Indoor lily hippeastrum - care at home. Home care for hippeastrum Hippeastrum home care reviews

Hippeastrum is a beautiful indoor plant that is often grown on windowsills. It has earned its fame thanks to its original colors that attract attention.

It is a bulbous plant native to Latin and Central America. Belongs to the genus Amaryllidaceae.

Florists have developed many interesting varieties. It differs from real amaryllis in that hippeastrum has up to 6-7 flowers on a hollow peduncle.

You will learn about how to care for Hippeastrum at home, how to replant a flower, what kind of soil is needed for Hippeastrum and much more in this article.

    Photo

    Home care

    The Hippeastrum flower does not require any special care at home. It develops well and blooms at home. It is considered an excellent plant for forcing; it is only important to create the necessary conditions for flowering and choose the right time to start the growing season.

    Important: Effective flowering occurs when maintenance conditions close to natural are observed.

    Conditions and temperature

    Moderate temperatures in summer are suitable for it, within 22-25 degrees. Hippeastrum tolerates wintering calmly. However, special care is required for Hippeastrum in winter. At this time, the bulbs go into a dormant state, so they need to be provided with cool conditions, about 10-12 degrees Celsius. It is not recommended to lower the temperature below this limit, as well as to store it in too warm conditions to avoid unwanted germination or drying out of the bulb.

    Humidity and watering

    Indoor Hippeastrum come from arid areas, so they do not really need additional spraying, and at low ambient temperatures this can also cause damage. Also do not spray during the flowering period.

    Watering should be taken with full responsibility: Severe waterlogging can damage the bulbs. Between watering, you need to let the soil dry out a little.

    Towards the end of the growing season, when flowering stops and the leaves begin to dry out, watering is gradually reduced. Bulbs that have fallen into a dormant period do not need watering, but if they are too dry, you can moisten them slightly.

    Attention: a dormant period is required for this plant.

    Placement and lighting

    For Hippeastrum, choose a light location. It feels good both in diffused light and in direct sunlight. Good light is important for full flowering. Lack of lighting can even lead to hippeastrum refusing to bloom.

    Soil and planting

    It is recommended to plant in soil made from a mixture of turf soil, peat and sand. Since the plant has a clearly defined dormant period, there is no need to completely replace the soil every year; you can do this less often if additional feeding is available.

    Trimming

    The dormant period lasts approximately from late October to early February. The plant's flower stalks begin to dry out, and then the leaves. The flower stalks themselves are cut off when they are dry, and the leaves are left until they are completely dry, then they can be carefully plucked off.

    After the leaves have dried, the bulbs are moved to a dark, cool place: during this period, light and moisture are not needed.

    Growing and Reproduction

    For full flowering, a dormant period must necessarily pass; it usually lasts 2-3 months. It is necessary to prepare for flowering in advance; this takes 6-8 weeks. Pots with bulbs are planted in the ground and brought into a warm room.

    Before planting, the bulbs should be checked and cleaned of dry roots. It is not recommended to take the pot too large; its diameter should not be more than 10 cm than the bulb itself. After which you should water it lightly, but not too much, so that the still dormant bulbs do not rot. In a few weeks the plant will produce a beautiful bud.

    Top dressing

    Fertilizers are given during the period of active growth, approximately once every 3 weeks. A month before the start of the dormant period, feeding is stopped. Fertilizers for Hippeastrum should be applied mineral or for beautiful flowering plants.

    Bloom

    Flowering lasts approximately 3-4 weeks. At this time you need to feed. To achieve the beginning of flowering, keep the bulb slightly damp, but not flooded. When the first sprout appears, watering is increased slightly.

    Flowering occurs in about 1 or 2 months, depending on conditions and the availability of sufficient light.

    After flowering ends, the dried arrow is cut off, but the leaves are not touched. The green peduncle is not cut off, but allowed to dry on its own.

    After this, it continues to grow green mass and recover. The next flowering will be much more effective if the plant is given a period of rest.

    During flowering, the bulb produces one or two arrows, on which are located 4-6 large flowers, slightly reminiscent of a lily in appearance.

    Transfer

    Useful video

    You can learn more about caring for “Hippeastrum” at home in the video below:

    Diseases and pests

    Hippeastrum does not always bloom at home. In some cases, flowering cannot be achieved. This often happens due to improperly organized rest period. In addition, watering affects the condition - if it is excessive, the bulb may begin to rot. A lack of minerals and an incorrectly chosen location may also be the reason for the lack of flowering in hippeastrum.

    Sometimes it is attacked by pests. The most common - spider mites, scale insects and scale insects. They are fought with the help of special drugs. You should choose those pest control products that are recommended for use indoors.

    Benefits and harms

    Indoor flowers Hippeastrum are poisonous plants. Care should be taken when working with bulbs. After any work, you should wash your hands thoroughly with soap.

    Pets and children should not touch the poisonous parts of the plant to avoid an allergic reaction and poisoning.

    Hippeastrum– an interesting plant that can transform any interior. Its bright flowers leave no one indifferent. A forced period of rest may cause concern, but if it is organized correctly, hippeastrum will delight you with flowering twice a year.

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(Hippeastrum) is a bulbous flower native to the warm tropics. So in our climate zone it is grown only as a houseplant.

Like all bulbous plants, hippeastrum lends itself to flower forcing techniques- and this means that by the right time, celebration or festival, you can grow fresh flowers with your own hands. Moreover, hippeastrum flowers look very impressive and the number of plant varieties is quite large - you can choose the size and color to suit your taste.

Hippeastrum has a powerful hollow peduncle on which 2-6 flowers gradually bloom. The leaves are flat, belt-shaped, appear already during the flowering process, so that for quite a long time only a peduncle with an umbrella of large (10-30 cm in diameter) bright flowers flaunts from a pot of hippeastrum.

In color, the flowers of hybrid hippeastrums can be white, red, pink, orange, cream, and the color can be either uniform or in the form of a multi-color pattern - strokes, specks, lines. The shape of the inflorescences of indoor hippeastrums can be double or simple.

Hippeastrum variety "Lady Sahe plus"

Hippeastrum variety "Unique plus"

Hippeastrum variety "Double Record"

Hippeastrum variety "Aphrodite"


Hippeastrum as a gift

Sometimes hippeastrum is confused with amaryllis - these plants are indeed identical in appearance, but they are different species of the same family. Amaryllis blooms in autumn, and hippeastrum in winter or early spring. So the first plant can only be used as a gift on September 1st. 🙂 But blooming hippeastrum can be given as a gift for New Year and Christmas, and for the February and March holidays.

Hippeastrum flowers are forced from November to February. So you can give an already blooming hippeastrum as a gift. Or you can give beautifully packaged hippeastrum bulbs for the New Year - for a passionate florist this will be a double gift, because he will receive flowers from them himself for the February or March holidays.

Purchase and storage of hippeastrum bulbs

Quite often, not one, but two or even three peduncles can grow from one hippeastrum bulb. When purchasing, please note that the larger the bulb, the more flower stalks it will eventually produce.

The bulbs should be firm to the touch, without signs of disease. Usually, stores sell bulbs specially prepared for forcing - foreign companies usually treat them with special compounds after digging.

If you do not want to plant the bulbs right away, then they should be stored in a cool, dark place - at a temperature of +8-10°C.

Life cycle of hippeastrum

Of course, you can also buy hippeastrum that is already in bloom - demand creates supply, and in modern times it is no longer a problem to find these flowers in a forced state in flower shops. But it’s much more interesting to grow flowers yourself.

Let's look at all phases of the bulb's life and the appropriate care for hippeastrum at each of them.

Planting a hippeastrum bulb

The bulb is dropped into a pot with well-fertilized soil. The bulb should be half in the ground, half out. Hippeastrums are planted between November and February.

