Contents
Carnation Shabo is the most recognizable and beloved variety of the clove family by many gardeners. This is a hybrid species, memorable for its aroma and grace. It is grown in any region and in almost every area.
Even pickiness in care does not stop summer residents. The color scheme of the plant is so diverse that it is difficult to list all the variations. There are monochromatic flowers and mixed ones, in which the shades flow from dark to light. Some at the same time combine several tones in one petal.
To place a beautiful plant in a flower bed, you need to grow seedlings of the Shabo garden carnation at home. This is not an easy task, but the result will make you forget all the trouble. In our article, we will describe in detail the step-by-step process of how to plant a Shabo carnation with seeds.
Description and characteristics
Slow development from sowing to flowering is the main reason for growing Shabo carnations from seeds. About six months pass from the date of sowing to cutting for a bouquet. Some gardeners practice propagating a flower by cuttings, but most prefer planting seeds for growing carnation garden Shabo.
The plant does not belong to a separate type of carnation, but is considered the most popular and recognizable.
Carnation garden Shabo is different:
- Compact rhizome without branches. The depth of the rhizome is from 10 to 20 cm.
- Leaves of a grayish or pale green hue are arranged in pairs on the shoot.
- Shoots up to 50 cm high, knotty and thin. There are new Shabo hybrids with a low shoot height and abundant flowering.
- The flowers are large (diameter 6-8 cm), terry with a persistent pleasant aroma. The coloration is very varied.
Carnation garden Shabo is valued for its ability to bloom for a long time and for the fact that this flower stands for a long time in the cut. Flowering Shabo begins in July, and lasts until frost. In the southern regions, carnation quietly remains for the winter in the ground. In order for the plant to endure wintering in the areas of the Middle Strip, it needs to provide shelter.
If a beginner in gardening wants to grow garden cloves Shabo from seeds at home, it is better to take a variety mixture for sowing. An experienced flower lover can be advised to work with novelties. There are modern hybrids that bloom 1-2 months earlier, but require proper care. And if you know how to grow Shabo cloves from seeds, then you can get acquainted with new varieties. They have not yet been tested enough, so the strategy for their cultivation still needs to be studied. Let’s move on to a description of how to plant Shabo cloves for seedlings.
Sowing seeds and growing seedlings
Let us consider in more detail the cultivation of garden cloves Shabo from seeds at home.
For self-sowing Shabo carnations, you can get seeds in two ways:
- buy a bag in the store;
- grow and harvest by yourself.
The first option is more reliable, but you need to purchase seeds from a trusted manufacturer. Planting material retains the ability to germinate for 2-3 years, and the germination rate is a record 85% -95%. But despite this, care is always needed.
It is much more difficult to independently obtain seeds from plants grown on the site. If the carnation grows in the south, then this will not be a problem. But when growing carnation garden Shabo from seeds in the regions of the middle zone, the collection of planting material will require additional efforts. The plant blooms in the second half of the growing season, so the ripening of the seeds falls on a period of moisture and temperature variability. In order for the seeds to ripen, plants need to provide certain conditions – warmth and lack of moisture. Experienced gardeners transplant cloves into containers and transfer them to a room where the seeds ripen for 1,5-2 months. As soon as they easily spill out of the seedlings, they are already considered fully ripe.
The seeds are very small, so it is worth putting a fabric or gauze bag on the seeds to collect planting material. 1 g contains up to 550-600 seeds. It will be possible to grow about 450 plants. This number includes rejection and non-emergence specimens.
When the seeds are harvested, the next question arises. When to sow Shabo cloves for seedlings? The crop is sown during the winter months, starting in December and ending in mid-February. The best time is January or February. In December, more seedlings will need to be illuminated due to a very short daylight hours. The date when to sow Shabo carnations can be shifted to the end of February if modern hybrids are grown with an earlier budding period.
Land preparation
To grow high-quality seedlings of Shabo cloves, you will need to prepare the soil. The soil in which flowers grow in the garden is not suitable for the normal development of seedlings. Therefore, gardeners have two options:
- buy ready-made soil for seedlings of flowers marked “universal”;
- prepare the mixture at home ahead of time.
For sowing cloves Shabo for seedlings, the following components are prepared:
- garden or sod land – 1 part;
- humus – 1 part;
- peat – 1 part;
- sand – 0,5 parts.
Additionally, perlite is added to improve the quality of the soil. And if you add hydrogel, it will help reduce the amount of watering.
All parts are mixed and proceed to pre-sowing preparation. The soil is shed with a solution of potassium permanganate or Fitosporin-M. Then it is calcined or frozen in the cold.
Container preparation
For convenient sowing of Shabo cloves for seedlings, seedling boxes of different sizes, plastic containers, flower pots, peat pots or tablets are used.
Important requirements for landing containers are:
- The height is not more than 6 cm. If you take a deeper container, then there is a danger of waterlogging the seedlings and seedlings falling out.
