Surely you have ever seen the joy of the house, also known as Impatiens walleriana. They are a very popular plant that you can have both inside and outside the home and that stands out for its flowering.
But how is the joy of the house? What care do you need? If you want to give them everything they need and in return offer you the most profuse flowering possible, then pay attention to what we are going to tell you about them. Shall we start?
How is the joy of the house
As we told you before the joy of the house it can also be found under its scientific name, as well as another name, "bear ears". It is native to Africa and, in its natural habitat, it can reach about 60cm in height. It is of the herbaceous type and is considered a succulent, so its leaves are perennial (it will always look like that). Now, one of the characteristics for which this plant is so liked is because it can flower several times a year, as long as the care it needs to do so is respected.
House cheer flowers are variegated in color. They can be white, pink, red, orange or lilac. In fact, what many do is that, since the plant does not take up much space, they place several of different colors so that, when it comes to blooming, the place with so much color looks much more beautiful. On some occasions you can find them double, that is, with more petals than usual (which are usually five).
The leaves, for their part, are somewhat hard and of an intense green.
The life expectancy of this plant is not too long. In fact, according to what we have investigated, it seems that it can last about two years, sometimes a little longer, but in the end it ends up succumbing over time. When it spikes, many end up removing it from the pot or from the garden.
Basic care to keep your Alegría de la casa healthy
Have you already fallen in love with the joy of the house? So the next thing is to get hold of them. Being some plants easy to find, and it is not expensive at all, quite the opposite. But if you don't want to have to go to the store every week to buy another one, we recommend that you take a look at the main care that you should provide. They are the following:
How to choose the ideal location for your Alegría de la casa en casa?
As we have told you before, the joy of the house is a plant that can be both inside the house and outside. However, ideally you should be away from home, abroad.
Still, you can have it inside, but always in an area where it receives lots and lots of light, not direct sun, but as much sunlight as possible. It needs it to get ahead and, if at any time you see that the plant collapses, that the leaves become softer, you should consider taking it outside.
If you have it outside, you can put it in semi-shade, since this way you will avoid the midday sun and help the flowers not wither.
Note that, If the plant does not receive all the light it needs, in the end, even if it gives you flower buds, they will not open because they lack that incentive. So when looking for a place, the balcony, terrace or similar are perfect places. And if they are oriented to the north or east, much better.
Now, in terms of temperature, you must bear in mind that it does not support extreme heat, nor would it withstand extreme cold. Careful with this.
The best substrate for the joy of the house
As a fast plant that it is, it needs a soil with a lot of nutrients so that it can feed on them. That's why, We recommend a mixture with very nutritious soil, earthworm humus and some drainage to avoid puddling in it.
time to water
Irrigation is one of the most important care. Because, if you go too far, they die, and if you fall short, too. Therefore, in the case of the joys of the house, you should know that they need the earth to always be humid. Yes indeed, It doesn't mean you should "drown" them. It is enough that you water them and leave a time between watering and watering so that the soil dries out a little.
In general, in winter, it will be enough to water them every seven or ten days; but in spring and summer it will need between two and four weekly waterings.
If you have it in the garden, try not to water directly on the stem of the plant, but rather around it. For its part, if you have it in a pot, do not let more than five minutes pass to remove the excess water from the plate and so that it does not damage the roots.
Do we compost it?
As you have seen, the joy of the house is a plant that grows very fast. And that makes it consume the nutrients of the soil very, very quickly. Therefore, as far as possible, try to fertilize it because, otherwise, you will see that the leaves begin to yellow and also it will not bloom as much as you would like.
In this case, fertilize with irrigation water. Do it once a week until it stops blooming.
This is the way to achieve that, every time it blooms, all the flowers come to term.
Common diseases of the Joy of the house and how to combat them
There are two important diseases that you will have to watch throughout his life. On the one hand, botrytis, which occurs mainly when you overwater.
If it happens, you will have to buy a fungicide to clean it up and you may even have to change the soil and pot.
Another disease is downy mildew, characterized by the appearance of a white-gray powder covering it and causes yellow and white spots to appear on the leaf until they fall off.
Again you will have to apply some treatment to solve the problem.
Tips for Propagation and Reproduction of House Joy
Finally, we come to the reproduction of the joy of the house. And it couldn't be easier to achieve since you have two methods to do it:
Through seeds: You have to collect them and put them in a seedbed or pot in spring. You will have to take care of them in the same way that we have explained to you and, when they already have a few leaves, you can transplant them.
Through cuttings: It is perhaps the easiest way because you only have to cut cuttings and remove some leaves from the lower part to place it in water and wait for it to take root. In that water, you can add a bit of fertilizer or rooting so that it develops beforehand. It is not convenient to plant directly on the ground because it tends to rot.
As you can see, the joy of the house lives up to its name because every time you see how it blooms, it will surely make you smile. Do you dare now to have it in your garden?