The soil around the bulb needs to be compacted. Place the pot with the plant in a bright but cool place. Watering at first is very moderate and careful - try not to soak the bulb itself to avoid rotting.

The appearance of the peduncle and the forcing of flowers

After a couple of weeks, an arrow begins to grow from the bulb.

You need to move the pot with hippeastrum to a warm place - +20°C. The lighting should remain very good.

As soon as a bud appears on the peduncle (in about another 3 weeks), watering should become more regular and abundant. In addition, you need to spray the peduncle with warm water.

If the care of the hippeastrum was correct, then after 6-8 weeks from the moment the bulb was planted, the flowers finally bloom on the plant.

Sometimes 2-3 peduncles appear from one bulb. Choose the largest bulbs when purchasing to achieve these spectacular blooms.

In order for the flowers to live longer, the place should be very bright, but without direct sunlight on the plants themselves.

Flowering and leaf appearance

As the hippeastrum blooms, its leaves begin to appear. After flowering, the flower stalks need to be trimmed without waiting for the ovaries. Pruning should not be done at the root - more than half of the peduncle should be left so that the plant takes nutrients from it. Only after the peduncle has dried can it be cut off completely.

The plant should still remain in a warm and well-lit area.

From the end of summer, fertilizing and watering begin to be reduced.

During this period, proper care of the hippeastrum is important, as the bulb gains strength for future flowering.

The rest period of hippeastrum begins in October. You should move the flower to a cool place and completely stop watering and fertilizing. After the leaves wither, they are cut off at the root.

The rest period lasts 2-3 months. After this, the bulb is removed from the pot, cleaned of dried roots and transplanted into a fresh substrate. From this moment on, the entire life cycle of the hippeastrum repeats from the beginning.

In order to get a blooming hippeastrum, you need to know plant care rules.

Before planting, the lower part of the bulb should be placed in water slightly warmer than room temperature for 3-6 hours. The bottom of the onion and roots should be in the water.

After the plant has flowered, there is no need to throw away the bulb. If you provide the hippeastrum with proper care, it will delight you with its flowering for several years.

After flowering, be sure to cut off the flower stalks and allow the leaves to fully develop.. To do this, you need to care for the plant until next autumn, watering and fertilizing it. Fertilize with a weak infusion of mullein mixed with mineral salts, or with a special complex liquid fertilizer for indoor flowers.

In summer, it is useful to take hippeastrums out into the fresh air - onto a balcony or terrace. It would be even better to bury the potted plants in the garden in a semi-shady place.

At the end of August, you should gradually reduce watering and fertilizing, and by October you should completely stop both.

In October, the plant is transferred to a dark, cool place (temperature + 8-10 ° C). The leaves, as soon as they wither and turn yellow, are cut off at the root. Hippeastrum goes dormant for 2-3 months.

At the end of November - beginning of January, the hippeastrum is transplanted into fresh soil. Before transplanting, you should inspect the bulb, removing dry, rotten and non-viable roots. The hippeastrum pot should not be too spacious.

6-8 weeks after transplantation, the hippeastrum will again delight you with flowers.

Forcing hippeastrums in water

Hippeastrums look quite impressive, blooming not in pots with soil, but in glass vases.

Unfortunately, such forcing will deplete the bulbs and will have to be thrown away in the future. But if you do not want to deal with hippeastrums every year, then this option is quite suitable for you.

Typically, such special glass vessels are used for forcing hyacinths, but they are also suitable for hippeastrums.

First you need to prepare the onion - trim off the dead roots. The vase is filled approximately 2/3 with warm, settled water. The bulb is placed on top of the vase - the bottom of the bulb should not touch the water. To moisturize the hippeastrum bulbs, the evaporating moisture from the vessel will be sufficient.

Vases with hippeastrums should be placed in a bright and warm place. Peduncles will begin to appear, as expected, in a couple of weeks, and in another month the hippeastrums will bloom. To prevent the peduncle from bending when it begins to grow, slowly turn the plant in relation to the light every 2-3 days.

If you want to have blooming hippeastrums all winter, then plant several bulbs every two weeks.

Photos of hippeastrum

There are varieties of hippeastrum with a shortened peduncle - it is stronger and thicker. This is quite practical for placing flowering plants indoors.

These are, for example, Hippeastrum varieties ‘Baby Star’ and ‘Tel-Star’(left and right in the photo, respectively).

The small-flowered varieties of hippeastrum are very interesting - like these flowers in the photo, variety ‘Calimero’.

Small graceful red flowers form numerous rosettes on tall peduncles.

Such flowers will look good both in contrasting containers (as in the photo - in a blue flower box) and in small ceramic pots.

For hippeastrums with a tall peduncle, it is quite practical to use glass containers.

A tall vessel will prevent the flower from breaking, and a glass vase with a drainage layer will make it possible to monitor the moisture level to avoid waterlogging.

In the photo you see snow-white variety of hippeastrum ‘Mont Blanc’.

Double flowers varieties of hippeastrum ‘Double Record’ reach 20 cm centimeters in diameter.

This flower is a record holder not only in size, but also in the number of flowers.

By the way, if you are planning flowering for only one season, then you can place the bulbs not in the ground, but in a tall vase with expanded clay or hydrogel.

Image rights: My Beautiful Garden Magazines (January 2002, November 2002). Flickr.com - luz rovira, Don Perucho, maya_dragonfly, microbophile, Mikhail Ursus, nirsha, Anuchit Sundarakiti, emblatame (Ron), Flowers Excitement, dbarronoss, roko_fot01, peter_hasselbom, Ennor, Barbara J H, Poppins" Garden, Ramsis"07.

Blooming hippeastrum fascinates with its beauty. Only once a year he pleases us with huge star flowers. And what a disappointment it can be when the long-awaited flower does not appear, or the plant begins to fade altogether. To avoid such troubles and be able to enjoy the contemplation of this miracle flower, you need to know some secrets of care and stick to them. The grateful plant will certainly please the eye with generous flowering.

Description of hippeastrum

Appearance

Hippeastrum (lat. Hippeastrum) is a perennial bulbous plant. The leaves are linear, shiny leaves, 50–70 cm long, 4–5 cm wide, and have shallow grooves on the surface. The leaves are arranged in two rows. During the flowering period, the plant produces a powerful, tall (up to 60–80 cm) peduncle.

The name of the flower is translated from ancient Greek as “star horseman”.

Hippeastrum during flowering is a source of pride and admiration

The flowers are funnel-shaped. Their color range is quite wide: red, white, orange, pink, purple, sometimes yellow or greenish shades. The main tone can be supplemented with strokes or specks.

The flowers are large - up to 20 cm in diameter, collected in an umbrella inflorescence. Hippeastrum has a very faint odor. Some species have no smell at all. This is a great advantage for people prone to allergic reactions.

Hippeastrum flowering - video

Natural habitat and home maintenance

The homeland of hippeastrum is the American tropics and subtropics, in particular the Amazon basin. It was brought to Europe in the 16th century and quickly gained admirers around the world. In 1799, the first hybrid Hippeastrum Johnson was bred. Today these flowers are widely used as a houseplant and are also grown for cutting. Hippeastrums are not particularly difficult to care for. Even novice gardeners can easily cope with this task.

Variety of hippeastrum varieties

This plant belongs to the Amaryllis family and has about 90 species and more than 2 thousand varieties.

In indoor floriculture, the hybrid hippeastrum (hippeastrum hybrida) is most often cultivated. The classification of varietal hippeastrums is based on two characteristics: flower size and shape. Depending on this, plants are conventionally divided into 9 groups, which are indicated in the table.

