Kobeya: cultivation and care in the open field

Kobeya is a climbing plant belonging to the Blue family. The homeland of the liana is the South American tropics and subtropics. Thanks to its beautiful flowers, it is cultivated in many countries and is actively used in landscape design. Planting and caring for a kobe in the open field in temperate latitudes has its own characteristics.

General description of kobei

Under natural conditions, nine types of vines grow. Climbing kobe is cultivated culturally.

Large spectacular bells do not leave indifferent the owners of garden plots

The plant has a long tenacious stem that grows up to 6 m in length, and in some types of creepers – more than 6 m. It has a large number of antennae.

Kobei has compound feathery leaves, consisting of three lobes. On a long petiole, you can see paired oval-shaped leaves with short petioles and pronounced veins. One of the same is located at the top of a long petiole. At the end of the shoot, the leaves take on the form of tendrils with which the plant clings to the support.

Large kobei flowers are bell-shaped. They appear from the axils of the leaves on short peduncles, reach a diameter of 8 cm and are distinguished by a variety of shades: they can be white, cream, purple. Liana flowers grow singly or in groups.

Kobei fruits are a leathery box with oval seeds.

The root system of the plant is powerful, highly branched, with many fibrous thin roots.

A characteristic feature of the vine is very fast growth. Within a short time, it covers fairly large areas with lush greenery.

In the conditions of the tropics, kobeya is a perennial plant, in Our Country it is cultivated as an annual.                                                                                                         

Kobeya in landscape design

Liana is ideal for decorating and landscaping the garden. It allows landscape designers to bring creative ideas to life.

The plant is used to create hedges, vertical gardening of arbors, arches and pergolas, balconies.

Kobeya can be planted in volumetric stable containers and placed around the perimeter of the recreation area.

Liana allows you to hide the flaws of architecture: an ugly brick wall, a dilapidated fence.

Kobeya grows not only up: it can be planted on the last rung of the stairs in a container and directed downward

With the help of a dense wall that forms a vine, you can divide the site into zones.

The wire frame will turn into a green figure if you plant just one plant.

In flower beds, the liana is planted along with petunias, marigolds, lobelia, verbena.

You can see what a kobe looks like in landscape design – in the photo below.

Creeping plant with beautiful flowers looks good against the background of brickwork

Features of reproduction

There are several ways to propagate kobei: seeds, cuttings, layering. In our conditions practice, as a rule, the first.

Planting vine seeds directly into the ground in areas with a temperate climate is not possible. For growing kobei in the Moscow region, a seedling method is used. Seeds are germinated indoors in individual containers with soil, as soon as warm weather sets in, the seedlings are transferred to open ground to a permanent place.

To propagate, kobei cut strong young shoots from plants that have spent the winter in containers with cuttings. The cuttings should be about 20 cm long and have 3 pairs of leaves. With the onset of heat, they are rooted in the open air in a shady place in damp ground. It is believed that kobeya, propagated by cuttings, grows faster.

Another way is to drop layers. In an adult creeper, a shoot is found, located as close as possible to the ground, placed in a dug long groove, sprinkled with soil, and a slightly pinched top is left on the surface. The earth around the kobei is constantly moistened. After some time, young shoots sprout from the layering.

Planting kobeya in the ground

You can buy kobei seedlings or grow your own. It is believed that the second method is preferable, since when growing seedlings in large quantities for sale, it is not possible to create the most favorable conditions for them.

Deadlines

Transplanting kobei into the ground occurs at the end of spring-beginning of summer. More precise dates depend on the climate. As a rule, this is the period from mid-May to mid-July. The main thing is that warm weather is established at this time without the risk of night frosts.

Site selection and soil preparation

First of all, you need to consider that this plant is ornamental and should be planted where it is clearly visible.

A windless warm place with good lighting is suitable for creepers, but not in the sun.

The soil for growing kobei should be fertile, rather loose, easily permeable to water. The land at the planting site must be dug up and the following components added per 1 sq. m:

• semi-clear sand;
• a bucket of humus;
• bucket of peat.

In addition, the soil needs to be fertilized: for each plot of 1 sq. m it is necessary to add 40 g of urea or urea. Landing pits should be spacious, they need to be filled with fertile soil.

Landing algorithm

Before planting kobei, seedlings need to be grown from seeds. The process is not too simple, but fascinating. It consists of pre-sowing preparation of the material, germination, sowing in the soil mixture and obtaining seedlings. This is followed by transplanting vines into the ground in the garden.

Seed sowing

The time of planting kobei seeds for seedlings falls on the end of February – the beginning of March. Preliminary preparation of seed material takes 2-3 days. It takes about 2 weeks to germinate vine seeds.

The seeds of the plant have a hard shell and do not germinate well, so they need pre-sowing preparation.

