Two ways to seed gypsophila
For lovers of miniature flowers, gypsophila is a real treasure. Its small, white or pinkish, inflorescences abundantly cover a fairly decent-sized bush, creating a lovely and delicate flower cap. This herbaceous plant from the clove family grows freely in natural conditions. In home floriculture, gypsophila also found its place due to its spectacular compact appearance and completely unpretentious nature.
Most often, gypsophila is grown from seeds. It can also be propagated by cuttings, but this method only applies to perennials and requires some effort from the grower, since cuttings do not always take root. A more reliable result is given by the seed method, and we will talk about it in more detail.
Gypsophila seeds have good germination and keep it for 2-3 years.
Gypsophila represented by two types of plants: annuals and perennials. Depending on which species the flower belongs to, two methods of seed reproduction are distinguished:
- sowing seeds of an annual plant directly into open ground;
- growing seedlings of perennial flowers in seedling containers indoors.
When to sow annual gypsophila?
The seeds of annuals are sown in a special growing bed, where they grow up until transplanted to a permanent place. You can do this:
- before winter, in the middle of autumn;
- in spring, late April - early May.
The bushes sown before winter are transplanted to the flower bed next spring, and the grown spring seedlings - in September.
When to start growing perennial seedlings?
It is necessary to sow gypsophila seeds for seedlings at the end of March. To do this, a light and nutritious substrate is poured into shallow bowls, moisten it well and scatter seeds over the surface, sprinkling it with a thin layer of soil on top. If desired, you can immediately make shallow grooves.
The plate is covered with glass on top and placed on a warm and light windowsill. Until the seeds all germinate, the glass is not removed, but simply periodically ventilate the greenhouse and moisten the soil. After the emergence of seedlings, they are either thinned out, leaving at least 15 cm between the seedlings, or they are immediately dived into separate cups.
The seedling method of growing gypsophila requires the installation of an additional backlight... The minimum daylight hours for seedlings must last at least 13 hours, otherwise it will begin to stretch.
When the bushes grow a couple of real leaves, they are transplanted to a permanent place in the flower bed. Given that the gypsophila grows strongly, a distance of 0.7 to 1 m should be left between the bushes, and even more between the rows. The bush will grow the maximum decorative form in three years.