Planting and caring for a shaved outdoors

Aubretia (aka aubretia) earned its popularity thanks to its incredibly beautiful and bright colors. A low-growing herbaceous perennial is often found in gardens and parks. It is planted as an original decoration: a colorful carpet effectively covers rockeries and an alpine slide, creating a magnificent background for other flowers. In addition, aubretia is grown as a decorative indoor flower.

Aubrieta is usually planted with seeds, the main requirement for care is light soil and good lighting. The rest of the flower is unpretentious and gratefully responds to care.

Growing seedlings

Reproduction of aubriets is carried out by seeds, and given its high frost resistance, they can be sown directly into open ground. But in areas with frequent return frosts, it is better to grow from seeds through seedlings, and only after that determine the plants to a permanent place. This agrotechnical technique will also be relevant, if necessary, to decorate the flower bed.

Interesting fact
Aubrieta is a unique plant that does not shed its leaves for the winter. Throughout the year, this perennial will be green and will not lose its attractiveness even with severe frosts.

Sowing timing and technology

The optimal time for sowing shaved seedlings is the first days of February (for regions with warm and early spring) or mid-February (for the northern regions).

Planting material is sown in separate containers filled with fertile soil. For these purposes, it is recommended to use peat tablets, flower pots, plastic cups. When using peat pots, the seedlings develop the root system better due to good air circulation, the risk of seedling rotting and root damage during transplanting is reduced. The only negative is the high cost of peat tanks.

Advice! Aubrieta has very sensitive roots at the seedling stage. In order not to injure them when picking and transplanting, it is preferable to sow the seeds immediately in separate cups or pots.

It is not worth using a common large container for seedlings of this perennial, since the roots intertwine in the process of their development and are often damaged during transplantation. The recommended option is flower pots. At the bottom, it is imperative to make holes through which excess moisture will leave. In one pot with a diameter of 15 cm, it is allowed to sow up to 4 seeds.

The soil must be loose. To prepare it yourself, you need to mix garden soil and peat or sand. Rotted sawdust will not damage either. To accelerate the growth of seedlings, you need to add crushed eggshells, a little lime to the soil. It is strictly forbidden to take clay heavy soil: plants will not be able to grow and develop normally in it.

A drainage of small pebbles is laid at the bottom of the pot. After that, the container is filled with fertile soil, moistened with a spray bottle and sown seeds, which are sprinkled with sand on top. To create a greenhouse effect, the pot is covered with a film material, it is removed only after the sprouts appear.

Microclimate

Since aubretia is a heat-loving plant, it is advisable to place seed pots in a well-lit place. But there is one caveat: direct sunlight should not fall on the container. Perennial takes cool air well.The optimum temperature for him is + 18-22 ° C.

The room where the seedlings are kept must be periodically ventilated, avoiding drafts. In the evening hours, special lamps for illuminating plants will be useful, this will accelerate growth.

Correct care

Timely watering and loosening of the soil is very important for seedlings. For irrigation, it is recommended to use settled water at room temperature, the procedure is carried out in the evening. Excessive soil moisture provokes various diseases, so watering is carried out as the top layer dries. If there are weeds, then they are removed.

Picking

To strengthen the root system and improve the nutrition of the sprouts, they are seated in separate containers (if several seeds were sown in one pot). The procedure should be carried out after the appearance of three or four true leaves.

Seedlings should be separated carefully, the soil must first be moistened. With the help of a small spatula, fork or the like, the sprouts are buried in and taken out of the soil, then transferred to a new container or directly to the site (if the weather and soil composition permit).

Moving to open ground

The plant does not tolerate transplanting well, therefore, in order to minimize stress for the plant, the roots must be intact and the planting site must be prepared in advance. From garden supplies you will need:

• hoe, which forms the holes;
• sand for mulching;
• a container filled with water;
• special gloves.

Interesting fact
Aubrieta leaves are used in cooking, they can be boiled or used raw.

