Ixia: planting and caring for an exotic flower

Professionals and amateur flower growers make a lot of efforts to create bright, and most importantly - constantly blooming flower beds.

To do this, combine all kinds of flower crops, different in terms of flowering, height of peduncles and brightly contrasting or harmonizing in color with each other.

All this variety is planted so that the withering inhabitants of the flowerbeds are replaced by newly blooming plants. And in solving this task, a beautiful flower will help a florist, Ixia comes from a tropical forest.

This is a wonderful tropical perennial that can bloom in the conditions of the southern countries year-round. In this article we will look at how this beautiful flower can be grown in the conditions of central Russia, how to care for it and how to propagate it.

Types and varieties

Ixia is a South African ornamental perennial plant, abundantly flowering, with a variety of colors.Half-meter thin stem ends in inflorescence in the form of an ear, consisting of many small flowers.

Flower petals are painted in warm colors: yellow, white, pink, orange, sand, the whole range of red. Ixia begins to bloom en masse closer to the middle of summer: the second decade of July and the whole of August. Flowering lasts for a month, then the flowers wither, fall, seed boxes form in their place. The plant, like a real inhabitant of the south, loves the sun. It is in hot, sunny weather that the flowering of a tropical perennial is most spectacular.

Perennial is a good honey plant and attracts bees and other pollinating insects with a pleasant scent. In our climatic conditions, the plant is grown in annual crops.

Currently, there are a little over 20 species of this exotic perennial in its natural habitat. On the basis of these species, breeders bred dozens of varieties and hybrids of ixia. Flower growers loved these varieties:

• Ixia Hymenocallis festalis - The plant has a high stem (up to 70 cm), covered with snow-white flowers with elegant curved petals. A beautiful flower has a fragrant, slightly tart aroma.

• Ixia green flowers - This African exotic blooms very early (in the first decade of July). The inflorescence consists of many small flowers of light green and light green in the form of flat stars. The inflorescence spikelet blooms magnificently and spectacularly for 25-35 days. The height of the main peduncle is 45-50 centimeters.

• Ixia Hybrid - the most decorative of all types of this perennial. Through the efforts of breeders, there are hybrid varieties with purple, blue flowers - which you will never see in nature. But there are many new species with a more familiar color of petals: white, yellow, orange and pink. The height of such artificially bred plants usually ranges from 30-50 cm.

• Ixia is spotted - exotic, having elongated fleshy lanceolate leaves, growing at the base of the ear of the inflorescence and an unusual spotty color of the flowers that make up the flower spikelet. The flowers themselves have rounded dark petals with a light edging around the edge. Spike inflorescence reaches a height of 50-55 cm.

• Ixia Orange - practically the smallest representative of this family. Lilliput plant does not grow above 20 centimeters, but small growth is compensated by excellent abundant blooms. Low ixia candles are richly covered with flowers with bright orange petals, the center of the flower is dark maroon.

• Ixia is red - a plant that has gained popularity among gardeners around the world in bright red flowers that look good when landing in mixborders. The height of a blossoming Tropican reaches 45 cm.

• Ixia mix - perhaps the most decorative variety of this flower, with which only representatives of ixia hybrid can compete with beauty. It is large inflorescences, painted in bright and juicy tones, create a special decorative floral plantings.

  Mix blooms piercingly yellow, scarlet, burgundy, pale pink, snow-white, lemon flowers. Flowering plant a little more than 20 days. The flowering of a tropical guest begins in the second week of July and lasts until the first days of August.

When planted in open ground (spring, autumn)

You can plant ixia bulbs in the soil of street flower beds both before winter and in spring, you only need to take into account the climatic region in which you live.

Since the plant is a native inhabitant of the tropics, it is recommended to plant it in open ground in central Russia during the warm season.

In the spring, when the return chills are gone (this usually happens at the end of April or in the first half of May), corms of Ixia are planted in the heated ground. When planting you need to make sure that the temperature of the soil at a depth of 8-10 cm was not lower than 15 degrees Celsius.

In the south of Russia, it is possible to plant ixia, like other bulbous plants, in the fall. But even with such mild and warm winters, you need to take precautions from freezing wintering flower tubers.

Autumn planting flowers Ixia suggests deepening corms in the open ground to a depth of at least 10-12 cm, a smaller layer of the earth will not be able to protect the delicate bulb from frost. But this is not all - further care for future plants consists in laying a layer of insulated mulch on top of planted flower nodules on the ground (sawdust, peat dust, slightly pressed straw).

The height of the heat-saving layer must be at least 10-15 cm. After the snow comes off the bed, the mulch layer is removed using a broom or rake.

