Plants fill the house and yard with special energyand decorate them. The dream of every gardener is to have in his garden beautiful bushes strewn with small, incredibly tender, pleasing to the eye variety of colors and a riot of colors of flowers. This unusual, interesting and bright plant called Lobelia. Care and cultivation of lobelia is a difficult and painstaking process, but following certain rules, given the characteristics of the flower, is easier to handle.
Botanical certificate of the plant
Lobelia is a bichromatic, perennial plant ofof the Bellflower family. Small bushes are abundantly covered with small flowers. The color of the petals depends on the varieties of lobelia, most often white, blue and blue color. Some of them are grown in hanging pots, pots, baskets and pots.
In turn, varieties are divided into three main groups:
- Lobelia Erectus - upright bushes from 20 to 30 centimeters in height.
- Lobelia Compact are species with round flowers that are fifteen centimeters in diameter.
- Lobelia Pendula - plants with climbing, climbing shoots up to thirty centimeters in length.
Grow lobelia in different places, it all dependsfrom plant variety. The flower will wonderfully decorate the borders of garden paths, it will look great near water bodies, on Alpine hills, in flowerpots. It looks spectacular in tandem with carnations, pelargonium and vervain. With the advent of cold, they dig it out and transplant it into containers. During the winter period, lobelia is stored on the balcony, in a greenhouse, and with the onset of spring it is planted back in a flowerbed.
Species diversity
The following varieties are the most popular among gardeners:
- Regatta rose– dwarf lobelia. Flowering lasts all summer, looks great in hanging pots and containers. Small flowers painted red with white eyes in the middle.
- Riviera Blue Sky is a low, unpretentious and compact variety. It blooms early, the petals are painted in a delicate blue color.
- Sapphire is a long-stemmed cultivar (about 28 centimeters). Lobelia Sapphire is grown from seeds for decorating loggias, summer arbors, etc.
- Gerardii is a cold-resistant, long-term variety. Blue and purple flowers are pleasing in bright colors.
Everyone has a dream of lobelia in his garden. Gentle plants will decorate the house or homestead territory.
Lobelia white lady
A prominent representative of the kind is the White Lady,forming a snow-white bush spherical shape. Small, delicate flowers densely cover stalks. White Lady lobelia is grown from seed in the standard way; it does not have specific requirements. In early spring, seeds are planted in pots to a depth of 2 millimeters, sprinkling warm water on top. Seedlings dive only after the appearance of the first young leaves. After two or three weeks, the flower is ready for planting in the ground. The soil for planting should be wet with plenty of organic and nutrients.
Reproduction by cuttings
Growing lobelia, many people dream to breed inhome any kind of flower. Liked the plant perfectly preserved in a special container. Indoors, lobelia will bloom until January, if you cut off the drying stalks. After the end of flowering, lobelia smoothly passes into the period of winter dormancy, during which it rests and gains strength. This phase lasts about two months.
Closer to the spring young shoots sprout, namelythey are suitable for grafting. In order for the lower stems to acquire sprouts, it is necessary to add fresh soil to the pot, at the same time pushing the shoots apart. Then the rooted stems need to be transplanted into a container, lay on the soil and attach in several places with pins. It will be near them roots. Then from the mother bush with a sharp knife separate the child specimens and transplanted into a separate container.
Selection of planting material
Success depends on the choice of seeds and their quality.growing lobelia seedlings at home. If the package says "erinus", then this is a bush lobelia, and manufacturers sometimes call the ampelnaya cascade. The plants are spherical in shape, blooming luxuriantly and densely. The flowering shrub is so dense that the leaves are not always visible. Cascade lobelia is more fastidious, it requires a special approach and experience, besides it blooms less and is not so magnificent.
By the color of flowers gardeners have learned to identifythe level of resistance, vitality and how abundant the flowering of the plant will be. So, bushes with blue and blue flowers are resistant to temperature and quickly develop, lobelia Lady with white petals ascends longer and requires special care. But the most capricious are purple and purple varieties that have poor germination rates, and bloom poorly.
Growing such a whimsical and capricious flower requires a lot of time and effort, but it's worth it.
Cultivation from seeds
The most common breeding methodvarietal lobelia - seed. The best time for sowing seeds is in early spring, since young plants grow very slowly in 2-3 months (before planting in the ground) they will have time to get stronger. For growing seedlings you will need:
- Large capacity.
- A mixture of soil.
- Polyethylene film or glass.
The soil mix needs to be prepared at the end of the fall,let it stand and freeze on the balcony or on the street. For the substrate, use sand and sheet or sod land with the addition of humus in the ratio of 2: 2: 1. The finished mixture should be loose, well absorb water and pass air.
The substrate is ready, we start to grow and carefor lobelia. Seeding cassettes with pallets, plastic packaging and cups, egg trays are used as a sowing tank. We pour into the tank a pre-prepared mixture, it is not necessary to tamp it, just pour it in slightly. Evenly distribute the seeds over the surface, the frequency of planting affects the growth of the plant. Upon completion of sowing, the container must be wrapped with a film or covered with glass. The appearance of condensate indicates that the mini-pinnachok need to be ventilated. This manipulation is best done once a day. For lighting seedlings often use an ordinary lamp. Installing the backlight should be carefully and carefully, so as not to burn young sprouts.
