Mimosa is a common plant. Its thin green stems are strewn with small fluffy yellow lumps, carved light green feathery leaves with villi give a special tenderness to the flower.
Already in early spring it can be seen in flower shops. The flower is traditionally given to women on March 8.
Main types
This plant has several varieties that look very different from each other.
Mimosa blooms
The most common varieties are bashful, hostilis and yellow.
Mimosa bashful
This is a perennial medicinal and at the same time decorative herbaceous plant. Shy mimosa has a reddish stem, an inflorescence in the form of a ball, its pink flowers resemble pompons. The flower has extremely sensitive leaves: when something touches them, they fold and fall. Similarly, leaves respond to sunset. This property creates the illusion that the plant is embarrassed, for which the variety got its name.
Mimosa Hostilis
Mimosa plant looks like a small tree with spikes on the trunk. The birthplace of the variety is Brazil. Its leaves are pinnate, dissected. This variety blooms with white fragrant flowers. Mimosa blooms like a spikelet. It has long been known that this variety of mimosa contains psychotropic substances.
For your information. The roots of mimosa tenuiflora contain the substance nigerin, which is used to make rum.
Mimosa yellow
This variety is also known as silver acacia. Her homeland is Australia, where she begins to bloom in January. Mimosa looks like fluffy balls located close to each other.
Interesting fact. The variety is distributed not only in Russia, but also in Europe. Given the fact that spring in European countries comes earlier than in Russia, it is customary to give women mimosa not on March 8, but on February 14.
Home Care
The culture is rarely grown in meadows, as the plant is poisonous. The most common variety for home growing is mimosa pudica. Important proper care for bashful mimosa at home.
Humidity
People who decide to plant it at home need to remember that the rainforest is home to rainforests where the humidity is very high. The main condition for growing at home is air humidity. The plant does not tolerate dry air and heat. It is recommended to spray air regularly to maintain humidity at 75-85%.
Attention! Do not spray the plant itself in sunny weather - this can lead to burns on the leaves.
Homemade mimosa
Spraying air is not the only way to increase air humidity. You can simply put a container of water next to the plant. In addition, the flower will receive additional moisture if it stands in a pallet in which moist expanded clay, pebbles or raw sand are poured. In this case, do not immerse the pot in water.
Watering
During the flowering period, the beauty needs abundant watering. The optimal time for watering is considered the morning hours. For irrigation use settled water at room temperature. Occasionally, you can spray it with warm water. This procedure is usually carried out in the evening.
In winter, the bush is watered every 7-8 days, in order to prevent waterlogging of the soil. Excessive watering leads to the formation of root rot and death of the plant.
In addition to the systematic watering of acacia, fertilizers are needed throughout the flowering period. Mineral supplements are added every 2 weeks. When using complex factory fertilizers for indoor plants, it is recommended to feed mimosa with half the dose indicated in the description of the drug.
Important! Indoor acacia is watered with soft water. Even in winter, when the acacia begins a dormant period in order to preserve the plant, it is impossible to prevent the drying of the top layer of the earth in a pot.
Temperature
Mimosa flower loves the light, it is better to put it on the southern, eastern or western windows. For a healthy look and good flowering, you need to observe the temperature regime: in winter, during periods of rest, the bush feels comfortable at a temperature of 15 ° C (often indoor acacia is put on a closed balcony for winter), during the flowering period, you need to maintain the indoor temperature within 20-22 ° C.
The touch of mimosa will delight its owner with bright and intense flowering, if it is possible to put the pot in the summer in the open air.
Bashful mimosa in the winter
When choosing a location for the location of a beautiful woman in an apartment, it is recommended to give preference to a bedroom or living room. The kitchen will be the most inappropriate room for a moody flower due to the frequent shortage of fresh air in the cooking process, as well as a draft from the open window.
Wintering at relatively low temperatures is necessary for the variety in order to avoid attacks by insect pests. To maintain vitality, an indoor bush needs additional bright artificial lighting for 3-4 hours a day.
Attention! Despite the fact that the culture feels comfortable in the winter in a cool room, drafts and tobacco smoke are harmful to the plant.
The soil
In order for mimosa to grow well, it is necessary to properly compose the soil. Its composition should include in equal proportions:
- turf;
- peat;
- humus;
- sand;
- bone meal for nutrition;
- perlite or polystyrene as a baking powder of soil.
If it is not possible to prepare the soil yourself, you can use the factory soil for indoor plants with a high peat content. In this case, immediately when planting, you need to add a complex fertilizer for flowering indoor plants.
Important! Shy mimosa needs loose soil that absorbs moisture well. The soil in the pot must be loosened regularly to prevent the formation of crust on the surface. Care should also be taken for drainage.
Plant transplant
The roots of the bush are very fragile, so it is worth replanting it by transshipment and only if absolutely necessary. Indications for transplantation are:
- plant disease;
- decay of the earth.
In the pot prepared for transplanting, there must be holes on the bottom to drain excess moisture. To avoid root decay, pebbles are first poured into the pot for drainage.
For an adult indoor bush, any soil intended for flowering plants is suitable. The main requirements that the prepared soil must meet are nutrition and friability.
In a new pot and soil, the plant is placed together with a lump of old earth, which remained on the roots. The best time for transplanting is morning or evening hours, when sunlight does not get into the windows - this will allow the bush to adapt faster in new soil.
