Hyacinth (65+ photos): planting and care at home – advice from experienced gardeners

Hyacinth is one of the most popular home forcing plants

The hyacinth flower is a versatile plant. It will be a great decoration for any garden or front garden. But you can also enjoy the beauty of this flower inside the house by growing it on the windowsill. Only hyacinth care at home should be as close as possible to garden ones. Then he will delight you with his unusually beautiful, bright and fragrant flowers..

According to legend, hyacinth is named after a beautiful young man, a favorite of the god of science and arts Apollo.

Adorable spring primrose – hyacinth

The main types of hyacinths

All types of this plant are very similar in appearance, differ only in the color and shape of the flowers, the size of the inflorescences, and the height of the peduncle. By the timing of flowering, hyacinths are divided into early, medium and late varieties. The difference in the beginning of flowering varies from 10 to 15 days.

Previously, the genus of hyacinths consisted of 30 plant species. After the reorganization of the botanical classifications, only three main types remained in it:

• Oriental. It is the most common species with a very pleasant smell. It is from it that all decorative varieties of hyacinths are created. Flowers rarely located on a thin peduncle have pink, blue and yellowish-white shades.

Oriental hyacinth – a very beautiful and fragrant species

• Hyacinth Litvinov. Plant 25 cm high with strongly cut pale blue flowers, with wide bluish spread leaves and protruding stamens.

Hyacinth Litvinova

Modern varieties of hyacinth are striking in their beauty and variety of colors.

• Transcaspian hyacinth. Has fleshy hollow leaves of the same length, one or two stems 20 cm, light blue flowers.

Transcaspian hyacinth – short and charming flower

Oriental hyacinth has several varieties that differ in color:

• Whites: Edelweiss, Carnegie, L’Innosans

• Reds: General Pelissier, La Victoire, Jan Bose

Hyacinth Edelweiss

Hyacinth Jan Bos or a bright garden decoration

Hyacinth L’Innosance against a background of red flowers looks just extraordinary

Hyacinth La Victoire

• Blue: Delft Blue, King of the Blues, Maria
• Pink: Pink Pearl, Anna Marie, Lady Derby, Fondant

Blue Hyacinth Delft Blue

Delightful Pink Hyacinth Pink Purple

Hyacinth King of the Blues

Charming flower bed with pink hyacinth Fondant

Hyacinth flowers – planting and care

This is not to say that growing hyacinths in the open field is significantly different from caring for them at home. But each option has its own secrets and subtleties. To achieve flowering of a plant at a time when this a priori should not be, it is necessary to understand the nature of this flower and in the process of forcing. Forcing is a set of measures taken to accelerate the growth of a plant. Using this process, you can achieve flowering hyacinths for a specific holiday or date..

Mouse hyacinth – a slender and interesting flower

This flower is propagated by bulbs. A healthy bulb should be dense, its diameter should be 5 cm, and its weight should be at least 80 g..

Basic rules of the forcing process

• At the bottom of the pot, drainage is laid in the first layer, then the earth is filled up.
• The bulbs are planted in pots with soil in such a way that they rise 2-3 cm above the top layer of the earth.
• The bulbs must not touch the sides of the pot..
• The distance between the bulbs must be at least three centimeters.
• So that the plants do not rot during forcing, the earth, watered with a small amount of water, is covered with a thin layer of sand.

Hyacinth sprout

For 2-2.5 months, the pots of bulbs should be kept in conditions that do not resemble homemade ones. The place where they will be located should be cool. In this case, a cellar would be an excellent option. The pot is placed in a bag in which holes are made. All this “composition” should be in a dark place where the air temperature does not exceed 5-7 degrees.

During the cooling phase of the bulbs, strict control of the soil moisture in the pots is required. The ground should not be dry. The frequency of watering depends on the humidity in the room where the plant is stored. With a humidity of 90-95%, the bulbs can be watered 1-2 times during the entire period of distillation..

Due to the rich range of colors, as well as easy care, hyacinths are among the most popular garden plants.

At the end of the cooling period, the sprouts of hyacinths in the pot should grow 2-5 cm. At this time, they are transferred to a warmer room. But they still need darkness. If the house does not have a dark and warm room, then the pots are simply covered with opaque caps. You can remove the caps only when the sprouts reach a length of 10 cm..

Advice! The forcing process is very depleting of the bulbs. To re-bloom a hyacinth in a pot, for example, the bulbs simply do not have enough strength. Therefore, after forcing at home, the bulbs must be planted for 1-2 years in open ground to restore them..

Hyacinth bulb

Hyacinth seeds are also used to grow this plant. But this process is mainly engaged in by breeders to develop new varieties. This is a very long and painstaking process. Even with the most competent care of the first flowering, you can wait about five years.

How to grow hyacinths at home

When the forcing process is over, and the bulbs will sprout of the required length, the pots can be safely transferred to a bright place. It is desirable that the air temperature of the new location of the flower does not exceed 15 degrees..

