The indoor maple abutilon is a beautiful shrub that can be used in interiors and landscaping to form a beautiful backdrop for flowering plants. Growing an indoor maple abutilon at home from seeds requires a certain amount of time, experience and skills. In some flower shops on sale there are seedlings that are already rooted and can easily tolerate replanting in new soil. But do not exclude self-cultivation. Moreover, it is much easier to buy abutilon seeds. They are present on the shelves of large suburban stores.
A genus of flowering plants from the Malvaceae family, distributed mainly in the tropics and subtropics of South America, Asia, Australia and Africa. They are valued there for their rapid growth and flowers that do not fade for a long time. Common Names Indian Mallow, Flowering Maple, Salon Maple, and Limnocharis. We offer you to see the indoor maple abutilon in the photo, which are located on this page:
The name of the flower Abutilon originates in the 18th century from the Arabic “abΕ«-αΉΔ«lΕ«n” – this is the name that Avicenna gave the plant and the whole family.
Description and photo of maple abutilon
The plant of this genus includes shrubs, trees and grasses. The height of the trunk varies from 1,5 to 3 meters with bristles or hairs as a rule. In addition to describing the abutilon maple, we have prepared a photo showing various varieties of a flower.
The leaves are almost all sharp, but it happens that they come across whole, with 3-5 lobes or graceful cutouts – up to 10 cm long. Some in appearance can very much resemble maple foliage. Branches profusely.
Shrubs produce bell-shaped flowers growing nearby or all alone.
Many garden forms have bright foliage and flower colors: white and variegated leaves and, for example, orange, red or bright yellow flowers with stamens as decoration. Unfortunately, there are very few of them in nature; picturesque hybrid and decorative varieties are obtained from them.
By the way, experienced gardeners advise using hybrids to decorate gardens and apartment premises – they have more choices of colors and shapes, they grow faster, and they look very beautiful. This is one of the reasons why conservatories, large buildings, homes and offices are landscaped with the Abutilon maple. Unusual varieties are obtained by grafting plants with green leaves from variegated.
Growing abutilone from seeds
To grow abutilone from seeds at home, special environmental conditions should be prepared for it. The more carefully you choose a place for it, the faster the result in the form of a beautiful and strong plant you will get. The flower will feel comfortable in a room with a temperature of 20-25 degrees, and in summer it is better to place it outside – a garden or a balcony. It’s good if you keep it in the shade or in diffused light, but be sure to sunbathe a couple of times a day, which, by the way, have healing properties for abutilone.
In hot summer, the temperature in the room where the sprout is located should not be lower than 20-25 degrees, in winter 10-15 is permissible. But remember, if the lowest mark (that is, 10 degrees) remains in the room for a long time, the plant will begin to dry out. Watering is also necessary in accordance with the temperature – the higher it is, the more water it needs, in winter this is especially important, since it is still growing and it needs additional moisture more than ever. The flower tolerates high humidity, so a couple of times a week, on the warmest days, you should regularly spray it.
For growing abutilone from seeds, choose a quality seed. Before sowing, the seeds of abutilon are soaked in a root solution for a day. Then, in flat containers, sowing is carried out to a depth of no more than 5 mm. Cover with a thick film from above. daily moistening of the upper soil layer by drip irrigation is necessary. Seedlings appear after 2 – 3 weeks. When the first true leaf appears, a careful pick is carried out into peat pots with a diameter of up to 7 cm. In this state, the indoor maple abutilon should spend about 3 months. During this time, a powerful root system develops. The plant is preparing to be transplanted into a large container.
Abutilon maple varieties with green foliage and flowers are propagated using seeds and cuttings. Variegated species are propagated only by cuttings. Before sowing, the seeds are imperatively soaked in water and the shell is slightly cut. At 25-28 degrees in the room, you will receive the first shoots no earlier than six months later. They will begin to bloom about four months after the sprouts appear.
The soil in which you plan to plant the shoots should be loose and have good drainage. At high humidity or when dry, the flower throws off its foliage.
You can propagate home maple by cuttings at any time of the year, but if you are interested in the most favorable time for such a procedure, then this is undoubtedly August. During this period, they take root faster, which means it will grow much faster. You can root it either in a mixture of peat and sand, or simply in sand, or in a mini-greenhouse with warm soil (t = 22-25 ΜΠ‘).
Home care for abutilon
Home care for abutilon includes regular feeding with mineral and organic fertilizers, loosening the topsoil at least 1 time per month, watering and replanting. Top dressing should be applied once a week. During the green mass gain, nitrogen should prevail. In preparation for flowering, add more phosphorus and potassium. These trace elements contribute to the formation of flower buds.
We advise you to transplant the plant in the spring – moreover, the older ones are transplanted only if necessary (for example, when the roots grow), and the young ones must be placed in a new pot of a slightly larger size and in new soil annually. If you do not like plants with flowers, then you can simply choose a smaller pot – it has been proven by amateur gardeners that in this case there will be much less inflorescences on the foliage.
There is one more small nuance in caring for abutilon: at the end of winter – beginning of spring, it should be cut by about Β½ of its length. And the young need a clothespin to branch out more.
When the first shoots appear, be sure to keep Abutilon warm, water it abundantly and feed it with ordinary flower fertilizers a couple of times a month.
Rest time for a flower is winter. During this period, watering should be reduced to moderate: do not spray or feed.
As a matter of fact, these are all measures for caring for indoor maple abutilon. Probably the only drawback of abutilon is that its lower leaves are a constant haven for pests – whiteflies, aphids, scale insects, etc.
Abutilon Bella variety
One of the hybrids of Abutilon. As I said earlier, all hybrids in this family grow longer, but their flowers are larger (from five centimeters) and brighter. Its petals are usually smooth, one might even say a little glossy, or satin. They are like a skirt around the rim. In other varieties, the flower is bell-shaped, but here it is more rounded and more open than others.
The color of the Abutilon Bella variety is red, orange, cream, white, peach, salmon, pink and canary yellow.
The bush is very miniature, it does not grow higher than 40 cm. It does not need to be cut or plucked, it is able to sprout independently and without unnecessary interference. Since they do not grow to the level of a tree, you can easily position the flower on a window in an apartment or on a table in an office.
Indoor maple abutilon Bella should be watered regularly and abundantly, and also sprayed at least twice a month. But the water should be soft – either settled rain or bottled. Maple ceases to bloom at a temperature of +5 ΜΠ‘, comfortable flowering is possible at +15 Μ. In the summer, it must be exposed to the sun and sprayed a little more often.
Abutilona Bella is only spread by seeds. For pollination to occur, you need one type of Abutilons. If you want to create a flower with certain characteristics at home, you can gently transfer pollen from one flower to another using a soft brush (this is called “artificial pollination”). Seeds are planted in moist soil, and after a year and a half, new flowers with the parameters you need can grow.
The Abutilon Bella maple blooms beautifully all year round, which is why gardeners around the world adore it. But besides this, its beautiful and bright flowers with picturesque petals will adorn any home, giving it comfort and beauty.