Preparing a landing site

Being an African, Ixia imposes strict requirements on humidity, temperature of soil, air and sufficient amount of sunlight. Therefore, when determining it for permanent residence in a garden or on a flower bed, all these factors should be taken into account.

Although the plant is a wetter, when planting its tubers, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the soil where it will grow is well drained and water does not stagnate. The stagnation of moisture in the soil can lead to rotting of the bulbs themselves or the roots of an already adult flower, as a result of which the plants will rot and die. If the soil is clay or the flower bed is in a valley (it is always wet there), you can correct the situation by adding a little sand when digging the flower bed.

Usually the required amount of sand additive is calculated as follows: one bucket of sand is applied to each square meter of flowerbed. This will give looseness to the soil and eliminate the stagnation of moisture.

After the place is selected, it is advisable to fertilize the soil in the flower bed. All fertilizers are applied evenly over the ground,after which the earth is digging with the turnover of the reservoir (loosened) with a shovel or chopper.

You can fertilize the soil with several options:

• Option number 1 - over the surface of the flower bed scattered cattle manure or good humus scatter. For 10 square meters of flower beds you need one bucket of such fertilizer.

• Option number 2 - fertilize the future flower garden with minerals. To do this, make a mixture of the calculation for each square meter of soil surface: 50-70 g of superphosphate; 20 g of magnesium; 1 liter jar of wood ash.

Landing technology

This plant is grown in several ways. Depending on the chosen method will be different and landing technology.

Planting bulbs

Tropical ixia, like other exotic plants, does not usually winter in open country in our country. Therefore, when spring planting onions of a tropical sissy, the following technology is observed:

• The first step is calculated future time of planting in open ground. To do this, from the estimated time of landing in open ground is counted in the opposite direction 14-17 days. This will be the date of commencement of work on the awakening and germination of corm.
• Adult three-year-old flower bulbs are soaked for 15–20 minutes in a weak pale pink manganese solution to disinfect planting material from fungal diseases.
• Next, the manganese-treated onions are washed under running clean water.
• Corms are stacked for further germination. To do this, a 10-centimeter layer of wet sawdust or coarse-grained river sand is poured at the bottom of a shallow but wide container (cardboard box, wooden box). On this loose pillow close, onion to onion, planting material is laid out. The germination box is covered with plastic wrap from above and put on a warm window sill or on the window of the veranda.
• Every day, the film rises above the box, the condensate that forms on the surface of polyethylene is shaken off, the plants are ventilated for 10 minutes and then covered again.

After two weeks, one or more sprouts will appear on each bulb. If the nodule never sprouted, it means that it is not suitable for planting, and it is thrown away. All other bulbs are planted in a permanent, previously prepared sunny place.

In order for the flowerbed to bloom long and beautifully, bulbs over three years old are selected for planting in the flowerbed. In a normally developed, healthy planting material Ixia, the corm should be at least 4-6 cm in diameter, only then the plant will please the gardener with a remarkable and long flowering period.

If the flowers are planted in rows, then the following planting pattern is observed:

• in the row between the plants, a distance of 15-20 centimeters is left;
• if there are several such rows, then between them should be left between rows of at least 25-30 cm.

Growing from seed

Tropical traveler can be grown from seed. This is a way for people who are very patient or, for example, who want to preserve all the properties and quickly multiply the rare variety they have received.

In order to grow seedlings of ixia flower, you need:

• to prepare a special soil mixture, which will consist of one part of sand, 1 part of peat powder and 2 parts of garden soil;
• put the prepared soil in a special landing box, level and moisten;
• sow flower seeds for seedlings need in late February. On top of the soil, decompose the seeds of ixia and lightly sprinkle them with dry soil. Lightly again. The layer of soil on top of the seeds should not exceed their size more than twice;
• a box with sown seeds is covered with thick glass, which rises twice a week to air crops and lightly moisturizing irrigation;
• when young sprouts reach a height of 2-3 cm, thin the crops. Overly thickened rows break through, the plants are left at a distance of 2 cm from each other;
• In mid-April, the box with the seedlings is taken out into the open air and hardened at temperatures above 10 degrees Celsius. A seedling box is brought into the house only if the temperature drops below 8 degrees Celsius.

Young plants are planted in a permanent place at the beginning or in the middle of May, when steady heat comes.

Basic care (watering, feeding)

For the experience of growing ixia to be successful and bring satisfaction to the gardener for the result obtained, caring for a plant in the garden requires timely and abundant watering at the root and on the leaf (moisturizing watering).

You need to water the plant according to this schedule:

• the first 2 weeks after planting the plants do not need watering;
• as soon as the first shoots from the soil seem, weak irrigation is needed (slightly damp soil);
• planting Ixia, entering the time of flowering, you need to water daily, but little by little (do not pour);
• when the air temperature is above 26 degrees Celsius, the shower is useful for plants (watering over the leaf);
• as soon as the plants bloom, watering can be stopped.

