Achimenes perennial ornamental plants growing naturally in the American tropics, with proper care, will delight you with their long and bright flowering for a long time. In a temperate climate, these plants bloom only in the warm season: from the onset of the first warm spring until late autumn.
Beginner flower growers will be interested to learn the rules for home care for achimenes, the photo of which we posted in this article, the features of planting and reproduction of this plant. This will allow you to replenish your collection with beautiful and rather unpretentious flowers.
Achimenes features
These flowers, belonging to the Gesneriaceae family, are herbaceous plants with underground scaly rhizomes - rhizomes. The name of the flowers is translated from Greek as "afraid of the cold." All species of members of the family have creeping long, hanging stems. Pubescent leaves with serrated edges densely cover thin shoots. Often greenthe leaves on the underside have a reddish tint. The size and shape of the flowers are varied, in accordance with the species. The only thing that unites them is that they are all bell-shaped and funnel-shaped.
Indoor achimenes do not exceed 50 cm in height. Each flower blooms and stays on the branches for only a few days, and then it is replaced by more and more. Some species have erect stems. There are varieties with an ampelous form of a bush. This allows you to choose the appropriate design options for a room, balcony, veranda. According to the shape of the flower, achimenes are divided into simple and terry (ampel). Ampel achimenes, which today are represented by numerous varieties, have a drooping stem, which is literally strewn with flowers during flowering. These plants look very nice in the interior.
Popular varieties
Ahimenes flowers, care of which will not cause problems even for beginner growers, have long been successfully used in indoor floriculture. The most popular varieties of this plant include:
- Amie Saliba. Compact bushes strewn with simple flowers with a yellow core. Petals can be dyed pink or orange.
- Peach Cascade. The variety is fully consistent with its name due to the peach color of the flowers. It was released in 2009. The saturation of the color largely depends on the illumination, in the bright sun it does not fade. This variety is not considered ampelous, despite the fact that the shoots may lean.
- Blue Star. Plant with large flowersdyed in blue-violet tones. The petals are wavy and toothed. The pharynx has a brown hatched spot. The plant is erect, with white rhizomes.
Glory. Compact shrub with light green leaves and beautiful flowers. In the center they have a yellow spot, and the petals are painted scarlet with brown strokes. The variety is characterized by abundant flowering
Growing conditions: basic requirements
This is not the pickiest houseplant. However, this does not mean that there are no rules for caring for achimenez at home. In order for flowering to be long and abundant, the plant needs to create comfortable conditions. These include:
- abundance of ambient light with obligatory shading to protect from direct sunlight;
- moderate but regular watering and avoiding sprays that can stain the leaves;
- to maintain the required level of humidity, it is necessary to spray the air in the room or install humidifiers during the heating season;
- The soil should always be kept moist, especially during the flowering period, but it should not be allowed to become excessively waterlogged or dry out.
Composing the soil mixture
With the preparation of the necessary soil composition for plants, care begins. Home flowers achimenez need loose soil, which includes:
- leaf humus (3 parts);
- turf land (2 parts);
- river sand (1 part).
Some flower growers believe that it would be useful to add a small amount of humus and peat. The plant is not too demanding on the composition of the soil. You can purchase a ready-made composition for decorative flowering plants or for violets. It is imperative to make good drainage, because achimenes do not tolerate stagnant moisture in a pot.
Choosing a flower pot
Achimenez does not need a spacious container for planting. Choose a wide and shallow pot as the plant's root system is small and shallow. The closer the container is, the more intense the achimenes will bloom. For planting two or three rhizomes, a small pot with a diameter of no more than 10 cm is enough.
Achimenez: planting and care
Most often, rhizomes are used to plant this plant. Sellers often call them roots. You can buy them in a flower shop or order by mail. The rhizomes of these flowers are shaped like small pine cones or mulberries.
Large rhizomes can be divided into several parts when planting. However, you should not grind them too much so that young plants bloom well and are he althy and strong. Over time, achimenes release daughter rhisomes.
Pour 2/3 of the substrate into the pot over the drainage layer. On its surface, very carefully, without pressing into the ground, lay out the rhizomes - up to 10 pieces can be planted in a container with a diameter of 25 cm. They must be covered with a layer of soil (about 3 cm).
After planting, the roots are watered with warm water and the pot is covered with plastic wrap. After that, the container is placed in the warmest and brightest place in the house. Planting, as well as transplanting awakening flowers into fresh soil, can be carried out in February. When sprouts appear and begin to develop, the film cover is removed and traditional care begins.
Achimenez at home requires regular watering, air spraying, loosening the soil in a pot and regular fertilizing. We will tell you more about these agrotechnical measures below.
