Narcissuses belong to the genus of perennial bulbous plants from the family Amaryllis. This is one of the earliest spring flowers. Dark-green leaves of narcissus vary in length and width, depending on the plant variety. One of the features of the narcissus bulb is the presence of two renal buds, which are at different stages of development. Extended bulbous pear-shaped bulbs are covered with a brown dense skin. The roots of daffodils live 10-11 months, and then die off, the most intensive they grow in autumn. Flowers have daffodils and simple and double, yellow, white or bicolour color of the crown. Daffodils with a pink crown appeared very beautiful. They are located on peduncles without leaves. Cutting the peduncle does not do any harm to the bulb itself because there are no leaves on the peduncles .. Now there are more than thirty thousand varieties of narcissus.
The most popular variety of daffodils for forcing at home is the narcissus paper with a lot of snow-white flowers on one peduncle. In addition, as a houseplant, early variegated varieties of daffodils "Fortune", "Yellow sun", "Magnet" are grown. Homemade daffodils can bloom from December to March.
How to grow daffodils at home?
Narcissus is more often a garden flower, but you can do it in a potted house on a window sill or balcony. Bulbs for distillation should be large and healthy. In September, narcissus bulbs are planted in low pots of 2-4 pieces, and can be denser, but the bulbs should not touch each other. The land is suitable for garden, mixed with sand or sawdust. At the bottom of the pot, you must put a layer of drainage. Bulbs should be half buried with earth. Soak them for about 12 weeks in a dark room at a temperature of about 10 degrees. Watering at this time should be very moderate. As soon as the first sprouts appear, the pots are transferred to a bright place with a temperature of about 16 degrees. Watering the plant is now better than room water in the pan. After the end of flowering, watering is reduced, and when the leaves turn yellow, the watering is stopped altogether.
Care for daffodils
Care for narcissists is simple. This flower is shade-tolerant, but in the sun the buds blossom better. He does not like the dry air of the premises, so put it away from the batteries and next place a vessel with water to humidify the air in the room. Fertilize the flower during the bud formation. But when the flowers blossom, to prolong their flowering it is necessary to transfer daffodils in pots to a cooler room, for example, on a loggia. In such a cool room daffodils can bloom for 2-3 weeks. After the bulbs of the daffodils have faded in the pot, you can continue to care for them: a little watering and you can feed up with liquid mineral fertilizers designed for indoor flowers. And when the leaves dry completely, you must remove the bulb from the pot and fall in the garden in the fall. Such bulbs of daffodils are no longer suitable for re-forcing the house. But on the street they can still please
Daffodils are reproduced by children (daughter bulbs) and seeds that are planted in autumn.
Most often, narcissuses are affected by fungi and viral diseases. Gray rot, fusariosis can be brought together with poor-quality planting material. Therefore, when buying bulbs, you should carefully examine them and buy only healthy ones. In order to prevent infection with mushrooms before storing the bulbs for storage, they must be treated with fungicides. To prevent the infection of daffodils with viral diseases, you should regularly inspect and destroy diseased plants.