What do you know about planting and caring for tigridia outdoors?

Tigridia is a plant of the Iris family, brought to our latitudes from South and Central America. Despite the fact that the tigridia is a thermophilic flower, planting and care in the open field is possible in central Russia. It is enough to choose the right place for planting and take good care of the plant during its development.

Favorable conditions for planting tigridia

Since tigridia belongs to the thermophilic bulbous flowers, the best place for planting it will be a site protected from strong winds on the sunny side. It is possible to plant tigridia in open ground in the Moscow region in partial shade conditions. The brightness of color and splendor of flowering will practically not suffer from this, but it is advisable to tie pegs to each stem - the stems become thinner from a lack of sunlight and may not withstand the weight of the buds.

Some growers tie tigridia to pegs so that the stems do not break from gusts of wind.

The soil is loamy or sandy. It is important that it is not too hard, otherwise the tender bulbs simply will not be able to develop. Therefore, before planting, you can add sawdust to the soil and loosen it thoroughly. Fertilizers mixed with sand for better moisture conductivity will not interfere. Otherwise, if the liquid stagnates in the soil, the bulbs may rot.

Tigridia prefers a neutral soil composition, so if the soil in your area is acidic, treat it with a lime mortar.

Planting methods for tigridia

Planting and caring for tigridia outdoors begins with choosing a growing method.

Planting seeds

It is advisable to sow the seeds of tigridia already in winter, in pots or boxes, so that after the frosts pass, plant the bulbs in the open ground. In this case, by the fall, the bulbs will have time to get stronger - next year you can already expect the appearance of blossoming buds.

Sandy soil is suitable for seedlings, you can add a little peat... The sowing depth is small - about 3 millimeters. Each plant should be at least 5 centimeters apart so that they do not have to be repotted several times later.

For the first time, abundant watering of the seeds is necessary, but moderate moisture is more suitable for adult bulbs.

Seeds sprout quickly - with proper care, the first shoots will appear in 2-3 weeks. You can divide the sprouts into separate containers, or you can leave them together, provided that the plants are sufficiently separated from each other, as in the photo. Planting tigridia in open ground is carried out by the end of May.

Using bulbs for planting

Planting and caring for tigridia outdoors in spring is best done with already germinated bulbs. The seeds may not ripen before the onset of the autumn cold, and the entire flower bed will simply die with the onset of the first frost.

Large bulbs are planted to a depth of 10 cm, small ones - 5 cm. The distance between individual plants should be at least 15 cm - tigridia blooms magnificently only when it is given great freedom.

Features of tigridia care

After the tigridia has been planted, caring for it in the open field is not difficult, it is enough to follow some rules for watering and fertilizing.

In hot weather, you need to make sure that the soil near the bulbs does not dry out.However, surface watering will not work - it will only harm the flowers. Therefore, before watering the tigridia, carefully loosen the soil so that the liquid reaches the bulbs and moistens them properly.

If the summer is without rains, the aerial part of the flower may also suffer from drought. In this case, the leaves and buds are additionally sprayed with water, but not in the middle of the day, but in the evening or morning.

After the tigridia has faded, and its aboveground part has completely faded, the dried leaves and stems are removed and watering is no longer carried out.

If the soil was well fertilized before planting, then the plants do not need additional feeding. But on depleted land, it is better to make two dressings so that the tigridia will release lush and bright buds. As a fertilizer, you can use specially selected mineral complexes... The first time they feed the soil after the leaves have appeared on the plants. The second is before the buds begin to bloom.

Let's summarize:

• It is best to plant tigridia on the sunny side of the site, where there are no strong winds.
• Soil - sandy or loamy, neutral reaction. You can add peat.
• When to plant tigridia outdoors? The bulbs are planted after the last spring frosts have passed, and seeds begin to germinate in the winter, in pots.
• Watering is sufficient to keep the bulbs hydrated without starting to rot. The soil should be loosened before watering.

Tigridia video