Balsam has long been known in the circles of florists and florists. Someone calls him touchy, someone wet Vanka. But this beautiful plant has many hybrids with its name and unique flowering. The flower will decorate not only the garden, but also the windowsill of the city apartment. One of such universal, brightly flowering representatives of balsam is balsam Tom Tamb.
Appearance and features of balsamins
The culture is represented by a wide range of varieties. Flowering color from pink to purplish red. Flowers can differ in a different degree of terry or be with smooth petals. The bushes are small and elegant, up to half a meter in diameter. The plant has a strong, dense stem, dotted with fleshy foliage, wavy along the edge, with a red tint. Flowering is plentiful and long. In an apartment, balsam can bloom year-round, in open ground - from the beginning of summer to frost.
Balsam Tom Tamb - a beautiful plant with a unique flowering
It is interesting! Exotic dwarf balsam, blooming, forms a green seed box. Over time, it dries up and, with a light touch of the hand, cracks, firing seeds within a radius of two meters.
Varieties of Balsam Tom Tamb Series
The plant has several varieties. The most popular varieties:
- Two-tone - an annual culture, has a pink hue with white stains (hence the name). Planted in early spring and blooms in early summer. It blooms until September.
- White - shady exotic bush with double white flowers.
- Purple balsam Tom Tam is an elegant annual plant up to 20 cm high. Its difference from other varieties in the abundant flowering of purple terry buds that densely dot the bush.
- Pink - the variety grows to 40 cm and is considered the highest of the series. Blossoms in pink flowers to frost.
- Salmon is a small bush with dense foliage and with double pink flowers, which is more often grown in apartments than in summer cottages.
- Scarlet is a culture with purple terry flowers that prefers shady patches.
Balsam has several varieties
How to grow from seed
Growing Tom Tamb from balsam seeds at home is a simple matter. The main thing is to follow the process exactly, and lush flowering will not take long. Planting is done in the spring in containers. Procedure:
- Seeds are laid out at a distance of 20 cm from others, sprinkled with a mixture of soil and peat.
- The earth is moistened and covered with a film. The greenhouse is regularly aired.
- After the appearance of the first shoots, airing is quickened.
- After growth of 1 cm, the seedlings are transferred to separate containers.
- As soon as the plant begins to cluster, pinch the top sheet.
- When the land warms up on the site, the seedlings are transferred by trans-shipment to open ground with good lighting.
Important! The soil for seedlings should have low acidity, consist of peat, sand and garden soil without adding fertilizers.
You can collect the seeds yourself or buy in a store, in any case, the seed germination is high. Before planting, they must be kept in potassium permanganate and dried.
Growing from seeds at home
Balsam Care Tom Tamb
In care, Tom Thumb balsam is not a moody plant, if you follow the rules of agricultural technology. Watering should be carried out abundantly and strictly under the bushes. It is important to avoid getting water on the buds. In hot weather, spraying of leaves is welcome. Water should be at room temperature.
Top dressing is carried out 2 times a month exclusively by the root method during evening watering. Fertilizers for indoor plants with a high content of phosphorus and potassium are suitable for balsam.
Diseases, pests and their control
The main enemies of culture are spider mites, aphids, whiteflies and improper care. Save balsamine will help store insecticides and compliance with agricultural regulations.
Growing balsam Tom Samb is not difficult. You just need to make a little effort, and it will become an adornment of a house, flower bed, garden or summer house.