Flowering usually begins four months after planting rhizome in the ground. During flowering, increase the amount of dressing. If you want your achimenes to be more bushy, you need to pinch the tops of young shoots. The same applies to faded stems: the tops are removed, which stimulates the formation of side shoots and new buds. Upright species need support, otherwise they will sink and the stems may break. Ampel varieties should be grown in pots. And now let's figure out what kind of care is needed for Ahimenes at home.
Lighting
In our country today, these colorful "bells" are very popular. You have probably seen photos of Achimenes in floriculture magazines. Home care for them is not difficult, but certain conditions must be observed that will allow you to grow such beautiful plants. Ahimenes loves good lighting. However, during the summerit is undesirable to keep the flower in the open sun. The plant feels more comfortable in diffused light.
Here it should be said that depending on the variety, the degree of requirements for illumination may be different. In the shade, the stems of the flower stretch and become bare, losing foliage, flowers of many varieties lose their color brightness.
Temperature
When caring for achimenez at home, this indicator should be treated very carefully. During the growing season, the air temperature in the room should not fall below +20 °C. The optimum temperature during this period is considered to be within +20 … +24 ° C. The plant does not tolerate cold drafts. In summer, at a constant daytime temperature, the flower feels great on the balcony. However, cold nights can harm him, so it's best to bring him indoors in the evening.
With the onset of autumn, the temperature should be gradually lowered, but not allowed to fall below +15 °C. During the dormant period, it is necessary to maintain the air temperature in the room at about +10 … +15 ° C. The flower feels fine on the glazed loggia.
Irrigation
Achimenes care involves proper watering, as the plant does not tolerate drought or excessive moisture. Moisturizing is done only after drying the topsoil. In other words, watering should be moderate. For him, it is desirable to use water at room temperature. Moreover, it must be defended for at least two days.
We have already mentioned that when caring for achimenezavoid getting water on the leaves and, of course, on the flowers. This may cause brown spots on them.
Humidity
The question arises: if the plant does not tolerate water on flowers and leaves, how to ensure the high level of humidity that achimenez loves so much? In the care in this case, a pallet with wet moss is used, on which the pot is placed. Slowly evaporating from the pan, the water creates additional moisture around the bush without damaging the flowers and leaves.
Feeding
For most indoor plants, timely top dressing is important. In this sense, achimenez is no exception. Plant care begins already 1.5 months after planting with rhizomes. Sprouts during this period need frequent feeding. Liquid fertilizers are applied every week. For this, complex fertilizers for ornamental flowering plants are suitable. A good effect is given by drugs such as Pokon, Etisso, Agricola.
Resting period
At the beginning, and in the southern regions in the middle of autumn, when the daylight hours are reduced, the leaves of achimenes begin to turn yellow, and then die off. During this period, watering should be gradually reduced. It is necessary to cut off the dried stems, leaving the roots in the same pot. They can also be placed in sawdust or sand and placed in a cool, dark place. The temperature in it should not be lower than +10 °C and not exceed +15 °C. Moisten sand (sawdust) no more than once a month, only so that the rhizomes do not dry out.
In the last days of Februarypots with achimenez are placed in the light in a room where the temperature is maintained at least +16 ° C, gradually increasing the frequency of watering.
Achimenez: reproduction and care
Achimenez perfectly reproduces vegetatively (cuttings, division of the rhizome), as well as seeds. But it should be borne in mind that when propagated by seeds, varietal characteristics are not transmitted. Rhizomes of rare and valuable varieties of this plant are germinated to increase the number of shoots, sprinkled with a thin layer (0.6 cm) of soil. It is possible to use cuttings to propagate the achimenes flower. Caring for young plants in this case is somewhat more difficult.
Cuttings are rooted in water, light substrate or wet coarse sand from early to mid-summer. However, in this case, they cannot be sent for wintering, because they do not yet have rhizomes or they are too small and can simply dry out during storage. Therefore, many flower growers rarely resort to this method of reproduction.
If you artificially pollinate blooming achimenes, you can get seeds that ripen two and a half months after the plant wilts. From fruits that have become soft, small seeds are removed and sown on the surface of coarse sand or light substrate in early March. The container with seeds should be covered with a film or a sheet of glass and put in a warm place. Moisten the substrate from the pallet. Shoots appear twenty days after sowing. The grown seedlings dive into pots. Next year, young plants will delight you with luxurious flowering.
Achimenes is characterized by long, abundant and bright flowering. This isturned him into a green pet desired by flower growers. Those who once bought at least one variety of this plant dream of expanding their collection with these wonderful flowers as soon as possible.
