Peony is a stunningly beautiful flowering perennial decorative garden culture. Unlike many flowers that need to be replanted every few years, peonies can grow in the same place without transplanting for decades. Luxurious inflorescences of peonies can have a color as delicate, pastel, and bright, saturated. They are kept for a long time on the bush and in the cut. The lush leaves of peonies adorn the infield all season, becoming crimson in the fall. Of course, like all garden flowers, peonies love "tasty", that is, various dressings. Peonies are fed throughout the season and can be either foliar or root. Let's talk about each type in more detail.
Foliar top dressing
Foliar feeding of peonies occurs by spraying the leaves with a solution of a complex mineral fertilizer. Moreover, the smaller the droplets when spraying, the greater the effect will be from this procedure. Spraying is carried out in the evening or in cloudy weather, when the stomata open in the plants. To better absorb the fertilizer, you can add a little soap or washing powder to the solution. In this way, it is very good to feed young plants once a week, starting from the second week of May.
Adult plants also respond very well to foliar top dressing. They are carried out three times a season with an interval of three weeks in this way: urea - urea + mineral fertilizers - mineral fertilizers. Why so? At the beginning of growth, plants need nitrogen contained in urea; during budding, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are needed; nitrogen is no longer needed during the laying of renewal buds; therefore, urea is excluded from top dressing.
Peony dressing in spring with organic fertilizers
Fertilizing with organic fertilizers is carried out for adult plants during the formation of buds and the beginning of flowering in a radical way. It can be a solution of mullein or bird droppings in the proportions of 1:10 and 1:25, respectively.
Root top dressing of peonies with mineral fertilizers
Top dressing with mineral fertilizers under the root is carried out three times per season, starting from the end of March – the beginning of April, when fertilizer granules can be scattered directly in the snow. They dissolve in melt water and absorb into the soil - the goal will be achieved. In the summer, fertilizer is also scattered on the soil at the roots, trying not to touch the neck of the bush. Previously, the soil is watered, and after fertilizing, the surface is sprinkled with another layer of earth and compacted.
Peony dressing with bread
Fertilizer made of bread is one of the best for peonies, despite the fact that it refers to folk recipes. It is prepared in this way: half a loaf of rye bread or the crust remaining after eating is soaked in cold water and allowed to brew for half a day so that the mass swells. After that, it is diluted with another bucket of water and plants are watered with this composition at the beginning of the growing season.
As you can see, feeding peonies as a whole is not much different from fertilizing other garden flower crops. It is only important to observe the regime and choose the right composition for top dressing, and then your garden peonies will surely delight you every season with lush greenery and long luxurious flowering.