Garden Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)

Impatiens balsamina is an annual flowering plant, commonly known as Garden balsam, which can be easily grown indoors, or outdoors. This fast-growing plant produces flowers in pink, purple and red colors, which enhance the beauty of your home. The plant is native to the Himalayan region and is also known as Gul-mehndi in India. If you want to grow this low-maintenance plant at home, check this guide.

I. Appearance and Characteristics

Impatiens balsamina, commonly known as balsam, garden balsam, rose balsam, touch-me-not or spotted snapweed, is a species of plant native to India and Myanmar.

It is an annual plant growing to 20–75 cm tall, with a thick, but soft stem. The leaves are spirally-arranged, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–2.5 cm broad, with a deeply toothed margin. The flowers are pink, red, mauve, purple, lilac, or white, and 2.5–5 cm diameter; they are pollinated by bees and other insects, and also by nectar-feeding birds. The ripe seed capsules undergo explosive dehiscence.

Garden Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)
Impatiens balsamina (2) Prenn CC BY-SA 3.0

II. How to Grow and Care

Sunlight

These flowering plants grow well in both full sun and partial shade. The best growing site offers some protection from strong afternoon sun, which can cause browning of the foliage. Balsam flowers can survive in full shade, though their blooms will likely be sparse in those conditions.

Temperature and Humidity

Balsam flowers do not tolerate cold temperatures (32 degrees Fahrenheit or below) and are instantly killed by any hint of frost. They thrive in warm temperatures, though they can wilt in summer heat waves. Moreover, due to balsam’s water requirements, the plants also like some humidity. But they can tolerate drier air if their soil moisture needs are being met.

Watering

Garden Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)
Impatiens balsamina Dinesh Valke CC BY-SA 2.0

Keep the soil of balsam plants consistently moist throughout the growing season. They can continue to bloom even during heat waves but only if they have enough to drink. Conversely, they don’t tolerate drought well and will usually stop flowering if they don’t get enough water. Water whenever the top inch or two of soil feels dry to the touch, but avoid overwatering and allowing plants to become waterlogged.

Soil

Garden balsam is not tolerant of drought or accumulated water. Thus, the best soil for them is fertile, loose, well-drained, sandy soil with a suitable pH of 6-6.5, which is slightly acidic. Never use damping soil as a culture medium. If compacted soil is found, be sure to loosen and mix it with other substrates to improve its permeability, which is good for garden balsam growth.

Fertilizing

Before sowing garden balsam, a small amount of organic fertilizer or slow-release fertilizer can be mixed in the cultivation soil. After the seedlings grow out, they can be fertilized every two months in spring and summer, using a balanced water-soluble fertilizer. If foliar feeding is applied, it is best to spray water again 2 hours after fertilization to prevent the accumulation of fertilizer on the leaves, which can burn the leaves.

Pruning

Generally, when garden balsam grows to 25 cm high, you can pinch, i.e. remove the buds, on the tops of branches. For thick, old branches, hard pruning is required to promote the re-germination of new branches, while the delicate branches can be lightly pruned as appropriate. Too-dense branches should be regularly thinned to ensure that the plant’s overall growth is even and that light can reach inside the plant to promote nutrient accumulation and blossoming.

Note that it is best to disinfect pruned garden balsam to avoid wound infection and pests. Disinfectant can be applied with a small amount of potassium permanganate solution. Be sure to maintain air circulation and keep the surrounding environment clean.

Propagation

Garden Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)
Impatiens balsamina 28 08 2009 Joydeep CC BY-SA 3.0

Garden balsam is often started from seed (see below) but it can also be propagated by rooting stem cuttings. This is often done in the fall in order to propagate new plants indoors over the winter. Here’s how to do it:

  • Using sharp, sterilized pruners, cut 3- to 6-inch-long tips of healthy, non-flowering stems from vigorous, healthy plants. Morning is the best time to take cuttings, as the stems will be well hydrated.
  • Remove the bottom leaves, leaving two to four pairs of leaves at the top of the cutting.
  • Fill some small containers with a mixture of commercial potting mix and perlite to improve drainage.
  • Dampen the potting mix, then plant the cuttings, making sure the growth nodes are buried.
  • Put the planted cutting in a warm spot with bright indirect light, free of drafts.
  • Keep the potting mix slightly moistened and watch daily until the cutting has rooted and new leaves have sprouted. At this point, you can move the new plant to a sunny location and keep it well-watered until it’s time to plant it outdoors.

