Many flower growers would like to see this spectacular bulbous houseplant. However, not everyone decides to start it, because they do not know how to care for the hippeastrum during the growing season, after flowering, how to propagate it. Experienced owners of these plants claim that it is easy to do, knowing its some features.
The history of hippeastrum in indoor floriculture
We learned about how to care for hippeastrum at home in countries with a cold and temperate climate at the very end of the XVII century, when greenhouses and private botanical gardens began to be actively built. Exotic plants were brought by botanists, sailors, as well as numerous "hunters" of plants.
In the 18th century, many students of the great C. Linnaeus took part in dangerous expeditions, which often ended tragically. The genus Amaryllis, which was described in 1737 by Herbert Hemera plantarum, is considered the forerunner of hippeastrum. Plants related to it, before botanists called lionarcissa and lily.
Hippeastrum got its name far from immediately after describing it. For a long time confusion reigned in the taxonomy of plants. Some species, called amaryllises, after some time were attributed to hippeastrum, while others "moved" to close genera.
Plant description
The flower belongs to the Amaryllis family. His homeland is tropical America. In nature, there are about 75 subspecies and many varieties of hippeastrum, which differ in color and shape of flowers. They are combined into a species of Hippeastrum hortorum. Plants have a large bulb - up to 20 cm in diameter, which is only half buried in the soil.
Belt-shaped leaves are collected in a basal rosette, which reaches a length of 50 cm. 2-4 flowers are combined in an umbrella-shaped inflorescence located on a long peduncle (up to one meter). Wide perianths (up to 20 cm in diameter) are bell-shaped and painted in a wide variety of shades: pink and white, burgundy and red, colorful and yellow. They have large bright yellow stamens.
Bloom
During the growing season, during the growth of leaves and bulbs, the plant lays the flower buds of the indoor hippeastrum flower. How to care for him at this time? With good lighting, a comfortable temperature, the required amount of nutrients and a correctly conducted dormant period, the bulb produces the peduncle first and then the leaves.
A healthy bulb can have up to three flower arrows, each of which blooms with several magnificent flowers of different colors (depending on the variety). Hybrids bred recently have huge colors, the diameter of which reaches 20 cm with elegantly curved stamens. From the moment the peduncle appears until the flower completely dissolves, no more than three weeks pass.
When the bud is formed, you should lower the air temperature in the room, which will increase the flowering time. It is important to know that flower arrows appear in turn, so the flowering period can last up to two months.
How to care for purchased hippeastrum
This question interests everyone who plans to replenish their collection with this magnificent plant. You need to know that hippeastrum can be bought in the form of a bulb, which is planted only half in the ground, and sometimes a third of its height, and the upper part should remain on the surface.
If you bought a flowering plant in a pot, then it is not necessary to reload it after purchase. According to experienced gardeners, the purchase of a sleeping bulb has an undeniable advantage - its planting can be postponed for any period, thereby regulating the beginning of flowering. Before planting in the ground, store the bulb in a cool, dark place wrapped in paper.
Care Features
It is believed that this is not a capricious flower - hippeastrum. How to care for him at home? You must know that all agricultural activities with this plant are pronounced seasonal in nature. The flowering and decorativeness of the plant depends on their proper implementation.
Location selection and lighting
Hippeastrum belongs to photophilous plants, therefore it is advisable to keep it on the southeast, south, southwest windows. Light can be direct and diffused bright. Plant hybrids that lose leaves during dormancy are rearranged in a dark and cool place until a flower arrow appears.
The soil
When figuring out how to care for a hippeastrum flower at home, you need to pay attention to the composition of the soil mixture into which the bulb will be planted or an adult plant. You can use the finished composition for roses, bulbs, universal or prepare it yourself. To do this, mix peat, humus, sand (one part) and sod land (2 parts).
Hippeastrum need a nutritious, water- and breathable, light environment with a neutral or alkaline pH. Self-prepared soil should be disinfected in the oven or microwave; otherwise, untreated soil can become a source of onion diseases.
Air humidity
Experienced flower growers who know how to care for hippeastrum argue that the plant is almost indifferent to this indicator. Dust from the leaves must be removed by wiping with a damp cloth, but without spraying, since moisture on the bulb is undesirable.
Proper watering
But the watering of this beautiful exotic should be taken very carefully if you are interested in how to care for the hippeastrum so that it blooms. At the beginning of the growing season, the plant needs moderate watering, which should gradually be increased from the moment the peduncle appears.
During the growth of the flower arrow and until the very beginning of flowering, there should be abundant watering, but the soil in the pot should be moist, not wet. It is advisable to carry out the lower watering or watering from the pallet, gradually adding warm water, until the earthen ball gets wet. Do not allow water to fall on the bulb. Gradually, after flowering is completed, watering is reduced.
Temperature
During the active growth of the flower, he is quite satisfied with the room temperature. A flower may perceive it as a signal to prepare for a period of rest. Hippeastrum perfectly develops at + 26 ° C. During dormancy, it drops to + 12 ° C.
Top dressing
The pages of special floriculture publications are often decorated with photos that show hippeastrum flowers. How to care for a plant after flowering in order to fully enjoy the magnificent flowers for the next year? Feeding should begin immediately after completion of flowering plants. This is necessary in order for it to accumulate strength for the next season. After flowering, long leaves grow intensively. They form bulbous flakes that lay new buds in the future.