If you do everything right, stick to the norms andrules, in one and a half weeks the first shoots will make their way. At this stage, special attention should be paid to watering, do not allow the soil to dry out and do not fill it. It is better to use a sprayer for moistening; this will allow the liquid to be distributed evenly over the entire surface. Water should be at room temperature and be sure to settle.
Planting in open ground and flowering
One month after sowing seedlings needto divide and plant in separate pots, as a rule, by this time they have 2-3 pairs of true leaves. Care requirements do not change even after transplantation. Watering frequent and cautious, cover the container with a film is not necessary. To plant plants in open ground, you must wait until the threat of spring return frosts is finally over.
The best time to land lobelia in the ground is May,since the cold has long passed, but the heat has not yet come. In order to successfully grow lobelia, it is necessary to loosen the soil and fertilize it with minerals. Due to proper care, sowing and cultivation, lobelia will form the first inflorescences in early June and will please the eye until the autumn. However, in September dry yellowish shoots will become noticeable. Dried branches must be cut, and the flower itself to feed fertilizer, water and do not forget about loosening.
The tricks of cultivation and plant care
The main secret of growing lobelia - literatethe choice of a place for landing. It is a thermophilic flower, bright sunshine has a positive effect on its development, therefore it is necessary to monitor soil moisture and prevent drying. In a drought, the plant does not bloom and dies over time.
It is important that the soil is loose, without fresh manure.and other compost fertilizers. Due to the soil saturated with humus lobelia will no longer densely bloom. Plant nutrition is of particular importance when growing:
- Often it is not necessary to fertilize a flower abundantly - it will only bring harm.
- The first dressing must be done two weeks after the seedlings are planted in open ground.
- For fertilizing use special complex mineral preparations for flowering garden plants.
- Repeated feeding is carried out before flowering. Thanks to the additional nutrition, the flowers will be larger, and bloom more abundant.
- To speed up the second bloom, fertilize the green friend again.
Care for an adult plant
Care and cultivation of lobelia is a complicated matter, withoutAdditional knowledge can be faced with difficulties. When planting a plant in a pot, you need to make sure that it has drainage holes, because lobelia does not tolerate high humidity. But the worst thing for a flower is dry soil. Summer hot sun damages the stems of lobelia, they gradually turn yellow and die off, this leads to the death of the whole plant. To prevent the death of lobelia, the bush is cut off completely, and after fourteen days it grows with a new force and even pleases with flowers. See what a healthy lobelia looks like in a photo. Growing in an optimal microclimate and proper care is the key to a healthy plant.
If lobelia blooms poorly, the reason is in improper soil. An urgent need to transplant a flower.
Pick and Pinch
First of all, you need to find out whatpicking The process involves removing from the taproot the final part in order to stimulate the branching of the root system. Along the way, seedlings are planted in individual pots. This technique allows you to get stronger plants that will easily survive the landing in open ground. The total capacity does not allow the roots to grow normally. If lobelia seedlings are grown in the same container, then during transplantation the upper layer is dissected into small pieces, captured with a small spatula and transferred in this form to the ground.
The pick allows you to plant thick bushes and preserve the root system of the plant.
Pinching is not a mandatory process. But if you want to make the flower garden bright, thick and colorful, then this opportunity must be used.
Lobelia in landscape design
The plant is widely used in landscape design:
- On the flowerbed.Before disembarking it is necessary to decide on the composition scheme. For a flower bed they grow lobelia erinus (bush). It covers the whole earth with a smooth carpet, forming spectacular bright spots on the flowerbed.
- In hanging baskets ampelny grades look spectacular. Thick, green cover densely covers the frame of the vine.
- In decorative flowerpots.
- When forming a flower tower of flowerpots.
Diseases and pests of lobelia
Выращивая лобелию, флористы часто сталкиваются с invasive processes developing in plants and insects damaging bushes. To prevent unpleasant consequences in time, you need to know the signs of diseases:
- Thinning and darkening of the root part of the seedling entails the death of the flower. This disease is called blackleg.
- Gray rot spreads on leaves and stems, the affected areas become covered with bloom and become brown.
- Tracheomycotic wilt is scary for adult plants and young shoots. Dark vessels, yellowed leaves that have lost their attractiveness, indicate infection.
In addition to diseases, parasites and pests are terrible for lobelia erinus when growing:
- Thrips, which devour the leaves. In places of mass accumulation the plate becomes covered with light spots and with time begins to change shape.
- Slugs Moving, leave slippery traces and holes on the sheets.
Both the first and second are dangerous for the representative of the flora.This kind of, therefore, timely preventive processing plants contributes to the preservation of its attractiveness. Remember that the disease is easier to prevent than to cure.
Lobelia is a cute, gentle and airy flower.Despite the fact that it is difficult to grow, the result is worth it. Wherever you grow a plant (in a house on a window, in a pot or a flowerpot on a balcony, in open ground), it will certainly decorate the surrounding space with its presence.