Timing and site selection

It is recommended to plant mature seedlings in an open area after the threat of night frosts has passed. Best of all - mid-May.

To provide flowers with comfortable conditions, a place should be chosen well-lit, but where there are no through or constant winds. In the shade, a perennial usually does not bloom.

It is recommended to grow obrieta on sandy loam, loose, sufficiently drained soil. Heavy clay and acidic soil has a detrimental effect on the plant. It was noticed that aubretia takes root well in rocky areas, so it can be safely planted near curbs and on rocky slopes.

Transplant technology

Before planting seedlings on the site, you must first clear the land of weeds, loosen and lightly water. Form holes with a foot, their depth and width should correspond to the size of the root system of the flower. When planting, the main thing is to observe the distance between plants, at least 5 cm.

Advice! Aubriet, planted between the steps, in the cracks of the stone walls and along the terraces, looks very impressive. Particularly beautiful are the falling aubretia carpets, which are planted on top of stone stands and fences.

The plant should be placed in the center of the hole and, holding with one hand, sprinkle the earth, slightly tamping it. At the end, the seedlings are well watered and cover the soil under the bushes with sand, wood ash.

Adult shave care

The herbaceous perennial attracts flower growers with its unpretentious care. Here it is important to control the condition of the soil so that it does not dry out and a crust does not form on top, which prevents air from reaching the roots of the flower. In addition, it is recommended to regularly loosen the soil, periodically add micronutrients and mulch plantings. Only with this approach, the aubretia can bloom beautifully and for a long time.

Watering and loosening the soil

When watering, you do not need to be very zealous, excess moisture will only harm the plants. Frequent moistening of the earth will be necessary only after transplanting from the container to a permanent place; the grown flowers need to be watered only in dry weather. To strengthen the root system, many gardeners add sodium humate to irrigation water.

To save flowers from rotting of the root system will allow mulching the earth with sawdust, sand. Weeds should also be removed periodically. If weeds grow on the flower bed, then part of the nutrients will be spent on their maintenance, and under conditions of nutritional deficiency, aubriet will significantly lag behind in growth and development.

Top dressing

Useful microelements are applied twice during the entire growing season. The first feeding is done a week after transplanting to a permanent place, the second after pruning. Good results are obtained by the use of complex fertilizers for flowering perennials, they are applied according to the instructions on the package.

Pruning

The flowering period is almost one and a half months. To cause re-budding, you need to cut off all shoots to the root after the plant has faded. Then you should fertilize the soil and mulch with river sand. It is not recommended to prune after the second flowering, otherwise the roots will freeze over the winter and the plant will die.

Pests and diseases

Most often, Aubriet is affected by aphids. These are such small insects that in a short time are able to suck all the juice from the plant. Aphids are yellow, black, red and brown in color. It is easy to find harmful insects by the glossy shiny surface of the leaf and the fading inflorescences, while the parasites themselves are under the leaves.

As an effective remedy against aphids, flower growers use nettle infusion, prepared at the rate of 1 kg of phyto-raw materials per 10 liters of water, the infusion time is a day. Insecticides should only be used in very advanced cases.

To prevent the appearance of aphids in the flower bed, the soil is sprinkled with wood ash after planting seedlings and sowing seeds. The frequency of processing is once a month.

Among the most common diseases that affect Aubrieta are powdery mildew and root rot. Their source is excessive moisture in the flower garden. A clear sign of powdery mildew is a brown coating on the leaves and stems. If you do not take any measures in time, then the aubriet will die. An effective way to combat the disease is to treat flowers with a colloidal sulfur solution (0.3%). The use of fungicides is justified only with a strong defeat of perennials.

Root rot is manifested by brown spots on all parts of the plant. To save the flower garden, it is necessary to stop watering and sprinkle the ground with sand or rotted sawdust. Perennial must be sprayed with a solution of colloidal sulfur.

Aubrieta is an amazingly beautiful plant that is unpretentious in care and can bloom twice. To grow it, it is enough to adhere to the basic rules of agricultural technology.