The most popular groups and varieties of hippeastrum - table

Group name Popular varieties
Large-flowered simpleApple Blossom, Charisma, Showmaster, Minerva, Hermes
Medium flowered simpleLemon Star, Magic Green
Small-flowered simpleSanta Cruz, Giraffe, Baby Star, Bianca, Neon
Terry large-floweredBlossom Peacock, White Peacock, Sweet Nymphs, Dance Queen, Aphrodite, Lady Jane
Terry medium-floweredAlfresco, Uniquay, Double Record, Elvas, Pasadena,
Terry small-floweredZombie
SibistrLa Paz, Emerald, Chico, Rio Negro, Tiramisu, Melfi
OrchidsPapilio, Exotic Star, Ruby Star
TubularPink Floyd, Amputo, Santiago, Germa, Rebecca

Magnificent hippeastrums in the photo

Simple large-flowered hippeastrum with rim Simple large-flowered hippeastrum striped Simple medium-flowered hippeastrum Simple medium-flowered hippeastrum with figured edge Simple small-flowered hippeastrum "Star" splendor Charming bouquet Double-flowered hippeastrum Double large-flowered hippeastrum Sibistr Orchid hippeastrum Orchid Hippeastrum

Similarities and differences with amaryllis

Amaryllis is often classified as a hippeastrum variety, but this is erroneous.

Drainage is a prerequisite for preventing excessive soil moisture and rotting of the bulb and roots

The bulb is planted in a slightly moist soil mixture, deepening it to a maximum of 2/3 of the height.

A narrow pot and shallow planting help create optimal conditions for hippeastrum

After planting, the plant only needs warmth. There is no need to water the hippeastrum until sprouts appear.

If any damage is noticed on the bulb, it must first be healed. This procedure includes trimming the rotten parts, soaking for 30 minutes in a fungicide solution (Fundazol, Maxim) or ordinary brilliant green and drying for 24 hours.

Such a bulb must be planted in soil where humus is replaced with a small amount of sphagnum (peat moss).

It is advisable to bury the reanimated bulb into the soil to no more than 1/4 of its height. With such planting, it is easier to control its condition and, if necessary, carry out spraying. After the bulb has recovered, it is easy to add the soil mixture to the usual level.

Having planted the plant in moist soil, place it in a warm, slightly shaded place (you can cover it with an empty pot) and exclude watering until the peduncle is forced to a height of 10 cm.

The optimal frequency of hippeastrum transplantation is once every 3–4 years. A favorable time is the threshold of the rest period or its end. It is advisable to use the transshipment method when replanting - moving the plant along with the earthen lump. In this case, the root system is minimally damaged, which contributes to the rapid rooting of the bulb and its active development.

Transshipment method - a method of transplantation with minimal damage to the root system

Basic rules for caring for hippeastrum

Watering and fertilizing

As discussed above, the intensity of watering of hippeastrum is directly related to its life cycle. However, it is important to provide the plant not only with the required amount of moisture, but also to correctly deliver it to the root system.

For example, it is not recommended to pour water on the onion - it may rot. It is better to combine top watering with tray watering. This way the moisture will be evenly distributed throughout the earthen ball, which will prevent rotting of the roots. The main rule for watering hippeastrum: it is better to underwater than to overwater. You also need to regularly wipe the leaves from dust or wash them with warm water.

During the growth of the peduncle, when it reaches a height of 12–15 cm, it is useful to water the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. 5-6 days after this, you need to feed the plant with phosphorus fertilizer.

Hippeastrum is fertilized regularly, at the beginning of the growing season - once every two weeks with liquid nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (7:3:6) fertilizer (for deciduous plants). After the leaves appear, to stimulate the active formation of buds, hippeastrum requires less nitrogen and much more potassium, so the ratio of mineral components changes to 4:6:12 (for flowering plants). The frequency of feeding is maintained.

A month before the onset of the dormant period, hippeastrum needs fertilizers with a small amount of nitrogen and phosphorus and a large amount of potassium (4: 4: 12).

Carefully read the directions for applying fertilizers on the packaging and do not exceed the specified concentration of minerals. Otherwise, you can burn the root system of the plant.

Timely balanced feeding promotes high-quality flowering and growth of foliage mass. The bases of the leaves form the scales of the bulb and it increases in size. With insufficient nutrition or complete absence of fertilizing, the bulb will use nutrients accumulated from the leaves, but they are not enough to ensure flowering.

Some secrets of flowering

Sometimes hippeastrum disappoints gardeners by refusing to bloom. Why? There may be several reasons:

  1. Most often, the plant does not throw out a peduncle due to exhaustion of the bulb. Hippeastrum requires a significant amount of nutrients for flowering. It is not surprising that the soil in the pot quickly becomes depleted. To avoid such problems, it is necessary to fertilize regularly and in sufficient quantities.
  2. A plant affected by pests (spider mites, scale insects or scale insects) tries to fight them and does not have the strength to flower.
  3. Hippeastrum does not bloom even when the bulb rots, which occurs due to waterlogging of the soil.

To admire the blooming hippeastrum year after year, you should not allow such situations. It is also useful to know some tricks of experienced gardeners to ensure 100% flowering of this plant:

  • treating the bulb before planting with hot (43–45 ºC) water for three hours will cause the plant to bloom in three weeks;
  • if you stop watering in August, move the plant to a dark, dry place and keep it there until the end of January, and then resume watering, the flowers will delight you in 1.5 months;
  • If you cut off all the leaves in July and do not water the hippeastrum for a month, and introduce a liquid complex fertilizer with the first watering, the flowers will bloom in August or September.

To avoid burning the roots, fertilizer should be applied only after preliminary moistening of the soil.

Immediately after flowering, it is necessary to cut off the withered peduncle, continuing to water and fertilize. And prepare the plant for proper rest (rest period). The next flowering directly depends on this.

Rest period

The natural dormant period of the hippeastrum lasts quite a long time: from September to January. If your plant grew outdoors in the summer, by the beginning of autumn it must be brought into the house and gradually reduce watering until the leaves completely stop and dry out. You can trim off the yellowed leaves yourself, from which the bulb has already taken nutrients.

The quality of the next flowering depends on the dormant period

After this, you should place (or place the pot with the plant on its side) in a dark and cool (5–12 ° C) room. Many gardeners keep them at a higher temperature - about 17–18 °C. The soil must be lightly moistened once every 2–3 weeks to prevent the roots from drying out. It is not recommended to wet or spray the bulb.

The dormant period should last 1.5–3 months, depending on the planned time of subsequent flowering of the plant. During this time, the hippeastrum does not “show signs of life.” The development of leaves and peduncles occurs only inside the bulb.

After the rest period, it is time for the hippeastrum to wake up. Leaves and flower stalks appear on the surface of the bulb.

Simultaneous appearance of leaves and peduncle

Problems waking up after wintering

If the bulb does not wake up, you can, of course, be patient and wait for it to awaken on its own. But, as a rule, a “late” bulb will not produce full flowering.

In this case, it is worth remembering in what state the plant “retired”. After all, the peduncle is formed in the axil of every fourth leaf. If last year the green mass was not sufficiently expanded, the bulb will be weakened.

And if there were fewer than four leaves, then the hippeastrum will probably refuse to bloom in the new season. Dry content can hardly help here. It is necessary to provide a very warm temperature, actively water and feed.

Care errors and their correction

Caring for hippeastrum is not very difficult, but it is necessary to follow the rules of watering, fertilizing and lighting at different periods of the plant’s life cycle.

Common mistakes in caring for hippeastrum - table

Care errors Their manifestation Fixes
No rest period (air temperature above 18°C, regular watering and/or fertilizing)Lack of flower bud formation and, as a result, flowering.Follow the described rules for watering and fertilizing, maintain a temperature regime corresponding to each stage of the plant’s life cycle.
Low air temperature (below 17°C) during flowering
Poor lighting during active growth
Violation of the rules of watering and fertilizing (lack of it)
OverwateringAbrupt cessation of growth, rotting of the bulb, development of pests in the soil.Dig it up, free it from the soil, remove damaged parts of the plant if necessary, and replant it in clean soil.
Keeping at low temperature or dampDarkening or blackening of flowers.Cut off damaged flowers, move the plant to a warm, dry place and maintain optimal growing conditions.
Insufficient feeding with potassium fertilizers or keeping them in too dry a room during the growing seasonBrowning of leaf tips.Feed with mineral fertilizer containing macro- and microelements and fertilize in accordance with the phase of plant development, humidify the air.
Lighting too brightFading flowers.Provide diffuse lighting, avoiding direct sunlight.

