The balsam has many names. This is touchy, and evergreen, and a light. The most famous name, of course, is the wet vanka, which he received for his passionate love of water and for the sugar drops on the leaves. This plant is also famous for its bright flowers, for which such a cute nickname was given to him - a light.
Description of the plant
Roly flower wet (lat. Impatiens) is a herbaceous annual or perennial plant and belongs to the balsam family.
The light comes from the subtropics and tropics of Africa and Asia, some species of it can also be found in Central Asia. It was brought to Europe in 1596 and immediately gained popularity as a houseplant.
Roly flower wet got its name due to the ability to release excess moisture, which it accumulates on the tips of the leaves. And the touchy balsam is called for the ability of its seed box to sharply fold its walls when touched, after which the seeds scatter in all directions like a shot.
Adult indoor balsam independing on the variety and species, it grows in height from 20 to 60 cm. Its stem is colored light green and has a translucent structure. The leaves of the flame are oval in shape with small jagged edges and measure from 8 to 12 cm. The color of the leaf is from green to purple-bronze.
A wet vanka flower (the photo shows this) reaches a diameter of up to 4 cm and can be either terry or flat in shape. It is located on a flat corolla and has almost no smell. Colored differently, but there is no blue and pure yellow balsam.
Varieties of room balsams
Roly flower wet belongs to the genus balsam, which includes about five hundred species. However, for home floriculture, species such as Holst's, Sultan's, Waller's, New Guinean hybrids are used more often.
Roly home flower wet differs in various shades: from white and light pink to dark red and burgundy. Varieties have been bred whose petals are two-colored. And there are those whose flowers are two or even three times the size of ordinary balsams. At the same time, the bushes of the plant remain compact.
Given that balsams are very popular among home plant lovers, selection in this direction is ongoing. The latest hybrids surprise and delight with the size of the flowers, and their shape, and colors. Recently bred plants with double flowers and even variegated leaves.
Variegated Roly flower wet incare almost does not differ from other species. However, in winter, it needs a higher air temperature than plants with plain leaf plates.
How to care?
Roly flower wet at home requires almost no care. But he still has some preferences for his content. For example, in order for the balsam to bloom densely, it is better to plant it in a slightly cramped pot.
Temperature conditions
Roly flower is wet, although it comes from warm countries, but does not like extreme heat. The best temperature for it is +22 °С in summer and not lower than +13 °С in winter. In extreme heat and dry air, balsam leaves will curl and fall off.
This plant does not like sudden changes in temperature. But for the winter, he needs to provide a period of rest by lowering the temperature to 14 or 16 ° C.
Lighting
Do not allow the flower to be exposed to direct sunlight when caring for a wet vanka. This plant loves bright but diffused lighting, so the southern windows in the summer are prohibited for it. In winter, experienced growers even advise moving the light to the south window.
Besides, in the hot sun, the air quickly becomes dry, and this tropical balsam will not survive at all. He definitely needs comfortable humidity, but not dampness.
Irrigation
You should know how to water a wet vanka flower and how to care for it properly, without harming it with excessive zeal or indifference to its needs. In summer, balsam must be watered often - 2-3 times a week. In winter, when the temperature in the apartment drops, watering is also reduced to 1 time in 7-10 days.
In no case should waterlogging be allowed, especially in the cold season. This can not only lead to disease of the plant, but also to its death. Allow the potting soil to dry out properly before watering again.
When the temperature reaches +22 °С in summer, it is better to put the container with balsam in a tray with moistened pebbles. But it is best to completely refuse to spray the plant. This can cause flower spots and fungal diseases.
Dust from the leaves is convenient to clean with a soft brush, and in summer it will be useful to refresh the foliage (but not the flowers) with a warm shower. However, after that, be sure to shake off the water from the plant.
Soil and top dressing
Indoor flower vanka wet prefers to live in nutritious, but loose soil, consisting of greenhouse and deciduous land with the addition of a small fraction of sand.
Fertilizers must be applied during flowering and active growth once every two weeks, alternating mineral and organic. It is better to use special ready-made fertilizers for flowering houseplants. At the same time, when gaining green mass, it is recommended to fertilize with nitrogen supplements, and during flowering - with phosphorus or potash.
It is necessary to transplant a wet vanka once a year into fresh soil. Balsam tends to stretch, so every spring from an old plant it is necessarycut the cutting and root it.
Methods of reproduction
There are two ways to propagate the spark - seeds and cuttings.
Seeds can be purchased at the store or collected from your plant. To obtain high-quality planting material, the plant should be pollinated. Balsam seeds germinate in two weeks.
It takes the same two weeks to root a cutting. To do this, cut off the top of the side shoot so that it has at least 3 buds and about 8 cm in length. Dissolve 3 tablets of charcoal in a container with water and place the stalk there. When the roots are long enough, the shoots should be planted in a small pot and covered with foil to ensure high humidity.
Diseases and pests
Moisture-loving balsam attracts pathogenic bacteria and various pests to it. To prevent diseases, the following recommendations must be observed:
- Use clean and warm water for irrigation.
- Provide the flowerpot with a good drainage system in the form of a drainage layer and holes in the bottom of the container.
- The soil should be loose and well pass moisture and air.
- For disinfection, charcoal must be added to the soil to prevent the invasion of putrefactive bacteria and fungi on the flower.
The reasons for the fall of leaves and buds in balsam can be the following:
- Adaptation period after purchase or transplant. All recommendations for proper care must be followed.
- Dry soil. Timely watering will help.
- Overwetting. If the soil does not dry out for a long time after watering, then the plant should be transplanted into a smaller pot.
- The appearance of a white coating on the leaves is a spider mite. Treatment with chemicals "Fitoverm" or "Aktelik" will help.
- Brown spots appear. Too wet soil. Reduce watering and treat with "Fitosporin-M".
- The appearance of brown spots of gray rot. It's a fungus. Cut off the infected areas, and transplant and treat the he althy ones with "Fundazol". Can be sprinkled with garlic infusion.
- When infected with bacteriosis (watery spots), cut off the affected parts, treat the rest of the plant with a preparation with copper.
- When powdery mildew appears, remove the diseased part of the plant, and treat the he althy part with a solution of soda ash or a copper-soap solution.
- Appearance of thrips, aphids and mosaic disease on balsam. At the first sign, remove and destroy diseased areas, and treat he althy ones with insecticides at intervals of 5 days.
- Infection with whitefly (white moth). It will help to treat leaves with larvae with an infusion of garlic and spraying with insecticides twice with an interval of 6 days.
- Appearance of root aphids or root scale insects on the roots. For a long time you can not notice the pest. Complete soil replacement and insecticide treatment will help. If the damage is too strong, then you can only cut the stalk, treat with insecticide and root.
Signs and superstitions
With Vankawet among the people are associated with several beliefs and will accept, mostly positive. For example:
- In order for the family to be okay, you need to monitor the condition of the flower, while it is good, and the family is good, as soon as the balsam is sick, you have to wait for quarrels and discord.
- To stop quarrels, you need to buy a balm in the house. The same works for offices.
- Roly wet attracts inspiration. It is useful for creative people to keep it close to them.
- It has a good effect on men, helps them in acquiring masculinity, attracts good luck, strength, courage and physical he alth.
However, there are a couple of bad omens. The appearance of this flower was once associated with the fact that the man in the family began to drink hard.
And if the balsam is withering, then something is wrong in the house. It was believed that this flower is very sensitive to scandals, squabbles and an unhe althy atmosphere in the family.
Roly wet must be on every windowsill, and not only because it brings good luck and removes negativity, but also because it pleases the eye and softens the heart.
