Each flower has its own growing characteristics, without which it is impossible to get a strong, abundant and long-lasting flowering of the plant. Therefore, the delicate beauty of verbena and lobelia, very much loved by gardeners, require a special approach.
First of all, it should be said that these plants are grown by seedlings. And this process begins with the selection of seeds and sowing. If the seeds have already been purchased, we will talk about sowing.
Sowing Lobelia
From sowing, it should take an average of 10 weeks for lobelia to bloom, this time should be taken into account when calculating the timing. For the middle zone, the best option is mid-March, but in the southern regions this time may shift to February.
The main difficulty in growing seedlings of this plant is very small seeds. Gardeners have come up with many ingenious ways to sow lobelia: this includes mixing seeds with sand, and sowing on snow. But these methods almost do not solve the problems with the subsequent rather laborious planting process. In addition, if the crops are thickened, the seedlings often suffer from a black leg.
We offer you to grow lobelia seedlings in peat tablets. By the way, you don’t have to buy them, you can make them yourself. On each prepared (pre-soaked) tablet, the finger carries several seeds.
Move the 7-10 seeds per pill
The greenhouse with crops is covered with a transparent lid and placed on a bright window. Lobelia germinates in the light, so the seeds should not be sprinkled in any case. The optimal temperature for seed germination is +25…+27 degrees Celsius (77-80. 6°F). After the emergence of seedlings, the cover will need to be removed. And as soon as the plants get stronger and grow so much that the volume of the peat cell is not enough for them, they will need to be transferred to deeper containers.
Sowing Verbena
The period from sowing to flowering of verbena is about 8 weeks, so the optimal time for sowing seedlings is the end of March-beginning of April. The peculiarity of the seeds of this plant is that they are quite dense, so it is recommended to pre-soak them before sowing.
For soaking, spread the seeds on a cotton swab or napkin in a container, moisten with a large amount of water at room temperature and close the lid. So they can be left for 1-2 days. To get a 100% result, you can add a growth stimulator to the soaking water.
Soak Verbena seeds
For growing verbena, a nutritious soil for seedlings is suitable, in which it is good to add vermiculite (about a quarter of the total amount). After the seeds are swollen, carefully, for example, with tweezers, lay them on the surface of moist and well-leveled soil. You do not need to water the seeds, just spray them with water from a spray bottle and cover them with a lid or place the container in a bag.
Lay out Verbena seeds
Seeds germinate best at a temperature of +25…+27 degrees Celsius (77-80. 6°F) for 7-12 days. After the germination of seedlings appears on a bright windowsill, and later, when they have 2-3 real leaves, vervain is dived into separate cups.
How do you plant these flowers? Share your experience with us in the comments.
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