Aster seedling care
When you see the cotyledon leaves peeking out of the ground, remove the film and place the plantings in a bright place. Asters need proper care: weak seedlings can very quickly get sick with black leg, fusarium and other fungal diseases. Water the plantings in moderation. The root of the seedlings has already grown deep into the soil, now you can not be afraid if the sand turns out to be dry.
Watch for any fungal infection, carefully dig up the diseased specimens and destroy or continue growing them separately from healthy plants. Spray the remaining seedlings with fungicides, and spill the soil with a disinfectant solution
If the sowing was carried out in fertilized soil, there should be enough nutrients before the pick; when sowing in poor land, a week after the emergence of sprouts, you need to feed the seedlings with complex fertilizer. Do not get carried away with nitrogen, not buds develop from it, but lush and large leaves.
When the third leaf is formed, you can start picking. If you do not want to use purchased soil, prepare it - the same as in which the seeds were sown, only you do not need to sift. Add 1 tbsp to a bucket of soil. spoonful of complex fertilizer and mix thoroughly. Prepare containers for seedlings: cassettes, cups, so that each plant grows in an individual container and it is convenient for you to take care of the plantings
Pay attention to the drainage holes: if they are blocked by beads of plastic, clean with a knife or scissors
Fill containers with earth, moisten and make small holes. Consider the roots of the seedlings, they should not touch the bottom of the container. Shorten rods that are too long. When planting, make sure that all root processes are directed vertically downward and do not bend. Seedlings often have elongated stems - deepen them into the soil so that the cotyledon leaves are at a height of 1 cm from the soil surface. Bury a hole and compact the ground slightly
Gently water the plantings in a spiral: from the edges of the cup to the middle, try not to spray on the stem and leaves. Place the cassettes in a bright, cool place and keep the temperature no higher than 20⁰
In the early days, protect the seedlings from direct sunlight. The main care consists of timely watering and examinations of seedlings to detect diseases.
After the pick, the cultivation of asters will take place in cups for about a month, then the time will come for planting in the ground. If you have prepared the soil well for seedlings, there will be enough nutrients for them, you do not need to feed. In case of prolonged frosts, when the plants will have to be kept at home for about 2 more weeks, there may not be enough fertilizer and the seedlings will weaken. The leaves will tell you about the lack of some components: learn to recognize why they turn yellow, wither or dry. Asters should be fed so that they tolerate the transplant well and take root quickly. To keep the plants strong and short, provide the plantings with proper care and good lighting: they stretch too much in the twilight.
What components do gladioli need
Gladioli are flowers with a long growing season, during which they constantly consume nutrients, micro- and macroelements, minerals from the soil. Regular feeding eliminates the deficiency of essential components that inhibits the growth of these bulbs. For normal development and abundant flowering, gladioli need feeding with the following components:
Nitrogen - provides growth through the formation of protein substances. It is optimal to apply to the soil at the initial stage after planting the bulbs. It is easy to determine the lack or excess of nitrogen by the leaves of the plant - in the first case, they fade, become light green, in the second, on the contrary, they acquire a rich, dark color;
Phosphorus is responsible for hydrocarbon metabolism, stimulating the formation of buds. It is necessary to introduce such dressings during the flowering period, when gladioli actively consume the component. The main signs of phosphorus deficiency are poor quality of budding, its delay, the formation of a small number of inflorescences or their complete absence;
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Potassium promotes a more active metabolism, stimulates the formation of carbohydrates. Potassium starvation is fraught with malnutrition of the bulbs, which subsequently suffer from a lack of the necessary trace elements
It is important to introduce the component as a top dressing during the period of the initial formation of buds and throughout the entire flowering. In addition to the positive effect on budding, potassium increases the immunity of plants to diseases, reduces susceptibility to low temperatures
These chemical elements can be included both in the composition of single-component mineral fertilizers, and in complex or complete dressings. Optimal for gladioli are: Urea, sodium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, superphosphate, bone meal, potassium carbonate; Potassium nitrate and potassium magnesium; Nitroammophoska, nitrophoska. You can buy fertilizers for gladioli at a flower shop, while it is advisable to give preference to liquid complex compositions. In addition to mineral dressings, gladioli also respond positively to the introduction of organic matter. Most often, growers use compost, rotted manure or diluted chicken manure.
