It is believed that if the yellow Drummond phlox is planted in a flower bed in front of the entrance to the house or in a drawer on the balcony, then material well-being will come to the family. Confirm or deny the magical qualities of phlox can only be one way - to grow these flowers. In any case, they will become a wonderful decoration of the yard or apartment.
Phlox flower annual - description
The vast majority of phlox refers to perennial herbaceous plants, the tops of which adorn small flowers, collected in bunches of corymbose shape. Above the cold of perennial phlox, aboveground stems die, and the roots winter in the open ground, sprinkled with leaves and snow. In the spring, new shoots sprout from the roots of perennials.
phlox flowers
Phlox annuals need to be re-grown every year. Do this through seedlings or sowing seeds directly into the ground. Phlox shoots turn into branched, lush, undersized shrubs with colorful dense inflorescences.
The size of phloxes and the intensity of their color depend on the growing conditions - varieties of mini phloxes with abundant watering and top dressing, sufficient lighting can grow up to 1.0 m and be very bright, under normal conditions, these phloxes will not become higher than 30 cm.
Drummond Phlox in the flower garden
Annual propagation
Phlox annuals propagate by seed. It was once believed that planting and caring for annual phlox is a very difficult task, which does not always end successfully. Not everyone managed to see how phloxes emerge.
But then they drew attention to the fact that sometimes in spring self-sowing seedlings appear, the seeds of which fell on the ground surface in the fall and no one sprinkled them with earth. And if rain and melted snow did not wash these seeds into pits, they successfully germinated.
Important!For the germination of phlox seeds, sunlight is required.
Phlox is propagated in two ways. In southern regions and areas of mild temperate climate, seeds are sown directly on the surface of the soil. In areas with severe winters, in the mountainous regions of the Urals and Siberia, seedlings are first grown. Annual phlox seedlings grown from freshly picked seeds will be resistant to diseases and pests.
Prerequisites for growing seeds
In order to successfully grow annual phloxes, you need to follow a few rules:
- for sowing, only large seeds are selected from fully ripened seed bolls;
- to obtain large seeds on uterine plants, several stems with inflorescences and stepsons are removed; half of the buds are left in inflorescences;
- healthy well-developed bushes are used as a uterine plant; they are intensely fed and watered.
Additional Information: if the seeds before the onset of cold weather do not have time to fully ripen in seed boxes, the branches with boxes are cut, bundled, put in a gauze bag and left to dry completely in a ventilated room at room temperature.
To form a spherical bush and the formation of numerous lateral shoots, phloxes begin to pinch at the seedling stage. After the appearance of 5 leaves, the top of the central stem is either cut off or nibbled manually.
Preparing seeds for sowing
Dried boxes with Drummond phlox seeds are stored in a cold place - basement, vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. Seeds from the boxes are not removed until they are sown. This is due to the fact that the seeds in the air quickly dry out and lose their germination.
A few days before sowing, the seeds are poured out of the testes and soaked in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 10-15 minutes. Floated seeds are thrown away, the rest are washed in running water. Then they are dried, spread on a paper towel, and planted in a nursery.
Seeds
How to sow seeds for seedlings
Phlox seeds germinate for a long time - up to 3-4 weeks. Therefore, seedlings are sown in seedlings in the early to mid-March. Seating boxes should have sides at least 5 cm high and drainage holes. Soil moistened substrate is poured at 3/4 of the height of the box. The surface of the soil is tamped with the back of a tablespoon or scoop.
Seeds with a wet toothpick are distributed on the surface of the soil in rows at intervals of 3-5 cm and lightly sprinkled with a thin layer of sand. Sowing can be messy - for this, the seeds are mixed with sand and scattered on a box as it turns out.
Mini-greenhouses are created in the drawers: they are covered with glass or transparent plastic. Periodically check for signs of mold and pests, ventilate and moisturize.
Note! Seeds can be sown immediately in individual volumetric containers, in this case there is no need to pick seedlings.
What does phlox seedlings look like
After the seeds hatch, it will take at least 2-3 weeks to grow 2 pairs of real leaves.
At this time, the plants dive - transplanted into larger containers, withstand a distance of 8-10 cm between the bushes.
