Annuals
They are so different: some require alkaline soils, others - slightly acid. Some like to grow in the sun, others like to grow in the shade. I will speak about each group of plants separately, but there are some general concepts that need to be known.
Very often the growers complain that the seeds of annuals are badly planted and ask why. There are several subtleties: the seeds must be cheered up. You can, of course, dunk in "Zircon" or "Energene".You can use "Gumi" or "Phytosporin".But if you do not have these preparations, soak the seeds for 5 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate in a bright pink color, then rinse the seeds with clean water. You can do otherwise: lower the bags with seeds into hot water( 53 degrees), hold it there for 15 minutes and then put it in the refrigerator for a day. If the seeds are large, then you can immediately sow them, laying one by one on the surface of moistened soil in the landing tanks. Then sprinkle them on top of dry soil on a height equal to the double length of the seed, to compact the crops with a spoon( so that the seeds do not appear without discarding the seed coat), put the containers in a plastic bag, exhale several times the air and tie the packet. After this, it is necessary to put in a warm place, and after the emergence of the shoots put on a window sill or in another bright place. If the seeds are of medium size, then before they are sown, you should get moist seeds taken from the refrigerator or from the solution in which you have soaked them, sprinkled on paper to dry it to flowability, and then mixed with dry rubbish of used tea or coffee from sachetsin a ratio of 1: 1 and sow on the wet surface of the soil, how to salt. Then sprinkle them with a thin layer of soil and compact with a spoon, and then put in a plastic bag, make it a few exhalations to fill the package with carbon dioxide, promoting the emergence, tie up and put the package in a warm place.
Naturally, after the emergence of shoots must be transferred to light. However, there are very small seeds. And when sowing, you need to take into account one nuance. They need light for the shoots, so they must be sown on the wet soil surface, but the soil can not be topped up. In order for them to somehow enter the soil, they should be sown in the snow, which, when melting, will draw small seeds in the soil, this will be enough for them. To not thicken the crops, pour the seeds into the left palm, squeeze it lightly. On the edge of the palm appeared a hollow. Here through it and you will sow the seeds, gently pouring them on the snow with a toothpick piece by piece. On the snow, they are clearly visible, so push them apart 1 -2 cm apart, because the seeds can not thicken. Then put the container with crops in a plastic bag and hold it in the light. The snow will begin to melt and will tighten the seeds by half into the soil.
Any sown seeds should not be watered until sprouts appear, it is more correct to keep them in a tied package to prevent the drying of the surface layer of the soil, which allows you not to water the crops.
When sowing very small seeds, there is one more subtlety: first, that there should be snow, it is necessary to sow in late March or early April in the North-West region at the appropriate time - in others. If you plant too early, then for the flowers that have risen in the apartment there will be very little light, and even the lighting will not save. Plants will begin to stretch strongly, and the stems are very thin and weak, so the plants will fall and will not come off the soil. Do not sow very early! Seed emerges somewhere in 10-14 days, and from now on you can take them out of the package.
Second, the next subtlety is watering. Seedlings are very small, especially from the smallest seeds. Water can kill cotyledons to the soil, and they too will not be able to tear themselves away from the soil. Constantly lying on a damp surface, they begin to rot, which will lead to the death of sprouting. Therefore, watering, especially at the initial moment, is best done either through a syringe with a needle or through a pipette. Through a syringe to water it is especially simple, for this purpose it is necessary to insert a needle in soil and to inject in a zone of roots so much water, how much it is necessary, measuring it on divisions on a syringe. Using a pipette, it is necessary to drip very carefully between these green shoots, in any case not getting on them. For larger seeds, using a teaspoon, gently pour the water from the jar. Overdoing and pouring seedlings is strictly forbidden, because at an early stage, excess watering will lead to a seedling disease with a black leg.
The black leg is caused by three factors: the causative agent of the disease, living in the soil, excessive dew or overmoistening of the soil and thickened shoots. Therefore shoots, when they have 2-3 true leaflets, should be cut or broken off into separate small containers( say, cups from yoghurt).At the same time, it is necessary to pour soil under the plant, to do it better with a match.
Some of the annual plants have to be dived again in large containers, whose diameter is 5-7 cm and depth is about 8-10 cm, and only then planted in the open ground. This is essential for such flowers that are afraid of frost, and therefore in the Northwest they have to be planted at the very end of May or early June. Those flowers, whose seedlings tolerate early frosts, it is better to immediately sow in the soil, you can first seedlings in school, using the ends of vegetable beds for this. They can be sown at the beginning or end of April. With them, nothing else needs to be done. You can first cover the crops with a film, but only see that the soil has turned green, sprouts have appeared, the film needs to be removed. If frosts are expected, you can cover the landing of lutrasilom.
The annual has many advantages. First, they easily tolerate transplantation at any age. You can transplant in the middle of summer( only with the soma of the earth) - and everything will be in order.
Secondly, they are abundant and very long bloom: from early July until October.
Thirdly, it is possible to create separate flowerbeds, curtains from annuals, or you can plant them when tulips begin to bloom. If you grow tulips in a box, you can sow them right between them. If you are digging tulips, then from your school, where you have a whole group of annuals planted, or directly from the boxes, already decapitated, you will replace these annuals in their place, and they will blossom well for you. You will have such a small interval when you dig out tulips at the beginning of June, there are no more frosts, and it is already possible to plant annuals in their place.
Fourthly, it is possible to place annuals between perennials between perennials, so that they cover the empty places in the flower bed or the site after the flowering of perennials.
