How to Grow Impatiens? A Full Breakdown of the Latest Planting Methods
Impatiens, also known as "Ji Xing Zi" or "Feng Xian Tou Gu Cao", is a commonly used folk herbal medicine. Both the seeds and stems can be used medicinally. The stems can be used to treat rheumatic pain and have effects such as dispelling wind-dampness, relieving pain and promoting blood circulation. The seeds are generally used to treat dysphagia, abdominal masses and amenorrhea. So how do you grow impatiens? Let us learn about the planting methods for impatiens together.
1. Land preparation and fertilisation
Impatiens has the characteristics of liking light, fearing moisture, tolerating heat and having poor cold resistance; at the same time, impatiens has extremely strong vitality and good adaptability to the environment. The planting site is generally chosen as a plot facing the sun, with fertile, loose soil, good drainage and convenient irrigation. Land preparation should be carried out together with base fertiliser, applying sufficient base fertiliser. The base fertiliser is mainly organic fertiliser. Mix the base fertiliser with the soil, prepare the land again and make beds. The bed width is about one metre to one and a half metres. Depending on the climate and terrain, make raised beds or flat beds.
2. Sowing and raising seedlings
Impatiens can be sown in spring and autumn. When sowing, the temperature of the planting site is generally between 20 and 25 degrees, and the soil humidity should be around 60 to 70 percent, so the soil needs to be watered once before sowing. After the soil is thoroughly wet, sow the seeds evenly at a row spacing of 30 cm, and cover with a thin layer of soil to bury the seeds. Generally, seedlings emerge in about a week.
3. Field management
About 15 to 20 days after the impatiens seedlings emerge, when the seedlings are generally 6 to 10 cm tall, we should reasonably thin and even out the seedlings. Generally, the distance between each plant is about 15 cm, and three seedlings need to be kept per spot. While thinning the seedlings, we should clear the weeds in the field and carry out timely intertillage and loosening of the soil. At least three rounds of intertillage and weeding should be carried out each year. When the seedlings grow to about 35 cm, the old leaves at the lower part of the stem should be properly removed, the terminal buds wiped off to promote the growth of branches, and topdressing should be carried out reasonably, mainly with cake fertiliser, applied in furrows, thereby increasing the yield of impatiens. When the impatiens blooms, the early-opening flower buds should be removed to promote the plant's growth, and fertiliser should be applied once every half a month.
4. Preventing pests and diseases
Impatiens has strong resistance and rarely suffers from pests and diseases. However, under high temperature and high humidity, powdery mildew and leaf spot disease can also occur. We need to use thiophanate-methyl wettable powder and carbendazim wettable powder for treatment. Secondly, the red hawk moth is the main pest of impatiens. It mainly damages the branches and leaves of impatiens. It is best to catch them by hand, which can avoid the impact of chemicals on impatiens. Of course, low-toxicity pyrethroid insecticides can also be used for spraying and killing.
The above is what the editor wants to share with you today about the planting methods for impatiens. I hope it can be of help to everyone. If you want to learn more about impatiens, remember to leave the editor a message.