su_quote] Lobelia is a beautiful undersized annual plant that blooms profusely before the onset of cold weather. Landscape designers consider the flower one of the best plants. It is actively used to decorate flower beds and balconies. Growing lobelia from seeds is a laborious and troublesome process, especially at the seedling stage. Growing by sowing seeds directly on the garden bed is a useless process, you may not even see seedlings.[/su_quote]
Lobelia: description
Lobelia belongs to the Bellflower family. The genus has more than 300 representatives. Its main advantages are that small flowers are perfectly combined with other large and bright plants, making up a beautiful background. That is why lobelia is usually used in landscape design.
The height depends on the type of plant. There are three types of lobelia: erect, ampelous and compact, where all plants differ in height and shape of the bush. Upright reaches a height of no more than 30 cm, ampelous – up to 40 cm, and compact does not exceed 15 cm.
The leaves are green, lanceolate, oblong, the stems are thin, branched. The flowers are small, up to 3 cm in diameter. Due to the fact that there are many inflorescences, the flowering bush looks magnificent. The color depends on the variety.
Lubelia varieties
Lobelia has a pink, white, blue, purple, red hue. Flowering time from June to September. The fruit is a box with tiny seeds.
Annual flowers please flower growers until the first frost, and do not require special care. You can continue flowering in winter if you take a beautiful bush out of the ground in the fall and transplant it into a pot, keeping it as an indoor flower until spring. In the spring it can be planted by cuttings in the garden.
How to grow lobelia from cuttings? In the spring, the cuttings should be cut, immersed in a growth stimulator and rooted in the ground. You can cover them with a plastic bottle, thus creating a mini-greenhouse. At the same time, the greenhouse must be regularly ventilated and remove excess moisture. Water the cuttings should only be warm water. After the stem takes root, it can be planted in open ground.
Features of growing lobelia from seeds
Growing seedlings of Lubelia
Growing it is not at all easy, so you need to know all the intricacies of growing and caring for this capricious plant. Difficulties begin at the first stage – when sowing seedlings. Lobelia seedlings need to create a special environment, and for this you will have to work hard.
As a result, you can get excellent material that will turn into flowering bushes.
Additional Information! The plant develops gradually, slowly. The period from sowing seeds to the formation of the first flowers is long – 70-80 days, depending on the variety. The beginning of flowering in lobelia occurs at the end of spring. You should not try to grow a flower in a seedless way: the seeds are small, the seedlings are capricious, they do not tolerate open ground conditions.
When do we sow lobelia for seedlings? It should be borne in mind that about 9 weeks pass from sowing the seeds to the beginning of flowering of the annual, so the cultivation of seedlings of lobelia from seeds begins at the end of winter – early spring, focusing on your climatic zone.
soil mixture
The soil for seeds needs very light and loose. Garden soil is not good. You can buy a special nutrient soil, or prepare the mixture yourself. For this you need:
- 2 parts of the land (garden or sod);
- 2 parts of peat;
- 1 part coarse sand.
The soil mixture must be disinfected. Lobelia seeds are afraid of germs. If disinfection is not carried out, the black leg is provided. It is also advisable to pollinate the seeds with a fungicide before sowing.
Growing lobelia from seeds at home
Lobelia seedlings are grown in shallow containers, the height of the sides should not exceed 5 cm. In specialized stores, lobelia seeds are sold in the form of granules. In this option, it will be convenient to plant them in special peat tablets, which are designed specifically for growing seedlings. Sowing one granule in each cell avoids the dive of seedlings.
A few days before sowing, soil is poured into the container and lightly tamped. Water the soil with a fungicide solution. Such preventive measures will help to avoid various diseases that seedlings may be exposed to.
When the ground is still slightly damp, you can start sowing. Carefully level the ground and press it down. Lobelia seeds are quite small, so they are usually planted without prior procedures.