Organic fertilizers for indoor plants.
Organic fertilizers are fertilizers made from exclusively natural ingredients.
If mineral fertilizers are artificially synthesized fertilizers for plants, then organic fertilizers are fertilizers made from exclusively natural ingredients (plant or animal origin). They also contain both micro and macronutrients. Organic fertilizers include:
- manure
- peat
- bird droppings
- compost
- sawdust
- bone flour
Important! Banana peel remains one of the most affordable and effective organic fertilizers.
Manure for fertilizing indoor plants.
Manure from different animals can be used to fertilize the soil poor in nitrogen.
Manure from different animals can be used to fertilize the soil poor in nitrogen. As a rule, not fresh manure is used, but settled from 4 months to 3 years. Manure is either simply applied to the ground when digging or replanting plants, or you can dilute the manure with water and use it as a water fertilizer. Before watering, the solution is allowed to brew for about 2 weeks.
The benefits of peat as fertilizer.
Peat is distinguished by the degree of decomposition.
Peat cannot be considered a fertilizer per se. However, its use is highly recommended especially for indoor plants, because due to its fibrous structure, it makes the soil very breathable, which is especially necessary for plants that do not get enough fresh air. According to the degree of decomposition, they are distinguished:
- low-lying peat
- high peat
- intermediate peat
Low-lying peat - plant remains that have decomposed completely to a homogeneous substrate and which are located below the soil at a depth of approximately 15 centimeters. It is most often used to prepare a substrate for indoor plants.High peat - plant residues that have not completely decomposed and therefore cannot be used as fertilizer, and most often this type of peat is used in horticulture to shelter plants for the winter. Intermediate peat is a transitional state of one type of peat to another.
Using bird droppings to fertilize the plant.
Chicken droppings are more valuable than duck or goose droppings.
The most valuable bird droppings are considered to be chicken and pigeon droppings, while the less valuable is goose and duck droppings. Poultry droppings can also be used raw or as an aqueous solution.
Important! It is impossible to abuse this fertilizer for horticultural crops, as this leads to an increase in nitrates in plants and fruits.
Compost for plant fertilization.
Compost is a mixture of organic fertilizers.
Compost is a mixture of organic fertilizers. You can prepare compost from plants, or from manure. Compost from plants is prepared as follows: weeds, grass, foliage, soil, peat, etc. are placed in a box in layers. During the year, it is moistened and shoveled. Manure compost is prepared in a similar way, only manure is used as the main component. Such an organic fertilizer will be ready a little faster, not more than a year, as the previous one, and after already 5-6 months.
Sawdust - fertilizer?
Sawdust itself is not a fertilizer.
The sawdust itself is not an organic fertilizer. Therefore, they can be fully used either in conjunction with urea, or for mulching plants (shelter for the winter). This type of fertilizer is used, as a rule, only in gardening, and I have never heard about the use of sawdust to fertilize indoor plants.
Bone meal is a very effective organic fertilizer.
Bone meal is an excellent potassium-phosphorus fertilizer.
Bone meal is an excellent potassium-phosphorus fertilizer that is obtained by grinding animal bones. Bone meal is used as a powder fertilizer, that is, it is diluted in water. And plants are watered with an aqueous solution no more than 1 time per month.
Fertilizers for rhododendrons
There are two main types of fertilizers used: organic and mineral types. Gardeners make their choice based on their own preferences.
Organic Rosewood Fertilizer
Rosewood is otherwise called room Azalea. It is a rhododendron, representing the heather genus. Organic matter is used for it in liquid form. A solution is made. Mullein is diluted in water in a proportional ratio of 1 liter to 20 grams. The composition is removed in a dark place and insisted there for 7-10 days. Then filter and water
It is important to know how to water a rhododendron. In order for the composition to be absorbed into the soil faster, it should be moistened before watering.
