Gypsophila paniculata – growing from seeds

Just as large gems look better framed by small sparkling pebbles, tall flowers with bright buds look more spectacular surrounded by grassy greens with small leaves or buds. One of these satellite flowers is gypsophila – a herbaceous plant for open ground. This unpretentious horticultural crop has several varieties and is successfully grown on almost all continents of the Earth. Gypsophila is used to frame borders and borders, in the complex design of flower beds and flower beds, bouquets and flower arrangements complement its graceful branches.

A photo and description of gypsophila paniculata, the rules for planting and caring for it are given in this article. Here we will talk about popular plant varieties, list its strengths and methods of reproduction.

Characteristics and types

Gypsophila is a herbaceous plant from the Carnation family. In nature, the flower grows mainly on the southern continents and in warm countries. But among one hundred and fifty plant species there are several perennials that also feel great in a continental climate with frosty winters.

The plant has several more names, but the most popular of them are “Tumbleweed”, “Kachim” and “Child’s Breath”. To date, more than a hundred species of gypsophila and several dozen cultivars are known for growing in the garden.

Not all types of plants are popular with flower growers, the most famous are:

• gypsophila graceful, which is a spherical shrub about half a meter high with small inflorescences;
• upload the crawler – ground cover plant up to 30 cm high with small but abundant flowers;
• paniculate gypsophila – a perennial species, growing up to 120 cm, having bushes in the form of a ball;
• gypsophila jaskolkovidnaya – a carpet of strongly intertwined stems and snow-white flowers, with a maximum height of 8-10 cm.

It is the panicled variety that will be considered in more detail. This species has earned its popularity primarily due to the long-term cycle of life – the flower does not need to be planted every year.

Description and varieties

Gypsophila paniculata has the following characteristics:

• semi-shrub type plant, having a height of up to 100-120 cm;
• bushes take the form of a ball (because of this, the flower is called a tumbleweed);
• stems erect, practically leafless;
• shoots covered with greenish bark;
• the root system is powerful, rod type;
• leaves are entire, oval or lanceolate, very small;
• the color of the leaves is grayish-green, there is a small fluff;
• inflorescences loose, paniculate;
• the flower is a bell cup of five wide petals;
• on the petals you can see a vertical bright green stripe;
• there are ten stamens in the center of the flower;
• the structure of the flower can be both simple and terry;
• the diameter of the inflorescences is, on average, 6 mm;
• the color of the flowers is predominantly white, there are varieties with pink inflorescences;
• the fruit of gypsophila is a single-celled achene in the form of a ball, after ripening, it opens and scatters the seeds on its own;
• seed germination persists for two to three years;
• flowering of paniculate gypsophila begins at the end of July or in the first days of August, and lasts about a month and a half;
• the plant is very unpretentious, loves loose and well-drained soils, needs a lot of light, rarely gets sick and does not attract pests.

There are not so many varieties of gypsophila paniculata, the most famous of them are:

• Snowflake – a low shrub growing up to 0,5 m, having snow-white flowers of a terry type;
• Flamingo with soft pink dense inflorescences and bush height up to 120 cm;
• White Holiday – a compact plant, no more than 45 cm in height, having the shape of a neat ball and blooming with white inflorescences;
• Pink Holiday just as compact, but with a different shade of flowers, suitable for planting in flowerpots and boxes.

To some, the variety of gypsophila varieties may seem scarce, but this plant is designed to frame other, more spectacular flowers, so it should not outshine its neighbors with bright colors and bizarre shapes.

Tumbleweed breeding

Growing gypsophila paniculata at home is an easy task, but requires minimal grower skills. There are several ways to propagate this flower:

1. Seeds.
2. seedlings.
3. Cuttings.
4. Inoculation.

But vegetative methods (grafting and cuttings) will be useful only to experienced flower growers involved in breeding especially valuable varieties of this plant.

Seedlings of perennial varieties

Gypsophila paniculata is a perennial, so it most often propagates through seedlings. You can grow seedlings of this flower at home, this is done in the same way as with garden crops or other flowers.