The preparation of kobei seeds consists of the following steps:

1. Soak. Within an hour, the seed must be held in a growth stimulator. It can be prepared from aloe juice with honey, taken in equal amounts, or from 5 drops of zircon, 4 epines and 100 ml of water.
2. Germination. After soaking, the kobei seeds should be dried in the fresh air, laid out on moistened gauze folded in several layers so that they do not touch each other, covered with a film, and sent to a warm, shaded place. Check periodically. If plaque or mold is found on the seeds, they should be wiped with a napkin moistened with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. They should germinate in about 14 days.

For sowing kobei, containers are needed:

1. Individual cups, pots, peat tablets.
2. Containers or boxes about 15 cm deep. They should have plenty of drainage holes in the bottom.
3. Cylinders made of several layers of foil, which must be placed in a pallet with holes in the bottom and filled with earth.

To prepare the substrate for the vine, you will need the following components:

• 2 parts of garden soil;
• 4 pieces of ground leaf;
• 2 parts of humus;
• 1 part coarse sand.

The ground for kobei should be loose and light.

The following is the planting of seed:

1. Fill the selected containers with prepared soil.
2. Spread the sprouted kobei seeds on top of the soil mixture with the convex side up. If they are planted in common containers, the distance between them is 20 cm.
3. Sift the substrate and cover the seeds with a layer 1,5 cm thick.
4. Moisten the earth using a spray bottle.
5. Put in a warm, well-lit place. Avoid direct sunlight. Moisten the earth periodically.

After about 2-3 weeks, the kobei seeds will germinate. After the appearance of the first leaf, they, together with a clod of earth, dive into individual pots, the volume of which should be approximately 3 liters. In a room with seedlings, it is necessary to maintain high humidity by spraying. A month after the pick, pinch the tops of the plants. 3 weeks before planting, seedlings begin to harden, gradually accustoming them to open air.

Transplanting

Planting kobei in open ground is carried out according to the following rules:

1. Dig holes at a distance of about 0 m. The depth should be such that the roots of the plant do not bend.
2. Kobei seedlings in pots should be watered properly.
3. Remove the vine seedlings from the containers along with a clod of earth. Plastic containers need to be cut and carefully removed.
4. Place each kobei bush vertically in a hole, cover the roots with earth.
5. Water the plant from a watering can with a fine mesh.

For a vine seedling, you need to install a support immediately after planting

How to raise a kobe

Kobeya must be properly cared for: follow the schedule of watering and fertilizing. It is important to loosen and weed, inspect for the presence of diseases and pests.

Watering and fertilizing schedule

Liana needs not too abundant watering. Water should not be poured under the roots, but between the bushes. In hot summers, kobeya needs to be watered more often, but care must be taken to prevent waterlogging of the earth.

Fertilizer begins to be applied in the second week after transplanting the plant into open ground. Kobe are fed twice a month. For the active growth of green mass, at first, mainly nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied. As soon as the buds appear and the liana begins to bloom, you need to switch to formulations with a high content of potassium and phosphorus.

Weeding and loosening

Liana kobeya needs systematic loosening of the soil. As weeds appear in the ground around the plant, weeding should be carried out.

Wintering

The heat-loving kobe is not able to overwinter in the open field in a temperate climate.

If it is necessary to save the plant, it will have to be dug out of the ground and transplanted into a container so that it will winter indoors.

You need to act as follows:

1. Before the arrival of frost, cut off the ground part of the vine at a level of about 30-40 cm from the soil surface.
2. Dig up the root with a clod of earth.
3. Prepare a container with fertile soil mixture and plant a kobe.
4. Place the plant for the winter in a cool darkened room with a temperature of 5-8 degrees.
5. Periodically check the rhizome of the kobei. To prevent drying out, the earth must be regularly moistened.

In March, move the container with the vine to a warm room. It is necessary to provide the plant with watering so that the shoots grow.

The plant will delight with its flowering appearance, subject to proper care.

Pests and diseases

Of the diseases, kobe is affected by root rot. It poses a great danger to the plant. Signs of the disease are dark spots on the leaves and flowers, further withering of the vine. Root rot usually appears when the soil is too wet.

In hot climates, phenomena such as slow growth of kobei, drying of the tips of the leaves can be observed. Therefore, the plant in the evening must be sprayed.

Of the pests, kobe is affected by aphids and spider mites.

Aphids can be fought with folk remedies or chemicals. The second way is more efficient.

A spider mite is of particular danger to kobei, which is often noticed too late, when the leaves have already begun to turn yellow and crumble, or a cobweb has appeared on flowers and leaves. The disease quickly spreads to neighboring plants, in advanced cases, the vine dies. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly carefully examine the kobei, preferably with a magnifying glass, and not only the surface of the leaves, but also the reverse side. There you can see small insects, many eggs and a light cobweb. It is quite difficult to deal with this pest. His female produces several hundred eggs in a short life of 2 weeks, which remain in the ground for up to 5 years. Affected kobei leaves must be cut off and burned, and the plant treated with chemicals, which are recommended to be changed all the time due to the adaptability of insects.

Conclusion

Planting and caring for a kobe in the open field is not an easy task. Not every gardener succeeds in propagating a plant the first time. Subject to all the rules, the result will be positive and the magnificent vine will decorate the summer cottage.