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Hippeastrum is an unusually beautiful plant, its large flowers immediately attract attention. Such a plant looks bright and elegant during flowering. Blooming hippeastrum is a great gift for any grower.
Caring for this houseplant is simple, but there are a few questions you need to know about the hippeastrum transplant.
Many growers are wondering whether it is necessary to transplant a hippeastrum purchased in a store.
If you purchased a flowering plant (and most likely it is), it is definitely impossible... It is worth waiting for the end of flowering, and after that it is worth starting a transplant.
Imported flowers are sold in a special substance. According to an international convention, it is prohibited to move land across the state border. Therefore, it is the substrate that is used instead of earth, remember this moment.
Such a transportable substance is sterilized peat, which does not have the nutrients and minerals that the plant needs for life and development. Long-term presence of roots in such soil can lead to decay, starvation of the plant and other troubles.
This houseplant is transplanted when it dormant(from September to January). For proper plant development and annual flowering, hippeastrum is transplanted once every three to four years.
The soil for this flower is suitable for a light, rich in humus, and hippeastrum will also gladly grow in ordinary soil for indoor plants.
You can make the land mixture yourself: for this, mix turf soil, leafy soil, humus, peat and sand in equal frequency.
At the bottom of the flowerpot, it is necessary to lay a layer of drainage (pebbles, expanded clay) to prevent root decay. The old soil must be carefully cleaned from the roots of the plant.
Cut off decayed or broken roots so as not to damage the bulb.
The pot or flowerpot should be twice the diameter of the bulb, deep enough. But if the flowerpot is too large, then the hippeastrum will give children instead of flowering. The distance from the bulb itself to the edge of the pot is 2 cm.
When planting, the bulb should be protrude one third of the ground... If this rule is not followed, then the bulb is threatened with decay, and in this regard, the death of the plant may occur.
When transplanting from the bulb, dry scales must be removed, which are well removed.
Flower transplant after flowering?
After 30-40 days after flowering, the hippeastrum must be transplanted. This must be done so that the root system is enriched with the necessary nutrients from the new soil.
If it is not possible to transplant so often, then the soil should be enriched... To do this, it is necessary to remove the top layer of earth 2-4 cm high and pour in a new earthen mixture rich in humus and organic matter.
The choice of bulbs when buying and their transplant
In flower shops you can find different varieties of hippeastrum bulbs. On sale, they are either loose or sold in small technical pots.
When buying dry bulbs, they should be examined carefully.
There should be no traces of mold and rot, seals, redness and dark marks.
The neck and the bulb itself should be strong and dense... The scales should be slightly brown.
If hippeastrum is bought in pots, then a careful examination is also necessary. The bulb should be strong, the top scales dry and brown, the roots (can be seen in the drainage hole) should be white with no signs of rot.
If the scales are wet and soft, then the bulb has begun to rot, it is better to refuse such a purchase. If the plant already has leaves, then there should be no dark and red spots on them.
Planting is done at any time of the year. You can even guess the flowering of the hippeastrum for a certain date (for example, for the New Year). It should be remembered that flowering will come later. 4-8 weeks after germination.
And one should take into account the time it takes for the onion to wake up.
Planting is carried out in light, permeable soil, rich in organic matter. It is only necessary to deepen the bulb into the ground by two-thirds. After that, the plant will need warmth (from +18 C), watering until the sprout appears is not needed.
Large bulbs will do any kind of lighting, but smaller bulbs will need a bright light or a sill on the south side.
To accelerate flowering it is necessary to select only large bulbs, immerse them in warm water at a temperature of +40 C for 2-3 hours. After that, immediately plant the bulbs in the ground. Such plants will begin to bloom in 20-25 days.
In the garden, these plants bloom better, the bulb increases in size and gives many daughter bulbs, which is very pleasing.
At the end of May, when the frost ends, the hippeastrum is planted in the holes spilled with a solution of potassium permanganate. A place should be chosen well-lit by the sun.
Already in July, hippeastrum planted in open ground, may begin to bloom. During heavy rains or frosts, the plants should be covered with foil. In autumn, the bulbs should be dug out before the first frost, it is very important not to forget about this.
The name gippeastrum translates as "Cavalier star". Indeed, the flowers of the hippeastrum of extraordinary beauty amaze with their size and colors. It is a pleasure to grow such a flower, so do not deny yourself.
The genus name - Hippeastrum comes from the Greek words hippeos - "cavalier" and astron - "star", which is reflected in the second name of the plant: "cavalry star", or "cavalier among the stars". The genus hippeastrum belongs to the large Amaryllidaceae family.
Hippeastrum is very often mistakenly called amaryllis, although these two plants, outwardly very similar, have distinct biological and morphological differences. The homeland of the amaryllis is South Africa. Hippeastrum was introduced to Europe as one of the first ornamental plants from tropical regions of Central and South America in 1693. And in 1753 Karl Linnaeus gave the plant the generic name Amaryllis because of its external resemblance to the African amaryllis (Amaryllis belladonna). This native of South Africa - the Karoo Desert was introduced to Europe almost simultaneously with hippeastrum.
