Features of planting tigridia and caring for it in the open field
The beauty of tigridia, which attracts attention with its unusual bright flowers, is not often found in summer cottages in Russia. Gardeners are reluctant to plant bulbs, believing that the plant is capricious and requires special conditions. Let's figure out whether it's worth giving up an exotic flower, how difficult it is to care for a charming Mexican woman.
How to plant a tigridia?
Exot is more often grown from bulbs - this makes it easier to achieve healthy seedlings. Less often they resort to seed propagation, but it is this method that is more suitable for continental and temperate continental climates.
Planting tigridia with bulbs
The rules for planting bulbs are simple, but they must be followed.
Site selection and preparation is an autumn event. Tigridia loves good diffused lighting, warmth and no through wind. The soil is needed light, loose - loam or sandy loam, neutral or slightly acidic (pH 6.5-6.8). Dry potash and phosphoric salts are added for autumn digging.
Tigridia bulbs are not planted in places that were fertilized with manure last season. This is a common rule for members of the Iris family.
Planting tigridia in the ground is carried out only in late spring, the optimal time is May (the beginning of the month - for the southern regions, the middle - for temperate latitudes). Planting material begins to be prepared 5-6 days before planting. The nests are divided into separate bulbs and left to mature at room temperature.
Summer residents of the middle lane and other cold regions should plant bulbs in April in pots with moderately fertile soil. In open ground, sprouted bulbs are planted at the stage of two leaves.
The bulbs are planted in previously loosened soil. The depth of the holes is 10 cm, the distance between the seats is from 20 cm. The seedlings appear in the 3-4th week.
Reproduction of tigridia by seeds
In this way, you can successfully grow an exotic flower in the north, where the bulbs do not have time to fully mature in the short summer. Seeds are sown from the second half of February.
Any container for sowing is suitable, the preference is given to "single" - seedling containers or disposable cups with drainage holes.
The substrate is made up of turf, sand and peat (2: 1: 1). You can use purchased soil, preferably for bulbous.
Seed germination algorithm:
- the seed is disinfected in vodka for 5 minutes, then washed;
- seeds are spread on the surface of a little compacted soil and covered with a layer of earth no more than 3 mm (when sowing seeds in common seedling boxes, they maintain a distance of at least 6 cm);
- the containers are placed in a warm (20-25 ° C) place, well lit and protected from drafts;
- crops are regularly moistened abundantly using settled water.
With the emergence of seedlings, watering is reduced, water is added after the top layer of the substrate has dried. In the open ground, the sprouts are planted in the 2-3rd decade of May and immediately watered abundantly. Then they are fed liquid fertilizers for seedlings according to instructions.
Features of caring for tigridia in the open field
With full compliance with the rules of care, thermophilic tigridia will retain the ability to bloom until the onset of cold weather.
- Watering
Before germination, the bulbs are watered abundantly daily. When the first leaves appear, watering is reduced, making sure that the soil always remains slightly moist. Adult plants need watering less often, once every 2-3 days.At air temperatures above 30 °, flowers are watered daily or twice a day. If the temperature drops to 20 ° and below, the soil is moistened in a day or two. It is undesirable for water to fall on leaves, stems and flowers when watering.
- Top dressing
The first feeding is carried out one month after the emergence of shoots, then fertilizers are applied at the budding stage. Liquid mineral complexes for flowering plants are well suited for tigridia.
To make a flower bed with tigridia look especially impressive, nitrogen fertilizers are added to the first feeding at the rate of 35-40 g / m2, and during the formation of buds - nitroammophos (30 g / 10 l of water).
Top dressing is stopped with the beginning of active flowering.
Potential diseases and pests
Excessive watering, unfavorable weather conditions, and an incorrectly chosen planting site lead to diseases of tigridia.
- Tobacco mosaic - a viral disease that, unfortunately, has not yet been treated. Preventive measures - high-quality planting and seed material and its disinfection, disinfection of seedlings and working tools.
- Rust - red-brown formations on leaves and stems. For the treatment of planting, tigridia are treated with Flutrivit, Polygard or their analogues.
- Scab - exfoliation of superficial tissues, ulcers, warts. To prevent the disease, 3-4 times a season the flower beds are sprayed with "Fitosporin-M", "Kuproksat" or similar solutions.
- Rot - diseases of fungal origin. For treatment, Bordeaux liquid or other medicinal preparations are used.
The most dangerous pests of tigridia:
- bear, against which the pre-planting treatment of the bulbs with "Aktara", "Decis", "Confidor" is used;
- thrips - they are destroyed by spraying flower beds with "Fitoverm", "Aktellik", "Agrovertin";
- slugs - they are fought with by mulching plantings with burning powders (mustard, red pepper) or splitting mulch.
Tigridia in winter
Tigridia can bloom until frost, but under such conditions, the bulbs will not have time to store nutrients for the next season. Therefore, 2-3 weeks before the cold snap, the peduncles are cut off. When the leaves fade, the bulbs are dug up. Only part of the soil is removed so as not to damage the daughter growth.
For 30 days, the bulbs are dried at room temperature. At the same time, after 15-18 days of drying, soil residues are removed, the roots are completely cut off, and the remnants of the green parts - up to a 2-centimeter hemp.
Dried bulbs are stored in a cool, dry place in boxes of sand. In case of high humidity in the storage room, they are folded into nets and hung.
Growing tigridia in a summer cottage is really troublesome: plants need daily watering. However, the picturesque bright flower beds are a worthy reward for the work.
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