Chrysanthemums are bright and elegant flowers that can decorate any garden or flower garden. They are quite unpretentious and do not require excessive efforts for growing, and most importantly - please with their lush flowering until late autumn. The color scheme of both perennial and annual chrysanthemums is extensive: their inflorescences can be white, pink, yellow, red and even greenish.
Now there is a huge variety of varieties of chrysanthemums, but in general they can be divided into small-flowered - Korean, large-flowered - Indian. Large-flowered plants are quite moody and are intended for growing in greenhouses or greenhouses. But small-flowered chrysanthemums take root well in the conditions of central Russia and bloom picturesquely, from mid-July to the end of autumn. Chrysanthemums can be early, medium or late flowering. It is advisable to select plants that bloom early (in July - August) for their summer cottage, as later varieties may not have time to open buds before frosts.
In order to grow a strong, healthy and beautiful plant, you need to know that garden chrysanthemum "loves". Planting and care of the plant, including top dressing and watering, should be carried out competently and in a timely manner. In this article we will highlight the main agrotechnical features and reveal the intricacies of growing garden chrysanthemums.
Garden Chrysanthemum: planting and care, plant propagation methods
For this flower you need a sunny place, preferably elevated. The soil should be neutral or slightly acidic, always drained. Watering should be timely, but not excessive. It is advisable to use soft, standing water. Chrysanthemums are propagated by several methods: sowing seeds, cuttings or dividing the bush. Sowing of seeds is carried out in late February (early March). Tanks and wet soil are prepared for them. When sowing seeds do not fall asleep with the ground, because they need sunlight to germinate. After about 7-10 days, seedlings appear, and at the end of May seedlings can be transferred to open ground. Unfortunately, with this method of propagation, chrysanthemums will bloom only for next year.
Small-flowered chrysanthemum: planting and care of cuttings
Breeding by cuttings involves obtaining material for planting by cutting from a new root shoot that appears in the mother liquor after wintering. In this way, garden chrysanthemums perfectly reproduce (photo). Planting and caring for cuttings of these flowers is not too burdensome.
In order to get healthy and strong cuttings, queen cells wintering in the basement from February begin to highlight (or put in a bright place), and in early March they are transferred to a heated greenhouse. The temperature in the greenhouse is maintained between 14 ° -20 ° C. After this, chrysanthemums are watered and treated with a urea solution, and after a day or two, the soil is well loosened. When young shoots are knocked out of the mother liquor, they are cut and treated with a growth stimulator. Boxes are prepared for cuttings, where a mixture of earth, sand and humus is placed. Previously, it is disinfected with a solution of manganese (0.3%). Cuttings are planted to a depth of about 1.5 cm, maintaining a distance between them of 5 cm. For the first week, young plants shade, spray and water in hot weather. For rooting cuttings, a temperature of + 12 ° C to +15 ° C is maintained. It will be possible to plant young plants in open ground after warming the soil to + 12 ° C (approximately May-June). Until the end of July, chrysanthemum pinching is carried out on the 6–8th leaf. Another convenient method of reproduction is the division of the bush. For proper division, you must wait until the danger of spring frost passes, and dig a bush, and then divide its growth. The resulting shoots are immediately planted in open ground and watered.
Perennial chrysanthemums: planting and care, top dressing and disease control
In order for a perennial plant to bloom abundantly and luxuriantly, it must be fed. For this, you can purchase ready-made mineral fertilizers. At the beginning of the growth of chrysanthemums, nitrogen fertilizer should be applied to the soil, and phosphorus-potash should be applied in the budding phase. The use of mullein and chicken droppings also has an excellent effect on the development of chrysanthemum. The feeding schedule is as follows: the first procedure is carried out 15 days after planting the cuttings (mullein), the second one month (ready-made complex fertilizer) and the third - in the phase of budding of the chrysanthemum plant. Planting and care: it should be remembered that watering the flower is necessary only under the root, otherwise you can burn the leaves. And top dressing is done only in moist soil. Chrysanthemum diseases are often associated with improper care. As for pests, then, as a rule, the flower is affected by a
spider mite and aphids. To control pests, you can use a soap solution (wash the plant every 10 days) or a pyrethrum solution.