Indoor carnation is a very beautiful flower, and to say exactly where they started to grow it for the first time at the moment is no longer possible. This flower in some nations symbolizes independence and pride, in others, on the contrary, tenderness, loyalty and constancy. Breeders are very fond of cloves. To date, more than 300 species of this plant are known.
Indoor cloves love a lot of light, so it must be positioned on the sunny side. It is unpretentious to the quality of the soil, and for ordinary well-being it is quite suitable for ordinary garden land, the main thing is that it has good water permeability. To activate and increase flowering, you can add a little nitrate of lime before it begins.
Indoor cloves love frequent watering, but at the same time, they tolerate an excess of moisture very poorly. Watering is best in the morning, using the drip method.
This plant also likes frequent soil fertilization. After the stem has been cut, the soil loosens and fertilizer is applied. In a month, young shoots will appear, which will bloom a second time. When growing cloves in open ground in one place, it can grow 5-7 years. If you want to extend the flowering period of cloves, then it can be brought into the greenhouse when frost occurs. The plant does not tolerate frosts well, so you need to take care of its protection in the winter.
Indoor cloves can propagate by cuttings, dividing the bush, as well as seeds. The most optimal and convenient is reproduction by dividing the bush. In this case, all the qualities of the mother bush are preserved. When propagated by cuttings and seeds, the resulting plants may have an excellent color of flowers from the mother bush.
Cloves look very beautiful both in the garden and on the lawns. The cut flower of this plant, with proper care and replacement of water, can retain its properties and freshness for about two weeks.
In gardens and in beds, perennial cloves are also used - this is a plant that reaches a height of 20-25 centimeters and forms dense thickets. It has sharp and thin leaves, the flowers of this plant are single and can be of various shades of red, as well as white. When planting plants in a permanent place, they must be placed at a distance of 25-30 centimeters from each other. Carnation is used to decorate a variety of garden compositions.
The main pests of cloves are a spider mite, aphid, clove fly, caterpillar scoop. Also, the plant can be affected by fungi and bacteria, for example, gray rot and rust.
Alpine clove is also a perennial plant; it has peculiar leaves of a bluish tint. The height of this species is quite small and ranges from 20 to 25 centimeters.
The flowers of the alpine cloves have a pink color, which in the middle of the flower is much darker, they are medium in size and can reach a diameter of 4-5 centimeters. Massive abundant flowering of this species begins in June and continues throughout the summer, until September-October, depending on weather conditions. Like all cloves, alpine loves sunny places and frequent watering, but does not tolerate stagnation of water. Therefore, when planting it is necessary to take care of the organization of good soil drainage. This species is quite frost-resistant, so you can sow it at the end of April. After two weeks, the plants will sprout. If you grow seedlings, then you can sow already in the month of January, and plants can be transferred to the open ground in May. The distance between planted plants should be left about 25 centimeters. Subsequently, the plant forms dense thickets in the form of a continuous rug, and can be used as a lawn covering. Most often, alpine cloves are used in the design of alpine slides and bordering borders.