Diseases and pests of hippeastrum

Hippeastrum is not too susceptible to disease. It is most often affected by red burn (red burn fungus or stagonosporosis), red rot and downy mildew. Some pests can also bother this plant: spider mites, scale insects, aphids, and scale insects. You can determine what ails a plant by its appearance.

The main diseases and pests of hippeastrum and methods of combating them - table

Diseases and pests Causes External signsplant damage Consequences Prevention and treatment measures
Red burn (red burn fungus or stagonospora) Fungal infectious disease.
Ripe spores are carried by the wind, infecting healthy plants.
Red oblong spots on all parts of the plant.Severe damage leads to curvature and wilting of leaves and peduncles, disease of daughter bulbsFor minor damage, it is enough to spray the affected areas with fungicides. The effect of this procedure lasts up to a month.
The most effective products contain copper: copper sulfate, Hom, AbigaPik, Celeste Topa suspension concentrate.
You can also use drugs such as Maxim and Rovral, Skor, Vitaros, Previkur, Ordan, Fundazol, Topaz.
Bulbs with significant damage should be dug up and all diseased areas should be removed, including the roots and peduncle (in a flowering plant).
Only immediate treatment gives a positive result. Do not leave a sick plant for a period of rest.
Several effective ways to process bulbs:
  1. Sprinkle all wounds from removing affected areas with a mixture of chalk and copper sulfate in a ratio of 20:1 and dry the onion for a week. Then plant in renewed sterile soil treated with fungicides.
  2. Soak the bulbs in a solution of the listed preparations and spray the leaves. Some flower growers consider it more effective to lubricate problem areas from which diseased tissues have been cut out with the drug Maxim.

After processing, the bulbs should be dried for at least two days. Plant them in clean soil and ensure daily loosening of the soil until new roots form.
After any treatment, do not water the plants for two hours.
If necessary, re-treat after 2 weeks.

Viral disease.Silvery spots on leaves.Soft leaves, weak, short peduncles or lack thereof.Treat the leaves with a fungicide.
Excessive waterloggingLimp hanging leaves, rot on bulb scales and roots (on the upper scales it may look like red spots, like a red burn).Withering of leaves, absence of flower stalks, and with severe damage - rotting of the root system and death of the plant.
  1. Remove damaged areas, diseased roots, dry the bulb for 7 days, and treat with foundationazole before planting.
  2. Plant in new sterilized soil.
Infection from other plants or through open windows, purchase of an infected bulb.A white cotton-like coating secreted by mobile insects measuring 0.5–1.2 mm.They significantly slow down the development of plants by sucking the juice out of them.
  1. Remove the surface layer of soil and heavily affected leaves.
  2. Clean the plant from visible pests with cotton swabs or swabs soaked in alcohol or cologne.
  3. Treat with special insecticides:
    Aktara, Actellik, Metafos, Fitoverm, Arriva, Permethrin or Fufanon.
  4. Wipe the window sill with alcohol, soapy water or insecticides.
  5. Since pest eggs have an incubation period of 7 days, and insecticides do not affect them, it is necessary to carry out 2-3 repeated treatments with an interval of 1 week.
  6. Inspect the plant periodically.
Shchitovka A small and dangerous pest of indoor plants with a hard shell surface that secretes honeydew (sticky liquid).Creates a favorable environment for the development of various fungal diseases.
Plants stop growing and drop leaves and flowers.
Aphid Dense clusters of sedentary green, gray or orange insects measuring 1–5 mm on young shoots.Sucks the juice out of the plant.
Buds, flowers and leaves lose color and fall off.
Cobwebs on the underside of leaves, woven by an almost invisible mite, 0.1–0.3 mm in size.The leaves and peduncle become covered with “marble” spots, become fragile, twist, turn yellow and fall off.

The most common diseases and pests of hippeastrum in the photo

A bulb affected by a red burn Leaves affected by stagonosporosis Partial damage to the bulb by red rot The root system is almost completely destroyed by red rot Leaves and peduncle affected by downy mildew Abundant spread of mealybug on leaves

Reproduction

Hippeastrums reproduce in two ways: seed and vegetative.

Seed method

The seed method is quite complex and time-consuming. Seeds are formed only 1.5–2 months after flowering. But they do not form on their own. It is necessary to artificially pollinate the pistils and stamens. The grown ovary has the appearance of a large tricuspid box.

Ripening of hippeastrum seeds

Inside the box there are rows of flattened seeds of irregular round shape. They are characterized by a black color with a brown tint and the presence of thin black wings.

Seeds ready for sowing

In spring they are planted in sandy-leaf soil. It is important to consider that freshly harvested seeds have 100% germination. As a rule, only 30% of the total amount of dried seeds germinates. The shoots will please you within 15–5 days.

Sprouted hippeastrum seeds

When the leaves grow to 6–10 cm, they are transplanted into pots with a diameter of 6–7 cm. At this time, the bulb grows.

Grown-up hippeastrum seedlings

The period before the first flowering of young plants of different varieties ranges from two to five years. This method is more acceptable for breeders. Most amateur gardeners consider it costly and ineffective. However, there is no guarantee that the maternal characteristics of the plant will be preserved.

Vegetative method

It is much easier to propagate hippeastrum vegetatively. Several variations of it are practiced.

Reproduction by daughter bulbs

This is natural, and therefore the most optimal and simplest way. Three-year-old bulbs with proper care usually produce 3 children.

Bulb separation

They are separated with a sterile sharp instrument, treating the cuts with crushed coal. Planted in accordance with the rules for planting an adult bulb.

For two years, the newly planted plant is not deprived of foliage and is not put to rest. The growth of the bulb and the formation of a peduncle in it depends on the intensity of leaf growth. With good care, the children will throw out flower stalks in 2–3 years.

Dividing the bulb

Split onion

Division is carried out during the maximum accumulation of nutrients in the bulb - in November.

Division process algorithm:

  1. Remove the top layer of soil, leaving only the bottom of the bulb in the soil.
  2. Remove external dry scales.
  3. Cut off the leaves along with the top of the bulb.
  4. Cut the onion into four equal parts to the surface of the soil.
  5. Insert knitting needles with a diameter of 5–6 cm into the cuts to prevent the parts of the bulb from closing.
  6. Follow all the rules for caring for an adult plant.
  7. When the leaves appear, fertilize and continue fertilizing according to the standard scheme.
  8. Next spring, divide the bulb and plant the parts in separate flowerpots.

You can divide the onion in another way: cut it, leaving a piece of bottom and scales in each part. It is useful to sprinkle the sections with charcoal or activated carbon. Plant the resulting slices in a light peat mixture.

surface planting in light substrate

After 40–50 days, babies appear and need to be planted in pots in the spring.

Attention! When planting, one must not forget about the presence of toxic substances in hippeastrum bulbs and adhere to safety rules.

We have put together for you the most complete collection of tips and secrets for caring for hippeastrum at home. From the article you will learn all the most common difficulties that arise when growing hippeastrum, as well as all the necessary information on watering, lighting and other rules for caring for this flower.

You should pay attention(!) to the fact that hippeastrum is often confused with amaryllis, which can cause certain difficulties. Choose your seedlings carefully to prevent disappointment.

Hippeastrums are very beautiful perennial flowers, numbering more than 90 species. This will allow you to choose plants that suit you and your garden and interior, and satisfy any taste preferences. Hippeastrum will be able to please everyone and decorate a wide variety of flower arrangements.

