Growing abutilona at home

For many growers, Abutilon becomes the embodiment of the dream of a perfect indoor plant, combining unpretentious, long-term colorful flowering, high growth rate and easy offspring.

With a lot of merit, the most important thing in a plant is attention is single or paired flowers that appear in the sinuses and for many months form a magnificent hat on a bush. At home, abutilon is large perennial shrubs up to two or three meters high. Being a close relative of the well-known mallow or Althea medicinal to Russians, abutilon in difficult climatic conditions of our country can be grown only as a pot crop. But even in this form, the plant, named for the characteristic shape of the leaves as the “home maple”, shows all its best qualities.

At home, an abutilon is growing rapidly and in a few years can turn into a large tree or shrub. So that the green pet does not occupy the living space necessary for people, it is better to grow in the apartment abuilons of hybrid origin with a more compact crown and large cup-shaped flowers of different colors.

What are the maintenance conditions for such an unusual indoor plant? And what is the care for abutilon, so that from spring to late autumn it bewildered with bright flowers-bells?

Temperature of abutilon content

Despite the southern origin of the culture, staying in the constantly warm apartment air is not at all useful for abutilon. In nature, it grows in areas where the difference between winter and summer temperatures is about 10 degrees. That is why the cable-house or “home maple” can be more often found in winter gardens or greenhouses, and at home the abutilon is at a temperature of:

• from 20 to 26 ° C in summer;
• from 12 to 15 ° C in winter.

If a plant is taken out on a veranda or loggia, it must be remembered that when the temperature of the content of substance reaches 5–10 ° C, it begins to experience serious discomfort. And with a long stay in cold air, the culture drops foliage. Extremely dangerous for the plant minus the temperature and the effects of drafts. However, the cold is not the only enemy of abutilona.

If the air warms up to 30 ° C, it can be expected that the plant will stop forming buds and even release existing ones. To help suffering from high temperature content abutilonu can regularly sprinkling above-ground part of the plant. To do this, use only warm soft water.

In winter, when heating devices affect the quality of air in the room, a screen made of nonwoven material or film protecting the window sill from the living room will become a good protection against heat.

Illumination when growing abutilon.

Abutilon is light-requiring, and at home he needs bright, but not foliage-damaging, diffused illumination. If the light is not enough, you should not wait for abundant flowering. When growing a plant with motley or almost white foliage, it is more accurate to shade the plant a little in order to preserve the unique pattern on the leaves.

At home, the abutilons feel great on the windowsills facing east, southeast, west, or southwest. On the south windows you can't do without protection from the midday sun, and the north side will not provide the required amount of light. The quality of lighting directly affects how compact the crown will turn out to be in a plant, because in the shade the shoots are noticeably lengthened, the foliage thins, and the shaping and cutting of the abutilon becomes more complicated.

On summer days, the abutilon responds well to a stay on the sun terrace or balcony, and sometimes the plants are successfully transferred to the garden or even transplanted into the open ground.

In this case, choose a quiet area in the penumbra, and also ensure that the abutilon is contained at a temperature within the above described limits. In the fresh air, the pet grows well and blooms, and during a cold snap, it can be protected with a cap made of covering material.

Irrigation features when taking care of abutilone.

Abutilona at home is willing to “drink”, which is especially noticeable on hot summer days, as well as in the warm, dry air of the room where heating works. The delay in watering during the active growing season necessarily leads to wilting of the foliage, and in some cases even to the loss of buds and the death of the peripheral root system. The plant should not dry out. And the best consider the gap between irrigation, when the surface of the soil dries out a little.

However, it is better to focus on the condition of the plant, the size of the pot in which it is located and the temperature of the content. A small amount of soil loses moisture faster than the soil in a large pot. And in the dry air of a heated room, the humidity of the substrate drops much more sharply than when a pet is in the front garden. Much depends on the composition of the soil.

Watering a bottle of domestic water at home is only necessary with warm, settled or thawed snow.

If a cold wintering is arranged for a plant, it should be watered much less frequently, otherwise moisture not demanded by alcohol will cause rot on the roots.