Fertilizer is applied not directly at the place of plant germination, but at a distance of 25 cm from the shoots.
Note! Rose bushes cannot be fed with chicken droppings, fresh manure. Mullein is used in tandem with rotted fertilizer in winter.
The mullein itself is scattered in the snow. In the spring, when the thawing period begins, the diluted nutrient composition penetrates the soil. Spring feeding of rhododendrons takes place.
Mineral dressing
Mineral feeding of rhododendrons is carried out in August. Special combined preparations are needed that do not affect the acidic state of the soil.
It is recommended to use domestic products. Foreign manufacturers of fertilizers produce their products taking into account their own climatic conditions and soil conditions.
The main components in imported drugs have some differences in type and quantitative composition. You should not completely abandon them. In the spring, when deciding how to feed the rhododendron, you can take imported fertilizers. With the onset of autumn, domestic mineral fertilizers are taken for rhododendrons.
Important! Top dressing is done in the morning or evening.The optimal time is the days before it starts to rain.
Mineral and organic dressing
How to feed hydrangea in the fall?
Like roses, nitrogen fertilization is contraindicated for hydrangeas in autumn. The plant needs to prepare for the dormant period, strengthen the root system in order to overwinter without problems. To do this, it is best to feed the hydrangea in August-September with such a potassium-phosphorus composition: dissolve 1 tablespoon in 10 liters of water. superphosphate and potassium sulfate, and then water the soil under the bush with this solution.
Delicate and spectacular autumn compositions for home decor are obtained from hydrangea inflorescences.
Growers advise mulching the soil around the hydrangea bushes to create a “warm cushion” for the roots. For mulching, compost, peat or manure are suitable. These materials will slowly decompose and penetrate deep into the soil, feeding the plant for several months.
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Plant Nutrition Fundamentals
As you know, plants need primarily nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) for normal development.
Nitrogen contributes to the growth of green mass to the detriment of flowering and fruiting, but any plants wither from nitrogen starvation. Therefore, fertilizers for flowers should contain a minimum of nitrogen: suddenly there was a hunger for it, additional doses of nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied as an urgent feeding. The percentage of active NPK in ready-made fertilizer mixtures is usually indicated by 3 numbers, for example. 20-10-20 means 20% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 20% potassium. Fertilizers containing more than 20% nitrogen for flowers should be avoided.
Phosphorus and potassium enhance the development of the root system, the resistance of plants to cold, diseases, and other extreme conditions, so to speak, their general health, a favorable physiological state. The number of flower buds laid depends on the latter, but phosphorus and potassium do not directly affect the nature of flowering. Flowering is ensured mainly from its own reserves of the so-called. plastic substances in the plant. If it has approached the flowering phase exhausted, it will not have a violent color, no matter how you feed it.
Further, plants need trace elements; primarily magnesium, calcium, iron, boron, copper, manganese, molybdenum, zinc. If the package of the finished fertilizer contains +7 trace elements, then most likely they are, except for calcium. Its salts are relatively difficult to dissolve, therefore calcium is introduced into the soil by liming or in the form of eggshells. Fertilizers for indoor plants should already contain 16-20 microelements, as for hydroponics, because potted soil is always severely depleted. There are no ready-made mixtures with so many microelements, because from their extended set, it is no longer micro-doses, but nano-doses are required, but it is easy to prepare fertilizer dressings with a full set of microelements with your own hands at home.
The culture of flowers in boxes on the balcony has its own characteristics, which will be discussed below. For now, we note that for balcony flowers, there is enough fertilizer +7, because the soil in the boxes is changed annually or reclaimed in the fall.
Top dressing and fertilizers
Two weeks before the application of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, the soil near the plants, as well as the phloxes themselves, are treated with the preparations "Fundazol" or "Fitosporin-M".
- 5 g of dry powder "Fitosporin-M" is diluted in 10 liters of water, infused for 1-2 hours and poured over the ground with the solution.
