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Annual flowers are a real decoration in any flower bed. The wealth of colors, varieties, sizes, simple care allows you to plant them in the country all year round, growing works of art. Their long flowering period makes them a welcome addition to any flower arrangement, and the ease of growing seedlings only adds to the advantage over perennials, which are much more tolerant of growing conditions. Before planting seeds, you should find out what conditions they prefer.
Planting seedlings
Annuals are preferably grown from seedlings, which gives an advantage in early flowering and allows them to be planted with the onset of warm weather. Sowing flowers from seeds is also beneficial because you are more likely to get strong sprouts that are easy to plant. In the first two weeks, when the growing season occurs, the flowers are most vulnerable, so vigilant care is needed for the seeds. Let’s look at the process of preparing phlox seedlings.
Phloxes are unpretentious annual and perennial flowers. They are rich in flowers and petals. Phlox is one of those heat-loving plants that need bright light and temperatures above 10 ° C, and which are distinguished by long flowering.
For seedlings, phloxes can be planted in March, after soaking them for seed germination. Next, the surface of the earth is sprinkled with seeds, but in no case are they added dropwise or sprinkled with earth. Cover the seed box with foil, put in a well-lit place. You need to ventilate every day for a week. When condensation appears on the film, it must be removed.
After two leaves appear, you can pick, but now the sun’s rays are dangerous for seedlings, so put the box with germinated seeds in the shade. Now once a month you can feed phlox with mineral fertilizer. The earth must be loosened, moistened in a timely manner, that is, to carry out the usual care. As soon as strong stems and leaves appear, phloxes can be planted in a flower bed.
Video “Instruction with recommendations”
Informative video with helpful tips and overview for gardeners.
Care of seedlings
In the first 6 hours, the seeds swell, when they reach their maximum thickness, they fall into dormancy for about 2-3 days. Plant care during this period is not to overmoisten, but also not to overdry future flowers, to provide air and sunlight. Let’s figure out what conditions are needed for annuals to sprout as soon as possible. The room temperature is very important, try not to lower it and keep it at 20-21°C.
The first days, when growth is most rapid, you need to close the box with film or glass to create a greenhouse effect. Planting and care involves regulating moisture levels. A few days after picking, you can put the box in the sun, but now you need to turn it often so that the earth warms up evenly. When the sprouts are fully grown, lower the temperature down to 15 ° C to harden and prevent them from stretching. On the example of phlox, such care will lead to early flowering and extend it for several weeks. Careful care of plants can be carried out right in the country.
Planting directly into the ground
Seeds propagate mainly annual phloxes. The beds are best prepared in the spring, and then sow the seeds in the ground.
It is worth planting flowers at a distance of 3-5 cm from each other, so that it is more convenient to care for them later. After sowing, the ground should be covered with a film, but you do not need to sprinkle it with earth – from time to time the film will have to be lifted, shaking off condensation from it and letting the plants breathe. As soon as sprouts appear, the film is no longer needed.
If you decide to plant flowers in your country house, it is worth remembering that the composition of the soil and its quality will affect growth. Annuals grow best in soil with low acidity and high levels of nutrients. A couple of days before planting phlox, you can moisten the ground to keep it moist. The main thing is not to water the soil on the day you are going to plant them.
When planting flowers in a box, it is worth remembering that its dimensions should be quite large. The root system of these plants is quite developed, so you need a lot of space for the roots to grow properly. And in this case, it is also better to check the composition of the soil, even if the land is purchased.
However you decide to plant flowers, there are a number of tips to consider in order to get the desired result. It is better to loosen the land for planting well and add a little lime. It is better to sow seeds in well-lit areas and do not forget to weed. Water your plantings generously but infrequently, best in the afternoon. It is also important to monitor the air temperature. If it’s too cold outside, your flowers may not seed.
Why don’t the seeds germinate?
It happens that everything is done according to the instructions, all the recommendations are followed, but the flowers still do not sprout. It is necessary to figure out what reasons lead to the fact that planting seeds does not lead to germination. One of the possible reasons is low-quality seeds purchased from unverified manufacturers. You can surround flowers with care, like a small child, improve care, sow in the most fertile soil, but bad seeds still will not sprout.
Among other reasons that affect poor germination, insufficiently moist soil can be noted. Sometimes the seeds do not sprout due to lack of heat or, conversely, too hot conditions, but in this case they will simply sprout later. Planting in too acidic soil weakens the growth of the plant, stems and flowers appear much later, when their comrades, for example, phlox, can already be planted in the country.
One of the reasons is improper planting, that is, instead of sowing them on the surface of the earth, you dug them. There are flowers that must first be kept in the cold. Before planting, it was worth holding them in the refrigerator. Perhaps you took the advice about care and watering too literally, that is, you simply filled the flowers with water. This should not be allowed in any way, since the seed will suffocate without air.
Many plants need fertilizer to grow and develop well. They get their main nutrients from water and air, but you should take care of others. For example, maintain a sufficient amount of nitrogen in the soil, saturation with phosphorus, which accelerates vegetation, potassium for the formation of strong roots and stems. If you have overlooked the regular top dressing of seeds, then it is not surprising that they did not sprout – they simply did not have enough strength for this. Add some mineral fertilizers to the ground and then you will succeed.
Video “Everything that will help gardeners make a beautiful flower bed”
Demonstrative video with recommendations to help gardeners create a beautiful flower bed.
