Gatzania is also called an African daisy, because this representative of the Astro family comes from South Africa. In Europe, the plant appeared only in the seventeenth century. Here it received the popular name "midday gold". This is due to the fact that gatzany flowers open at noon. Further in the article, we will learn about how the cultivation of ganzania from seeds proceeds, when to plant seeds in order to grow healthy seedlings, and how to do it correctly.
Description
Gatzania can be either annual or perennial. This is a very small plant, which reaches a height of only thirty centimeters. Some plants are completely devoid of stem, and some are so short that it is quite difficult to notice. Leaflets are not too large, have a wide variety of shapes, they are painted in gray-green or dark green. On the inner side of the leaf there are small villi, which not only serve as protection against the cold, but also retain moisture perfectly in especially dry times. The inflorescence is a single basket, which in diameter is not more than nine centimeters. The flowers have quite bright shades: orange, red, yellow, each flower must have spots at the base. The middle of the flower is round, yellow, which also consists of small tubular flowers. On one plant there can be up to thirty-five bright flowers. After flowering, the fruit in the form of a hairy achene appears on the gatsaniya.
Seedlings for seedlings
Many gardeners are interested in the question of how to grow gatzania flowers from seeds. First of all, you need to determine the timing, which depends on which region you live in. Those who start late spring will either have to postpone planting a little, or arrange additional lighting for flowers, without which their normal development will be impossible. But there is another side here. When the seeds are planted too late, then the flowering comes quite late. Therefore, sowing is recommended from mid-March to mid-April. Choose deep containers, as the flower has a long rod root, which should not be bent during the cultivation of gatsaniya seedlings from seeds.
The boxes should have a good drainage layer, and they need to be filled with light, fertile soil. Seeds are best staggered at a distance of two or three centimeters from each other. You do not need to deepen the planting material, you can only sprinkle lightly with sifted soil. However, many gardeners simply press them down a little and that’s all. Seeds must be watered, but not from a watering can, but by spraying from a spray bottle. After that, the boxes are covered with a thick film, can be replaced with glass, and sent to a warm and bright place until emergence. After one or two weeks, the first shoots will appear, during this time it is necessary to ventilate the containers every day and remove the condensation formed on the coating.
But you can land directly in the open ground. When to sow gatzany for growing from seeds directly in the open ground? This is done in the spring almost immediately after the frost recedes. You do not need to delay this, since the vegetation period of the plant is too long, and after the emergence of the sprouts, the flowers can be seen no earlier than two and a half months. No need to deepen the seeds much. It will be enough if the depth of the beds is one or two centimeters. But the distance between seedlings should be at least twenty-five centimeters. Therefore, when two real leaves appear on them, those places where there are too many shoots can be thinned out and transplants to be replaced into empty places. Before planting, it is recommended to fertilize the earth a little. For this, humus or mineral fertilizers are used.
Seedlings
The question of when to plant gatsaniya for growing from seeds (photo attached), has been addressed, and now you need to know the rules for planting seedlings.
If your seedlings are in a deep container, as mentioned earlier, you can skip the picking procedure, but if your box is not too deep, then when four leaves appear on the seedlings, you will have to transplant them. Peat pots are used for this, and they should also be moved to a cooler place where the air temperature should be at sixteen degrees. During this period, it is already possible to prepare seedlings for life on the street. For this purpose, in a room where containers with seedlings stand, a window is opened for a while. But make sure that the seedlings are not in a draft.
Disembarkation time
The cultivation of gatsaniya from seeds at home ends in the fact that it is transferred to open ground. The most suitable period for this is from late May to mid-June, depending on the weather in your area. Further care of this plant is quite simple and does not cause much trouble. But before planting, it is necessary to choose a good site for the plant where it will feel as comfortable as possible.
The soil should be nutritious, but at the same time quite light. As for the place itself, it should be quite sunny. Gatzania is not even scared if direct sunlight falls on her. This flower is very fond of light and even a little drought tolerant.
Disembarkation Rules
When the cultivation of the ganacea of the Triad from seeds successfully ended in the fact that the gardener received healthy and high-quality seedlings, you can safely transfer it to the open ground. If you sprouted seeds in peat pots, the seedlings are moved to the ground with them, if they were boxes, then in order to pull out the seedlings, you need to use a long scoop. You need to do everything very carefully so that the root system is not damaged. Saplings along with an earthen lump are planted on the beds. Count on the fact that the distance from one bush to another should be twenty centimeters. After a short time, your gatsaniya grown from seeds will delight you with its flowering.
Gatzania cultivation
Gatsaniya will normally grow and develop only if the seedlings are planted in a place where the soil has a good drainage layer, and there is also constant access to sunlight. But do not think that gatsaniya is so moody. It is able to tolerate low temperatures up to minus seven degrees.
Caring for a plant in the garden is not so difficult. It is enough only to water it in time and after that it is imperative to loosen the soil, as well as remove the formed weeds. Constantly monitor faded flowers. They must be removed because they interfere with the formation of new buds. You can also mulch the area where your gatsaniya grows, because a layer of mulch will hold moisture, and also prevents the germination of weeds.
