Callistephus Chinese, or Astra, the annual (Callistephus chinensis) is one of the most popular garden plants. Growing asters has its own subtleties and secrets. In this article, we would like to talk in detail about sowing asters for the winter, about the features, advantages and disadvantages of this method.
The one-year-old astra was introduced into the culture in the middle of the 19th century, the native land of this plant is the Far East, China, Mongolia and Korea. This is the only kind of monotype type. Growing asters for the sake of their inflorescences, which are baskets consisting of reed and tubular flowers.
Bouquet from aster
Currently, there are about 4 thousand varieties of Chinese asters. They differ both in the coloration of the flowers and in the shape of the inflorescences. There are asters with simple, double and semi-double inflorescences, their color varies from white to violet and maroon. First, needle, tubular, and pion-shaped asters were removed, somewhat later appeared tufted, chrysanthemum and rosaceous varieties.
In height, asters can be dwarfish, medium to tall and tall. Dwarf varieties can be planted in rock gardens and rabbits. Bouquet of flowers , made up of tall asters, looks particularly bright and beautiful. Often such bouquets are given to teachers on September 1, because it is at this time that the asters blossom is especially magnificent. In the photo above you can see a bouquet of asters from Gulliver.
Astra is the one-year-old "openwork placer"
Podzimny sowing asters (as, indeed, other annual and perennial plants) is carried out when the soil freezes and negative air temperatures are established. Depending on the year in the middle zone of Russia, this happens in late October - early November.
However, the planting site for sowing asters for winter should be prepared in advance. Choose a suitable site, dig it well, loosen it and put nitroammophosku in the recommended dose. Get the seeds of asters.
Astra is an annual "Royal Size"
By the way, it often happens that the flower growers have unseen seed packs, the expiry date of which is already expiring. So, podzimniy sowing of such overdue seeds gives better results than spring. After all, until the spring seeds can completely die in the dry warm air of the room. In addition, in the spring you can duplicate the crop, if the seeds in the garden still do not rise.
After the soil has been loosened, make shallow grooves on it - under winter the seeds are sown a little finer than in the spring. After all, during the winter, the soil can become condensed, and in the early spring the moisture reserves there will be large, even on the surface. Prepare humus or buy peat, place it in a non-freezing room. Now it is necessary to wait, when there will be terms of sowing.
And frosts hit, you can sow the seeds of asters in grooves and sprinkle them with peat or humus. Watering podzimnie crops are not necessary. If there is a thaw, the seeds can germinate prematurely, then the seedlings will die.
In the spring, when the snow comes down, you can (although not necessarily) cover the crops with aster foil. This will improve the germination, and the sheltered plants will develop faster and will bloom earlier for two to three weeks.
So, what are the advantages of sowing asters for the winter? This is an opportunity to leave the windowsills free in the spring. These are stronger and healthy plants. The asters that have risen in the open ground will have a powerful and deep root system. Such specimens are resistant to drought and heat, they are less sick.
There is a sub-sowing and minuses. So, if in the winter there are frequent thaws, and then severe frosts, then the seeds can prematurely germinate and die. The second negative - less germination. For podzimnego sowing you need more seeds and sow them should be more often.
By the way, you can also sow asters in the snow. In December - early January. In this case, the soil is prepared in the same way as for sowing in November. Only here you can not do grooves. When sowing in the snow, snow in the garden is trampled down by feet, makes beds in it, seeds are planted there and sprinkled with peat or humus from above. In principle, such a crop is even more reliable, in November it can still warm up, and in January the probability of a strong thaw is much lower.
We hope that our article has convinced you to test the sowing of asters for the winter and to test the effectiveness of this method on your own experience.