In pots or in boxes located on rails or windowsills, it is necessary to plant the annuals in containers located throughout the site. Containers can be relocated from place to place, changing the flower spots and thus updating the disposition.
If you are not a very experienced gardener, then do not start with difficult plants. For example, a one-year-old aster is a difficult plant, so it's better not to start from it. It is necessary to begin with plants of very simple, which always and all work out without problems.
Annuals that can be grown in a non-seeded way:
Cornflower is an excellent flower, it works out to everyone. To sow it it is necessary directly on a place in a ground in the end of April - the beginning of May.
Cosmey is a very high plant, it is good for them to close a part of the garden from view, to land in the foreground in front of the toilet, a compost pile, or somewhere in the corner, to cover neighborly unpretentious buildings, or simply close from neighbors, planting such a green,blooming all summer "fence".I can also touch the spot in the end of April or the beginning of May.
Nemesis is a creeping, highly branched plant that covers everything with a colored carpet. It is also sown directly in place at the end of April or beginning of May. Just do not thicken, if thickened, be sure to plant some plants, when they have two leaves, Nemesis perfectly tolerates the transplant. Resolve the Nemesis follows the scheme of 15 x 15 cm. Then you will have a real, blooming carpet all summer. In Nemesis, you need to make a prick, cutting off the central stem, when it grows to 15 cm. Then the plant begins very strongly and quickly branch, and from each plant a whole curtain is formed.
Poppy can also be sown in the soil immediately to the place( it can be sown and late autumn, under winter) directly from above on the soil. After the emergence of shoots in the spring, the poppy must necessarily be weeded out. Mack is not planted or planted, since it has a core root, so nothing sensible when transplanting the poppy will not work. Since real double poppies, giving a large head with poppy seeds, are now forbidden for growing on private plots, you can replace them with very simple plants - poppy-seed( holostebut), poppy seed, California poppy( eshsholcia).These poppies do not form a large head, and their greens do not contain narcotic substances, so they do not attract drug addicts. The first two poppies have beautiful, variously colored flowers, swinging on thin branching stems. They wobble at the slightest fluctuations of the air, resembling butterflies. The California poppy is also beautiful, its leaves resemble carrot leaves, of a blue tint, and the flowers are the same as those of a perennial oriental poppy( i.e., not terry), only smaller, but shinier, satin. And they are white, pink, yellow, dark red. These poppies you sow in late April-early May in place. They can be sown directly among the risen tulips( if you do not dig them out), or among other annuals, which very quickly fade.
Marigolds are very simple for growing a plant, but they do not tolerate freezing - just 1 degree, and all the marigolds perished. Therefore, you have to sow the marigolds first, then cut it into a box or in a separate box and keep it for a long time in the greenhouse, let them stand at the end, right in the aisle, on the floor. Drop it into the ground when the frost runs out. It is very good to plant them after the flowering of tulips, because they perfectly disinfect the soil. The marigolds blossom abundantly and for a long time, while the autumnal small frosts of adult plants are easily transferred. If you grow marigolds through seedlings, then do not sow them too early, since the seedlings will outgrow. In our region, sow them in early May or late April, and they will bloom already in June. Calendula( marigold) is a remarkable plant with medicinal properties. She has large seeds, they can be planted immediately in a box of yogurt, and let them grow. They also do not tolerate spring frosts very well, so the transplantation into place, and direct seeding in the open ground with seeds can be done in early May. Among marigolds there are terry, there are two-colored, various coloring of yellow tones. But in general in all seeds of double flowers there is a splitting. And about a third of the plants will be non-marble, this is normal, so do not be discouraged. But there is a sign that makes it possible to distinguish future terry plants from non-marble plants still in seedling stage. Usually in double flowers the seedlings are lighter than in non-doublets. Therefore, you can immediately choose terry, by dropping them separately. Non-cold marigolds can be planted among vegetable crops in beds or at the edge of the garden bed so that pests are not touched.
Plant the bed at the very edge of the marigold or calendula. Pests do not really touch this bed. Can be planted between berry bushes for the same purpose. Calendula possesses such powerful bactericidal properties that if you, for example, simply cut 3-4 flowers and put them in a vase in the children's room,
, then you can be absolutely sure that the air in it will be almost sterile, there will not be any pathogenic bacteria.
This is a very useful plant. From it you can make oil with calendula. If you want to have a beautiful pickle, then cut a few petals of marigold or marigold and throw it into the brine, then it will be amber-vivid. The taste and aroma of the brine will only improve.
You can make a cheese salad with marigold, a wonderful thing.
Recipe:
All these plants( except for marigolds) are renewed by self-sowing, unless you dig up the soil under them.
Nasturtium is another wonderful plant, but, unfortunately, it also does not tolerate frost. You can grow it through seedlings, or you can not do it, because it grows very fast. She has large seeds. If you planted a bed with carrots or something else, then in the middle of May, just a finger or a stick in the inclined part of the garden make an opening and insert seeds of nasturtium at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. Shoots appear quickly, and as soon as the first leaf appears, a sharp smell begins to fool the pests, they fly past the beds with vegetables.
Young flowers you can put in salads, they give the salads an absolutely wonderful taste, such a light peppercorn. From the green seeds of nasturtium, capers are prepared, the seeds are used in marinades for both mushrooms and cucumbers or tomatoes. You can pickle green seeds or buds, roll in small jars, and in winter put in saltwort or borsch. This gives the dishes a very piquant taste.