Asters, the cultivation of which is described in the article, are one of the most beautiful, bright and lush. They will decorate any flower garden with themselves, they are suitable as a gift for the holiday, admire these beautiful plants can be for hours. Not every amateur gardener will deny himself the opportunity to have such bright and colorful flowers in his garden. beautiful flowers. Therefore, for many, the topic of how to grow asters seedlings is relevant so that it turns out healthy and strong.
Growing involves both seedling and seedless methods, but it is still better to use the first one, as it gives more guarantees of getting really strong plants. Cultivation involves planting, watering, further picking, feeding and transplanting into open ground.
Seeds should be fresh, preferably last year. It is worth sowing them in late March or early April in pre-prepared boxes. The containers should not be too high, up to 10 cm high. You can put drainage on the bottom so that there is no stagnation of water, then fill the container with a nutritious light substrate. The day before sowing, the soil should be watered with a solution with a fungicide, and the seeds should also be treated with it.
You need to sow in grooves half a centimeter deep, and then sprinkle with earth and pour it from a spray bottle with a solution of manganese. Before growing seedlings of asters, it is necessary to prepare a bright place for boxes, because when insufficient lighting plants will stretch and turn pale. To make seedlings appear faster, you can cover the soil with a film or paper.
After the appearance of the first real two or three leaves, the seedlings can be dived, seated, removing diseased and weak plants. The distance between the flowers should be a couple of centimeters. Transplantation is carried out using a picking fork, which must be carefully pry off the seedlings. The plant has one long root, if you want to get a luxurious and lush bush, then you need to pinch it by one third.
How to grow seedlings of asters? Important point- this is the preparation of a lighted place without direct sun rays. In this regard, a greenhouse is ideal, since there is light for plants, there is the necessary space, the conditions are close to open ground. On average, picking is done three to four times, then you can be sure that asters will really please you during flowering.
A photo of amateur gardeners is a confirmation that this flower can really be grown at home from seeds. All it takes is a little persistence and care. Regular moderate watering, periodic top dressing, diffused light - this is all that is needed for flowers. The question of how to grow seedlings of asters does not cause any particular difficulties even for beginner gardeners, because this is a rather unpretentious plant.
Young asters should be planted in a well-lit, even and pre-fertilized place. It is better not to use fresh manure, but to resort to humus or compost. In drought, it is recommended to provide flowers with regular watering. The distance between asters should be 20 - 40 cm, depending on the variety. The plant will begin to delight with the first flowers in the middle of summer, flowering continues until the frost.
- one of the most popular flowers in our gardens. How to properly grow asters from seeds, when to plant seedlings, and is it possible to get flowering plants after sowing directly into the ground?
Numerous species and varieties of asters attract flower growers with their splendor and variety of shapes, an incredible palette of colors and exceptionally simple agricultural techniques. Picky plants, even with minimal care, bloom willingly, but before this happens, asters need to be grown.
How to plant asters with seeds? When is it better to start sowing at home so that the seedlings are large and strong by the time they are transferred to open ground?
The flowering time of asters depends on the species or cultivar. Annual plants are covered with buds 90-120 days after sowing, and perennials bloom only the next year. Therefore, more often they are planted in flower beds with seedlings, after young asters grow from seeds at home.
Since the seeds of asters lose their germination after 2-3 years, fresh, better last year's material should be used for sowing.
Seeds from proven companies after opening the package are ready for planting. Another thing is seeds collected from flowers you like or purchased from your hands. Spores of harmful fungi could remain on their surface, so the seed must be treated with a fungicide following the instructions.
When to plant aster seeds for seedlings? Young plants are transferred to the flower bed when the time has passed spring frosts, and the soil warms up to at least +15 ° C. In the middle lane, this happens no earlier than mid-May. 3-4 weeks before this time, that is, in the first half of April, they start sowing.
Asters are unpretentious, they sprout well and grow in the ground different composition, the main thing is that it be moderately nutritious, always loose and light. For sowing, you can take a ready-made universal or flower substrate, and then add a little washed river sand and loosening, moisture-retaining perlite.