Hyacinth flowers are characterized by an intense scent

As soon as the first buds appear, the plant can be placed in any room of an apartment or house. The main condition is to avoid drafts and direct sunlight. This completes the most difficult and crucial stage in growing these beautiful flowers – planting hyacinths. If all of the above is done correctly, then you can safely move on to studying the topic – how to care for hyacinths.

Hyacinths look spectacular both in the garden and in the flower bed, and in pots.

Lighting

Hyacinth in a pot, just like hyacinth in a garden, loves sunlight, only not burning the sun’s rays. If the duration of the daylight period is 12-15 hours a day, then the plant will delight others with its beauty. Moreover, it does not matter at all whether it will be artificial or natural lighting..

If you create the right lighting, then the plant will delight others with its beauty for a long time.

Watering and feeding

Normal growth of hyacinths is impossible without proper watering. The soil moisture in the pot must be adequate. The drainage layer controls this important point. Excessively wet soil is detrimental to the plant. Excess water is drained from the sump after each watering.

Advice! The ingress of water into the axils of the leaves, on the bulb or bud, entails rotting of the plant. Therefore, it is better to water it in the edge of the pot..

Normal growth of hyacinths is impossible without proper watering.

Top dressing is essential for the normal growth of the plant. The first time a flower is fed immediately after it has been moved from darkness to light. For this, phosphate mixed with nitrate is used. After the formation of buds, potassium with superphosphate is used for feeding (the amount of superphosphate is dominant). Hyacinth is fed the third time after flowering. At this moment, the amount of potassium is equal to the amount of superphosphate.

Advice! After each top dressing, the soil must be loosened. In order not to injure the root system of the plant, loosening must be done carefully..

Top dressing is an important prerequisite for normal plant growth.

Pruning

Blooming hyacinths can be extended for a certain period of time if the pot with the plant is moved to a cool place at night. After the hyacinth has completely bloomed, the peduncle is cut off. In this case, the leaves remain intact. After that, the plant needs to be watered and fed for at least another month. Watering is reduced gradually and ultimately reduced to zero.

Hyacinth looks great in bouquets too

After complete wilting, the leaves are cut off, the bulb is carefully removed from the pot and dried. It can be stored in the refrigerator until disembarking..

Diseases

The popularity of hyacinth lies in its resistance to disease. But still, sometimes the plant gets sick.

How to identify the disease and its causes:

• Most often, hyacinth is affected by yellow bacterial rot. An unpleasant smell begins to emanate from the bulb, it becomes slippery. Unfortunately, this is the death of the plant. You need to get rid of such a flower.
• If a curvature of the peduncles appears, and the flower begins to grow poorly, it means that pests are attacking it. In this case, the plant will be helped by preparations containing phosphorus..
• Sometimes a young inflorescence can fall out of a common flower. Improper hyacinth care at home is the main cause of this disease. The reason may be improper storage of bulbs or high soil moisture..

Water hyacinth is a beautiful plant with delicate purple flowers

Advice! If the bulb was bought in a store, then before planting, to exclude infection, it must be kept in a solution containing phosphorus for 15 minutes..

Reproduction

Before the start of the dormant period, children can be separated from the bulb, of course, if they are well separated. Before starting the procedure, the bulb is dried for several days. Small children are not suitable for distillation; they are planted only in open ground. If they have not separated, then the mother bulb is planted with them..

Hyacinth will perfectly fit into your interior

Growing hyacinths in the garden

Growing these flowers in the open field is in many ways similar to their agricultural techniques at home. Only at home you can achieve flowering of hyacinths at the time you need. With regards to open ground, when asked when to plant hyacinths? – there is only one answer – always before the onset of frost.

Hyacinths are grown in open, sunny areas with light and fertile sandy loam soils.

The best time to plant your bulbs is late September or early October. An earlier planting can force the plant to start growing, and in winter it will simply die. If it is late, the plant will not have time to take root before the start of frost.

The location of flowers should be protected from strong winds and well lit. It is desirable that the site be flat, but with a barely noticeable slope. With active snow melting, the slope will provide water flow.

Hyacinth looks great with other flowers

The soil should be well fertilized with humus. If it is clayey, then it is necessary to add river sand to it, and limestone or chalk to acidic. The plot is prepared two months before planting the bulbs, processed to a depth of 40 cm.

With the onset of cold weather, the planted hyacinth bulbs can be covered with sawdust, fallen leaves or dry peat. In the spring, the shelter must be removed..

Delicate white hyacinth flowers

During the period of growth and flowering, plants are watered and fertilized in the same way as at home. The answer to the question “when to dig out hyacinths?” – in late June or early July, when the leaves turn yellow and completely dry out.

The dug out bulbs are cleaned of soil and dried for several days under a canopy. You can store them until the next disembarkation in cardboard boxes..

Sky blue hyacinth grape