- The presence of drainage holes and a drainage layer. Seedlings do not tolerate stagnant water, so it is necessary to ensure the outflow of excess moisture. If this is not done, the seedlings will be susceptible to the spread of rot, withering of the leaves.
- Mandatory disinfection. Use a solution of potassium permanganate, “Fitosporin-M”. Some summer residents are limited to boiling water treatment.
The next step in growing Shabo carnations from seeds at home is the proper preparation of planting material.
Seed preparation
Pre-sowing treatment is needed for seeds that have been collected independently. If they are bought in a specialized store, then the manufacturer has already taken care of this. Such a seed can be immediately placed in the soil.
In order for the planting of Shabo’s carnation for seedlings with seeds from your site to be successful and the seedlings to sprout well, you need to prepare the planting material:
- It is calibrated first. This is necessary for the selection of suitable full-weight specimens. A 3% -5% solution of edible table salt is being prepared, in which clove seeds are placed. Mix several times and then select only those settled to the bottom.
- The second stage is disinfected from pests. For this, heat treatment is carried out. Soaking for 1 hour in water heated to 50 ° C with the addition of potassium permanganate is called this.
- Some gardeners additionally place the seeds in a growth stimulant solution.
After such events, you can safely start planting Shabo cloves with seeds.
Sowing
Sowing carnation Shabo for seedlings is carried out according to the technology for small seeds.
The container is filled with soil mixture and tamped a little so that the seed does not fall into the voids. To do this, it is convenient to use the bottom of a glass jar. The earth is not poured to the very top, leaving at least 1 cm from the side.
Let us consider in detail how to sow Shabo carnations for seedlings in order to get the maximum percentage of germination. Small seeds are not immersed in the ground, but simply scattered over a compacted surface. Then sprinkled with calcined sand. It is prepared in advance. It is necessary to pour sand in a thin layer on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at a temperature of 65 Cº -100 Cº for half an hour. This technique protects seedlings from damage by a black leg.
How to sow clove seeds of the Shabo variety for seedlings if they were soaked in a growth stimulator? Only after drying. Otherwise, they will stick together, and you will not be able to evenly distribute them over the surface of the soil. After sowing, the sand should be lightly compacted and cover the container with glass or film. This creates a greenhouse effect.
Many gardeners prefer to sow Shabo cloves in a snail. This is done in the same way as for seeds of peppers, tomatoes or other crops. More about growing garden cloves Shabo from seeds in a snail on the video:
Care of seedlings
After the sowing has been done correctly, you need to provide Shabo carnation seedlings and competent care. For seed germination, it will be necessary to maintain an air temperature of about + 15 ° C. Carnation garden Shabo does not require bright lighting and heat in the early days. But the soil needs to be commensurately moist. For this purpose, a spray gun is used.
If favorable conditions are created when growing Shabo cloves from seeds, then the first sprouts appear after 4-5 days (see photo). The rest appear after 10 days. Above the required temperature, germination slows down. When all the seeds have sprouted, the film is removed.
As soon as the seedlings have hatched, the main attention is paid to watering. Seedlings are susceptible to black leg damage. Therefore, waterlogging is unacceptable. Too diligent watering will lead to the death of seedlings. If a problem occurs, diseased specimens are removed and the soil is sprinkled with ash or crushed activated carbon.
Another important aspect. The depth of seed placement is small, therefore, during the period of growing seedlings, soil filling is required.
The air temperature is maintained within 12-13°C.
Picks
When growing Shabo cloves, a double pick is required. The first time the seedlings dive when the first pair of leaves appears. This usually corresponds to the age of the plants in 3-4 weeks. At this stage, the transplant aims to plant the seedlings according to the 4 cm x 4 cm pattern. They pick very carefully, trying not to damage the delicate roots.
The second time the seedlings with 3-4 pairs of leaves are transplanted. How to dive the Shabo carnation for the second time:
- It is best to plant the plants in separate containers.
- Add humus or nitrogen fertilizers to the soil to improve growth.
At the time of the second pick, the seedlings are buried to the root neck. How to dive carnation Shabo can be seen in the photo.
In the phase of 5 leaves, the seedlings are additionally pinched. This makes it possible for the plant to form a lush bush.
Video about the correct picking of the carnation Shabo:
Flower growers are interested in the question of how to sow Shabo carnation seeds immediately in open ground.
In this case, the main problem is the long vegetation period of the plant. To get flowering on time, it is necessary to sow in a greenhouse, greenhouse or greenhouse. Then the seedlings are transferred to open ground when a suitable temperature is established. When to plant Shabo cloves in a greenhouse when grown from seeds can only be decided taking into account the climatic characteristics of the region. The temperature for seedlings needs low, but daylight hours require a long one. Therefore, before March, sowing is not carried out.
Useful video about growing seedlings of garden carnation Shabo:
