Possible growing problems
In the absence of proper care and watering, after planting salpiglossis in the open field, pests may appear on the branches of the plant. This will reduce the immunity of the flower and lead to the formation of pathologies.
Pests
The plant is often affected by aphids. To get rid of insects, the bushes are treated with a concentrated soap solution.
Diseases
Most often, salpiglossis suffers from stem rot, fungal infections. To prevent the development of pathologies, the bushes are treated with herbicides.
Signs of improper care
It is possible to understand that the care of the crop is carried out incorrectly by the dryness and yellowness of the leaves, the appearance of rot on the stems, the lack of flowering at the set time.
Aphids on plant stems
Salpiglossis is a beautiful and unusual plant culture used to improve summer cottages. The plant does not tolerate frost, severe drought and wind. For its full growth, you must follow the rules of care.
Mimulus care
It is quite easy to grow a lipstick, as it is a relatively unpretentious plant. To make the bushes more lush, young plants must be pinched.
This plant is very fond of moisture, in this regard, it needs to be provided with frequent and systematic watering, especially in summer. It should be noted that the soil near the bushes should always be slightly damp. If small holes appear on the surface of the leaf plates, this indicates that watering must be reduced. After each watering, it is recommended to loosen the soil surface near the plants, while pulling out the weeds.
Top dressing is done once every 4 weeks. To do this, use a solution of a mineral complex fertilizer (15 ml for 10 liters of water).
Throughout the growing season, the lipstick blooms 2 times: in spring and autumn. The duration of the first stage of flowering is several weeks. After its completion, it is necessary to trim the bushes as short as possible and feed them. After a short time, they will grow new stems, and the plants will bloom even more luxuriantly than before. In order to preserve the high decorativeness of Mimulus during the flowering period, it is necessary to promptly cut off the flowers and inflorescences that have begun to fade.
Diseases and pests
Grown in the garden, the lipstick is very resistant to diseases and pests. However, the seedlings of such a plant can get sick with powdery mildew or black leg. Infected seedlings must be sprayed with a fungicide solution. In hot weather, there is a high probability of infection of the plant with gray rot. The affected specimens will need to be dug up and burned, because this disease has not yet been effectively treated.
If you water the bushes very abundantly, then gastropods can settle on them. For prevention purposes, the regime and abundance of watering should be reviewed, and the surface of the site should be covered with a layer of mulch (sawdust). Also, these flowers can be chosen by whiteflies and aphids, in this case they will need to be treated with a solution of acaricide, for example, Aktara or Aktellik.
After flowering
Mimulus are perennial plants, but they are thermophilic. If desired, the bushes can be saved if in the autumn they are cut off, carefully removed from the ground and planted in pots that need to be brought into the house. For planting, a not very large container is chosen. These flowers are placed on a windowsill in a fairly cool room. With the onset of spring, the bushes should be planted in open soil.
Growing kobei from seeds
Sowing
It is not so easy to grow a kobei from seeds, but it is quite possible. The fact is that the shell of large seeds is distinguished by a high density, which greatly complicates the appearance of sprouts. Therefore, before sowing, such a shell must be dissolved to such a state that it looks like mucus, and then removed by hand. To do this, you need to spread the seeds on the bottom of the container, which should be wide enough, while taking into account that they should not come into contact with each other. Pour water into the container and close it very tightly with a lid to prevent evaporation of the liquid. From time to time, it is necessary to check the seeds and at the same time remove the sagging part of the shell, and then lower them again into the container. As a rule, it takes several days to completely clear the seeds from the shell.
For seedlings, this plant should be sown in February or the first days of March. For sowing, it is recommended to use individual, not very large cups, in which one seed is placed, thus you do not have to injure young plants during a dive. To sow seeds, it is recommended to use a universal soil. The seed must be laid on the surface of the soil, while the flat side must be turned down, and then sprinkled on top of it with a layer of the same soil mixture, the thickness of which should be 15 millimeters. Seedlings appear after a different amount of time. If you properly prepared the seeds and completely removed the entire shell, then the seedlings may appear after half a month.
Kobei. Series 1. Sowing and diving.
Seedling
When the seedlings grow up a little, and they have 2 real leaf plates, they should be dived together with a lump of earth in containers, which should have a volume of about three liters. This will create a strong root system and powerful stems. During transplanting, do not forget to put special ladders made of metal or plastic in the container, in this case the seedling will grow using it as a support. At the same time, you should begin to harden the seedlings. To do this, the plant is transferred to a loggia or balcony, which must be insulated or, in extreme cases, glazed. The plants will stay here before transplanting, while slowly getting used to the cold air. As a rule, three weeks of hardening is enough to get the plants fully accustomed to the outdoor climate. Then you can start planting grown and matured seedlings in open ground.
Growing seedlings from seeds
The easiest and most reliable way to grow salpiglossis in latitudes with a temperate, harsh continental climate is propagation by seedlings. Seeds for this can be bought in a specialized store or collected by yourself. When stored properly, they retain their germination capacity for up to 5 years.
Soil selection
Salpiglossis have a mixed root system with a pronounced central root and many branches from it. They are quite whimsical and require attention and care. For an amateur gardener, or if you don't have a lot of time to take care of your garden, this can be a problem. Therefore, consider beforehand if you will have the time and willingness to provide them with all the care they need.
If you are determined to grow these beauties, then you should start by preparing the soil:
The soil should be light, with good drainage properties, and low or neutral acidity.