General information about Hippeastrum

Sometimes this plant is confused with amaryllis - they are indeed close, but not the same. Hippeastrum is a perennial flower that grows from a bulb. Its foliage is linear, growing more than half a meter in length and five in width.

Flowers similar to umbrellas form inflorescences and appear on a high peduncle. After flowering, a box of seeds appears, which have a very high germination rate when fresh.
This plant has features that need to be remembered.

  • varieties whose inflorescences are white or light in color usually produce few high-quality seeds.
  • In summer it is advisable to bury plants in open soil
  • The flowering of hippeastrum lasts only 10 days.
  • To do forcing you need to take only large bulbs.

The following varieties are quite popular: hippeastrum hybrid , charisma , papilio , picoti . The mix is ​​a mixture of different hippeastrum seeds.

Latin – Hippeastrum.

Amaryllis family. Homeland - tropical America. About 75 species are common in nature. Currently, there are a large number of varieties that differ in the shape and color of flowers, all of them are combined into the species Hippeastrum hortorum. This plant has a large bulb, up to 20 cm in diameter, which only goes halfway into the soil.

The belt-shaped leaves are collected in a basal rosette, about 50 cm long. The flowers are collected in groups of 2-4 in an umbrella-shaped inflorescence on a long (up to 1 m) peduncle. The perianths are wide, up to 20 cm in diameter, bell-shaped, in a wide variety of shades: white, pink, red, burgundy, yellow, variegated. It has large stamens with bright yellow anthers. Blooms in February - early March.

Story

Growing amaryllis and hippeastrum in countries with temperate and cold climates became possible only from the end of the 17th century, when active construction of greenhouses began in botanical gardens and private estates. Foreign rarities were brought by sailors, botanists, and plant hunters encouraged by traders. In the 18th century, many students of K. Linnaeus took part in difficult and dangerous expeditions, which sometimes ended tragically. The genus Amaryllis, the predecessor of Hippeastrum, was established in 1737 in the work Hemera plantarum. Botanists previously referred to the plants classified as lilies (Lilium) and lion daffodils (Lilio narcissus).

  • In his description of the garden of the burgomaster of Amsterdam G. Clifford, Linnaeus mentions four species of amaryllis, including A. belladonna, and in the famous book “Species of Plants” (Species plantarum, 1753) he already lists nine species of amaryllis. Later, in the process of botanical research, descriptions of amaryllis from Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil and other countries appeared.
  • In 1821, W. Herbert established a new genus - Hippeastrum. He attributed to him more than 15 American species discovered by himself or published earlier, including some of Linnaeus's amaryllis.
  • Their former names have become synonymous. Later, many hippeastrums were described by other botanists, for example, R. Baker - 25 species, R. Filippi - about 15, H. Moore - more than 10. Now there are descriptions of about 80 species of hippeastrum and one type of amaryllis.

Hippeastrum did not receive its modern name immediately after Herbert described this genus. For a very long time, confusion and confusion reigned in the taxonomy of these plants. True, some species, previously called amaryllis, were classified as hippeastrum, others “migrated” to neighboring, close genera.

Hippeastrum flower - features

Hippeastrum flowers are bulbous perennials. The round, sometimes conical bulb of the hippeastrum consists of a short thick stem and closed scales. The size of the bulbs, depending on the type, ranges from 5 cm to 10 cm in diameter. At the base (bottom) of the bulb there is a bunch of cord-like roots.

  • The leaves of hippeastrum are linear, grooved on the surface, keeled below, 50-70 cm long, 4-5 cm wide, arranged in two opposite rows. Some varieties may have purple leaves, but they are mostly green.
  • An umbrella-shaped inflorescence of 2-6 bisexual flowers 13-15 cm in length and up to 25 cm in diameter is formed on a cylindrical, hollow, leafless peduncle 35-80 cm high.
  • The flowers, funnel-shaped or tubular, are located on long petioles; the color of the flowers is very different: dark red, bright red, orange, pink, white, etc.
  • The fruit is a tricuspid capsule, spherical or angular, in which small hippeastrum seeds ripen. The germination rate of freshly harvested seeds is almost one hundred percent.


Homemade hippeastrum has several features that must be taken into account if you decide to grow it:

  • – varieties with light and white flowers produce few full-fledged seeds;
  • – in the summer, hippeastrum is best kept in the garden, buried in the ground;
  • – the timing of the flowering of hippeastrum can be adjusted by timing it to certain dates - this is very convenient, considering that a blooming hippeastrum is a wonderful gift that replaces an expensive, exquisite bouquet;
  • – each hippeastrum flower blooms for only ten days;
  • – for forcing you need to use only large bulbs, which have accumulated a large supply of nutrients.

Home phytodesign of the highest class

The hippeastrum flower can be used to decorate any room, but it looks most impressive in the living room, hall, office, and dining room. It is best to place the composition in the center of the room, on tables, or special flower stands. In this case, it is advisable to decorate the flowerpot. This flower is quite beautiful when cut and in various compositions. Amaryllis and hippeastrum are plants with which not every indoor flower can compare in terms of expressiveness and attractiveness. To enhance the impression of its beautiful creation, experts recommend using not one plant, but several. It is recommended to combine them into a luxurious ensemble. These flowers look unusual in the interior of an apartment due to their catchy and sophisticated beauty.

When composing floral masterpieces, you must also remember that homemade hippeastrum stimulates performance. Therefore, it is often recommended to place pots with this plant in offices, home offices, and libraries.

Exhaustion

Stimulating energy allows you to maintain the necessary mental balance and promotes making the right decisions. It is this property that imposes the following growing condition: during flowering, the pet is exhausted, it needs regular rest, and it is impossible to stimulate the release of buds all year round.

Hippeastrum is a beautiful homemade creature that is distinguished by large, attractive, bright flowers. It is not so whimsical in cultivation, although it requires compliance with some simple rules. It starts to hurt when care is significantly disrupted. Hippeastrum is often used in phytodesign, allowing you to create unusual, stylish compositions.

Hippeastrum care at home

To grow hippeastrum, you need to choose a place for it with a lot of light, but the rays should not fall directly on it - the light needs to be diffused, but bright.

  • During the growing season, the temperature should not be lower than twenty degrees, but not higher than twenty-five.
  • Hippeastrum is an indoor plant, light-loving, but does not tolerate direct sunlight.
  • During the growth period, hippeastrum can withstand any room temperature, but temperatures above 20 degrees are considered comfortable for rich flowering.
  • The soil in the pot and the presence or absence of fertilizing are of little concern to him: during the flowering period, he spends the energy collected in the bulb over the past season.
  • When forcing a peduncle in water or an inert substrate, this should be taken into account.

The dormant period of the flower is very pronounced: in August-September the leaves stop growing and completely die off, and in October-January a new arrow appears.

Bulb selection, planting, transplanting

When choosing hippeastrum bulbs, take the matter seriously. Carefully inspect each bulb. They should be smooth, heavy, with dry scales of a brown-golden color, with good living roots.

  • When buying hippeastrum in a pot, already with leaves, pay attention to its appearance. A healthy plant has leaves that are bright green, shiny, and adhere well to their bases.. In the weak and sick - drooping and dull.
  • If the bulb has a red border and a dotted pattern, these are signs of a fungal disease(red burn or red rot). It is better to refrain from such a purchase: the plant will have to be treated for a long time.
  • The next step is planting. Hippeastrums grow in any garden soil. But maximum decorativeness can be achieved if the soil composition is as follows: turf soil, humus, peat in a ratio of 1:2:1 with the addition of wood ash and bone meal. The latter can be replaced with double superphosphate (2 tsp per 1 liter container). Phosphorus provides plants with lush flowering.

