Growing Clarkia graceful in a summer cottage from seeds
The cultivation of graceful clarke in suburban areas is widespread. She is elegant and aristocratic. Striking with its beauty and color saturation. The variety of colors allows you to effectively arrange flower beds, garden paths, fences and hedges. It goes well with other plants and is a frequent participant in alpine slides.
Growing Clarkia Graceful from Seeds
Sowing and caring for seedlings
When growing clarkia from seed with seedlings, the question often arises: when to plant and how to do it correctly? Seeds are sown in late March - April. Clarkia does not need enhanced nutrition, so they use the land from their personal plot, adding rotted manure and a little sand to it.
It is recommended to sow seeds directly into large planting boxes or pots.
The box is filled with soil, small grooves are formed and watered with water that has settled during the day. Next, seeds are sown into the grooves and lightly sprinkled with earth.
The seeding depth should not exceed 1 cm. Otherwise, they will not sprout.
Seedlings appear in 1.5 weeks. If they have sprung up too densely, they are thinned out. Caring for growing seedlings is simple. It is enough to water the land in a timely manner, prevent it from excessive compaction and eliminate weeds.
Outdoor transplant
After the warm weather has settled and the return frosts have gone, nothing threatens the seedlings. Now you can safely transplant it to a permanent place. Clarkia graceful needs the sun. The most illuminated area is chosen for her. It is not worth planting it in a blown meadow, as strong winds can break a weak stem.
Clarkia grows well on fertile soils with a loose structure. On dense, clayey soils, less blooming is noted. Prefers soil with neutral or low acidity.
Before transplanting to a permanent place, a flower bed requires preparation:
- In autumn they bring organic fertilizers.
- In the spring, the flower bed is carefully dug up, removing all weeds and breaking clods.
- The surface is leveled with a rake.
- Since by the time of transplantation, the seedlings develop a large root and a long stem, deep holes are needed. They are formed with a small spatula.
- The seedlings are placed in the hole, slightly deepening the stem. Cover with earth from above and compact.
- Each well is poured with water with the addition of a small amount of Kornevin. If the ground is very wet, which is often the case in spring in regions with deep snow cover, you should not water the plants.
To reduce watering and retain moisture in the soil, it is mulched.
Plant care
Clarkia is graceful and unpretentious in care. Moist and nutritious soil with a loose structure, plenty of sun, light and heat - that's all that is needed for a lush flowering.
Watering
Moisture is needed to grow a healthy plant and actively bloom. The frequency of watering depends on the weather. The soil in the flower bed should not dry out.However, severe waterlogging is also undesirable.
Loosening
Fruitful cultivation of clarke is possible on loose soils saturated with oxygen. On compacted soil, it develops more slowly and blooms poorly. Loosening the soil when growing this plant is a mandatory technological stage. The soil is loosened after each watering, as well as during the rainy season. Loosening is necessary, even if the plants have grown and it is rather difficult to get close to them.
Top dressing
The cultivation of graceful clarke necessarily includes not only watering and loosening the soil, but also the application of fertilizers. Any phosphorus-potassium fertilizer with a minimum nitrogen content is used as a top dressing. They are commercially available in granules or liquid form. Granular fertilizers are recommended to be used in rainy years when the soil is highly waterlogged. In a dry season, liquid concentrated fertilizers are dissolved in water in accordance with the consumption rates and combined with fertilizing with irrigation.
In favorable years with sunny, warm weather, one feeding per season is enough. If the year turned out to be unsuccessful and there are prolonged rains, repeated feeding with complex mineral fertilizers helps to prolong the flowering period.
Garter plants
The photo shows a mixture of graceful clarke colors. Its color, as well as the height of the stem, depends on the varietal characteristics. Its stem is erect and often reaches 90 cm. By the beginning of August, it is covered with numerous large flowers. To prevent damage to plants during watering, weeding or heavy rain - it is tied to wooden supports. Supports are installed around the perimeter of the flower bed and a wire or thin rope is pulled between them in two rows. This design is sufficient to keep the thin stem upright and prevent damage to the plants.
How to collect seeds
Many summer residents sow clarke only once. Then it reproduces by self-seeding. After the appearance of thickened seedlings, it remains only to thin them out. How to collect seeds from clarkia for growing seedlings and is it possible?
During flowering, the most lush plant is chosen and the flowers are tied with gauze. A month later, the boxes acquire a brown color. Now you can cut them off. The collected seeds are well dried on a paper towel and stored.
Clarkia graceful will effectively decorate any personal plot. The variety of shades of this delicate flower allows you to create luxurious compositions. Planting clarkia and subsequent care for it will not cause any difficulties even for novice gardeners. Fertile soil, timely watering, loosening, as well as favorable weather contribute to the cultivation of a magnificently blooming carpet.