After three months, the plants will already have 5-6 pairs of leaves and the first buds.
Young seedlings
Seedling Care Rules
The containers in which the seeds are sown are kept at room temperature not higher than + 25 ° C. After the seedlings appear, the boxes with them should be in the light for at least 12 hours a day.
If the seedlings begin to stretch, then reduce the ambient temperature to + 15 + 18 ° C and extend the daylight hours to 14-15 hours. Use lamps for artificial illumination of seedlings.
The soil in the seedlings is maintained in a constantly moistened state. Do not allow heavy watering, otherwise the roots may rot. Before planting in the flower garden, plants are fed with a nitroammophos or other complex preparations.
Attention! Phloxes after transplanting into the open ground for the first two weeks will hurt.
Unlike plants that grow from seeds immediately in the flower bed, the tips of root processes suffer from seedlings even with the most accurate handling. Therefore, precisely during this period, transplanted plants require timely watering.
Adult seedlings
Phlox annuals: care features
- Choosing a landing place, soil
Perennials and annuals require the same growing conditions - nutritious loose soil with neutral acidity, moderate occurrence of soil water, a well-protected plot of land from the wind, lots of light.
- Flower care during and after flowering
A well-established flower grows the stem and increases the number of leaves, produces many inflorescences that form a dense bunch. Plants need good nutrition, which comes through the roots along with moisture.
Watering is carried out as the soil dries. They do not allow the formation of a surface soil crust - they conduct regular, accurate loosening.
They make sure that there are no weeds in the root zone and near the plants, and wilted, withered flowers are constantly cut off along with the stems.
- Winter preparations
Attention! In the fall, seed boxes are cut from the uterine plants, the stems along with the rhizomes are removed, the earth is dug up and work is carried out to increase the fertility of the flower garden.
How to feed phlox for abundant flowering
For the entire flowering period, it is necessary to carry out 3 nitrogen mineral fertilizing, alternating with organic fertilizers - water extracts of ash, chicken manure containing potassium and calcium, herbal infusion.
The first nitrogen top dressing is carried out before planting seedlings in the flower garden. Then observe the state of the plants. Signs of malnutrition will be yellowing of leaves, inhibition of stem growth, and a decrease in flower size.
Why phlox perennial does not bloom
Perennial or annual phloxes cannot bloom if they grow in dense shade.
Their stems will be thinned and extended. The plant will give all its strength to get to the sun, because without it the processes of photosynthesis will not go, and there will not be any forces for flowering.
In addition, planting and caring for phlox annual and perennial should lead to the fact that plants do not suffer from a lack or excess of moisture and nutrients, are not sick and are not attacked by pests.
What to plant next to phlox
Various varieties of Drummond complement each other well.
Phlox star rain
For example, the colorful colors of the Star Rain cultivar make it possible to compose compositions only from plants of this species.
But nevertheless, if you plant chrysanthemums, delphiniums, aquilegia and terry phloxes of Drummond nearby, the flower garden will become an adornment of any garden plot or flowerbed in the park area.
It is interesting: for planting these plants, gardeners often use the recommendations of the lunar calendar, so as not to miss the most favorable dates for planting seedlings.
Pests and diseases - how to deal with them
Modern experienced gardeners know that various herbal decoctions and folk remedies can scare away pests and slow down the development of diseases. But only professional methods based on chemical and biological drugs will help to destroy insects and cure diseases.
Yellow phlox
- Snails and slugs. Loosen the soil in a timely manner, sprinkle ash on the tracks near the phlox, collect manually and destroy.
- Nematodes. No high-quality protective measures have been invented - it is better to pull out and destroy the affected plants, preventing the spread of the pest.
- Scoops. Collect tracks manually. In case of severe damage, use insecticides.
- Penny drooling. Remove damaged leaves, treat with infusion of garlic.
- The bug is green woody. Spray phlox with onion infusion.
- Cruciferous fleas. Powder phlox in the morning with wood ash.
Control measures depend on the particular disease or pest.
The cultivation of annual flowers requires additional time costs associated with sowing seeds and planting seedlings. But even if the gardener has to tear himself away from household chores, in order to plant and care for plants throughout the summer season, he will do it without hesitation. After all, beauty is worth it.