The pot for hippeastrum should not be too large: the distance between its walls and the bulb is the thickness of a finger. Otherwise, the flower will grow a root system, lush leaves, have children, and refuse to bloom. But at the same time, the container must be quite stable, since this plant is large, and the flowers of some varieties reach 20–22 cm in diameter. They are especially heavy in terry forms. And when planting, the bulb is buried 1/2 of the height, that is, it is half visible from the pot.


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Care during the rest period

Keeping hippeastrum during the dormant period requires low temperature (+10 degrees), darkness and dryness, but not a basement. Trim off all yellowed and dried leaves. Around December - early January, we take the pot with hippeastrum out of the darkness and place it on a shady windowsill. When the peduncle hatches and grows to 10 centimeters, we move it to the illuminated side.

By the way, it is quite possible to grow hippeastrum without a dormant period. To do this, just keep it in a sunny place and water it as needed. With this care, it will bloom either in March-May or in October-November.

Alternate flowering with rest

Hippeastrum loves systematic care. A dormant period is required; without it, flowering simply will not occur. After the first buds appear, the temperature must be maintained at +18°C. If conditions permit, it is better to take the pot out onto the balcony, where your pet will have enough light and fresh air. As it grows, it is recommended to increase watering, but do not flood the soil.

Hippeastrum at home begins to be fed closer to summer every two weeks. From the middle of the summer season, you can use potash fertilizers to lay the conditions for flowering next year.

Once the plant has flowered, it is recommended to provide it with rest so that it can gain strength until next year. In winter, the temperature should be around 12°C, the bulbs are best kept in a dry room, no watering is required. Exact compliance with the conditions will ensure bright flowering next season.

Rest period

The resting period of hippeastrum is from September to January. If your plant spent the summer holidays in the yard, then by the beginning of autumn it’s time to bring it into the house. At the same time, they begin to gradually reduce watering, as a result of which the leaves of the plant dry out. After complete drying, the leaves fall off on their own, and the stem is cut off, the plant is transferred to a dry and dark room, the pot is placed on its side and stored at a temperature of 6-12 ºC without watering for 6 to 8 weeks until it is time for the hippeastrum to wake up.

From the beginning of autumn until January, the flower begins a dormant period.

  • At this time, watering should be gradually reduced. This will cause the foliage on the plant to dry out and fall off. After this, the shoot will need to be cut off, and the hippeastrum itself will need to be kept in a dark and dry place where the temperature will be about 10 degrees. There is no need to water. The plant will remain in this state for about six to seven weeks, and then awaken.
  • Hippeastrum needs a period of rest in order to bloom annually. It usually lasts from late summer to late October. When preparing hippeastrum for the dormant period from the end of summer, you need to limit watering and fertilizing. In many hippeastrums, the leaves die off completely.
  • Hippeastrum, if desired, can be grown without a pronounced dormant period. Then it should be kept all year round on a bright, sunny window in a warm room, watered with warm water as the soil dries out, preferably in a tray. With this care, hippeastrum can bloom in the fall in October - November or in the spring in March - May. The dark green leaves of hippeastrum remain healthy throughout the year and do not lose their beauty.

Summer flower maintenance

In summer, if desired, hippeastrum can be planted in open ground. In open ground, hippeastrum blooms better, the bulb quickly increases in size and produces many daughter bulbs. In autumn, with the onset of cold weather, hippeastrum is brought into the house.

Hippeastrum after flowering.

As soon as flowering is over, the plant needs to be prepared for rest, because the quality and timeliness of the next flowering directly depends on how correctly you prepare the hippeastrum for the rest period.

From mid-September, watering stops completely, and after the leaves fall and the wilted peduncle is trimmed, the plant is placed in a dark, dry room with a low temperature, where the hippeastrum will remain until the end of January or beginning of February. Then the pot with the bulb is placed in a well-lit place, watering and fertilizing are resumed, and the next period of active growth of the hippeastrum begins.

Dishes.

Narrow and tall pots are better suited for growing hippeastrum, because in addition to the bulb, hippeastrum also has roots that are quite long and during the dormant period they do not die off, but continue to feed the bulb.

You also need to observe the planting depth of the hippeastrum. The bulb should rise from the ground by one third. And don’t try to fill the pot too much with soil; it’s better to wait until it settles on its own and add soil to the desired height. Pots should not be too wide in size; it is enough if the distance between the wall of the pot and the bulb is only 2-3 cm. In too wide a container, hippeastrum may not bloom for a long time.

Earth mixture:

turf soil, peat, sand, humus in a ratio of 2:1:1:1. The soil mixture for hippeastrums must be nutritious, water- and breathable with a neutral or alkaline pH reaction of the soil. Also do not forget about the drainage layer. Also, when transplanting hippeastrum, you can use ready-made purchased soil for bulbous plants.

Lighting.

Hippeastrum is a light-loving plant, so it is advisable to keep it on south-west, south or south-east windows. The light can be either direct sunlight or bright diffused light. Hippeastrum hybrids that lose leaves during the dormant period can be moved to a cooler, darker place with the hippeastrum bulb.

Air temperature.

Hippeastrum grows well at room temperature. In summer, the usual room temperature is +20 +25 C. In winter, the air temperature may be slightly lower.

Watering and fertilizing

Watering the plant during the growth period of green mass is minimal, but it must be increased little by little before flowering begins. Before flowering begins, watering should be done abundantly, but only so that the ground is not wet.

  • You can use only settled, not cold water for the procedure. You need to water so that the liquid does not get on the bulb.
  • At the end of flowering, you should begin to reduce watering and later stop it altogether.
  • For hygienic purposes, the leaves of the hippeastrum should be wiped with a damp cloth from time to time. When the peduncle reaches 15 cm in height, you should water the ground with a manganese solution.

And after five days, fertilize the flower with phosphorus fertilizer. In general, fertilizing during the growing season should be done every 15 days with a product for deciduous plants. With the appearance of foliage, products for flowering plants are used.

Proper watering

During the period of active growth and vigorous flowering of the plant, watering should be strong and plentiful, after the soil in the pot dries out. But gradually, as the dormant period of the hippeastrum approaches, the amount of water must be reduced, and after all the leaves have died off, it must be stopped completely. It is only permissible to add a small amount of water to the tray of the pot to maintain the viability of the rhizome.

  • The soil should feel dry during the dormant flowering period, as excess moisture can trigger the growth of a new leaf, which will subsequently harm the hippeastrum flowers. After the new peduncle begins to grow, we begin to water again, but little by little.
  • At the beginning of winter, in order for the hippeastrum to wake up and come out of the dormant period, it is placed on a bright window. During this period, the hippeastrum has no leaves, it is not watered, otherwise the bulb can easily be destroyed. Until the flower arrow appears, the hippeastrum does not need to be watered.
  • After the peduncle appears and until the flower shoot grows to 7-10 cm, watering the hippeastrum should be weak, otherwise the leaves will begin to grow to the detriment of the flowers. It is better to water in a tray or along the edge of the pot, without getting water on the bulb. As the peduncle grows, watering increases.

After the hippeastrum blooms, the leaves and bulb begin to grow, new flower stalks are laid for the next year, during this period watering should be regular. By the end of summer, watering stops. At this time, the hippeastrum begins a period of rest. The pot with hippeastrum can be placed in a cool place and not watered. If the room temperature is high, you can water it little by little occasionally to prevent the bulb from drying out. Hippeastrum does not need high air humidity, so it does not need air spraying; it prefers dry conditions.

Water procedures

Water the hippeastrum at the beginning of the growing season it is necessary to do it very sparingly, gradually increasing watering only from the moment the peduncle appears - a signal that the plant has begun the growing season. As the flower shoot grows and before flowering begins, watering should become abundant, but nevertheless moderate, so that the soil in the flowerpot is moist and not wet. It is best to water from the bottom or water from a tray, gradually adding warm water until the earthen ball gets wet. Avoid getting water on the bulb. After flowering, watering is also gradually reduced until it stops completely.

