Wild-growing checkerboard flowers have become rare in our latitudes and the fragile lily plant with its unusually colored flowers is also a rarity in gardens. Chess flowers don't necessarily have to be cared for in the bed, they can also be easily cultivated in pots and enchant the room in spring with their unusual flowers.
How do I care for a checkerboard flower in a pot?
Checkerboard flowers can be successfully cultivated in pots. Choose a bright location, use conventional potting soil or a self-mixed mixture of topsoil, peat, bark humus and sand. Keep the substrate evenly moist, avoid waterlogging and fertilize every two weeks.
The right location
In the open field, the checkerboard flower thrives in moist, sunny meadows. Accordingly, you should also give the beauty a bright location on the windowsill. However, the checkerboard flower is less fond of drafts and the heat radiating from the heater.
The right substrate
Unless you purchase plants that have already been grown in the nursery, you will have to let the small bulbs grow out yourself. Since the bulbs of the chess flower are very sensitive, you should plant the bulbs you purchased as quickly as possible.
Conventional potting soil for flowering plants that you fill into a flower pot is ideal. Alternatively, you can use the substrate from the following components:
- Topsoil
- Peat
- Bark humus
- Sand
mix your own inexpensively.
The planter
Since the checkerboard flower requires a lot of moisture, but at the same time is very sensitive to waterlogging, you should choose the planter carefully. It must have enough drainage holes that you cover with pottery shards. This allows the substrate to store moisture well while excess water can drain away.
The chess flower loves it wet
The checkerboard flower is a ericaceous plant and must be kept evenly moist. Waterlogging, on the other hand, must be avoided at all costs, as the onions that are permanently in water will quickly begin to rot. Please pour away any standing water in the saucer immediately.
Fertilize
Supply the chess flower every fortnight during the growing season with commercial flowering fertilizer (€14.00 at Amazon).
Repotting
You should repot the chess flower every two to three years. Carefully remove the onion from the old container and place it in fresh substrate. With good care, the mother plant has reproduced itself through many small bulbs. Carefully separate them and insert the onions too.
Tip
You must keep the checkerboard flower evenly moist even during the rest phase in the summer months. Water whenever the top few inches of the substrate feel dry.