Pruning
There are 2 options for growing a decorative variety at home: as an annual plant or as a perennial. In the case of growing mimosa as an annual flower after it fades, it is cut off: the trunk is shortened, leaving only shoots adjacent to the trunk. In addition, in the spring, pinch the annual, so that the plant has a compact appearance. Pinching an adult plant gives splendor. Without pinching, it stretches strongly upward, looks weak.
Cropped plant
If the bush is grown as a perennial, then instead of pruning, pinch it. The first pinching is done in April with the beginning of the vegetative period: long shoots are shortened. This measure prolongs the flowering period.
Repeated pinching is done when the acacia blooms. This measure is needed so that next year lateral shoots are actively formed in the plant.
Attention! It is impossible to shorten the shoots strongly, otherwise it will be difficult to winter the acacia.
Breeding methods
The main methods of reproduction of the beauty are sowing seeds and cuttings. Most gardeners prefer to sow seeds every year, since the plant is very capricious - it happens that even with all the rules of care, the shy beauty does not have enough strength to survive the winter.
Mimosa bashful seed cultivation at home
Seeds can be bought or harvested from an already growing home acacia. In order for seed bolls to appear on a domestic plant, you need to pollinate it yourself: use a brush to transfer pollen from the stamens of one flower to the pistils of other flowers.
On pollinated flowers, after flowering is completed, a seed pod is formed. When the pod ripens and dries, it is removed and put into a paper envelope until spring. Seed pods should be stored in the refrigerator until spring.
Seeds are sown in March. They have a hard skin, so it is necessary to carry out a scarification: to make a shallow file of a seed with a blade. Before sowing, the seeds are soaked for 30-60 minutes in hot water to swell.
Important! For seeds, a slightly acidic or acid-neutral soil is taken. Before planting, soil must be watered with an antiseptic. To do this, use potassium permanganate or phytosporin. An alternative to disinfecting the soil is to heat it in the oven.
You can sow the seeds in a large box or in separate containers. In the case of planting in a large box shoots will need to dive. The step-by-step landing process looks like this:
- Seeds are buried by 1 cm, sprinkled with earth on top. The top layer of the earth is not compacted - it must remain loose. Then the containers with seeds are covered with a film, where the mimosa grows as in the tropics. In boxes with seeds, you need to maintain a temperature of 25-30 ° C, and also remember that they need light. However, direct sunlight is recommended to be avoided. The seeds need to be ventilated, so 2-3 times a day the crops are ajar.
Mimosa seedlings
In addition to airing, you need to regularly water the seeds. This is done using a spray gun.
- With a good seed content, the first seedlings will appear in 20-30 days. We can assume that the seeds successfully took root when the shoots grew to 5 cm in height and contain 3 leaves. Immediately after this, the polyethylene is removed. If the seeds were planted in one large box, then the time was right for them to dive.
- After the picking is carried out, the temperature of the seedling content is gradually lowered, bringing it closer to the natural room temperature. From the seedling stage to the adult plant stage, an average of 2 to 6 weeks passes.
- 3 months after the seeds have sprouted, the seedlings need to be transplanted into a spacious pot. In 1 pot, you can plant 3 plants at once - so the appearance of the flower will be more beautiful. When 3 weeks after the transplant, the soil begins to fertilize. If necessary, the stems can be tied to supports.
Additional Information. Before planting seeds, the soil does not need fertilizer. A plant that has grown from seed, with good care, will bloom for 2-3 years.
Cuttings
Propagation by cuttings is a rather complicated process. A florist who has decided to propagate the culture by cuttings should be aware that not all of them will sprout.
For harvesting cuttings, only the top of the main shoot is suitable. In order for the stem to take root, you need to make a lot of effort and give the seedling daily attention, care, care.
Cuttings
To root, the cuttings of acacia need 2-3 months. Throughout this time, the seedling must be regularly watered. In addition to watering, you need to take care of adequate lighting. The peculiarity of indoor acacia is that it grows very slowly, with a shortage of sunlight, the development of cirrus beauty stops altogether - the bush will not bloom.
Possible problems in growing
Mimosa is a capricious and delicate flower, so for those who decide to grow it at home, it is useful to know about the difficulties that may arise.
Falling leaves
The cause of the problem is insufficient and irregular watering. In addition, leaves may fall off as a result of frequent touching. To solve the problem, the plant needs to choose a cozy warm and bright place where it will not be disturbed by touch, and also provide regular and sufficient watering.
Yellowing
Leaves turn yellow or do not open with sunrise. The reason is excessive watering or too dry air in the room.
Bashful mimosa
In addition, the leaves may turn yellow as a result of damage to the plant by a spider mite or aphid. To get rid of pests, you must first manually collect insects, then wipe the leaves of the plant on both sides with a soapy solution. If there are a lot of signs of parasitic insect damage, the plant needs to be sprayed with special solutions.
Lack of color
Shoots are very extended and lose their elasticity, the plant does not bloom. The reason is a lack of light or a low temperature in the room. To eliminate the problem, the plant needs to choose a more suitable place.
A possible reason for the lack of flowering may be the old depleted soil. To eliminate this, the soil must be fertilized.
It becomes clear why this flower is rarely seen at home. Growing and caring for a capricious beauty is troublesome. There is a saying: "Nothing is impossible!". So, if you have a dream to grow home acacia, you must by all means strive for its implementation.