- to obtain a working solution "Fundazol", 10 g of powder is diluted in 10 liters of water. For each square. m is consumed 0.5 liters of solution. "Fundazol" is a toxic drug, they work with it in gloves and a respirator.
The preparations are applied on a dry, sunny day. Treatment with fungicidal agents will prevent the development of fungal and bacterial diseases.
After two weeks, superphosphate is introduced at the rate of two heaped tablespoons (40-50 grams) under a bush, wood ash - 1 glass under a bush. Be careful - in garden stores, in addition to the usual superphosphate, double superphosphate is sold. The content of phosphorus compounds in it is doubled. It is also suitable for feeding, but in a smaller dosage - 1 tablespoon under a bush (20 g of fertilizer). Superphosphate can be substituted with bone meal. It is scattered on the ground next to the flowers, lightly covering it with a hoe. Calculation - 200 g per 1 sq. m.
Superphosphate and wood ash saturate phloxes with phosphorus and potassium. These microelements increase their survival rate and help to accumulate nutrients in the roots.
Ash is used for the preparation of ash liquor. This is an aqueous solution of ash, which fertilizes the soil, saturating it with trace elements - potassium, calcium and boron, and also destroys the larvae of pests in the soil. To prepare lye, take 100 g of ash per 10 liters of water. The ash is thoroughly mixed to achieve dissolution. The resulting solution is plentifully watered the soil. The liquid ash solution saturates the rhizomes with potassium compounds faster than dry ash.
In the absence of ash, potassium sulfate is used at the rate of 2 tbsp. l. dry fertilizer per sq. m.
The departments for gardeners and gardeners sell complex fertilizers containing both potassium and phosphorus. Choose a mixture labeled "For Autumn Use", "Autumn", etc.
A layer of organic fertilizer as mulch, protects the rhizome from freezing, and also saturates soil nutrients... For fertilization, humus, compost or rotted manure is used. A mixture of the above components is suitable. One phlox bush will require 2/3 buckets of organic matter (6-8 kg per 1 sq. M). Be sure to cover with a layer of mulch phlox over 4 years old. Starting from the fourth year after planting, the root system of phlox grows intensively, some of the roots come out close to the surface of the earth, and some rise above the ground. With a lack of snow cover or in severe frost, the rhizome freezes. A layer of mulch will help prevent plant death, and in the spring, nourish the root system with useful substances.
Phlox are pruned only after the end of the growing season. Monitor the condition of the plants after flowering. The wilting of the stem is a signal to start pruning. If the flowers are cut too early, when they are still green, young shoots will begin to form. With the onset of frost, autumn shoots will freeze, which may cause the plant to die.
It is recommended to cover the fallen snow over a layer of mulch. The snow layer will additionally insulate the garden flowers. It is not necessary to tamp and compact it, since during the thaw, the thawed snow forms an ice crust, which can damage the plants.
Before fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, it is recommended to water phlox abundantly, or apply fertilizers after the last rain.
3 main mistakes
- In the fall, you cannot use nitrogen-containing fertilizers for fertilizing flowers. Nitrogen causes the influx of nutrients into the green part of the plant - the stem and leaves. As a result of fertilizing with nitrogen in the fall, the flowers will grow and begin to form new shoots, which will freeze out with the onset of cold weather.
- If you overlay the plants with organic matter earlier than October 15, the buds of renewal will start to grow, and after the onset of cold weather they will freeze. As a result, in the spring the plant will be greatly weakened, its flowering will be scarce.
- Excess dosages when feeding phlox is harmful - the plants in the spring will be weakened and susceptible to diseases.
Conclusion
Correctly produced feeding of marigolds with useful substances and in a suitable period for this will allow you to enjoy bright flowers for a longer time.It is recommended to introduce nutrients in the evening or early in the morning, in which case they will have time to be absorbed into the soil and get into the root system before the onset of heat.
Experienced gardeners report that feeding is best done after good watering. A similar requirement applies to natural precipitation: fertilizer will work more efficiently if you apply it immediately after the rain, and not before it.
