Hyacinth - A very popular bulbous plant for distillation at home. It is quite unpretentious, but still you have to follow some rules to get these fragrant flowers in early spring.
In order to grow hyacinths at home by the arrival of early heat, you will need the following:
- bulbs;
- containers, best flat low pots;
- drainage;
- peat and sand for soil;
- material for the roof.
Translated from the Greek Hyacinthus means a flower of rains. Biologists consider Asia and North Africa to be the true birthplace of the plant. However, at present, the Netherlands has become a hyacinth paradise, from where millions of varietal bulbs are sent every year, and specifically from the city of Haarlem, all over the world.
To successfully carry out the forcing of hyacinths, it is necessary to adhere to a certain algorithm of actions.
Selection of planting material
One of the main conditions for distillation is the selection of suitable bulbs. They should be large, fully ripe, with a dense structure and heavy. You should also check them for various diseases or mechanical damage.
Choosing the right tank for planting and soil preparation
Almost any fairly flat container is suitable for landing. It can be a box or a pot, the main thing is that it has a drainage hole. The dishes should not be deep, but large in diameter.
You should also take care of compiling a suitable substrate for this plant. Optimum will be a material composed of peat and sand in a ratio of 3: 1.
Bulb planting
Immediately before planting the bulbs in the prepared substrate, it is necessary to lay the drainage layer on the bottom of the tank, and then sprinkle it with sand. And after that fill with soil.
Bulbs are planted at a distance of about 3 cm from each other. They should not touch each other or the walls of the tank.
After the landing of all the material, it must be sprinkled with the remains of the substrate so that the tops are visible above the ground for several centimeters. Next, a little tamping of the soil around the bulbs, and if necessary, add a little more. It is advisable to sprinkle the soil with a small layer of sand in order to prevent decay of hyacinths during the forcing period. After planting, the material is watered.
In eastern countries, hyacinths were called Curls of Huria. According to legend, the girls curled their hair, watching the flowering of this plant. The Persian poet Firdousi compared the petals of hyacinth with the locks of beauties.
Cooling process
After planting, the containers with flowers should be covered with prepared material in the form of a roof. To do this, plastic dark bags, paper caps or cut plastic eggplants may be suitable. The main condition is the availability of ventilation holes.
After the manipulations have been done, the pots or boxes with bulbs are removed in a dark, cold place for a period of 10 to 12 weeks. Watering is done periodically as the earth dries. Both overdrying and overflow are unacceptable.
After about 2 months, the first shoots appear. After this moment, the flowers begin their active growth. Now they should be removed from the cold, but the room temperature should not be higher than + 18 ° C. After a few weeks, properly-driven plants will begin to bloom.
Disembarkation time
In order to get flowering plants by a certain date, it is necessary to correctly calculate the time of planting. You need to know that from planting to flowering, about 2.5-3 months pass.
Possible problems
One of the most common problems in hyacinths is a rare spike. This feature not only worsens the appearance of the flower, but also shortens the flowering period. There are several reasons for this phenomenon:
- Young bulbs. Most often they sell planting material suitable for planting directly in open ground or for subsequent growing. Such specimens do not give lush, abundant flowering. And plants intended for distillation have large bulbs, often 2 times larger than those that are intended immediately for planting in the garden.
- Resort. This problem is often encountered when buying flowers at reduced prices, when instead of varietal bulbs, unscrupulous sellers sell species plants that have much worse characteristics.
Of course, it’s not difficult to buy flowering hyacinths in pots now, even starting in November, and in the spring there are a lot of them for sale. However, plants of really good quality, alas, are not found very often. A much longer and lush flowering can be achieved by growing a flower on your own, having previously performed forcing manipulations. At the same time, it is worth observing a number of simple rules and everything will surely work out.