Beautiful and unusual plants have found many admirers who have grown them with great pleasure. Among the enthusiasts for breeding and hybridization was the English florist and scientist William Herbert. It was he who found out that the South American species cross quite easily with each other, but it is impossible to cross them with the South African species. A deeper study of the structure of these plants showed that the structure of fruits and seeds is different for them.
Herbert came to the conclusion that Linnaeus made a mistake by combining these two plants, and in 1821 proposed a new classification system, leaving only one species in the genus Amaryllis - African amaryllis, and attributed all American species to a new genus, which he gave the name Hippeastrum. And in 1963, a special commission was created on the issue of confusion with the names of these plants, which made the final conclusion: hippeastrum and amaryllis are two different genera. But confusion still occurs, so I will try to characterize both of these plants, since there are still quite a lot of differences. Amaryllis has leaves 3-4 cm wide, and dense, filled fleshy peduncles end with inflorescences of 6-12 fragrant flowers, collected in a scutellum.
Flowers of white, lilac, purple hue. The flower petals are pointed, the bulb is elongated, regularly, after flowering, forms many daughter bulbs (children). Mature seeds are light green in color. Amaryllis blooms in autumn. The belt-like leaves of the hippeastrum are wider - 6-7 cm, their length reaches 60 cm.
Peduncles are hollow, up to 90 cm high (and some varieties even 1.2 m) and bear 2-6 large flowers in an umbrella-like inflorescence. Flowers funnel-shaped or bell-shaped, up to 18-22 cm in diameter, tubular at the base, completely odorless, large stamens with bright yellow or orange pollen. The range of colors is much wider than that of amaryllis: reds, white, pink, various shades, monochromatic and variegated. T
Only blue and blue shades are not typical for them. The flowering period of each flower is about 5 days. In cut at a temperature of - 18-20 ° C flowers stand for 10-12 days, at a lower temperature - up to 20 days, without losing decorativeness. Seeds are dark brown, flat, disco-shaped. The bulb is more rounded in shape than that of amaryllis. Most modern highly decorative varieties do not form baby bulbs or form very few and irregularly. Hippeastrum blooms in winter or spring. Although it can be "made" to bloom at any time.
Hippeastrum is a perennial bulbous plant.
The bulb of an adult plant consists of 12-24 scales (about 30 cm in diameter) with 3-6 inflorescences located between them, which are at different stages of development. In the third year, the bulb becomes sexually mature, that is, an inflorescence is formed in it. From the moment the inflorescence is laid to flowering, 12-16 months pass. At the onset of puberty, there is a strict alternation of leaves with a closed and open base (scales). After three leaves with a closed base, a leaf with an open base follows, inside which an inflorescence is formed. Each month, the plant throws out one leaf (although during the dormant period these leaves may not show out). It is easy to calculate that in a year, hippeastrum forms 3 inflorescences, but in order for even one to bloom, you need to fulfill some requirements. The main task is to provide the plant with nutrients and prevent the bulbs from shrinking in size. They become smaller in poor lighting, with the formation of an excessive number of children or with too abundant flowering. It is possible to compensate for the loss of mass by the bulb during flowering only with regular mineral dressings. After the onset of puberty in hippeastrum, all cycles of its development are repeated from year to year: during flowering and at the beginning of enhanced leaf growth, the supply of nutrients in the outer scales is actively consumed, and the diameter of the bulb decreases. Then, during the growing season of plants, the bases of the assimilating leaves begin to quickly thicken, new leaves are laid in the bud of renewal, and the diameter of the bulb increases significantly. All these processes in a greenhouse culture are ongoing.
Grow hippeastrum it can be done in any of the following ways: in soil (in pots on the windowsill with transplanting into the ground for the summer) and in hydroponics; without a dormant period (constantly with leaves); as a distillation culture (after distillation, the bulb is discarded).
Flowering hippeastrum depends on agricultural technology: the time of planting the bulbs, the temperature in the room. By adjusting the timing of the dormant period and the temperature regime, you can achieve flowering at any time of the year. Since it is usually impossible to regulate the temperature regime in room conditions, I will tell you how you can achieve flowering of hippeastrum by changing the watering regime and performing several simple operations. In order for the plant to accumulate enough nutrients necessary for flowering, the growing season should last 6-8 months. Care during the growing season consists in systematic weeding and loosening of the soil, watering and feeding with liquid organic or complete mineral fertilizer.
The optimal ratio of elements in fertilizer: nitrogen - 14%; phosphorus - 10%; potassium - 27%. The fertilizer concentration is 20 g per 10 l of water, the frequency of fertilizing is 1 time in 10 days. For the suitability of the bulbs in the future, to forcing and obtaining flowering at certain times after the growing season, they need a period of relative rest (8-9 weeks). At this time, the temperature should be about 13-17 ° C, and the plants do not have to be taken out to a dark place. Care consists in the timely removal of dried leaves. Watering is reduced to a minimum, so that the roots do not dry out, since they are perennial. Store the bulbs in a cool place)
