 parts)

Regardless of the type of soil, a drainage layer consisting of charcoal or expanded clay is necessary.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

Liquid phosphorus-potassium mineral fertilizers that will support the plant during the growing season, provide lush growth and flowering will be beneficial for balsam. Such means are fed once every 10 days, through watering or spraying. Impatiens does not tolerate organic additives.

Also, do not fertilize the flower during dormancy or during illness.

Transfer

Balsam transplant is carried out annually in springtime in small containers of regular size. The transshipment method is used more often, in which the bush of a flower is carefully removed from the pot without shaking the ground from the roots, then it is placed in a new container with the subsequent filling of the formed voids with new soil.

The root neck of the plant is not covered by ground. After watering, the newly planted balsam is put in the shade and taken out to its usual place only after three days.

During flowering, balsam can not be transplanted, otherwise it will drop existing buds, having stopped in growth.

How to prune balsam?

Caring for balsam at home also involves trimming the shoots of the plant, which is carried out simultaneously with the transplant. This is necessary not only to form a neat spherical shape, but also to rejuvenate the plant, stimulate its growth and flowering.

In addition to pruning, the bare elongated shoots are regularly pinched, leaving 3 buds on the branch. Cropped cuttings can be put in water for rooting.

Rest period

The rest period at balsam is often forced. In sunny regions with a mild climate, the plant can bloom year-round. And in cold areas, the flower goes for the winter to a shaded place from October or December to February.

Conditions of detention during this period: air temperature not higher than 15-18 ºС, moderate watering, excluding top dressing and spraying.

Growing balsam from seeds

One of the features of this flower is the ripening of the fruit box, which cracks at any contact from the outside, releasing many seeds outward, preserving germination up to 8 years. Sowing soil must be sieved and disinfected. It can be just a peat-sand mixture, or a substrate from garden soil mixed with sand. Usually crops are carried out in April-May, but some varieties of balsam, for example, the New Guinean hybrid, can be sown in January.

Sowing technique of balsam seeds:

the prepared substrate is laid out in small containers, moistened with a spray gun;
seeds are laid out on the surface of the earth so that the distance between them is about 3-4 cm;
it is not recommended to sprinkle completely the seeds, only slightly - with sand or sifted soil;
After moistening the crops, greenhouse conditions are created.

After 5-15 days, you can expect plant sprouts. When they reach a size of 1 cm, having a pair of full leaves is an indicator that it is time to dive.

In order to admire the flowering of young balsam in the summer, it is worth sowing seedlings already in early March.

Propagation of balsam by cuttings

The easiest and fastest way to propagate balsam is plant propagation. To this end, in May-June, strong, healthy flower instances are briefly placed in the shade. As soon as the bush gives several elongated shoots, they are cut and rooted in water.

Then planted in separate containers with a slightly acid soil mixture. Thus, you can propagate the flower at any time of the year. A plant grown in summer blooms even in winter.

It is worth remembering that young plants need bright illumination, otherwise the sprouts will be strongly stretched without gaining strength and color.

Diseases and Pests

When containing balsam, flower growers often encounter the following problems:

Balsam leaves fade and fall. It happens at temperatures below 10 ºС, as well as with a lack of moisture.
Stems are pulled. The reason is an acute lack of bright lighting.
The appearance of spots on the leaves. Caused by fungal diseases of the flower.
Balsam buds fall off. This occurs at too high temperatures, in hot air, and also when the soil dries.
The leaves curl and fall. Lack of minerals, too high soil moisture.
Leaves become pale. Such a problem causes a long stay in the shade, or the appearance of insect parasites.
Balsam does not bloom or does not bloom well. It occurs due to a lack of nutrients or the use of nitrogenous top dressing, causing abundant foliage.

Pests of balsam are spider mites, false insects, thrips, and aphids and whiteflies are also common.

Types and varieties of homemade balsam with photos and names

Waller’s balsam, or Waller’s impatiens, or Waller’s balsam, “touchy”, “Roly-wet”, “light”, “water fuchsia”, (Impatiens hostii, Impatiens walleriana, Impatiens sultanii) - all these are the names of one plant species, which is source of a large series of hybrids. This type is characterized by long and abundant flowering, axillary inflorescences with five petals, fine-toothed leaves 12 cm long.

Popular varieties and groups of baller Waller

Balsamine Series 'Accent F1'. Miniature plants with a height of 15-20 cm, with large flowers of a wide variety of colors.

Balsamine Series 'Tempo F1 Hybrid'. The stem length of the plant varies from 20 to 25 cm. It is characterized by early vegetation with orange and pink flowers.

Balsamine Series 'Stardust F, Mixed'. It has inflorescences of a rich color with petals edged on the edges with saturated red, pink or coral color.

Balsamine Series 'Bruno F1'. The very first series of flowers with a doubled set of chromosomes. The variety is characterized by high resistance to temperature changes, larger flowers with a diameter of 6 cm, early seed germination.