To evenly distribute the seeds over the soil surface, they are mixed with a handful of sand so that the seedlings grow evenly throughout the planting capacity. Granulated seeds are placed on the soil with a wet toothpick. Small seeds are not sprinkled on top of the soil.
After sowing, water once with a growth stimulator. The container is covered with glass or placed in a plastic bag for a greenhouse effect. The most important thing is to monitor the temperature and not be too zealous when watering.
One of the important points in the formation of seedlings is timely watering. Seedlings need to be moistened frequently. The root system of sprouts is small, located on the surface of the earth. As soon as the soil hardens, the roots die off, and with them the plant.
Since lobelia seedlings are very small at the initial pores, watering must be done correctly from a syringe with a needle. The fact is that lobelia does not tolerate a strong excess of moisture and direct sunlight.
Watering seedling
Possessing good shade-tolerant properties, the plant blooms beautifully even on northern balconies.
Lobelia seedlings at home can germinate in a week. Up to this point, the seed container must be ventilated daily, wiping off the accumulated condensate.
Note! The main problem in growing seedlings is watering. If the plant is flooded, then thin seedlings will become covered with mold, and if there is little moisture, the seedlings will immediately shrink.
Over-watering can lead to blackleg. At the first sign of the disease, immediate action must be taken. Sick plants are removed, and the entire container is watered with a fungicide.
The air temperature in the room when growing seedlings should be maintained at + 18–20 ° C during the day, + 15 ° C at night. After removing the film, the temperature regime also changes.
As soon as shoots appear, it is necessary to remove the glass or polyethylene and lower the air temperature to 15 ° C. The container with seedlings should be stored on a well-lit windowsill. After the appearance of the first true leaves, the plant can be planted in pots of several seedlings.
Light also affects the growth of seedlings. It is necessary to provide seedlings with additional lighting, because daylight hours are still very short. If you neglect this moment, the seedlings will hatch. Sufficient light will allow seedlings to grow well and form good roots.
They dive when the plants form two pairs of true leaves. First, the seedlings are watered abundantly. This will help to painlessly separate the plants. They make shallow holes into which the roots of the flowers are lowered and the earth is slightly pressed against them.
Sowing lobelia for seedlings is also carried out in separate cassettes. In this case, there is no need to dive seedlings. For this purpose, peat cups are used. Then the plants are planted in a permanent place along with a peat reservoir.
Experienced flower growers advise pinching the top of the seedling when its height is about 3 cm. Such manipulation leads to the formation of lush bushes.
Pinching a seedling
Hardening is a mandatory step in preparing seedlings for life on the street. 2 weeks before planting in the flower beds, the boxes are taken out into the street. At first, they hold a quarter of an hour, gradually increasing the time to several hours. Avoid drafts and direct sunlight. With initial growth, seedlings are not fed, top dressing will be harmful
When to plant lobelia in open ground?
Seedlings are planted at the exit of 2-3 leaves. Send it to the site no earlier than May. For landing, you need to choose a place where there is a lot of sun or partial shade. The earth must be of high quality, moist.
Planted at a distance between seedlings of 100-150 mm. Subject to the conditions of planting and proper care, lobelia will bloom in June, and will continue to delight until late autumn.
Lobelia does not like drought, so it needs regular abundant watering. Watering is done 2 times in the morning and in the evening, especially during the dry summer period.
Additional Information! In heat and drought, with poor watering, lobelia can stop the color. In order for it to start up new shoots and bloom again, the bare bush must be cut, fed and watered.
For active flowering, the plant should be fertilized 2-3 times during the summer:
- the first top dressing is carried out 2 weeks after landing in a permanent place;
- the next – in June, at the beginning of flowering;
- top dressing is made in July, and also after pruning the plant – in August.
Lobelia is fed only with organic fertilizers: dilute 1 tablespoon of liquid fertilizer per 1 liter of water. In heavily fertilized soil, lobelia is less prone to bloom, so it should not be given frequently.
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