The best time for sowing tumbleweed seeds is mid-March, because in order to get stronger, the seedlings will need at least one and a half to two months. For growing panicled gypsophila, it is necessary to prepare spacious deep boxes or containers.

Seedling containers are filled with a suitable substrate: the soil should be loose, well-drained, nutritious, deoxidized. A home-made mixture of garden soil, peat, humus and sand is quite suitable, to which, if necessary, dolomite flour or quicklime is added.

The substrate is laid out in the landing boxes and leveled – the layer should turn out to be quite thick. Now the soil needs to be moistened with a spray bottle. Seeds are laid out or scattered on the surface of the soil, and sprinkled on top with a half-centimeter layer of dry earth.

Now the container is covered with a transparent lid, film or glass and left in a warm, bright place at room temperature. After 10-14 days, gypsophila shoots should appear.

How to care for seedlings

After the gypsophila seeds germinate and green sprouts appear on the surface of the soil, the following must be done:

1. Thin out the seedlings of flowers so that at least 15 cm remain between the sprouts. There are two ways to do this: pull out unnecessary plants or dive all the sprouts into individual containers.

   

2. Remove the cover from the container and put it in a cooler place.
3. Provide gypsophila seedlings with 13-14-hour daylight hours using fluorescent or phytolamps for this.
4. Moisten the seedlings regularly, but do not allow water to stagnate.
5. Before planting in the ground, harden panicled gypsophila by taking boxes with seedlings to the balcony or opening a window.

Other methods of reproduction

Growing from seeds is not the only way to propagate tumbleweeds. Very valuable densely double varieties of panicled gypsophila are recommended to be propagated vegetatively – this way the qualities of the mother plant are better preserved.

In early spring or in the first days of August, it is necessary to cut the tops of gypsophila into cuttings. Root cuttings should be in loose soil with the addition of lime or chalk. It is necessary to deepen the process 2 cm into the ground and leave it at room temperature and good lighting.

Tumbleweed cuttings are planted in a permanent place in the fall.

Landing in the ground

Planting and caring for gypsophila is a simple matter, but here you need to take into account the long-term cycle of the plant’s life and approach the process thoroughly. You should choose a suitable place for the flower. This should be a site that is well lit by the sun, is located on a flat area or on a small hill, does not have groundwater close to the surface.

Seedlings are planted according to the scheme 70×130, without deepening the root neck of plants underground. Gypsophila will begin to bloom after the growth of 12-13 pairs of leaves, and the plant will reach the peak of its beauty only by the age of three.

Tumbleweed Care

Panicled gypsophila is one of those plants that may not need care at all. However, if cut flowers play an important role in landscape design, the owner will be interested in the high decorativeness of paniculate gypsophila and in the large size of its inflorescences.

You need to take care of gypsophila like this:

• water only during periods of severe drought, pouring water strictly under the root;
• two years after planting, thin out the bushes, leaving only every second of them (if this is not done, the inflorescences will be small and not decorative);
• feed the bushes twice a season, using mineral fertilizers in the spring, and before winter – organic matter (humus, wood ash, etc.);
• for gypsophila, rot and nematodes are dangerous, therefore it is important to observe the irrigation regime, prevent waterlogging of the soil, treat the bushes with phosphamide and fungicidal preparations a couple of times a season;
• in the fall, after flowering, you can collect the seeds of the panicled tumbleweed, after drying them and placing them in paper boxes;
• at the end of autumn, the bushes are pruned, leaving 3-4 longer shoots at the root, and the flowers are covered with dry foliage, sawdust or spruce branches.

Panicled gypsophila is a frost-resistant plant; it can freeze out only if there is a snowless but cold winter or in an unstable climate with temperature extremes and high humidity.

Conclusion

Photos of bouquets and compositions with delicate gypsophila prove the importance of herbaceous plants – without them, the flower bed risks looking like a lurid shapeless spot. Semi-shrubs with snow-white or pink flowers look neat in the garden, thin branches effectively complement the bouquets.

It is not difficult to grow a tumbleweed at home, because the plant is unpretentious and can reproduce in several ways.