Rules for growing achimenes and caring for them

Magnificent Achimenes will not leave anyone indifferent, with proper care they will delight the eye for years. Plants bloom for a long time, their stems are densely covered with variegated, bell-like flowers. You can decorate a room, balcony or cottage with them.

Ahimenes are perennial ornamental plants that grow in the wild in the southern forests of America. There they bloom constantly, the humid climate of the tropics contributes to this. In temperate countries, Achimenes can also be successfully cultivated if they are well cared for. However, in such conditions, achimenes bloom only in the warm season: from spring to autumn.

Features of the Ahimenes

These brightly colored flowers are closely related to violets and gloxinia. Achimenes bloom profusely and continuously throughout the warm period. No wonder in Greek the name of these flowers means "those that are afraid of the cold." The variety of colors of these handsome men amazes, all colors and shades are presented here: red, yellow, white, purple, blue, orange, pink, lilac, blue. There are individuals that are monochromatic and with multi-colored blotches.

Outwardly, the flowers resemble bells or roses, the petals can be simple, rounded, double, with carved jagged edges.

The size of the flower bowl varies from two to five centimeters. The height of the achimenes reaches from 20 to 60 cm. Plants are bushy and ampelous, depending on the variety and species characteristics. The roots are represented by elongated tubers resembling an alder cone. Otherwise they are called rhizomes. Rhizomes are located in the upper soil layer.

How to raise achimenes?

Like any ornamental plant, Achimenes needs to create certain conditions for successful development and growth. You cannot call him capricious, caring for him will not cause difficulties. Still, the cultivation of these flowers involves some peculiarities.

• Ahimenes love to be in the light, but exposure to the sun should be avoided. The heat is especially intense at noon and can be very harmful to flowers. They will begin to dry out and fall off quickly.
• A plant needs high soil and air humidity; proper care requires that this condition be met. To do this, it is necessary to water more often in hot weather and spray the surrounding air, but not the plant itself, it does not like this. Watered with settled water, which should be several degrees warmer than room temperature.
• When the time for flowering comes, the soil should always be moist, it should not be overdried, but it should not be allowed to get too wet. After watering, water must be drained from the pallet. Growing a plant requires the necessary qualities of the soil: saturation with nutrients, looseness, it must absorb moisture well and allow air to pass through.

• If proper care of your pet is important for you, choose the right fertilizer, correctly prepare the composition of the soil. Ornamental plant substrate can be purchased from your specialist dealer. They prepare the soil mixture with their own hands as follows: combine part of the sand with two parts of sod land and three parts of leaf. Drainage can be done by placing expanded clay gravel on a pallet or in the lower part of a box with earth. For feeding, mineral fertilizers and organic matter are used. Only flowering Achimenes are fed, with an interval of one week, as often as possible.
• Growing Achimenes requires compliance with a certain temperature regime.The air temperature during the active period of life can vary from 20 to 30 degrees above zero. When the plant is in a state of winter dormancy, it is necessary to maintain a cool temperature: from plus ten to plus fifteen.
• Fresh air is good for the Ahimenes, they do not suffer from drafts. Exception: cold, piercing strong wind. For this reason, flowers feel good at home on a windowsill under an open transom, as well as on a balcony and even outside.
• In winter, the plant does not need care, it hibernates. The stems gradually die off, and the roots hibernate in the ground in a cold place.

By following these guidelines, you can get consistent flowering plants throughout the warm season.

Rules for transplanting and breeding Ahimenes

Every spring, a scheduled plant transplant is done. This procedure can also be considered as caring for the Ahimenes. A transplant is carried out in February or March, with the end of hibernation.

Advice! A transplant is also done when the Achimenes have grown too large and need a larger pot. In this case, the earth dries quickly, the plant withers, the flowers fall off.

You can transplant it using the transshipment method. To do this, you need to water the flower and get it along with the earth. After transplanting, add more earth to the new pot, drainage must be mandatory. Water the transplanted achimenes. He usually tolerates this procedure well, without stopping his flowering. It is better to do the transshipment towards the end of summer, from that moment the plant is already preparing for a state of winter dormancy, its growth stops.