The one-year-old aster, bred in a separate culture as far back as the 19th century, is extremely popular all over the world to this day. The flowers of this plant are admired by a variety of colors, forms, inflorescences. They are dwarfish and in the form of large, tall shrubs. Most often, garden asters are planted in the open ground in spring. Many gardeners by spring grow seedlings for the flower garden in well-lit window sills and balconies. Is it possible to plant asters for the winter? Yes. Observing all the rules of planting, you can contemplate a fragrant garden for a few weeks before the flowers planted in spring.
Asters can be planted for the winter
Soil preparation
So, knowing if you can put a plant astruus for the winter, the first thing you need to choose and prepare a place for sowing. To protect the astra from an unpleasant and often occurring disease - Fusarium wilt - warm the soil. Spores of the fusarium fungus will die if in the place of the future flowerbed to build a fire that warms the ground well. Here, distribute the remaining ash. The main conditions for the soil, where you can grow a podzimne plant:
Seeds
Can you plant asters for winter? Planting asters in winter can only be a seed method of planting. The seeds of flowers, which are planned to be planted during the winter, do not have to be fresh. If after the spring planting there are seeds with expiring shelf life, then planting them now is a good time. In fact, until spring, the sowing material will have time to deteriorate in the heat. A good variant of planting such a plant as aster will be the cultivation of seeds of the Alpine mixture of asters - bright and motley undersized plants.
Landing
When the frost hit, it's time to get down to business. The best time to plant these flowers is November or early December. Experienced gardeners recommend orienting themselves both on weather conditions - stable cold, and on the data of the lunar seeding calendar.
- Remove the covering material from the planned bed.
- Plant prepared seeds in the grooves need as often as possible - in the spring only the strongest sowing material will arise.
- Cover the sown grooves with prepared dry soil 2-3 cm high.
- It remains to cover the planted mulch - sawdust, foliage, dry spruce for 4-5 cm mulching protects the inoculum from frosty winter from wind and cold.
Snow and a good layer of mulch will protect seeds from winter cold
This completes the sowing work. Do not water the bed in winter - it can damage plants.
Care of spring shoots
In the beginning or the middle of April, when the snow melted, open the bed of the mulch - so the sprouts will quickly break through to the light. But continue to monitor the temperature of the air in the spring to again cover the shoots during the spring frosts.
- Friendly, frequent shoots must be thinned with an interval between sprouts of 20-30 cm. This will allow the plant to be large, lush.
- If the spring shoots are rare, plant a few seeds on the flowerbed, which will also soon emerge.
- In a hot, dry spring abundantly water the shoots - these flowers are afraid of drought.
- Feed the flowers in spring with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.
Disadvantages of the method
Planting the seeds of asters under winter can be a risky occupation. Not all seeds will ascend, and they will need 2 times more than in spring sowing. In addition, the sprouts of these flowers can proklyutsya in the flower garden during the winter thaws and frost with the onset of frosty weather.
Advantages
Planted under winter asters bloom in the summer
The main advantage of aster sub-winter is its resistance to diseases and pests. Plants that survived the winter are the most seasoned, resistant to weather cataclysms, having powerful and deep roots. Another advantage - there is no need to plant and grow seedlings on the windowsill by spring.
If plants manage to overwinter in the open ground, their future seeds will get even better germination and resistance to heat and cold. Planted in the winter aster, as it turned out, do not need special care. Bright flowers that blossomed in the summer are a variation of the colorful landscape of the infield or beautiful bouquets and floral arrangements.
It's time to talk about podzimnom seeds sowing. Specifically, no time for planting flowers for the winter does not exist. Sow for example in late October - mid-November. In principle, you can sow in December, if weather permits. It happens that the autumn is long, then warm, then the cold and the earth does not freeze. Too early sown seeds of seeds manage to germinate in the ground, and at the onset of frost, tender sprouts die.
Sow it is necessary then, when the earth grasps frost, the main thing is to prepare a plot with grooves in advance. At what depth and at what distance do they do, it all depends on the culture that you are going to plant.