To protect seedlings, soil mix should be well heated in the oven, for example in a baking sleeve, or sterilized with another accessible way. In extreme cases, you can abundantly soak the soil with a saturated solution of potassium permanganate.
If there is garden soil and turf soil at hand, a substrate suitable for planting asters with seeds can be made independently by adding part of the sand and half a portion of perlite or vermiculite to two parts of the soil.
Aster seeds are quite large, but light, and seedlings emerging from them are susceptible to putrefactive and fungal infections. Therefore, when sowing, the seeds are distributed over a pre-moistened substrate, but they are not deepened, but carefully, with a layer of up to 8 mm, sprinkle with dry, calcined sand. Watering after that the contents of the container is not necessary.
In the light, in warmth, at a temperature of 15-20 ° C and high humidity air, the seeds quickly awaken, swell and hatch. The first shoots can be seen in less than a week.
This period is the most important and responsible. To lower the temperature excessive watering and other changes in aster growing conditions respond with rot damage. If a “black leg” is seen on the seedlings, such plants are carefully removed and destroyed along with the root clod of soil. The rest of the seedlings need to be treated with a fungicide.
When a pair of true leaves appears on the asters, they swoop down, transferring them to separate cups or a common container, but plant them at a greater distance from each other. It is convenient to use peat cells in which:
It is useful to add to the substrate for young plants containing not only nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but also trace elements.
After picking, the seedlings are exposed to a bright place, protected from drafts and direct sunlight. Plants acclimatize within 7-10 days. When 4-5 true leaves open on them, it's time to start hardening, increasing the time spent outdoors every day. With the establishment warm weather asters grown from seeds at home can be planted in the garden.
If the seedlings can die at low sub-zero temperatures, then the ripened aster seeds are well tolerated. winter frosts and in the spring they give friendly shoots. This property of culture is used by flower growers who do not want to bother with germination and sowing at home. Seeds are sown directly into the ground at the place of their future growth and flowering.
How to grow asters from seeds in this way? There are two options to choose from:
Seeds planted in autumn undergo natural stratification, so their shoots tend to be stronger, more friendly and suffer less from changeable spring weather and diseases.
When to plant aster seeds when growing outdoors? In autumn, sowing is carried out from mid-October and, weather permitting, until the end of November. In spring, you can sow even in the snow on the ground prepared from autumn until mid-April. In this case, the planted areas are covered. Second term spring planting asters seeded comes in May, when it is warm and additional protection no longer required.
So that the crops are not too thick, and the sprouts are weakened, the seeds are closed:
From above, the crops are sprinkled with a peat-humus mixture. If shelter is required for crops, it is removed as soon as mass seedlings appear on the site. At the stage of true leaf formation, seedlings are thinned. Surplus should not be thrown away, asters grown from seeds in the open ground take root perfectly if they are moved to another place.
Growing asters from seeds does not take much time and effort spent on caring for this plant. Asters do not require certain conditions, they can grow almost in the wild. In this article, we will analyze in detail how to properly plant seedlings in open ground at home, when and under what conditions.
In order not to doubt the germination of seeds, see the year of issue on the bag and the expiration date. It is better to take the freshest seeds, because asters quickly lose their germination.
It is not necessary to purchase seed in bright packages with beautiful drawings. Often, seeds in nondescript packs turn out to be fresher and better than in beautiful bags, because excessive brightness and colorful patterns sometimes serve as a kind of advertising for the sale of low-quality planting material.
To create beautiful flower beds, provide garden landscape or personal plot bright flower beds, choose mixtures of asters. They usually come in up to 10 different colors. If you want to design your landscape space in a special way, buy individual colors in separate bags.
In order for the flowering period of asters not to fall on autumn frosts and bad weather, it is important to plan the time of sowing the seeds correctly. The best time is February-March. During these months, aster seeds are sown so that flowering occurs in September, it is not for nothing that the aster is called the queen of autumn.
If your climate differs from the average for Russia, for example, snow falls much later or does not fall at all, asters can be sown in April and even in May.
