Methods and precautions for cultivating spider lilies at home

How to grow butterfly flowers at home

soil

The butterfly plant is easy to maintain and does not require special soil. Well-drained sandy soil with humus is best. The root system of the butterfly plant is relatively developed, so it is better to use a slightly deeper and larger pot, with a diameter of 20 to 30 cm.

Except for growing poorly in alkaline soil, it can grow in sandy soil and clay soil, and grows best in slightly acidic sandy loam. You can mix equal amounts of leaf mold and garden soil to make the culture soil. The soil must be loose and well-drained.

Light and temperature

It likes sunshine and warmth, is heat-resistant, slightly tolerant of partial shade, and not cold-resistant. Summer is the growing season, and the plants will die if they encounter frost. The suitable temperature for growth is 20-32℃.

Water and fertilizer management

Watering: It can tolerate drought, but it grows better with higher air humidity. Water it every day in midsummer and make sure it is watered thoroughly. It likes higher air humidity. If the air humidity is too low, the single flowers will wither faster. It is also afraid of rain, and the leaves need to be kept dry at night. The optimum relative air humidity is 65-75%.

Fertilization: Like other herbaceous flowers, Cleome has high requirements for fertilizer and water, but it requires to follow the fertilization (water) principle of "light fertilizer, frequent application, small amount and frequent application, and complete nutrition", and after fertilizing, the leaves and flowers should be kept dry at night. If used in pots, apply 2-3 times of thin compound liquid fertilizer during the bud formation period, and it will bloom during the Spring Festival.

Things to note when raising butterfly flowers

Potting or transplanting

When potting the seedlings, first put a 2-2 cm thick coarse-grained substrate or expanded clay at the bottom of the pot as a water filter layer, and sprinkle a layer of fully decomposed organic fertilizer on it as base fertilizer, about 1-2 cm thick. Cover it with a layer of substrate, about 1-2 cm thick, and then put the plants in to separate the fertilizer from the roots to avoid root burn.

After potting, water it thoroughly and place it in a slightly shaded environment for a week.

Topping

Generally, pinching is done twice before flowering to promote the growth of more flowering branches: one to two weeks after potting, or when the seedlings are 6-10 cm tall and have more than six leaves, pinch off the top and retain the lower 3-4 leaves to promote branching.

3-5 weeks after the first pinching, or when the side branches grow to 6-8 cm long, do the second pinching, that is, remove the top of the side branch and keep the 4 leaves below the side branch. After two pinchings, the plant shape will be more ideal and the number of flowers will be greater. When planting flower beds, the withered flowers should be removed in time to prevent them from setting seeds and thus extend the flowering period.

In addition, it should be noted that the butterfly flower is prone to lepidopteran pests during the flowering period. You can use 4000 times the insecticide avermectin for foliage spraying.