Exotic velvety inflorescences of cellosia look great even in exquisite floral compositions, making them brighter and more expressive. Celosia belongs to the amaranth family, its genus includes about 60 species of perennial and annual herbaceous plants.
Sowing and planting Celosia
Choosing a place for planting celosia, it is better to give preference to a sunny, most protected from winds place with loose slightly acidic soil. Heavy soil should be loosened (at least add a little bit of sand when planting). Celosia responds well to the introduction of a small amount of humus before planting, regardless of the composition of the soil.
We plant on a flower bed or in a flower garden with a step of 30 cm – large and medium-grown varieties, at a distance of about 15 cm from each other – dwarf. Replanting grown and acclimatized plants in open ground is possible only in early June. Keep in mind – seedlings of celosia can die even with the slightest frosts!
Reproduction Celosia
Celosia reproduces more easily and best of all with seeds, since when breeding with cuttings, decorativeness is often lost, for which, in fact, it is grown.
Celosia can be sown in late March or early April. We do not sow heavily – we try to maintain a distance of about 3 cm between the seeds. Given that they are small (1 g contains about 800 pieces), we do not need to close them up during sowing, just scatter them on the surface of moist soil, then cover them with a film. The first shoots, as a rule, appear a week after sowing. The film can be removed after 6-8 days.
As soon as young celosia seedlings grow a little, they need to dive into small pots (about 8 cm in diameter). It will be even better if you immediately sow the seeds of celosia in separate pots, so that later, when planting seedlings in open ground, do not damage the root system of the plant.
Growing celosia seedlings will give excellent results only in the case of proper care of the seedlings. One of the prerequisites is the protection of immature plants from direct sunlight: for the time being I cover them with an ordinary newspaper.
Care for Celosia
Celosia seedlings do not tolerate the drying out of the soil, so it is necessary to water it often enough, and only in the morning. But be careful – excessive soil moisture will not have a beneficial effect on seedlings whose roots rot very easily.
After landing in the ground celosia also needs intensive care – fertilizing and watering:
- top dressing – once every 3 weeks with a solution of complex mineral fertilizers (15 g of fertilizer per 5 l of water);
- watering – plentiful with no rains and on hot days; with a lack of moisture celosia does not form new flower stalks.
Diseases of Celosia
Young fragile plants of cellosia are susceptible to black leg disease. To prevent its occurrence, water them very carefully – only early in the morning (up to 9 hours), only on sunny days. In cloudy weather, watering plants is not necessary. If the black leg has already been affected, immediately loosen the ground, then sprinkle it with a thin layer of wood ash and reduce watering as much as possible.
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