Bacopa ampelnaya - growing and care at home
Bacopa is a beautiful plant with abundant, delicate flowering. Grown in pots, decorating balconies and terraces, gardens, fences and gazebos. This is an unpretentious flower that does not require complex maintenance.
Bacopa in pots
A flower is known under a different name - sutera. Homeland - southern Africa. The leaves are delicate, small, bright green. The flower is loved by gardeners, therefore it is constantly undergoing selection for breeding new varieties with an unusual color of petals. Its charm is added by unpretentiousness and good endurance of high and low temperatures. Despite the external fragility, sutera has a strong immunity, and therefore rarely gets sick.
How many plants should be planted in one pot
The length of the shoot reaches from 60 to 100 cm.In order for a flower to grow and bloom all season, you need to know how much bacopa is permissible when planting in a pots. The number of bushes in a flowerpot depends on the size of the pot. You need to plant several bushes at a distance of 10 cm from each other. If the diameter of the pot is no more than 25-30 cm, no more than 2 pieces of bushes can comfortably fit into it.
Ampel landing
When ampelous planting, bacopa is planted in a pot using the seed method. For planting, you can buy ready-made soil, or you can prepare a nutritious substrate yourself:
- 1 part peat;
- 2 parts deciduous humus;
- 1 piece of leafy land;
- 2 pieces of sand.
The optimal time for sowing is March. The peat substrate is sterilized in the oven at 100 ° C for 4 hours. After the soil has cooled, it is necessary to moisten it and put seeds, but not to deepen the planting material. The container must be covered with glass or polyethylene.
The box with seeds should be in a well-lit place at a temperature of 20 ° C. Seedlings will begin to appear in 10-14 days. When several full-fledged leaves appear, the bushes are divided into different pots.
Combinations of bacopa in pots with other flowers
Sutera is beautiful both solo and in combination with various colors.
What does this flower combine with?
Recommended combinations of bacopa:
- fuchsia;
- lobelia;
- ageratum;
- nasturtium.
Bacopa in landscape design is used to decorate bald patches on the site; it forms a thick and open carpet. Standard flowers will be beautifully combined with it.
Bacopa with petunia: planting in pots
When planting bacopa in pots with other flowers, you need to pay attention to the selected variety. Flowers are tall, with long shoots, it is not recommended to combine, because they will be discordant with each other.
The ideal option is a tall petunia or with massive inflorescences planted in the background, a bacopa is placed in front of the flowerpot as a frame.
Bacopa in landscape design
Caring for bacopa and growing it in the garden is a simple process. Such a bright design of the garden always attracts attention.
Creeping Bacopa looks great with roses and chrysanthemums. Arches, vertical walls, alpine slides are decorated with flowers.
Bacopa in the garden
Planting in open ground is just as easy as planting in a planter. The main condition for the successful cultivation of a flower is the right choice of place. Loves Bacopa well-lit areas, but without direct sunlight. In the summer, in the hottest bush, it is recommended to darken a little.
You can plant bacopa seedlings on the street in the spring, when frosts have passed. A flower on the street will not survive winter, therefore it needs to be moved to rooms. In Bacopa, potting is carried out while preserving a lump of soil around the roots.
In order for bright petals to decorate the garden, you need to correctly form the bushes. Regular pruning will help in this, which, in addition to giving a decorative look, will help maintain the health of the bacopa, preventing it from overgrowing.
Bush formation
Caring for ampelous bacopa implies its frequent pruning. If you let the development of a flower take its course, it will not look as beautiful as a formed waterfall of flowering shoots.
In bacopa, the formation of a bush should be started from the moment it takes root. Pinching of the upper and side branches is done at the point of their growth. Pinching is performed as the flower develops until the desired shape is achieved.
Care for the bacopa should be regular. To keep the bush in shape, you need to periodically prune the longest branches. The maximum shoot length should not exceed 65 cm.
Bacopa annual or perennial
Novice gardeners are interested in what will be better as a priority - one-year or perennial bacopa. It all depends on where it grows. The flower itself is perennial, but only if you grow it in pots in the house.
On the street, it grows from spring to autumn, during the cold season the bush dies off. To preserve a lovely flower, it must be transplanted into a pot and placed in a warm room.
Care and reproduction
Bacopa is easy to care for. In order for a flower to please with a lush and long-lasting color, the following recommendations must be observed:
- Watering and feeding is regular. Complex fertilizers are used.
- Loosening is light and gentle so as not to hurt the superficial root system.
- Compliance with the temperature regime. Despite the fact that the flower can withstand temperatures down to -50 ° C, it is recommended to keep it at an indicator of at least +14 ° C. Watering frequency decreases.
- The ideal place for the location of the flower is loggias and balconies, well-lit during the day.
Care for bacopa is simple, and its reproduction is possible at home:
- Planting is carried out by seeds or cuttings. To obtain cuttings, you need to cut off the top of the shoot. The landing period is January-March or August-September.
- Cuttings need a light substrate.
- The container with the planted cuttings is placed in a warm room or closed with glass or polyethylene. After rooting and the appearance of leaves, pinching is carried out.Varieties with white flowers take root best of all, because they have genetic resistance to diseases.
- The temperature for ripening cuttings and seeds is from 18 ° C to 24 ° C. The first seedlings will appear in 10-17 days.
- Picking - immediately after the appearance of the first leaves. If the flowers are planted in one pot, the distance between them should be at least 2 cm.
The second pick is carried out after the bushes begin to actively stretch out into growth. Flowers are planted in different flowerpots. The hardening of the seedlings is mandatory, mineral feeding is introduced.
How much to plant
The volume of the planter for planting depends on how many bushes will be planted together. For one flower, 3 liters of soil is enough for it to become lush and spreadable.
How to feed bacopa for abundant flowering
Lush color and vigorous growth depends on which fertilizer is used. You need to feed the flower regularly, otherwise it will not grow and will slowly begin to fade.
You can feed it with complex mineral fertilizers and organic matter - bird droppings, mullein solution. It is recommended to use these fertilizers alternately.
Bacopa grown in pots is ideal for decorating loggias, balconies and terraces. It looks beautiful and bright in the middle of the garden, in combination with other flowers. This is an unpretentious home flower that needs regular watering, sunlight and feeding for comfort. Its cultivation and distribution is not difficult.