Chrysanthemums - bright and elegant flowers, able to decorate any garden or flower garden. They are rather unpretentious and do not require excessive efforts for cultivation, and most importantly - pleasing their lush flowering until late autumn. The color range of both perennial and annual chrysanthemums is extensive: their inflorescences can be white, pink, yellow, red and even greenish shades. Now there is a huge variety of varieties of chrysanthemums, but in general they can be divided into small-flowered - Korean, large-flowered - Indian. Large-flowered plants are rather capricious and are intended for growing in greenhouses or greenhouses. But the small-chrysanthemums do not get too bad in the middle of Russia and blossom blossomily, starting from the middle of July until the end of autumn. Chrysanthemums can be early, medium or late-flowering. It is desirable for your summer cottage to select plants that bloom early (in July - August), since later varieties may not have time to open the buds before the frost. In order to grow a strong, healthy and beautiful plant, you need to know that "loves" the garden chrysanthemum. Planting and care of the plant, including fertilizing and watering, must be done correctly and in a timely manner. In this article, we will highlight the main agrotechnical features and reveal the subtleties of cultivation of garden chrysanthemums.
Garden chrysanthemum: planting and care, ways of reproduction of a plant
For this flower is a sunny place, preferably exalted. The soil should be neutral or slightly acidic, necessarily drained. Watering should be timely, but not excessive. It is advisable to use soft, stand-by water. Chrysanthemums are propagated in several ways: by sowing seeds, by cuttings or by dividing a bush. Seed is sown in late February (early March). For them, prepare containers and moist soil. When sowing, seeds are not covered with earth, since they need sunlight to germinate. Approximately in 7-10 days there are shoots, and in the end of May the seedlings can be transferred to the open ground. Unfortunately, with this method of reproduction, chrysanthemums will only bloom for next year.
Small-flowered chrysanthemum: planting and caring for cuttings
Breeding by cuttings involves obtaining a material for planting by slicing from a new root shoot that appears in the queen after wintering. This way the garden chrysanthemums reproduce perfectly (photo). Planting and caring for the cuttings of these flowers is not too burdensome.
In order to get healthy and strong cuttings, the queen's wintering in the basement begins to light up in February (or put in a bright place), and in early March they transfer to a heated greenhouse. The temperature in the greenhouse is maintained within 14 ° -20 ° C. After that, the chrysanthemum is watered and treated with a solution of urea, and after a day or two, the soil is well loosened. When young sprouts are knocked out of the mother liquor, they are cut off and treated with a growth stimulant. For the cuttings prepare boxes, where they place a mixture of earth, sand and humus. Previously, it is decontaminated with a solution of manganese (0.3%). Planted cuttings to a depth of about 1.5 cm, maintaining a distance between them at 5 cm. The first week, young plants pritenyayut, sprayed and watered in hot weather. For the rooting of the cuttings, the temperature is maintained from + 12 ° C to +15 ° C. Plant young plants in the open ground can be after heating the soil to + 12 ° C (approximately May-June). Until the end of July, they pull the chrysanthemum over the 6-8th leaf. Another convenient way of reproduction is the division of the bush. For correct division it is necessary to wait, when the danger of spring frosts passes, and to dig out a bush, and then to divide its growth. The resulting shoots are immediately planted in an open ground and watered.
Chrysanthemums perennial: planting and care, feeding and disease control
In order to perennial plant abundantly and luxuriantly blossom, it must be fed. To do this, you can buy ready-made mineral fertilizers. At the beginning of the growth of chrysanthemums, nitrogen fertilizer should be introduced into the soil, and phosphorus-potassium fertilizer in the budding phase. Also, the use of mullein and chicken manure is excellent for the development of chrysanthemum. The schedule of feeding is as follows: the first procedure is carried out 15 days after planting the cuttings (mullein), the second one in a month (the ready complex fertilizer) and the third in the budding phase of the chrysanthemum plant. Planting and care: remember that watering the flower is only necessary under the root, otherwise you can burn the leaves. And top dressing is done only in moist soil. Diseases of chrysanthemums are often associated with improper care. As for pests, as a rule, the flower is affected by a spider mites and aphids. To control pests, you can use a soapy solution (wash the plant every 10 days) or a solution of pyrethrum.