Aubrieta refers to evergreen perennials. The plant is widely distributed in the gardens of France, Italy, Asia Minor. In the wild can be found even in the rocks of South America. Although the flower is popular, there are a total of twelve species. When the sheath blooms, it forms a large carpet of beautiful, vibrant colors. The peculiarity of the plant is that sometimes its leaves remain green even in winter. In the article, we will consider growing from the seed of ubrit at home.
Description
The leaves on the stalk of the sheath are arranged alternately. They are quite small, in shape resembling an ellipse or an egg. The flowers are very small - 1 centimeter in diameter, have only four petals. Collected in small carpal inflorescences. Mostly have a purple or purple hue, but sometimes pink and even white are found. Abundant flowering begins in the second half of April and continues until the onset of summer. If you provide the plant with proper care, then in the fall you can again admire such a bewitching spectacle. It has a shade and a fruit in which seeds are stored - this is a long pod that forms after flowering.
Now that you understand what kind of plant we are talking about, you can begin the story of how to cultivate shaving from seeds, when to plant and how to plant seedlings, and much more that a good grower should know.
Sowing
Growing a shave flower from seeds is the best way to propagate. You can plant the seeds directly in the open ground, but it is better to do this in the seedling method, since the cultivation of the variety may occur in the soil. Therefore, most gardeners still prefer to grow seeds for seedlings, and only then transplant them into open ground. Young plants bloom only in the second year after planting.
Plan seed planting in advance, approximately two and a half months before the onset of heat. Usually this is just the period of the end of February. But in each region, warm weather comes at different times. Growing from the seeds of shaving Blue cascade, as well as other varieties, begins with the preparation of the tank. It should be peat pots or boxes, with which the plants will then go into the open ground.
When planting, the substrate must be moist. Spread the seeds on its surface for two or three seeds. After that, sprinkle with sand and water. Watering is recommended only from the sprayer so that the small seeds do not deepen, otherwise they may not sprout. After all these procedures, the containers are covered with glass or a thick film and determined in a warm and bright place. The air temperature should be kept at around twenty one degrees.
Seedling care. Pick
Growing from the seeds of shaving Cote d'Azur, as well as other varieties, will not bring much trouble to the grower. Until shoots appear, and this happens after about a month, you can not remove the coating. However, be sure to ventilate them every day. Make sure that the soil does not dry out and irrigate as necessary. But the moisture must be supplied carefully, since the seedlings do not like waterlogging. Watch how seedlings develop. If, in your opinion, the process is too slow, then two weeks before the date of the alleged landing in open ground, you need to feed them. To do this, use a weak concentration of a solution of complex mineral fertilizers.
For shaving, transplanting is always stressful. That is why a pick in this case is not required. Therefore, it is still better to plant the seeds in separate pots of several pieces.
Outdoor landing
For auspices, perennial seed cultivation at home ends in the second half of May. During this period, seedlings can already be safely planted in open ground. Consider in advance where the flower will grow. It must be the sunniest place. Only in such conditions will the hairstyle delight you with its abundant flowering.
There are no particular soil preferences. Soil may be the scarce one that is available on your site, and for this plant will even say thank you. You can only add a little peat or ash. The earth should be quite loose. Aubrieta can grow between stones and concrete slabs. Make sure that the soil is not acidic.
Landing technology
Prepare the wells before landing. Their width should be twice as large as the capacity in which the seedlings grew. You can determine the depth yourself by looking at the size of the root system. The distance from one flower to another cannot be less than five centimeters. Remember that shaving is a plastic plant, so you can plant it the way you want.
If you have chosen ceramic or plastic dishes for growing seeds, then before transplanting, put the pots in water and leave there until bubbles appear on the surface. Only then can the plants be taken out together with an earthen lump and placed in a prepared hole. As for peat pots, they can be safely placed directly into the soil. After planting, seedlings must be carefully watered and mulched with sand. The layer should be about five centimeters.
Plant care
The cultivation of shaving from seeds (the whole beauty of the plant is shown in the photo) will not cause the grower unnecessary trouble when leaving. If your flower bed already has adult plants, then you should not water them too often. In general, this is necessary only during the period when there is a prolonged drought. Abundant watering of adult plants can provoke a lack of flowers and an increase in green mass. As for young plants, they need to be watered more often, however, here too try not to overdo it. After each watering or rain, you need to loosen the soil in the root zone and remove weeds.