Selection of the soil and transplanting the abutilonTherefore, as a substrate, you can use a universal soil for indoor crops, flavored with substances that loosen the soil. This may be sand, perlite or vermiculite.

If components of natural origin are added to the mixture, for example, humus or soddy soil, they are necessarily disinfected in order to exclude the possibility of pests and pathogenic fungi entering the pot.

Soil for growing abutilon should be neutral, loose and light. But even with a quality substrate flower growers sometimes complain about the poor flowering of the crop. This is due to the wrong choice of the pot.

A fast-growing plant with good potential eagerly develops a soil com, but during the development of the root system, abutilon practically does not bloom. Therefore, it is better to plant a young specimen in a container with a diameter of not more than 9–10 cm, and then as part of taking care of abutilon, it is little more than a pot in the spring.

The need for transplantation is indicated by an earthen clod completely hidden under the web of roots, as well as an extremely rapid absorption of moisture during watering.

When and how to fertilize abutilon?

The rapid development of the green part of the plant and the active flowering are the reasons for the need to feed the abutilon at home. In the spring and until the autumn, fertilizing is carried out every two weeks, alternating between mineral and organic fertilizers. The more precisely the feeding schedule will be observed, the longer and more abutilon blooms.

The concentration of fertilizer for abutilon may be lower than in the instructions of the selected composition, but you need to feed the flower a little more often. At the time of mass flowering, it is better to fertilize abutilon with products with a high content of phosphorus and potassium, which positively affect the formation of buds. When, after pruning, abutilon must quickly acquire new foliage, it is more correct to use preparations with nitrogen.

Sometimes growers notice that the number of flowers decreases, and the foliage of a good care abutilon becomes discolored, turns yellow and loses its attractiveness. These symptoms indicate a lack of trace elements. To prevent the development of chlorosis, the pet is fed, for example, with “Emerald”, which helps to quickly return the decorative effect and brightness to the leaves.

Cutting Abutilon

Depending on the grade chosen for cultivation, abutilon in an apartment can form a crown up to one and a half meters high. If you do not use pruning, abutilon for a couple of years loses its shape, the bush falls apart, and the flowers are formed only at the ends of the shoots.

To form a compact bush or stem tree, you cannot do without pruning. Shoots pruned and pinch in the fall and spring to half or one-third of the original length.

Even with a strong pruning, the abutilon tolerates well, and within a few weeks the green is fully restored. In addition to using this procedure, you can control the volume of the crown, the plant is updated after pruning.

If an abutilon grew in a garden in the summertime, in the fall it is subjected to pruning and its overgrown root system, which makes it possible to return the bush to its former pot.

After flowering, the already faded shoots, all damaged or dried branches, must be cut off. During such care, you should not leave the parts of the crown shading it, making it thick and tangled. In the spring, before the appearance of the buds, the shape of the crown is once again corrected.

Read also: Subtleties of growing and caring for jasmine Sambak

If you have to prune a young plant, pin the main shoot at a height of 15-30 cm from the ground level. And the next time in a similar way shortened shoots of the second order. When an abutilon grown at home is to become a miniature tree, in the early years it is useful to use supports for the stability of the trunk, especially during the set of buds.

Pruning triggers the awakening of dormant buds and the formation of lateral branches on which buds are formed. The more carefully the crown is shaped, the more abundant the flowering will be in the coming season. And after carrying out pruning abutilon feed. A video about taking care of abutilone at home will help you to get acquainted visually with the peculiarities of culture and its handling.

Possible problems in growing abutilon.

If the care for abutilon is not given due attention, the florist may face the emergence of such dangerous diseases and pests as root rot, mealybugs, aphids, spider mites and scale insects. For prevention, be sure to support competent watering, humidify the air, and remove fallen flowers and leaves.

Blooming of buds, yellowness and wilting of foliage of abutilon signals:

• about abrupt changes in temperature of abutilon content;
• for a draft in the room;
• on irrigation schedule violation.

The lack of light and the lack of fertilizers, when they are especially needed - during the spring and summer growing season, is not the best way for the appearance of the plant and its flowering.

Video about abutilone indoor maple