How to grow peonies from seeds? Peculiarities of growing pions

Peonies are one of those early flowers that please us with bright colors, when many plants only wake up after winter rest. Lush shrubs with large flowers are an ornament of any site, and the cut buds in the vase long refresh the interior of our houses. Today we will tell you how to grow peonies from seeds, how to look after them.

Why is seed growing rarely used?

This method of growing popular flowers is used quite rarely. Even knowing how to grow peonies from seeds, most gardeners prefer to multiply plants by dividing the bush. Why? There is a simple explanation for this.

Typically, gardeners, buying peonies for their site, are guided by the beauty of flowers. Therefore, they select the hybrids hatched by breeders. But the latter have one significant drawback - the preservation of the species of flowers is possible only when dividing the bush.

At the same time, one must admit that in the amateur gardening the purity of the variety is not so important in comparison with beauty. The overwhelming majority of seedlings obtained from seeds delight owners with very interesting results. Knowing how to grow peonies from seeds, you can propagate wild flowers. These include dodging and thin-leaved species.

Reproduction of pions by seeds is not always possible for objective reasons - some varieties do not bear fruit, they simply do not have seeds. These include Marchal MacMahon, Madame Forel, Celestial, Montblanc. In part, this applies to the fungal and double varieties, in which there are few seeds.

You should know that if you collected seeds, then the plant you grow will resemble the parental shrub very distantly. The main varietal characteristics, especially with regard to the brightness of the flower's shade and the petals' terryness, will disappear. No one says that the flowers will grow ugly, they will simply be different. In addition, to see and evaluate the result of their work, will have to wait at least five years.

Reproduction of pions by seeds will require special skills from the florist. This is a laborious and rather complicated procedure, which has many features. But according to the flower growers, all difficulties, long waiting for results, inconveniences are compensated with interest, when you see flowers that are bred independently.

Seed Features

The flowering of peonies is always a holiday. Bright, fragrant flowers are beautiful both on the site and in a table vase. That is why no dacha site can not do without these bushes. Seeds of pions are characterized by low germination, which is explained by the presence of an underdeveloped embryo, which poorly absorbs microelements and nutrients necessary for germination from the soil and dense shell.

Another characteristic feature of seeds is a small enzymatic activity. This means that in the first year after sowing, as a rule, very few seeds will germinate, especially if they are planted directly in the open ground. Most of them will only vanish for the second summer. Tree-like peonies can give germination of seeds to the third, and sometimes even to the fifth year.

Flower growers try to "deceive" nature, applying stratification (step by step). The ability of seeds to slow development goes to seedlings. They grow very slowly, adding several leaves a year. Flowering begins in the fifth to seventh year after planting in the soil (depending on the selected variety).

Germination of seeds

Peonies in the home from the seeds to grow is not too difficult, but this process has its own characteristics. The reason, again, is the slow germination of seeds. But we said that the florists had found a way to "hurry up" nature a little. What is required for this? First, you should use only your own seeds, and not bought in the store. They must be immature: in the very initial stage of maturation. During this period they are not solid and painted in a light brown color with tiny yellowish specks, and leaflets at the seams begin to crack.

It is important that the seeds do not dry out, so they are either immediately sown, or stored for 1.5 months in the refrigerator in moist sand. This is best done from the last days of August to mid-September. If you decide to plant them immediately, you need to prepare containers in which the seeds are sown to a depth of 5 cm.

Some growers plant seeds at this time immediately on the beds. In this case, they undergo two stages of stratification - and warm (+15 ... + 30 ° C), and cold, lasting about two months (+5 ... + 10 ° C). This will allow you to get the shoots from the planted seeds for the next summer. But it is necessary to be prepared for the fact that a maximum of 1/3 of the total will ascend. Some shoots may appear a year later.

Stratification

This procedure will help you speed up the cultivation of seedlings. This is a thermal stratification - the effect on seeds at different temperatures is about +30 ° C in the daytime and about +15 ° C at night.

Warm phase

Seeds should be planted in a wide shallow container in moist sand. It is placed on an electric heating pad (a heating battery is also suitable). Sand should be heated to 30 ° C, after that it is cooled and reheated, periodically moisturizing.

The procedure takes about two months, until the seeds burst and the roots will appear. Immediately after that they are removed from the sand, pinch roots and placed in a container with soil mixture or in peat pots, lightly sprinkling them. This significantly reduces the likelihood of injury to seedlings when planted in the soil.

Cold phase

It's time to move on to the cold phase. It is necessary for the active development of the shoot growth point. During this period the fetus grows actively, and the seeds germinate. This phase lasts about three months. Flower growers have found a way to shorten this time. To do this, it is necessary to process the hypocotyl (a piece of the stem, located under the cotyledons) with a solution of the growth regulator. A 0.01% growth stimulant solution is prepared. Seeds are opened, moistened with the resulting composition of gauze and superimpose it on the hypocotyl. To maintain the necessary moisture, the seeds are covered with a light-permeable cloth. If the temperature is maintained from +5 to +10 ° C, the buds grow on the seedlings and leaves will appear. If after seven days the kidney does not appear, the treatment must be repeated.

Care of seedlings

When a bud appears on the seedlings, they must be transferred to a warm room (not lower than +16 ... + 18 ° C). The acceleration procedure will require the horticulturist patience and diligence, but will save a whole year.

Seedlings are transferred to the garden in early May, they grow in the penumbra at a distance of about five centimeters from each other. The soil around them is leveled and mulched with sawdust, which retains moisture and prevents the development of weeds.

Landing on a permanent place

The seedlings grow in tanks until August. If weather conditions allow, peonies in the garden can be temporarily planted in a bed with loose and light soil, in a slightly shaded place. The plant must be dug to two centimeters. At the same time, peony is planted in the open ground to a permanent place. In this case, the bushes are at a distance not less than half a meter.

Prepare a pit size of 50 x 50 x 50 cm. At its bottom lay the drainage (expanded clay, crushed brick). To half the land you dug from the pit, add 200 grams of dolomite flour, potassium sulfate, superphosphate and mix. The resulting composition is poured into the pit. The rest of the soil is mixed in equal parts with compost (humus).

Plant a young plant in the pit so that the root neck is at the level of its surface, and pour it to the brim with earth. To stimulate the growth of the root system, you can use "Heteroauxin" or "Sodium Humate" (one ampoule or two tablets per ten liters of water).

Peonies prefer a mild morning sun, and the midday heat does not suit them. Comfortably these flowers feel in the shade of a sprawling tree, preferably in the eastern side of the site.

Trimming Peonies

In the first two years of development, peonies need to remove buds. Such at first sight "barbaric" method stimulates the accelerated growth of the plant and promotes obtaining abundant flowering in the future.

If you want your house to decorate large flowers on a long leg, then pruning peonies is as follows: remove all buds below the top, as soon as their size reaches the size of a pea. If you need bright lush bushes on the plot, then all the ovaries are left on the branches.

We told you how to grow peonies from seeds. As you can see, the process is not easy, quite laborious, but very interesting. When peonies in the garden blossom, you will forget about all the complexities of cultivation and will enjoy their beauty.