How to cultivate an ageratum, growing out of seeds, when planting - questions that are of interest to gardeners who want to decorate their plot with such a plant. It is a perennial height of up to 60 cm, conquering a kind of carpet of pubescent wreaths, similar to soft pompons of blue, lavender, pale pink, blue.
Ageratum - growing out of seeds
Propagation of such a charming perennial is best seeded. This method is preferred in terms of greater variability of colors. Planting grains better seedling method. Before growing an ageratum from seeds, it is important to know the basic conditions for its cultivation:
- The only strict requirement of the aheratum is bright illumination. The flower keeps its decorativeness exclusively on open and bright areas. Insignificant shading will lead to the fact that its shoots will stretch, the foliage will thin out, and the buds will become less fluffy and unattractive.
- To the soil the flower is undemanding - it develops perfectly in the nutritious light garden soil, which does not need to be enriched. It should not be oily, so that the flowering of the culture does not decrease.
When to plant an ageratum for seedlings?
From sowing to the beginning of flowering of the ageratum, 2-2.5 months pass. During the sprouting season, the probability of recurrent spring frosts should be completely ruled out - the plant is thermophilic and does not tolerate even insignificant cooling. Ageratum - growing from seeds to seedlings, when planting:
- The most favorable time was touched by the middle of March - the beginning of April.
- When the ageratum is planted, the sowing period may be later, but in this case the flowering will also be removed.
How to plant an ageratum for seedlings?
The difficulty of sowing an ageratum when planting seeds on seedlings is that they are very small, dispersing them over the area of the substrate does not always come out. To facilitate the work, the seeds are mixed with sand. Planting seedlings should be in low-lying containers or boxes with nutrient ground. For seeding, a substrate consisting of equal parts of peat, humus and sand is suitable. Before the procedure, it should be disinfected and well moistened. How to plant seeds on seedlings:
- Spreading seeds on the surface of the earth, they are slightly pressed to the soil, moistened from the spray and covered with glass or film.
- At the stage of germination, the main thing is a temperature within + 20-25 ° С and high humidity. The presence of light does not matter until the seeds are pushed through.
- Seedlings appear for 5-7 days, after which the shelter can be removed. At the 2 nd stage, the cotyledons are opened and the root system of germs is expanded. During this period, the temperature is not lower than + 25 ° C, good lighting.
Ageratum - planting for seedlings in the cochlea
Growing seedlings in the cochlea is a new and original way to get strong sprouts and save space on the windowsill. To do this, you need a building substrate for the laminate, plastic cup, rubber bands, soil. Planting an ageratum on seedlings in the cochlea:
- Building polypropylene is cut by a strip of width 10-15 cm, the length of the gardener chooses itself - the diameter of the resulting snail depends on it.
- The tape is placed on the table, 1 cm thick soil is poured onto its surface, into which it is necessary to plant the seeds along the entire length of the strip.
- Then the strip is neatly folded into a roll, fixed with an elastic band and placed in a cellophane bag covering its bottom and sides. The snail is placed in a plastic cup, suitable for its size.
- The container is covered with glass, further care for the seedlings is identical to the traditional one.
- Sprouts grow in the snail until the moment of diving - until the roots of planted plants become visible from the bottom edge of the roll.
How to sprinkle a weak seedling of an ageratum?
Care of the seedlings of the ageratum implies an indispensable top dressing. Feeding seedlings should not sparing fertilizers, so as not to slow the growth of seedlings. This period gives an impulse for the active development of the flower. Seedlings are important to be fed with complex potassium, mineral and nitrogen fertilizers once a week. If the stems extend - you need to make up with calcium, if you turn yellow - with iron. With a weak growth of seedlings, it can be sprinkled with a stimulant like " Epin ", " Zircon ", but it needs to be done moderately.
Arageratum Picks
When asked when to dive an aГeratum after emergence, experienced gardeners are advised to do this when developing the first pair of these leaflets. For this, plastic cups are suitable. Features of growing ageratum:
- Picking sprouts in separate pots is mandatory - the seedlings of the ageratum grow very quickly, but in a joint container they interfere with the development of each other.
- If the seedlings are stretched from lack of light, its top can be pinched.
- Seedlings planted in glasses should be regularly watered and once fertilized with nitrogen fertilizer.
Ageratum - planting seeds in the open ground
How to further cultivate the ageratum, growing from seeds, when planting seedlings in the open ground are important questions, the answers to which you need to know in order to get a healthy plant in the garden. Frozen, even light, this culture does not tolerate. Therefore, at the end of May or the beginning of June, when warm weather stabilizes on the street, an ageratum is planted in the open ground with a distance between plants of at least 20 cm.
How to care for an aheratum:
- Full-fledged care consists in the timely weeding and loosening of the soil.
- Feed the ageratum with mineral fertilizers three times - one week after transplantation, during budding and flowering. Organic, especially manure, can not be introduced into the earth in order to avoid the build-up of green mass with a decrease in flowering.
- Water the plants as the soil dries up.
- In the middle of July the site is decorated with bright fluffy flowers.
- Wilted coronals are best to remove. In autumn the plant blooms until the first frost. Although it is perennial, the bush dies in the open area. If it is moved to the house, the flower will successfully survive until spring, after it or individual cuttings can again be rooted in the garden.