Hippeastrum: Reproduction And Distillation

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

If a beautiful hippeastrum grows in your home, and you want to share this beauty with the world, you will be surprised how easy it is to propagate it at home. For this, both the seed method and the vegetative method are suitable. In addition, the bulbs of the hippeastrum can be put on forcing, and this magnificent flower will inspire and delight with its appearance not only on warm spring days, but also in winter cold

Reproduction of exotic hippeastrum by children

With the vegetative method of dividing the exotic, reproduction is carried out by its children. This method is used to reproduce very valuable highly decorative varieties, since in this case the young flower will repeat the varietal characteristics of its parent plant, which is not always possible when sowing seeds.

The nutrient substrate for planting children is made up of the following ingredients:

• sod land - 2 parts;

• deciduous land - 2 parts;

• greenhouse humus soil - 2 parts;

• coarse sand - 1 part.

If you replace the sand with compost, then all the other ingredients are taken in equal proportions.

The children are immersed in the substrate to a depth of approximately 3 cm. Care for new plantings consists in moderate but regular watering: more frequent in the warm season and relatively scarce in winter. Pots with children for the first 2 years are kept in a sufficiently sunlit place. When the plant is three years old, its first spring transplant is performed. From this point on, the flower will need the same care as when grown from adult bulbs.

Seed propagation

To get exotic seeds, he needs help with pollination. To do this, on one flower, the stamens are carefully pinched off, and with the help of a soft brush, pollen from the stamens of another specimen is transferred to its stigma. This procedure is carried out over several days. After the end of the flowering period, a box should appear in which the seeds of the plant ripen. It will take a couple of months. After ripening, the pods will begin to open, and the seed can be harvested from them.

Interesting fact: varieties with darker, saturated petals produce more seeds than their paler counterparts. To change the situation for the better, it is useful to spray the plants with a 5% boric acid solution.

Seeds of an exotic plant quickly lose their high germination capacity. Because of this, the best result can only be achieved by sowing them without delay after collection. To improve germination, the seed is recommended to be soaked before sowing. They are immersed in a humid environment, for example, wrapped in a wet towel, for two weeks, kept at a temperature of about + 20 ° C.

The nashed seeds are sown in such a nutritious substrate:

• deciduous land - 2 parts;

• peat land - 1 part;

• sand - 1 part.

The seeding depth is 1 cm. The seedlings will look out from under the soil after only 2-3 weeks. They are left in a place well-lit by the sun's rays. When they grow up and form two true leaves, this is a signal to transplant the plants into individual small pots. The next transplant is performed in late spring - early summer. During this period, young hippeastrum is kept at a temperature not higher than + 20 ° C. Make sure that the plant is not disturbed by direct sunlight. Watering is needed with a moderate amount of water.

Forcing hippeastrum

In the third year of life, large young bulbs - from 5 cm in diameter - can already be used for winter forcing. To do this, in October-November, they are placed in pots with a nutrient substrate so that a third of the bulb looks out of the ground.

For a successful distillation, you need the following potting soil:

• clay-sod land - 8 parts;

• deciduous land - 4 parts;

• peat - 2 parts;

• greenhouse land - 1 part;

• sand - 1 part.

Distillation takes place in a warm room, while the thermometer should be within + 20 … + 22 ° С.