If you want to decorate your house with beautiful indoor flowers, pay attention to the ampel begonia. This unpretentious plant, strewn with bright semi-double and double flowers on long peduncles, can grow even a budding florist. How to properly care for roomy ampel begonia?
Blossoms ampel begonia from early spring until late autumn. Since this flower has long dangling stems, it is best to look in a suspended flowerpot or in a floor stand. In the summer, you can take a pot of begonia to the open air. However, the place for it should be chosen without drafts and strong winds.
Begonia ampelnaya - cultivation
Propagation of ampelia begonia tubers. For planting should choose strong healthy tubers, and preferably a diameter of more than 3 cm on the planting material should be no damage and stains. On the top of the tubers there are small irregularities and tubercles - kidneys. On quality tubers should be from 3 to 7 kidneys.
Before embarking on planting works, the tuber begonia should be kept in wet sand in the light and warm. From time to time, the tubers should be sprinkled with water or use a weak solution of "Epin" for this. By planting the tuber begonias will be ready only when small roots on their convex side appear.
To plant the tuberous ampelia begonias, large and small pots are needed. Drainage is placed on the bottom of the tank, then the nutrient and loose soil is filled. When planting the tubers are immersed in the ground by the lower convex part, the upper one remains free. In this form, the plant must remain until three leaves appear on it. Then the tuber can be sprinkled with a little earth.
The pot with the grown begonia is best set on a light window. The optimum temperature for its content is about 18-20 ° C, but the plant can flower at both + 25 ° C and + 12 ° C. Watering the plant should be regular, you should not allow waterlogging, but the drought will not survive the flower.
If you want the ampelia begonia to blossom for a long time and abundantly, it should be fed regularly. While the plant is young, it needs nitrogen fertilizer. In the flowering period, on the contrary, nutrients contain nitrogen, but phosphorus and potassium should be abundant in them. Twice a year you can fertilize begonium organic. Since ampel begonias do not tolerate soil salting, then to fertilize the plant should make the solution less concentrated than stated in the instructions to fertilizer .
In tuberous ampelia begonia, after flowering, there is a period of rest. If you notice that the shoots of the plant have begun to dry in autumn, you should take the tubers out of the ground, clean them and put them in storage at a temperature of 5-12 ° C in peat. In early spring, the tubers with the sprouted leaves are planted in pots. If you chose not a tuber variety of begonia, then it does not need rest and can bloom even in winter.
Begonia ampel - varieties
Breeders brought out many varieties of ampel begonias. This is a sort of "Girl" with semi-double gently pink flowers, and "Kristy" with white double flowers. The begonia bush "Kati" with yellow semi-double inflorescences looks beautiful in a hanging flowerpot. Ampel Begonia varieties "Rocsana" with beautiful orange terry flowers will look good in a high vase. A series of grades of ample begonias called "Chanson" combines many beautiful plants with red, white, pink, orange, yellow flowers. There are also two-color ampel begonias, for example, white-pink or yellow-orange.