When the hippeastrum peduncle reaches 12-15 cm in height, water the soil with a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate, and after 4-6 days feed the plant with phosphorus fertilizer. In general, hippeastrum is fertilized at the beginning of the growing season twice a month with liquid mineral fertilizer for deciduous plants, and after the leaves appear and for better formation of buds - with fertilizers for flowering plants in the same regime. Make sure that the concentration of minerals is not too strong, otherwise, instead of fertilizing the plant, you will burn its roots.

Do not forget to wash the leaves from dust in a warm shower or wipe them regularly with a damp sponge.

Feeding and fertilizers for hippeastrum

You need to start feeding the flower immediately after it has bloomed. This is necessary for the flower to accumulate strength for the next year. During this period, after the end of flowering, large, long leaves grow especially intensively, and they form bulbous scales that lay new flowers in the future.

  • It is better to take the hippeastrum outside until September (the beginning of the quiet period).
  • If you have decided not to send the hippeastrum to a dark place, then during the period of flowering and leaf growth the plant must be fertilized once every 10 days. It is better to do this with a solution of mullein (1 to 10).
  • The first feeding of hippeastrum can be done when the height of the flower shoot is approximately 15 cm.

If the hippeastrum has recently been transplanted and there are enough nutrients in the soil, fertilizing can be done later. When feeding, focus on phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. They promote flowering, accumulation of nutrients in the bulb, and the formation of future flower stalks. But it is better to exclude nitrogen fertilizers, they can provoke gray rot, and the plant can be irretrievably lost.

Transfer

Hippeastrum transplantation is carried out 3-4 years after planting, and then every year. This procedure must be performed before the start of the rest period or immediately after it ends. The pot for replanting should be taken a couple of centimeters larger than the previous one.

The soil for replanting should contain 2 shares of perlite, a share of leaf and turf soil and a share of humus. It is also necessary to put drainage in the container. The flower must be moved by transshipment so that the hippeastrum rhizome is not damaged.

The bulb must be covered with substrate so that a third of it is on the surface.

Immediately after the end of flowering of the hippeastrum, it is necessary to cut off the wilted flowers and plant the onion in a small pot 2/3 in the ground. If the plant is not strong enough, it is recommended to replant it rarely - once every 3 years. The diameter of the pot in which the hippeastrum bulb is placed should be 6-7 centimeters larger than the diameter of the bulb. The composition of the soil for planting is similar to amaryllis soil - leaf and turf soil, sand, peat, humus (1: 1: 1: 1: 1).

Transfer.

Hippeastrum is replanted once every three to four years before the dormant period or before leaving it. It is very important to choose the right pot for the flower: the distance from the bulb to the wall of the pot should not be more than 2 cm. The soil should be approximately the following composition: two parts perlite (or coarse sand), leaf and turf soil and one part humus.

The soil must be sterilized before use. Don't forget about the drainage layer. Planting of hippeastrum is carried out by transshipment in order to cause as little damage as possible to the root system of the plant. The bulb is placed in the ground so that at least a third of it is above the surface.

30-40 days after the end of flowering, the hippeastrum can be replanted. Annual replanting is not at all necessary, but in this case, change the top layer of soil every year, because hippeastrum quickly consumes nutrients from the soil, and this will later affect flowering. You can also replant hippeastrum before it comes out of dormancy, that is, at the end of December.

Bloom

  • And the third method of persuasion: cut off all the leaves of the hippeastrum in July and do not water it for a month, and with the first watering, introduce a liquid complex fertilizer (to avoid burns, first moisten the soil thoroughly, then add fertilizer). In August or September, your hippeastrum will bloom like a darling.
  • To be sure that the hippeastrum will bloom, you can resort to some tricks. Let's say, keep the bulbs in warm water for three hours, the water temperature should be about 44 degrees.
  • You can also stop watering the flower in August by moving it to a dry, warm room. So the hippeastrum should remain until January - at which time it can be watered again.

To help the plant bloom, you can cut off all the foliage in July and stop watering for 30 days. When watering the flower for the first time after a break, add complex fertilizer to the soil.

Which breeding method should I choose?

Hippeastrum indoors reproduces in various ways, usually no difficulties arise. The most difficult thing is to use seeds, since to obtain them it is necessary to ensure artificial pollination of the flower. This method is not recommended for use in the absence of experience. In addition, the first flowering after planting the seeds occurs only after 2-3 years.

Simple methods of propagation, which are accessible even to beginners, are dividing the bulbs and vegetative propagation by children. The plant can have children at any time of the year, their number depends on what variety is grown and what conditions are met.

Children are separated during transplantation. They must be carefully cut or broken off, after which all sections are sprinkled with crushed coal. The pots are taken small so that the distance between the wall and the bulb (baby) is only 2-3 cm. Dutch varieties are propagated using scales, since the number of children is minimal. The question of how to care for hippeastrum at this time is easily resolved. The soil is taken as for an adult plant; no special conditions need to be created.

propagation by seeds

Hippeastrum can be propagated using seeds or vegetatively.

You need to sow the seeds as soon as you collect them, since fresh seeds germinate very well. If you allow the material to dry out, its germination rate will immediately drop significantly. There are no special requirements for the sowing process - the seeds just need to be placed in the soil.

Hippeastrum can also be propagated by seeds, but to obtain them, flowers will need to be forcibly pollinated, and the seedling rarely blooms in the first two years and does not retain maternal characteristics.

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Children

The easiest way to propagate this flower is by propagation by children. However, gardeners are increasingly practicing dividing the bulb. For successful separation, you need a good, strong onion, which should be cut in half so that each part has an equal piece of scales and bottom left. Sprinkle fresh onion cut with charcoal or activated carbon, and then plant the slices in a light peat mixture. In about 1.5-2 months, new babies will appear. Plant them in new pots when spring arrives.

By dividing the bulb

But it is better to use the vegetative method for propagation.

  • When replanting, you just need to take the children from the bulb and plant them, having previously powdered them with charcoal.
  • And another vegetative method is dividing the bulb.
  • At the end of autumn, you need to dig up the bulb, remove dry scales from it and make 4 vertical cuts. A knitting needle (not an iron one) is pushed into each lobe.

The bulb is looked after like an adult hippeastrum. When the leaves appear, you need to start fertilizing the plant. Next spring it will be possible to divide the material and plant it in separate containers.

How else to increase the number of plants

Hippeastrum is easily propagated by daughter bulbs that are completely identical to the mother plant. Children more than two centimeters are separated from the main bulb during transplantation. Young plants bloom in 2-3 years.

But what to do if some varietal hippeastrums do not produce children? In this case, hippeastrum can be propagated as follows: cut a healthy hippeastrum bulb into two to four parts with a clean and sharp knife so that each lobe has a part of the bottom. Carefully treat the onion sections with crushed coal and dry for two to three days. After the cut dries, each share can be added to a mixture of sand and peat or perlite. There is no need to bury such an onion; it should simply lie with its bottom on the surface of the earthen mixture.

But you can not completely cut the hippeastrum bulb to the end, but just make deep cuts so that the bulb is divided into two or four parts, but does not fall apart completely. The sections are treated in the same way with crushed coal and also dried for two to three days. After which the bulb is simply placed on an earthen mixture of sand and peat or perlite. Watering of such bulbs is carried out only through a tray. After some time, babies appear at the base of the cut onion.

Other methods

Hippeastrum can be pollinated and propagated by seeds. In this case, sometimes a completely unpredictable result is obtained (so to speak, the breeder is his own breeder).

  • After pollination of the hippeastrum, a seed box is formed on the peduncle.
  • In this case, there is no need to remove the peduncle; wait until the seeds ripen.
  • But remember that such a procedure can greatly weaken the bulb, which will again affect flowering in the future: the flowers will be smaller, or the plant will not bloom at all.
  • It is good to carry out experiments with hippeastrum seeds in open ground, where bees fly and the bulb will gain nutrients from the ground while the seeds are ripening.