It is recommended to sow asters in a special soil for sowing flower seedlings. If it is not possible to purchase it, or if you have prepared soil in advance in the fall, you can sow it. Ordinary soil must be mixed with a small amount sand and peat.
When the asters grow up, you can pick. Depends on how you want to use the seedlings: sell some of the flowers or plant them all outside.
For sale, dive each plant separately into small cups. It looks presentable and allows you to trade asters individually. In addition, planting them from such containers is much more convenient.
If you plan to plant these flowers in flower beds soon, prepare large seedling boxes for picking. The soil can be used the same as for sowing. Dive each plant into boxes 5 cm apart on each side. In order not to hurt root system, carefully separate each seedling unit along with the root soil. Make a hole in the prepared soil, lower the “seedling” there and press it down with earth from above.
In some regions, local climatic conditions allow you to sow asters directly into the ground. This applies to areas where the winter is short and warm. In principle, it is possible to sow asters in the ground in middle lane Russia, because when self-sowing, they grow well and give flowers no worse than with careful care for seedlings and planting them correctly.
Asters seedlings do not require special care. Like any other plant, it must be periodically watered and loosened the soil when a crust forms.
If the seedlings do not develop well, purchase special fertilizers or liquid top dressing for flower seedlings in a specialized store and apply in the recommended proportions.
When 6-7 leaves appear, the seedlings can be hardened off so that in the future it will endure temperature changes of day and night, and be resistant to frost. To do this, take the seedling boxes outside for 3-5 hours daily. Of course, for the first time this time should be no more than an hour, and later it must be gradually increased.
When the root part of the aster stem is about 7 cm, seedlings can be planted in the ground. The landing site must be chosen in advance. Asters are unpretentious in terms of lighting and location relative to trees, fences, etc.
If asters have already grown in the planned place, you need to choose another one or change the soil in the flower bed. This is especially important in cases where in previous years the plants in this soil suffered from any diseases.
Asters do not like excessively acidic soil, so the soil must be limed during spring or autumn digging.
Never use fresh manure when planting asters! This will lead to the death of the seedlings.
The landing is made in loose soil. For better survival, plant flowers directly with pieces of root earth. Space plants 20 cm apart. If it was indicated on the seed package that this variety is very bushy, increase this gap.
The plants are planted in small depressions and compacted from above with earth. If the seedlings for some reason stretched out, it needs to be deepened by a couple of centimeters.
After planting, careful watering of the plants is necessary. To avoid the formation of a crust after the earth has dried, mulch the soil with peat.
Landing in the ground asters and further care for her.
Astra is loved by many flower growers and landscape designers precisely because it does not require special care, regular feeding, and so on. This is a huge plus if you are going to leave somewhere for a long time, and no one can take care of the flowers. However, if you pay enough attention to these flowers, they will please you. abundant flowering and richness of colors.
When the asters are gaining color, remove the lower ground leaves. By that time, they usually look very nondescript and only take away nutrients intended for flowers. Remove dried flowers as they fade. So the new ones will be larger and brighter.
When asters fade, many gardeners think that it would be nice to collect their seeds in order to next season don't spend money on them.
To prepare your own seed, carefully look at the packages from the planted asters, if they have survived.
It is important that among them there are no varieties labeled F1, which indicates that the plant belongs to the category of hybrids.
Why are seeds from hybrid varieties of asters bad? Flowers of hybrids most often have various exotic colors, big size and unusual shape. However, all these traits were obtained by introducing traits of other plants or other varieties of asters into the genetic structure of the seeds.
When collecting seeds from hybrid plants and then sowing them, some of the signs are lost, and you get completely different flowers and a spoiled mood.
Wait for the asters flowers to dry. In order not to lose most of the seeds, spread cardboard or a light-colored cloth under the seed plants. In case of premature fall, you will not lose the seeds.
After drying, check if the seeds are ripe: remove a few pieces from a dry flower. Mature seeds are hard and dark in color.