Right now, in this case, they are rushing to sow the flowers of an aster. They sow an aquilegia, a delphinium. These are flowers that rise very tightly. They need stratification. And in order not to endure them before planting in the spring to the cold, planting seeds of garden flowers will be in the winter.
Most of the most common cold-resistant annual flowers are planted in the deep autumn, which by their nature are able to survive in cold conditions. Allisum with white flowers, it smells of honey, and it is very easy to plant it, then self-seed will reproduce itself.
Choose a site, dig it well, loosen it, process the bed, make shallow grooves and wait for stable frost ... Cover with a foil, roofing material, so that later it can be easier to clear from the snow. Prepare humus, peat and put in a non-freezing room.
Very many are afraid to sow all your favorite asters for the winter and believe, no matter how the seeds are not lost. But if everything is done correctly, everything will be fine. It is in the late fall that asters should be sown, so that then the flowers will not hurt.
Asters have such an unpleasant disease as fusarium wilt. During flowering, the bud suddenly begins to fade. First, the lower leaves turn yellow, the stem at the bottom begins to become covered with black grooves and spots, on the one hand. When neglected, other flowers are killed and killed, Podzimny sowing asters will reduce the likelihood of the disease several times.
Asters are advised to sow in a new place every year, returning to their original place in 5-6 years. Plus, all the soil needs to be warmed up, because the extremely fusiform fusarium fusarium lives in the earth, which has been preserved there for many years in the form of resting spores. What needs to be done for this? It's a simple way to build a fire at a specific place where you are going to sow the seeds.
Ash remained with the embers, the soil warmed up well and was fried. Smooth a heap of ashes better with your hands. Any metal devices and rake should not be used, so as not to accidentally catch the infection from another place.
On this site with ash, we will draw a peg of groove, not very deep, in several rows. We take the seeds of the aster from the sachet and proceed to a uniform sowing, taking into account that some of the weak seeds will not ascend. Sprinkle soil groove, which was prepared in advance (humus, peat), or purchased. It is more nutritious, loose, of good quality, does not cake, does not form crusts, which is already very good. Water crops for the winter is not necessary.
The seeds here will wake up here all winter under the snow cover, and in the spring there will be strong shoots. Some of them are planted on a large garden, where they will grow further, and here you can leave a few bushes.
Podzimny sowing in any crops are more healthier, resistant to weather disasters, moreover, get an earlier flowering than in the spring sowing of seeds.
Quite a lot of perennials, which will rise well in the early spring - perennial asters and balanas, aquilegia (catchment), winter-hardiness milkweed, hosts, helenium, bathing-house, echinacea ...
In winter, annual flowers are planted: adonis, alissum, aster, cornflower, carnation Chinese, godemia, delphinium, dimorphoteca, calendula, clarkia, kosmia, lavatera, snapdragon, poppy seed, bromeliad, bergamot, scabiosa, phlox Drummond, chrysanthemum , sowing and crowning, California eshsolcia ...
Flowers that multiply self-seeded, often settle in places where we would not want to. We can sow them ourselves, where they will grow. In late October, collect the seeds of flowers, scatter on flowerbeds in various places and sprinkle lightly on the ground.
One of these plants is echinacea. She has enough ornamental seeds and they perfectly mature. If you slightly touch the bumps, you get wonderful seeds. This medicinal plant and let it be more to not only admire its flowers, but also to make from it some useful recipes.
And what to do, if now it's plus 1 degree and it's freezing weather, but not made a furrow beforehand, and you really want to sow. We choose a small area, clean it and just scatter the seeds on it a little thicker than we would have done this in the spring, from above sprinkled with earth. Weak seeds do not survive, natural selection takes place, the strongest plants remain, which will give us beautiful and lush ornamental bushes.
When you plant flowers during the winter, you do not need to pour a large layer of land on top. In the spring when the snow melts, the ground is rammed and the seeds under the weight of snow and soil will be difficult to ascend.