If for some reason you decided not to send your flower for wintering, then during the period of leaf growth and flowering, the plant is fertilized with a mullein solution (1:10) every 10 days. The first top dressing is carried out when the flower arrow grows to 15 cm. If the plant has recently been transplanted and sufficient nutrients are still stored in the ground, top dressing can be done a bit later.
Undoubtedly, the vast majority of lovers of indoor plants plant hippeastrum flowers for the sake of luxurious “bells”. How to care for them, so as not to be disappointed in their venture? For top dressing, emphasis should be placed on phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, which contribute to flowering, the accumulation of nutrients in the bulb, and the laying of peduncles. And it is better to refuse nitrogen fertilizers, since they can provoke the development of gray rot, and as a result, you can lose the plant.
With regular top dressings, a bulb transplant should be carried out after 2 years. Several reasons why hippeastrum does not bloom:
- Most often this happens due to a lack of nutrients, as this flower depletes the soil very quickly. In this case, the answer to the question of how to care for the hippeastrum to bloom is quite obvious - the plant should be regularly fed.
- It happens that the plant directs all its forces to pest control (with a worm, a spider mite or either a scab), and it just does not have time for flowering.
- Recall that we have already talked about how to take care of the hippeastrum so that a beautiful exotic blooms, talking about proper watering. You will not wait for flowering if the soil in the pot is always waterlogged and the process of bulb rotting begins.
How to care for hippeastrum in the fall?
After flowering is complete, it is necessary to prepare the plant for winter recreation. The timeliness and quality of the next flowering depends on how well prepared the hippeastrum for the rest period. In mid-September, watering is stopped, and after the leaves fall, the plant is transferred to a dry, dark and cool place, where it is located until the end of January or the first decade of February. After that, the pot with the bulb is put on a well-lit place, feeding and watering resumes, and the plant enters the next stage of development.
Rest period
It is important for novice gardeners to know how to care for hippeastrum after flowering. The rest period begins in late September and lasts until mid-January. If your flower spent the summer on a balcony or porch, then at the beginning of autumn it must be brought into the room and a gradual reduction in watering should begin. Soon you will notice that the leaves of the plant dry out. When this process is completed, the leaves will fall off. The stem must be cut off and the container with the bulb transferred to a dark and dry room.
It is equally important to know how to care for hippeastrum in winter. The pot is laid on its side and stored in this position at a temperature of +6 to + 12 ° C, without watering for 6-8 weeks until the time when the hippeastrum comes to wake up. These plants need such a winter holiday for regular flowering.
However, many flower growers claim that you can do without it. In this case, the flower is kept all year in a warm room on a sunny windowsill, watered with warm water after the topsoil has dried. Everyone who knows how to care for hippeastrum, avoiding the dormant period, achieve flowering plants in spring in March-May or in autumn in October-November. The leaves of the hippeastrum, painted in dark green color, in this case do not lose their attractiveness throughout the year and remain healthy.
How to transplant a hippeastrum?
If you planned to transplant the bulb in fresh soil or in a large container, then at the end of the growing season, when the leaves die, they dig out the bulb, carefully clean it from the soil, remove the children from it, wrap it in dry soft paper and store it in a cool place until the end of the rest period .
A new pot is chosen not too spacious. The roots must master the entire space in a rather short time, in order to prevent their decay from excess moisture. In a large pot, there is a high risk of the appearance of many children, which will negatively affect flowering. The onion pot is placed in a darkened and warm place.
Only after the appearance of the peduncle put the pot into the light. At the same time, watering and feeding are resumed.
Hippeastrum breeding
The plant is propagated in several ways: by children, parts of the bulb, and seeds. The first two methods are considered the fastest and easiest. Let's consider each of them.
Seed propagation
During flowering, hippeastrum is pollinated. When the ovary is formed, do not cut the peduncle, but leave it until the seeds completely ripen. The seed box will eventually become almost round in shape and crack, and the seed maturation process is complete.
Dense fresh seeds are quite large, flat, give good germination. The small bulb of young plants is growing rapidly. Flowering begins at 4-5 years. Seedlings are not satisfied with the rest period. This method does not give a 100% guarantee of the complete transfer of parental characteristics, even if pollination was carried out by plants of the same variety. Quite often, the characteristic features of a plant are split and as a result, different flowers are obtained from one plant. For this reason, this method is often used by breeders.
Reproduction by children
This method retains all varietal characteristics, however, the reproduction rate is quite low. Children are formed irregularly and not in all varieties. For example, the sibisters La Paz, Giraffe give children easily, and terry varieties are extremely reluctant.
Reproduction by children is the most common way that even beginner gardeners can easily cope with it. When replanting a bulb, remove young bulbs grown during the growing season, being careful not to damage the leaves. The mother plant goes to rest.
Probably worth telling about how to care for a baby hippeastrum. When separating, the small onion should be at least 2 cm. It is desirable that it has good roots, but do not be discouraged if they could not be saved. Plant the bulb in the sphagnum 2-3 cm, place the container in the light. In two weeks they will take root.
In separate containers of children transplanted after three years. With proper care, they will bloom in the fourth year.
We divide the onion
This method is used infrequently, since it does not guarantee a positive result, and you have to sacrifice the onion. They resort to it only if there are no children on the plant. The bulb is divided from top to bottom into 6 parts, each leaving a portion of the bottom. Then each piece is disassembled into scales, without separating them from the bottom. They are planted in a shallow substrate, only with roots and bottom. Pretty soon in the lower part you will see small bulbs that are removed from the delenki and planted for growing. They will bloom for 4 years.