Collect dry flowers, holding the head carefully in your hands so as not to scatter the seed. Put them in a warm and dry place for a couple of days, and then husk the seeds. They must be stored in a dry, warm place to prevent premature germination, mold damage or loss of germination.
We have reviewed how to grow aster from seed very simple, it is important to follow all the agrotechnical rules, and then the plants will delight you with abundant flowering!
Be sure to watch the helpful video!
She fills our gardens paints when summer is at its peak. The final hymn to the outgoing summer is full-soundingly performed by the queen of the coming autumn - the aster. amazing plant, which has no flaws and admires its merits, strikes with a variety of species and varieties.
Our gardens and summer cottages decorated with miniature plants and sprawling giants with star-heads
all colors of the rainbow. Grow all varieties annual plants seeds.
Astra love all gardeners for its wonderful qualities.
perennial asters multiply green cuttings or dividing the bush. Growing perennials from seeds is a rather complicated and inefficient process.
Grow from seed annuals are beautiful flowers with large, hairy and fluffy heads on a graceful stem. Harvesting of seeds is carried out in the fall, after the flowering of asters. Withered heads are disassembled and dried at home.
Seed shelf life asters is limited to two years, subsequently they lose their germination.
There are two known ways seed cultivation asters: seedlings and without it.
At soil method growing asters, you can form a flower garden consisting of powerful and strong plants. It is created all summer by removing weakened and poorly developing flowers.
Remaining copies are resistant to drought and diseases, as well as long and abundant flowering. This method is especially good for growing early varieties asters, which usually bloom 90 days after planting.
top scores gives a triple sowing of seeds: in early spring, late autumn and early winter.
Aster seeds can be sown in spring, autumn and winter.
Sow the seeds as the soil is ready. In the regions of the Central Non-Black Earth Region, this period falls at the end of April or the beginning of May. In the prepared beds, shallow furrows are laid (up to 2 cm).
Sown seeds spill from a watering can with a fine strainer and mulch with a thin layer of garden soil or humus.
Usually seedlings are not watered before emergence. However, in the event of a windy or dry spring, the beds can be watered a little. After 10-12 days, the first shoots appear.
Such a crop in our latitudes, it is carried out with the onset of stable frosts and freezing of the upper soil layer. As a rule, this is the second decade of November. Seeds are sown in cooked early autumn grooves and mulch by 2-2.5 cm.
As mulch weathered peat or unfrozen humus is suitable. In the spring, when the soil thaws, it is recommended to loosen the crops.
This sowing carried out from December to the end of January. Seeds are sown on a layer of snow 10-15 cm in place of future beds and mulched with peat compost or humus.
During autumn and winter landings plants grow stronger and less likely to suffer from fusarium. After the emergence of seedlings in the spring, they are thinned out and fed regularly.
The seeds are sown in the middle of March. To grow seedlings, you should stock up on boxes of soil in which sand, soddy soil and weathered peat are mixed in equal amounts.
fresh peat will lead to an acidic reaction of the soil, which is neutralized with lime.
soil treated with a fungicide solution, leveled and watered. Sowing is carried out in grooves, after which it is sprinkled with a layer of washed coarse-grained sand 0.5 cm thick.
When sowing in greenhouses, a layer of sand should be increased to 1.5 cm. Plantings are shed with extreme accuracy with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. To do this, you can use a watering can with a small strainer.
Drawers cover film or glass. Keep the temperature at 20°C until germination.
seedlings appear within a week. After that, the boxes can be taken out to a sunny terrace or a glazed balcony, where the temperature does not drop below 15°C.
Through 2-2.5 weeks the seedlings have a pair of true leaves. At this time, it should be dived into pots or into larger boxes.
Distance between plants is maintained at 10-12 cm. The temperature is lowered by another 3-4 ° C.
Astra prefers moist, but not damp soil, so it should be watered infrequently, but plentifully. On hot days, seedlings ventilate.