Hippeastrum seeds are sown immediately after collection, otherwise they quickly lose their viability. Planting of seeds to a depth of one centimeter, seedlings appear in two to three weeks. Hippeastrum seedlings are light-loving, so place them in a bright place. To help small hippeastrums grow better, you can feed them with a weak solution of liquid mineral fertilizers. Young hippeastrums do not need a rest period.

Reproduction

Hippeastrums reproduce by seed and vegetative methods. It is better to sow seeds immediately after collecting them, while they have 100% germination. If you allow the seeds to dry out, then the ability to germinate becomes only thirty percent. Actually, sowing seeds is a simple, routine procedure, so there is no point in talking about it, especially since the seed method can only be used if there are seeds, and they can appear if you artificially pollinate the flower.

It is much easier to reproduce vegetatively, namely, by separating the hippeastrum babies from the mother bulb. This is done during transplantation. Separating the baby with a sterile sharp instrument, treating the cuts on it with crushed coal, we plant it in a separate pot and do not deprive the young plant of foliage for two years, even during the dormant period.

There is another way of vegetative propagation of hippeastrum - by dividing the bulb. It is carried out in November, when the bulb contains the maximum amount of nutrients. Remove the top layer of substrate so that only the lower part of the bulb remains in the soil. Remove outer dry scales.

Cut off the leaves, taking some of the top of the bulb. Cut the onion vertically into four equal parts so that the cuts reach the surface of the substrate; vertically insert plastic or wooden knitting needles with a diameter of 5-6 cm into the cuts so that the parts of the onion do not overlap.

Care for the bulb as you would an adult plant, avoiding allowing the substrate to dry out. As soon as the leaves appear, fertilize and continue fertilizing as usual. Next spring, divide the bulb and plant the parts in individual flowerpots.

Growing difficulties

The most common problems in growing hippeastrum are red rot, downy mildew and red burn fungus. And, of course, the above-mentioned pests - scale insects, aphids, scale insects and spider mites, which are destroyed with special insecticides.

  • You can determine what the plant is sick with by how the hippeastrum looks. If there are red spots on the leaves and the bulb, then it is a fungal burn, if the white coating is powdery mildew, and if the leaves hang limply and rot is visible on the scales of the bulb, then this is rot.
  • If there are signs of rot, all affected areas should be removed, diseased roots should be dried, the bulb should be dried, and immediately before planting in a new sterile substrate, the bulb should be treated with foundationazole. Powdery mildew is treated with special commercially available preparations.

And the red burn is eliminated by removing the bulb from the ground and cutting out all the lesions to healthy tissue. Then the wounds are sprinkled with a mixture of chalk and copper sulfate in a ratio of 20:1 and the bulb is dried for a week, after which it is planted in a fresh substrate, pre-treated with fungicides.

Diseases and pests

Various problems can arise with hippeastrum.


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Pests.

The main pests of hippeastrum are spider mites, mealybugs, scale insects, and onion mites. Pests visible to the naked eye can be removed manually with a sponge or cotton wool soaked in an alcohol solution, after which the plant is repeatedly treated with a solution of Actellik, Fitoverm or Karbofos.

When planting in open ground, do not plant hippeastrum next to other bulbous plants, such as lilies, otherwise hippeastrum may be damaged by onion mites. The bottom of the bulb begins to rot and gradually the entire bulb rots.

Diseases.

One of the most dangerous diseases of hippeastrum is red bulb burn, or staganosporosis. At the first detection of red stains and dots on the hippeastrum bulb, without regret, cut out all foci of infection to healthy tissue. Trim off any affected leaves and dead roots. All sections and the bulb itself must be treated with phytosporin, foundationol, and Maxim.

Dry the treated hippeastrum bulb for a week and see if new foci of infection appear. If everything went well, then plant the hippeastrum bulb in a new pot and a new substrate. At first, minimal watering and only in a tray with solutions of phytosporin and foundation to ensure disinfection. In this case, planting the bulb should be as high as possible, this will allow you to control the condition of the bulb. If everything goes well, then the soil can then be filled to the desired height. The main thing is to preserve the onion.

In addition to the red burn, hippeastrum can be affected by anthracnose and fusarium. Treatment is almost the same as for a red burn: removal of damaged tissue, repeated treatments with phytosporin, foundationazole, Maxim.

Remember, diseases appear from an incorrectly selected soil mixture, excess nitrogen fertilizers, improper watering (too much, or water got into the middle of the bulb), from lack of light. If the keeping conditions are chosen correctly, then the hippeastrum will delight you with its flowering for a long time.

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Problems during cultivation: how to eliminate them?

Hippeastrum, planting and caring for which is not so difficult, may lose its decorative appearance if the necessary conditions are not met. The most common problems are:

Red rot

It attacks bulbs and is considered a frequent visitor. The leaves become lethargic, and traces of rot appear on the bulb and its scales. What to do in this case? At the first signs of infection, you must immediately remove all affected areas, carefully cut out diseased areas to healthy tissue, and remove all dead roots.

The bulb should be dried (5-7 days is enough); before planting, experts recommend treating it with foundationazole. After this, the hippeastrum is planted in a new substrate so that most of the bulb remains above the surface. Only the roots and the bottom of the bulb remain in the soil. This will make it easier to observe the plant at first.

Downy mildew

appears when the humidity is too high and there is no ventilation. If you find signs of the disease, then you need to treat the plant with any specialized remedy for powdery mildew (you can buy it in flower shops). The conditions of detention also need to be changed.

Red fungal burn

– one of the most common diseases. It appears in the form of red spots on the leaves and bulb.

  • Treatment should be started immediately, as the plant may die.
  • The bulb must be removed from the soil, cleaned of diseased and dry scales, and all lesions cut out.
  • The wounds should be sprinkled with a mixture of chalk (twenty parts) and copper sulfate (one part).

After this, the onion is dried for about a week, then planted in fresh soil. It is recommended to steam the substrate; it can be additionally treated with fungicides. Planting is done so that the bottom and roots of the onion remain in the soil.

Doesn't bloom

It also happens that hippeastrum does not begin to bloom at home. This happens for various reasons: excessive watering or lack of water, the bulbs are too small. Change the growing conditions, try periodically applying special fertilizers. The lack of flowering is also the result of the fact that your pet did not enter a state of rest.

Among the pests, it is necessary to note such as spider mites, thrips, and aphids. They are easy to detect; treatment is treatment with special preparations.

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If it doesn’t bloom, then why?

Sometimes this happens due to a lack of nutrients, because the hippeastrum plant is a gluttonous plant, and there is very little soil in the pot, so it is quickly depleted. For this reason, fertilizing should be sufficient and regular, as should watering. And it happens that a plant throws all its energy into fighting pests, such as spider mites, scale insects, and then it has no time for flowering. Hippeastrum does not bloom even when the soil is waterlogged and the bulb begins to rot.

In the Amaryllidaceae family, the genus Hippeastrum alone has about 90 species. The most popular flower is valued by gardeners for its stunningly beautiful and high-rising inflorescence. However, it is difficult to achieve such a result, because the tropical lord of the flora world is finicky and requires special treatment. Let's figure out together how to properly care for hippeastrums so that they reciprocate.

Types and classification

Landing

If you bought an already blooming hippeastrum, then you need to prepare a new pot, fill in the drainage, add the required amount of soil (a universal mixture for ornamental house plants), and transfer the plant there from the container for sale. Make sure that the roots are not damaged.

Hippeastrum bulbs are acquired in the autumn-winter period, when the plant is dormant. Before planting in the ground in spring, the bulb must be soaked in warm water for 2-3 hours (this is how the plant is forced). Then it should be planted so that almost half of the bulb is above the ground.

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