During the growing season, the soil around the plant will need to be mulched two or three times. For these purposes, it is recommended to use sand. Spread it with a not too thick layer - from two to five centimeters. Until flowering begins, it will be necessary to fertilize. Get in the store a complex mineral fertilizer designed specifically for perennials, such as shaving.
Pruning. Breeding
When flowering is completed, pruning should be done. Almost all shoots are shortened to the ground. This is necessary so that new ones grow with greener and brighter leaves. They will decorate your flowerbed, and later a new period of flowering of shaving will come.
Shaving is propagated in two ways: by seeds and cuttings. The cultivation of the Cascade of seeds from seeds in the room was described above, but more experienced gardeners do not spend time on seedlings and immediately plant the seeds in open ground.
The soil in the flowerbed is pre-digged fifteen centimeters in depth. It should be well moist and loose, not contain any weeds and stones. Add complex fertilizer in advance, as well as wood ash and lime (can be replaced with chalk). No need to deepen the seeds too much. They are simply scattered on the surface at a certain distance from each other and sprinkled with sand, a layer of three to five centimeters. After that, you can water from a watering can. If you planted seeds in the spring, then the shoots will appear in about two weeks, and if you did this in the autumn, then you should not wait for young shoots before the next spring.
Cuttings
Another good way that you can propagate aobriety. In the summer, after flowering, you will prune and you will have plenty of plant material left. It is these cuttings that can be used to propagate the flower.
So, cuttings must be planted in a substrate, which consists of equal proportions of sand and peat. Germinate them only in a greenhouse. In late August, roots will appear on the cuttings, and during this period you can safely plant them on a flower bed. Before winter, seedlings still have enough time to take root in a new place and take root well. In those areas where winter is especially violent, it is better to plant cuttings only in spring.
Bush division
This method of reproduction is also allowed, but for a plant it is always a lot of stress, so gardeners try to avoid using this method. It is possible to carry out division in the spring and in the fall. The procedure is quite standard. The bush is dug up and divided so that each split has shoots and well-developed roots. Then these parts are seated in different wells. But it should be noted that only a small part of the plants planted in this way can grow. Most of them die, because it is difficult to tolerate a transplant, so it is better not to use this method.
Diseases and Pests
Aubrieta practically does not cause trouble during planting and during care, and the same trend remains with respect to pests and diseases, since the plant is extremely ill with the disease. It can be affected by powdery mildew - a fungal disease that carries the danger of almost any garden culture. It appears on the leaves and flowers of shaving in the form of a whitish coating. If you do not declare war on the disease, then the white coating will become brown. This disease is poorly reflected in the decorativeness of the obriet. All damaged areas blacken and gradually die. The affected plant begins to grow more slowly, and its winter hardiness is quite reduced. To get rid of the disease, colloidal sulfur is usually used. Be sure to study the instructions for it before using the fungicide.
As for pests, the biggest danger lies in such a sucking insect as aphids. It settles on the plant and in addition to sucking out all the cellular juice, it is a carrier of dangerous viral diseases. There are many special preparations whose action is aimed specifically at combating this pest: Karbofos, Biotlin and others. Aphids may leave after the first treatment, or they may have to be repeated several more times. It all depends on how many insects are already on your plant.
Particularly rarely affected by pests and diseases is the sheath that was planted between the stones.
Seed collection
Every gardener should know that during seed propagation the varietal characteristics of the obriet are poorly preserved, however this method is the simplest. To collect good seeds from your plant, during the summer pruning, do not forget to leave a few shoots, on which there will be ovaries of seed boxes. It will be possible to cut the pods only when they are completely darkened. Seeds are husked and stored in a dry place until spring. But you can drop them already this fall, as described above.
Winter preparations
Young plants that bloomed for the first time should be pruned in the summer. A slightly different pruning method is used for more mature species. Shoots and leaves overwinter, and pruning is carried out only in spring. In general, Aubrieta is not afraid of frost and feels great under the snow. However, in our latitudes, it happens that winter is without snow, and the air temperature changes dramatically. Therefore, it is better to cover the flower with dry leaves or other natural insulation. If this is not done, then, most likely, in a snowless winter, your shade will die.
As you can see, is it not so difficult to understand the issue of growing an obriya from seeds, when to plant and how to plant a flower? The plant is absolutely unpretentious, propagates easily and is not afraid to winter. And when properly organized care will delight you with its abundant flowering even several times a season. Therefore, having planted such a plant in your garden, you will never regret it.