Clay soil is worth adding sand to make it more crumbly, peat and humus.
For seedlings, you can prepare a special substrate from one part of fine sand, one part of sod land and half of wood ash.
The substrate is calcined in the oven for disinfection.
After calcining, peat is added to the mixture in the ratio of half a glass to a glass of the mixture.
Sowing seeds
Sowing time depends on weather conditions and for what period to plan flowering:
- Planting in spring will result in flowering towards the end of the summer season.
- If you prepare the planting in the fall, then the next season the flowering will begin along with the summer.
- For central Russia, sowing seedlings at the end of March is considered the most optimal. And transplanting seedlings into the garden is recommended in early June.
Seedling care
For seedlings, it is best to choose not large containers, but individual cups and pots. So that there are no more than five shoots per pot. The seeds are spread over the soil surface and slightly moistened from the sprayer. You do not need to sprinkle them with earth.
Although pipe-tongues are sun-loving, they must be germinated in the shade. For this and to create a greenhouse effect, the plantings are covered with black polyethylene and stored in a warm place at a temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius.
Do not forget to air the seedlings every day, but no longer than 10-15 minutes. When the first shoots appear, the film can be removed. Watering the shoots is done moderately using a spray. Water for irrigation should be separated and at room temperature.
If you store seedlings in a hot room, the sprouts will begin to develop too quickly - storage at a temperature not exceeding 18 degrees is recommended. Also, shoots must be protected from direct sunlight, which can burn the delicate leaves of young plants. When the shoots reach a height of about 10 cm, the tops are gently pinched, from which the bush begins to grow in breadth.
Planting seedlings in open ground
Salpiglossis landing. Before transplanting seedlings into open ground, it must be hardened. And the soil itself should be prepared for this in advance, even if it meets all the recommendations:
A week before an hour X you need to dig up the selected area. Add ash and, if necessary, sand to it.
It doesn't hurt to add some humus.
But you cannot add a lot of peat - this can excessively increase the acidity.
It is very important for shoots that the earth is rich in minerals. Therefore, if there is no confidence in the richness of the area for nutrients, you can dig up the area again and add more ash.
How to take care of it properly?
Care in the course of growing crops in the open field does not require significant effort and time. Salpiglossis is not a capricious plant. However, this fact does not eliminate the observance of certain rules when caring for him.
- Watering is carried out by bringing in water when the top layer of the earth is dry. It is not recommended to fill the plant, leaving puddles near it, as this provokes the development of diseases. Root decay is treated exclusively in the early stages. Otherwise, the bush will have to be removed.
- The plant reacts sharply negatively to drought, stagnation of water in the ground and a drop in temperature to minus values.
- In summer, the plant is watered once a day, and in hot weather, evening spraying is recommended.
- In the spring-autumn period, watering is done 2-3 times a week. To do this, use warm and well-settled water. At the end of the procedure, the surface layer of the site should be loosened, while weeding is carried out.
- Regular pinching of the bushes stimulates their more lush flowering.
- Do not forget about the timely cutting off of wilting flowers. This will ensure their bloom until October.
- Top dressing is carried out several times a season, using complex mineral fertilizers for flowering crops. Wood ash is used as organic matter.
- To create a layer of mulch (about 1 cm), sawdust, cut straw, peat are suitable. Mulching helps to retain moisture in the soil, especially in drought conditions, and also minimizes weed growth. Mulch is added at the end of loosening the moist and slightly dried soil.
- Loosening of the soil contributes to the process of its aeration. It is produced shallowly so as not to harm the roots.
Watering
Excessive soil moisture causes the processes of decay of the root system.Watering is relevant, but only as the soil dries out, taking into account the specifics of the climatic zone and the frequency of precipitation
It is important to optimize the irrigation process, excluding excessive soil moisture
Top dressing
The optimal interval for the introduction of fertilizing compositions is 1 time in 12-14 days. For this, complex mineral mixtures are used. During the growing season, mixtures rich in nitrogen are used, and during budding and flowering, potassium and phosphorus are used. The ecological agent "Biohumus" has proven itself as a fertilizer for salpiglossis. The feeding procedure is not carried out on a hot day in the morning or in the evening.
During and after flowering
During the flowering period, the bushes need regular potash and phosphorus feeding, the nitrogen level is lowered at this time. Faded buds must be removed from the bushes immediately. Correct abundant watering is no less relevant during this period, especially during periods of drought. The substrate should be moistened in the morning or evening. The flowering time of a culture grown by seedlings begins in the 2-3rd decade of June, ending with the onset of the first frosts. When planted by seed, flowering begins around July. Leaving after flowering is carried out in accordance with the previously given rules.
Bush formation
Annual shrubs are usually not shortened if they do not have rotten and affected branches. Pinching is done at an early stage of seedling growth and during the flowering of buds. It is useful to carry out timely feeding of the culture and water it regularly.
Wintering
As a perennial plant, salpiglossis is cultivated only in areas with mild and warm climates. In frosty winters, it is grown as an annual, since it dies after the onset of frost. If necessary, it is permissible in the fall to plant a bush in a small container (pot) and place it in the house. However, he will take root with great difficulty, a transplant for him is a significant stress.
So, the possible complications and their causes:
- rotting of the root system, the reason is excessive moisture (especially in winter);
- lack of flowering, reasons - lack of light and lack of moisture;
- yellowness on the leaves, the reasons are dry air and drying out of the soil surface.