From sowing seeds it takes about two months before the seedlings are planted in the ground. During this time, seedlings are recommended to be fed twice. complex fertilizers. You can also use potassium nitrate and superphosphate (respectively, 20 and 15 grams per bucket of water).
planted seedlings to summer cottages in mid-May. The best time day of the day for this - evening. Two weeks before this, seedlings are accustomed to natural conditions.
For this pots or boxes with seedlings are taken out into the open air, first for 1-2 hours, gradually increasing this time. Before planting, you can leave the plants in the air for the whole day, and in the absence of frost - all night.
Aster, unpretentious and extremely responsive to the care and care of the flower, is the plant that even the novice grower can handle.
Easy growing from seeds it turns into a joyful multicolor, pleasing to the eye and incredibly decorating autumn dachas.
And for those who like to know more, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the video about asters
Before you grow these amazing flowers, you need to prepare planting material. Seeds collected on your site must be treated with any fungicide or potassium permanganate solution. In 100 ml of water, put a few crystals (1 g) of potassium permanganate and mix thoroughly. The resulting solution is diluted with another 100 ml of water. So we get a 0.5% solution of potassium permanganate for seed treatment.
The resulting solution is poured into a cup, a cloth is placed and seeds are poured on it. They must be immersed in the solution. After 25 minutes, the napkin is removed and the seeds are washed in clean water.
It is worth noting that seeds collected from their own plot do not retain the properties of the parent plant variety. It is better to buy planting material well-known firms in specialized stores. So there are more chances to get high-quality planting material that no longer needs processing.
Callistephus are grown as by sowing seeds immediately on permanent place, and through seedlings. Consider first sowing seeds in seedling boxes.
In March-April, earth is poured into prepared boxes (garden mixed with humus) and rows are made 0.5 cm deep every 2 cm. The soil is moistened and the seeds are laid out. From above they are covered with earth and covered with a transparent film or glass.
The optimum germination temperature is +20-25 0 С. After about a week, the first shoots appear. The growing temperature is reduced to + 16-18 0 C. When the first pair of leaves appears, they dive into boxes with fresh earth according to the 5x6 scheme. Already at this stage, it is recommended to treat the seedlings with a pink solution of potassium permanganate to prevent the development of the black leg and fusarium.
In May, you can plant seedlings in a permanent place in the flower garden. healthy seedlings should be strong with a thick stem and have 5-7 well developed bright green leaves. Undersized varieties(10-30 cm) are planted according to the scheme 20x20 cm, medium-sized (30-60 cm) - 25x25 cm, tall (60-90) - 30x30 cm. The color looks good along garden paths and paths, especially dwarf varieties.
Callistefusy succeed on any garden, well-fertilized, sandy, light and medium loamy soils. To avoid Fusarium disease, fresh manure should not be applied. The best predecessors are marigolds and calendula, refuse sowing after carnations, tulips and gladioli.
Seeds are sown outdoors in spring and autumn. Podzimnie crops give early friendly shoots that develop well and tolerate cold snap, drought more easily, bloom earlier by 2 weeks and are more resistant to diseases.
Spring sowing can be carried out in 2 terms: in April, as the weather permits, and May. This makes it possible to admire beautiful lush inflorescences from mid-July until late autumn.
Seeds are sown in pre-spilled rows 1 cm deep, spreading them every 1.5 cm. You can mix the seeds with a handful of dry sand to facilitate sowing.
Seeds can be soaked in advance by spreading out on a damp cloth, but dry ones germinate quite quickly. The seeds are covered with humus and covered with a film, securing it around the perimeter with planks or bricks.
When shoots appear, the film is removed. It is advisable to thin out overly thickened crops. Seedlings removed during thinning can be used as seedlings.
The plant is very fond of watering and loose soil. It is necessary to water rarely, but abundantly, followed by loosening. Up to 2 buckets of water are approximately poured per m 2.
Top dressing:
In dry summers, top dressing is applied in liquid form. If the summer is rainy, then top dressing is done in a dry form, followed by incorporation during loosening.
Many gardeners prefer to weigh fertilizer almost by the gram. For them, it can be advised to use ready-made liquid mineral fertilizers for flowers, for example Florist for Growth and Florist for buds.
