With a little extra care, Impatiens listed by Burpee can be grown successfully as house plants throughout the year.
If you plan to start your plants from seed, sow the seed in a shallow tray of rooting mixture in the early Spring. They will require light to germinate so it is important that the seed just be gently pressed into your rooting mixture. Enough light will filter through this material to satisfy the light requirements. Carefully moisten the mixture with a fine spray of water and enclose the tray in a plastic bag and keep it at a temperature of at least 70°F. Avoid putting this in direct sunlight. Seedlings should emerge in 8 to 14 days and when they have reached about 1-1/2 inches in height, carefully transplant them to small individual pots filled with soil-based mixture. Plants will begin to flower in about 6 weeks.
TEMPERATURE
Impatiens can be grown successfully in normal room temperatures with a humidity of at least 50%. If the temperature is above 75°F, they will require high humidity.
Plants should be placed on saucers of moist pebbles and should have their foliage misted daily.
WATERING
Water moderately, allowing the top half-inch of your soil mixture to dry out between watering. Never allow pots of Impatiens to stand in water.
If the amount of light reaching your plants is reduced, the plants will go into a rest period. If this happens, the watering should be reduced, allowing the top third of the soil mixture to dry out between watering. Above all, never let the mixture dry out completely.
FEEDING
Apply a standard liquid house plant fertilizer every 2 weeks during the time your plant is in active growth.
POTTING/REPOTTING
For best results, we recommend a soil-based potting mixture:
1 part sterilized fibrous soil1 part medium-grade peat moss, ground tree bark, or leaf mold.1 part coarse sand or fine perliteADD 1 part dehydrated cow manure, if available, otherwise add a balanced granular or powdered fertilizer. Follow mfgrs. directions.
Move permanent plants into pots that are one size larger when the pots become full of roots. A 5-inch pot should normally be the largest size required.
NOTE
Hot, dry air and exposure to full sunlight may encourage red spidermites. Also be on the look out for other house-plant pests such asaphids and whitefly.
PROPAGATION
The modern hybrids such as Burpee sells, are treated as annuals and discarded toward late fall, when they start to go out of bloom under average room conditions. If these are kept, they tend to become unsightly. During the summertime, you can make tip cuttings 2-3 inches long. These can be rooted in water and later transplanted to a soil-based mixture when 1/2 inch long roots have formed. Or if you wish, cuttings may be planted directly in a mixture of equal parts peat moss and sand or perlite for later planting in a soil-based mixture. Well-rooted cuttings should be treated as mature plants.
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