They choose a wide and shallow container for transplanting, because the roots of Achimenes are located on the soil surface.

The lower part of the box (about a third of the total volume) is laid with gravel pebbles or brick fragments. The second layer is a layer of earth, consisting of the following elements: turf, sand, sheet earth, charcoal, possibly the addition of humus or peat.

The roots are deepened into the ground in a horizontal direction to a shallow depth (up to one and a half centimeters) and lightly sprinkled with the same earth.

Advice! The transplanted rhizomes are placed in heat until sprouts appear, light does not matter. Then the box with young Achimenes must be moved to a bright place. In order for the plant to develop well, it is necessary to turn the box with sprouts to the sun alternately: then one side, then the other.

Three types of reproduction are used to breed these beautiful flowers:

1. Seminal.
2. Cherenkovy.
3. Root.

How to germinate seeds?

The first method is rarely used. Such cultivation of achimenes does not preserve its varietal characteristics. We will briefly describe this method.

• Collect the seeds that appear in the fruit at the end of the flowering period.
• Prepare loose soil: sand and leaf turf. Moisten it.
• At the end of winter, early spring, they sow seeds without sprinkling them with earth.
• The seedlings are placed under plastic wrap and the box is placed in a warm, dark place.
• When the seeds germinate (usually after a month), young Achimenes are dived into a spacious container so that the root system feels good.
• Two months later, the grown seedlings are transplanted separately, each in its own pot. Further, the usual care continues, as for adults.

Achimenes grown in this way will be able to bloom only in the second year. The coloring may turn out to be the most unexpected, but from this it will be no less attractive.

Propagation using cuttings

In the summer, the tops are cut off (for this, young shoots are used) and planted under a film or glass. The cuttings should be watered regularly so that the earth does not dry out. Land for planting: sheet soil, mixed with sand in equal parts. To make the roots grow more intensively, you can use growth stimulants or create an additional source of heat. After one month, the sprouted cuttings can be placed in a permanent place.

How to breed Achimenes by dividing the rhizome?

This is the most common breeding method for achimenes. In the process of spring transplantation, it is necessary to divide (cut) the rhizomes so that each has a shoot. The divided parts of the tubers are placed in boxes with prepared soil. Soil composition: peat - three parts, coconut substrate - one part, sand layer - one part. You can add crushed egg shells here, some superphosphate.

The drainage layer is covered with humus, bone meal is added. The roots should be horizontal, they are covered with a small layer of earth on top and watered. The box with future seedlings is covered with foil and stored in a warm room, where there is a lot of light. With the emergence of young shoots, the film is removed.

Caring for young Achimenes, no matter how you plant them, will be the same.

• Timely abundant watering,
• Air humidification,
• Top dressing,
• Loosening.

Advice! To help plants bush better, pinch the top of young shoots and those stems that have already faded. So new shoots will appear on the side and fresh flowers will appear on them. Remember to remove dried buds to allow new flowers to form in their place.

Wintering of the Ahimenes

Before the beginning of winter, the faded Achimenes prepare for wintering. Leaves and shoots slowly dry up and die off. At this time, it is necessary to reduce the amount and volume of irrigation, gradually reduce the temperature indicators of the air in the room. Dry stems are cut off, and the roots remaining in the ground are removed along with the pot in the cold. This should be the place where the thermometer does not rise above + 15 degrees and does not drop below +10. A glazed balcony or loggia is quite suitable for these purposes. Once a month, you can slightly moisten the soil in the pot if it is very dry. The plant does not need any other care now.

With the approach of spring, the rhizomes will begin to wake up and sprout new branches. At this stage, the pots of flowers must be taken out to a bright and warm place and watered well. When the fresh sprouts are strong, transplant into a new, specially prepared in advance, nutrient-rich soil.

Learn and remember the basic rules and tips for breeding Ahimenes, caring for them is simple. Follow all recommendations in good faith. To get a good return, you need to put not only your hands, but also your soul.

From spring until the very cold weather, these flowers with their cheerful multi-colored outfit will create coziness on the balcony and at home, will give a bright blooming look to the country landscape.

If you still haven't got this amazing flower, then you should try and join the ranks of its many fans.