Growing from Seed

Garden balsam is very easy to grow from seed, which is the way most people grow this plant, as potted nursery starts are rarely available at garden centers. Purchased or collected seeds sprout in as little as four days in moist soil at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Start them indoors about six to eight weeks before your area’s projected last frost date, planning for about 60 days from seed to first bloom. Light hastens germination, so don’t fully cover the seeds with soil. Just gently press them into a seed-starting mix. Keep the soil consistently moist but not soggy.

When outdoor soil temperatures begin to warm (usually as the average nighttime temperatures reach about 60 degrees Fahrenheit), you can bring your balsam seedlings outdoors for progressively longer stretches. Then, once frost is no longer in the forecast, plant them in a group about 1 foot apart for the greatest impact.

If you want to collect seeds at the end of the season to plant in other areas, keep a baggie very close. The ripe seed heads will burst and distribute their contents everywhere when you pinch them.

Potting and Repotting

Like many annual flowers, garden balsam flowers can grow well in containers on balconies and terraces. Just make sure to use a large pot with ample drainage holes. Any good quality commercial potting mix will suffice. Plan on more frequent watering with container-grown plants, as they tend to dry out quicker than in-ground plants. Garden balsam needs at least 1 foot of space between plants. If you start out with a large enough container, repotting won’t be necessary for these annuals.

Overwintering

Garden Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)
Impatiens balsamina wallygrom CC BY-SA 2.0

As a true annual, garden balsam dies out at the end of the growing season and must be discarded. You can, however, take stem cuttings and root them indoors over the winter to grow potted plants for the following spring. These do not, however, make good permanent houseplants, as they quickly fade once the long flowering season is over.

Pests and Diseases

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Though relatively free of pests and diseases, garden balsam is sometimes visited by aphids and cucumber beetles, which can be handled with a horticultural oil, such as neem oil.

I. balsimina can also be susceptible to powdery mildew (not usually serious) or by the same downy mildew organism that decimated the common impatiens (I. walleriana) for many years. Should you spot signs of downy mildew, affected plants should be removed and destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease.

Common Problems

The most common complaint with garden balsam stems from the ease with which its exploding seed heads scatter seeds far and wide around the garden. Combined with its fast-growing nature, this makes garden balsam a borderline invasive plant, especially in warmer regions with long growing seasons. You can prevent this spread by carefully removing spent flowers before the seed pods mature.

III. Uses and Benefits

  • Ornamental uses

The colorful flowers of Impatiens balsamina make it a suitable choice for landscaping purposes. The plant attracts butterflies and pollinators. Thus, it is also used in designing theme-based gardens, such as Butterfly Garden, Shade Garden and Pollinator Garden. However, Garden balsam are excellent plants to be grown in containers inside homes, or in home gardens.

Garden Balsam (Impatiens balsamina)
鳳仙花 Impatiens balsamina [香港海洋公園 Ocean Park, Hong Kong] 阿橋花譜 KHQ Flower Guide CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Human uses

Different parts of the plant are used as traditional remedies for disease and skin afflictions. Juice from the leaves is used to treat warts and snakebite, and the flower is applied to burns. This species has been used as indigenous traditional medicine in Asia for rheumatism, fractures, and other ailments. In Korean folk medicine, this impatiens species is used as a medicine called bongseonhwa dae (봉선화대) for the treatment of constipation and gastritis. Chinese people used the plant to treat those bitten by snakes or who ingested poisonous fish. Juice from the stalk, pulverised dried stalks, and pastes from the flowers were also used to treat a variety of ailments.

Vietnamese wash their hair with an extract of the plant to stimulate hair growth. One in vitro study found extracts of this impatiens species, especially of the seed pod, to be active against antibiotic-resistant strains of Helicobacter pylori. It is also an inhibitor of 5α-reductases, enzymes that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (active form of testosterone), thus reducing action of testosterone in our body.

In Nepal, the balsam leaves are crushed to dye fingernails on the day of Shrawan Sakranti (Shrawan 1). The day is also observed as Luto Faalne Deen (Go Away-Itch Day). Similarly, in China and Korea, the flowers are crushed and mixed with alum to produce an orange dye that can be used to dye fingernails. Unlike common nail varnish, the dye is semi-permanent, requiring dyed nails to grow off over time in order to remove any traces of color.

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