How to grow keeled chrysanthemum from seeds?
Chrysanthemum keeled (tricolor chrysanthemum) is an annual species. Outwardly, the bush looks more like a chamomile, only very large and more colorful. This variety attracts attention not only by its unusual inflorescences, which have at least three flowers, but also by the duration of its flowering - from summer - until the very frost.
Practical, like any annual, keeled chrysanthemum is grown from seed. There are two ways to grow:
- sowing seeds directly into open ground;
- sowing seeds for seedlings.
Sowing seeds in the garden
Since chrysanthemum is resistant to frost, you can sow seeds in open ground before winter or in the month of April.
To sow seeds in a flower bed, make holes and pour them with warm water.
Sow seeds not thickly - 2-3 pieces per hole.
The distance between the holes is not less than 20 cm. The same indent can be made in the aisles. Then sprinkle the seeds with earth, without trampling, and cover with foil so that moisture does not evaporate.
As soon as the first shoots hatch, the film must be removed and the soil is loosened in the holes (to provide free air access to the shoots). 10 days after the emergence of chrysanthemum seedlings, they can be fed with a weak solution of the fertilizer "Ideal".
When the seedlings have 4 true leaves, and they grow up to about 10 cm, you will need to leave one, the most developed, sprout in the hole. Carefully remove the rest and transplant.
Chrysanthemum keeled, grown through direct sowing of seeds into open soil, will throw out the first inflorescences in July.
Sowing chrysanthemum seeds for seedlings
To bring the flowering of the annual chrysanthemum closer, it is grown through seedlings. For this, at the very beginning of spring, seeds are sown in a common container. The soil for seedlings can be purchased in special stores or prepared by yourself: mix peat, humus and greenhouse soil in equal proportions, sift and calcine. Expanded clay can be poured onto the bottom of the container as drainage.
The seeds are simply scattered over the surface, without deepening them, and sprinkle on top with a layer of earth of half a centimeter.
Spray with a spray bottle and cover with foil to create a greenhouse effect. Periodically, the container needs to be ventilated and the soil moistened.
If the container is kept at a constant temperature of about 25 degrees Celsius, the seeds will sprout in 2 weeks, after which the film can be removed. But this should not be done immediately, but gradually harden the seedlings by lifting the film. As soon as 4 true leaves grow, dive the seedlings into separate pots. It is better to discard weak sprouts immediately.
Transplant the grown seedlings to a flower bed at the end of May, leave at least 30 cm between the bushes, since the keeled chrysanthemum will eventually grow into a lush bush. Chrysanthemumgrown through seedlings will delight you with flowering at the beginning of summer.