Watering
Growing from the seeds of gatsanii Musa after planting in the ground provides for its timely watering. In general, this flower loves moisture, so you need to water it regularly, but at the same time, make sure that the soil is not too wet, as this leads to the fact that the bush does not develop well and does not grow at all, and its flowering is also significantly reduced . The most abundant watering is required only during the period when the first seedlings appeared or when the seedlings only got into the open ground. And then the soil is moistened only when the heat is too long. The soil under the bushes should not be allowed to crack.
Top dressing
No plant can grow without fertilizing. Therefore, you should at least sometimes make top dressing for gatsanii. If you have chosen nutritious soil for planting, you can apply fertilizer no more than once every six weeks. To do this, use a solution of complete mineral fertilizer. For one square meter of beds you will need twenty-five grams of fertilizer. And those flowers that are planted on rocky terrain need more frequent top dressing. It is good if they are held once every two weeks.
Flowering period
In gatsaniya, the flowering period begins approximately in the middle of June, however, much depends on the date of planting, since in some regions only seedlings are planted in open ground at this time. Accordingly, there this process begins a little later. And flowering ends only in November. Therefore, the plant will delight you with its bright flowers, not only all summer, but almost throughout the fall. The flowers are revealed at noon, as discussed at the beginning of the article. On cloudy and rainy days, the yellow center of the tubular flowers hide under the reed flowers.
It so happens that gatsaniya completely refuses to throw flowers. What is the reason for this? There are several reasons for this. First of all, you should think about whether there is enough sunlight in the area where the seedlings are planted. And also, it is quite possible that the plants are watered too often and abundantly, so try to slightly reduce watering and observe the behavior of the flower. And one more reason - seedlings were planted too late. To admire the beautiful, bright flowers of gatsaniya, you just need to follow all the rules for growing and care, which are not so many.
Diseases and Pests
Probably, every gardener in whose garden gatsaniya grew, can say with confidence that this plant does not get sick at all. However, if you violate the rules of care and plant a plant in a bad area, then gray rot is simply provided to you. It is useless to treat already infected plants, so they just need to be removed from the beds and destroyed. But as for healthy specimens, they must be treated with phytosporin in order to avoid the spread of the disease.
Among the insects, gatzany has three enemies:
- Aphid.
- Spider mite.
- Snails.
The latter can simply be knocked down with your hands, but they will return anyway. Snails, like slugs, do not tolerate the smell of bleach. Therefore, you can put several containers with this substance on the beds, and the bed will be saved. As for aphids and spider mites, there are special substances that can be purchased in stores to combat them. In the fight against the first, “Fitoverm” and “Intavir” will help, but spider mites are afraid of “Actellik” and “Ditox”.
How to collect seeds?
In order not to buy planting material in the store every year, gardeners prefer to collect seeds from their own plants. However, some problems may arise with gatsaniya, since the flowering period is a little long, and the summer we end too early, and the seeds do not have time to ripen. And besides, hybrids are most often used in culture, and growing from seeds of hybrid gatsaniya does not preserve varietal characters. But these are not the most serious problems. Even if your seeds ripen in the garden, they have this property - just fly apart, like a dandelion. Therefore, in order to get at least some of your own seeds, you need to be smart. More experienced gardeners share their guesses and recommend during flowering to choose for themselves some of the largest and most beautiful flowers and, after they have faded, wrap with gauze and fix it on the peduncle. This is the only way you can save planting material.
And if the seeds do not have time to fully ripen, then they will have to be dried a little, spread out in a warm and dry room. You need to store seeds in dry sachets, preferably paper. In a dry place. When stored properly, they can maintain viability for several years.
Winter period
Gatzania is by nature a perennial plant, however, it is rather difficult to keep it in winter. Therefore, most gardeners after flowering prefer to collect seeds and simply destroy plants. And next year, just grow new ones. But if you are not looking for easy ways, then you will have to work hard. In order to preserve the bushes, it is necessary to select the most beautiful and magnificent individuals on the beds and, while they are still blooming, dig them out and, together with the earthen lump, transfer them to the pot. Such pots are placed in a bright room, it is possible on the loggia, if it is heated. The air temperature there should not exceed ten degrees. It is periodically necessary to carry out watering so that the soil does not dry out, however, this is too often not necessary. With the onset of spring, bushes are again planted in open ground. Before landing, you need to shorten the shoots a little.
Now you know everything about how the cultivation of gatzania from seeds occurs, when to plant seeds and how this process goes. Caring for this flower is not too difficult for a beginner gardener. In addition, gatsaniya rarely gets sick, and this is another plus for this plant. The gardener’s task here is only to properly plant seedlings or seeds and ensure proper watering. If you are ready to follow such simple rules, then gatsaniya will be ready to delight you with bright flowering from the very beginning of summer until late autumn.