Each gardener wants his site to look elegant and bright. This is a great help flowers. However, in the spring, often there is no time to grow capricious ornamental plants. There is a great way out - purchase lobelia seeds in advance. This is an elegant and bright plant that requires virtually no care. Lobelia willingly blooms in various places, calmly endures the conditions of a shadow flower bed and pleases the eye until autumn. Today we will talk about when to sow lobelia for seedlings.
Lobelia seeds
First of all, the seeds themselves cause difficulties - they are very small, almost dusty. If you bought a large bag containing 1 g of seeds, it means that you can grow up to 50,000 roots. It is clear that such a quantity is rarely needed by anyone. Therefore, producers rush to help gardeners and produce seeds in granules. Each ball contains from 5 to 8 seeds, it is very convenient to distribute them in a box for seedlings. By leaving enough space between the granules, you will avoid the tedious dive of many small plants. We have not yet answered the main question, when to sow lobelia for seedlings. You should not rush, because with a lack of sun and heat, seedlings can stretch or die. The ideal time is mid-March. It takes about 10 weeks from sowing to flowering, so bright flowers will decorate your garden in June.
Focus primarily on the climatic features of the region in which you reside. The sooner a steady warm weather sets in, the sooner you can start planting. Therefore, the question of when to plant lobelia for seedlings is decided individually. If you have a heated greenhouse, then sowing can be done in January-February, so that with the first spring rays send material to the street with subsequent planting in open ground.
We select the soil
The seeds of this plant are very small, so when you need to sow seedlings of lobelia, first of all, you should choose the optimal soil. The use of large fractions and too heavy soil is unacceptable. The main requirements are friability, lightness and neutral acid composition of the soil. It is most convenient to buy the mixture in the store, any composition for indoor plants is suitable. You can cook and home substrate. To do this, take 2 parts of turf land, 2 parts of humus or compost, as much non-acid peat and 1 part of fine river sand. The whole mixture must be sieved through a garden sieve, and then put into storage in a bag or a closed greenhouse. As necessary, you can dial it in pots or boxes.
Seedling Prevention
So, you already know when to plant lobelia for seedlings. Three days before the expected date, you need to bring the land home. After a day, when it warms up, it is necessary to fill it in a box and pour boiling water. After this, you should water the soil with a fungicide solution to prevent the disease with a black leg. Now leave the soil to dry slightly. On the third day, she will be ready for planting seeds.
Landing Features
Dust-like seeds are very difficult to distribute evenly. It is good if the experienced gardener has to do this work, but when a beginner has to sow lobelia ampelous, then mistakes cannot be avoided. Usually they try to sow in the traditional way, distributing the seeds with a pinch. At the same time, after 2 weeks you will see a green hat of friendly and very small shoots, which you will not have enough strength or patience to pee. The only thing that calms is lobelia is not afraid of crowding and grows well even in such conditions. It can also be planted in soil in bunches. But if you want to get neat plants, it is better to buy seeds in granules.
Other landing methods
To the aid of the gardener comes a way of mixing small seeds with dry river sand. So you can get a more uniform sowing and avoid thickening. Be sure to attach a label with the name of the variety and the date, especially if you are sowing several varieties.
Do not forget that the seeds are distributed on the surface and are not sprinkled with earth. They should only be sprayed with water and covered with glass. Do not forget to turn it over several times a day, as drops of condensate are harmful to seedlings.
With this method of planting, it is very difficult to keep track of the state of the soil - it either dries up, or, conversely, is excessively moistened after watering. Therefore, gardeners invented another way. By the time you are planning to sow lobelia, stock up on transparent packaging boxes. If they are solid, then holes should be made in the upper and lower covers.
The sowing scheme is simple - it is enough to fill the boxes with soil, place the seeds and process them once from the sprayer with water. After that, close the boxes with plastic covers and place them in a shallow tray. In such conditions, condensation will not form on the lid, there will always be an influx of fresh air. Watering the seedlings is also very simple, just pour a little water into the pan, and it is absorbed through the lower holes. Through transparent walls it is clearly visible. After about a month, the seedlings grow to the lid of the box, now you can open it and thin out the plants.
Pick
Everyone decides when to sow lobelia. The deadline is the beginning of May, when the seeds are placed directly in the open ground (you can cover the garden with a film). But in this case, plants will not bloom before mid-summer. This option is convenient in that it is not required to make a pick and landing. Note that first seedlings develop slowly, as the root system grows. By the way, picking can also be done in different ways. Tiny tender plants are very difficult to transplant one at a time, using a toothpick, so feel free to arm yourself with a teaspoon. With this tool you can pick up a piece of land with a bunch of seedlings and transfer to a new area. This can be an individual or general planting pot. Spiked seedlings are preferably grown in a cool place at a temperature of +16 degrees.
We take care of the shape of future plants
Before planting in the ground is still far away, and you need to take care of the appearance of future bushes now. The exception is the ampel form, their beauty is just in long lashes. Shrub lobelia should be pinched or trimmed so that the bushes are compact and lush. When the plants reach about 5 cm in height, it's time to start. It is difficult to pinch each of them, so take scissors and cut the tops of the seedlings.
Landing
The period when you need to sow lobelia for seedlings can be determined experimentally. It is enough to plant the seeds in several pots with an interval of a couple of weeks. But as soon as warm weather sets in (usually this is the end of May or the beginning of June), you can start planting plants in the ground. If there is a film greenhouse, then you can do this already in mid-April, after stretching the film and warming the ground. Landing also occurs in small beams, which are distributed at a small distance from each other.
Plant care
When planting lobelia, select a sunny spot or partial shade (with both options you will get a bright flowerbed). The timing of flowering directly depends on when to sow lobelia. Reviews gardeners suggest that the best option is sowing in early March. Then from June to September, a blue rug pleases the eye in the garden.
Do not overdo it with fertilizers - an excess of organic matter adversely affects flowering. But the green mass will grow in all its splendor. However, there is a slight nuance. At the end of summer, it is worthwhile to make abundant dressing with organic fertilizers. This will give a new growth of shoots, which will bloom actively in the fall.
All summer your flowerbed needs attention. As soon as flowering becomes weaker, it is necessary to cut off the ends of the stems. So the bushes will be more magnificent, besides it activates the color.
Planting material
Lobelia is loved by many gardeners for its unpretentiousness, brightness and long flowering. Therefore, in the fall it is worth thinking about stocking up seeds for the next year. If you have a regular, non-terry variety of lobelia in the garden, then there is nothing wrong with that - just shake the ripened seeds out of the boxes. This can be done when you clean your flower beds and pull out adult plants.
Terry plants propagated by cuttings. For this, bushes bought in nurseries are transplanted in a pot in the fall. The plant hibernates on bright, cool window sills. At the end of winter, when it gives lateral shoots, it is cutted and new plants are grown.
Summing up, we can say that lobelia is a very popular plant, without which it is difficult to imagine a beautiful garden. Following the advice of professionals, you can grow it without much difficulty.