Soil at the foot of the flower bushes need to loosen at least once every two weeks. Loosening fills the soil with oxygen, contributes to its aeration and does not allow moisture to stagnate at the roots of exotic. On the entire period of the growing season, flowers need regular feeding. Feed the flower bed with nitrogen and other necessary substances in the following ways:

• Option number 1 - any mineral dressing for garden flowers is purchased in gardening stores, is diluted according to the instructions and added to the plant root.

• Option number 2 - prepare a concentrated fermented natural fertilizer from poultry litter. To do this, take a half-bucket of fresh or dry bird droppings, fill it with hot water to the upper edge of the bucket, cover it and place it in a remote place, in a sunny corner of the yard.

  The litter is infused for 2 weeks, the contents of the container must be periodically mixed with a wooden pole. After 14 days, concentrated dressing is ready.

For use: add half a liter of concentrate to a bucket of clean cold water, mix thoroughly and pour vegetative plants under the root. This dressing can be done throughout the summer season with a break between dressings of 10-15 days.

To prolong the flowering period on plants, blooming inflorescences are cut off with a garden shears. This increases the decorativeness of the flower beds and at the same time contributes to the growth of the underground part of the plant (bulbs).

Breeding

In the process of vegetation (over the summer), an adult three-year-old onion grows up additional small nodules (kids).

Young onions are separated from the uterine corm, sprinkled with wood ash for good preservation and stored in a separate box for winter storage.

They will be planted in spring, but not in a flower bed, but in a separate place for growing young bulbs. In the fall, these bulbs will be dug out again and will go back to winter storage.

And only in the third year the corm will be old enough to be planted for lush and abundant flowering.

This exotic plant can also be propagated by dividing an adult bulb. For this, it is cut with a knife sharply disinfected in alcohol or a knife calcined in fire into several transverse parts. When cutting a tuber, it is closely monitored that, as a result, on all the cut pieces of the uterine corm there is a part of the root lobe and one orseveral living buds. Cut planting material sprinkled with wood ash (ash) and planted in a hotbed.

The depth of embedding for young one- and two-year-old tubers and for cutting the parts of the bulbs into the soil is 5-6 cm, the distance between the planted bulbs is 3-5 cm. Row sprouts in the nursery beds are made by the width of the chopper blade, approximately 20 centimeters.

Diseases and pests

Ixia is a plant that is quite resistant to pests and diseases. Of insects that harm garden plantings, it sometimes annoys aphids. In order to save the flowers from the pest, it is enough to treat with any insecticide using a garden sprayer to treat the plants.

This processing will last for 30-35 days. If necessary, insecticide pollination can be repeated several times per season.

Since the main reproduction of ixia is carried out by bulb tubers, it is necessary to take measures to prevent the occurrence of foci of fungal diseases on the planting material. Fungal diseases lead to the fact that the affected area gradually grows, the tuber is covered with fungal spores (mold), the tissue of the bulb softens and rot.Tubers lying next to the infected planting material also become sick and die.

To prevent fungal diseases, flower tubers are treated with fungicides, pollinated with wood ash or soaked in a light solution of manganese.

Preparing for the winter

Since tropican nodules are not able to spend the winter in our climate, gardeners have found the optimal algorithm for growing these flowers.

The end of the growing season, when the inflorescences have bloomed on the plant, the seed pods have taken shape, the seeds have ripened and the foliage has started to dry out, this is a signal to the grower that it is time to dig up the tubers.

For digging choose a day in a dry, sunny weather. After the planting material is removed from the soil, the nodules are laid out and dried in the sun for 5-7 days. After which they are pollinated with ashes and stored in cardboard boxes for storage in the winter.

The boxes are stored at a low positive temperature (10-15 degrees Celsius), periodically airing and checking the general condition.

Use in landscape design

Ixia is a very bright and bright plant, with its dense monoplants very decorative color spots are formed. Professional and skillful landscape designers with the help of Ixia plantings set off the inconspicuous greens of low evergreen coniferous garden plants.

Colorful as a peacock, Ixia looks great on alpine slides, and as a curb along wide park alleys. The plant is good because it does not lose its decorative effect upon close examination in small garden areas and in the use of flowers over large areas and distances.

In large park farms, different varieties of this tropical exotic plant are planted and they play in contrasting colors and heights of different varieties and hybrids of the southerner.

This is how you can decorate summer summer with beautiful tropical plants by planting them in your flower bed. We hope our advice on care and cultivation is not capricious tropikanki help you.

A little work, a little care and warmth, and the beautiful Ixia will delight the gardener with the scent and long and spectacular flowering throughout the summer season. Good luck, flower growers!