Delphinium is considered one of the most spectacular plants in the garden. Its unusual inflorescences-candles surprise with the huge size and beauty of flowers. It is easy to grow a plant, it is not demanding to care and grows well when basic agricultural requirements are met.
Material Content:
Delphinium: types and varieties
The variety of forms of the delphinium does not always allow us to establish clear boundaries for the definition of all varieties. According to one version, there are more than 1000 species of delphinium, according to another - no more than 450. Among them there are annuals and perennials.
In the gardens planted a cultural delphinium, combining all hybrids.
It is a perennial up to 1.8 m high with spike-shaped inflorescences. Within the species, groups are distinguished that have external differences.
The most popular varieties of hybrids:
- Belladonna. The stalk is up to 1.2 m high, paniculate inflorescences, leaves are dissected, blooms in early summer. Among the many varieties distinguish: "Arnold Bekrir" (blue), "Casablanca" (snow-white with an apricot eye), "Lamartine" (dark blue, semi-double).
- Elatum. Tall varieties (1.5 - 1.8 m), inflorescences are dense, spike-shaped, flowers with a large semi-double whisk.
- New Zealand hybrids. Flowers with terry and semi-double corollas and short stems, winter well without shelter.
- Marfinsky hybrids. Semi-double flowers of different colors, bred by a Russian breeder in the village of Marfino in the second half of the last century. They are highly decorative and winter hardy.Varieties: “Morpheus” - lilac, semi-double with a chocolate eye, “Blue lace” - blue with a snow-white center.
- Pacific hybrids. The stems are tall (up to two meters) with large inflorescences, the corollas of flowers are semi-double. Varieties: "Dwarf Snow White" - semi-double white with a yellow eye, "King Arthur" - purple-purple semi-double with a white eye.
Large-flowered delphinium is also grown in gardens. In nature, this species is common in Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
Among annuals, the royal delphinium (sowing) or Ajax (garden) is popular. Interesting varieties of Ajax delphinium: “DvuHaysent-flowed” with buds of different colors and “Messenger White”, wearing white flowers.
Growing plants from seeds
The cultivation of delphinium from seeds is carried out by direct sowing on the bed and through seedlings. For both methods, there are special requirements that you should know for the successful propagation of the plant.
It is good to know that the flower is poisonous. Its juice causes depression of the nervous system, acts on the stomach and heart. All parts are poisonous - flowers, roots, leaves.
How and when to sow seedlings for seedlings
In mid-February, the seeds are planted in a common container with soil and sent to the refrigerator for about 3 weeks for stratification.
As soon as the first shoots appear, transfer the seed container to the room in a well-lit place. Daylight hours for seedlings should be at least 12 hours, so additional lighting is organized.
Moisturize the soil often, avoiding drying out. It should always be a little wet.
After the development of the second real leaf (this should happen around the end of March), the seedlings are planted in separate cassettes or small pots.
- Planting containers should have drainage holes at the bottom.
- Biohumus mixed with universal soil for seedlings is used as soil.
- Before picking, seedlings are abundantly watered, wetting the soil in the landing tanks.
- Transplanted neatly, placing 1 plant in a cassette.
- Delphinium is placed in a warm, well-lit place, organizing daylight hours lasting 12-14 hours. Air temperature 18 - 20 ° C.
- The first watering after a dive is carried out no earlier than after 6 - 7 days.
Seedling Care
Further care for the seedlings is regular watering. Three weeks later they will turn into bushes of strong seedlings with green leaves. At this stage, it is desirable to make top dressing a complex fertilizer on an organic basis.
Seedlings are transplanted to a permanent place in May.
Before planting, a flower bed is dug up onto 2 bayonet shovels (the plant has a large root system).
Biohumus and wood ash are added to the planting holes so that the seedlings better take root. In the prepared land, the flowers will grow well until 6 years.
Perennial delphinium is a large flower, because seedlings are placed at a distance of 40-60 cm from each other. After planting in the wells of seedlings, the earth is watered.
Dolphinium care at home
In early June, delphinium seedlings grown from seeds grow. Important care measures at this time are weeding, loosening and mulching the soil. Especially in the first weeks of seedling development in the flowerbed. Thanks to the mulch, the soil does not sour and does not cake; microorganisms useful for the plant live better in it.
When the seedlings reach a height of 10 - 15 cm, they are fed for the first time with full complex fertilizer.
Plant conditions
An important condition for the proper maintenance of the delphinium is the choice of a place for its landing. Plants do not tolerate wetlands and nearby groundwater. In problem areas, flower beds are best done on an elevation, creating a small earthen embankment, and put drainage at the bottom of the planting holes.
Delphiniums are shade-tolerant, but bloom more abundantly in sunny flower beds.
Flowering in the first year does not weaken the plant, but rather, is useful for its proper development. Renewal buds begin to develop only in the second year and give powerful, healthy stems.
In seedlings 25 cm high, thin out bushes, leaving no more than 3 strong shoots. The rest break out at the surface of the earth, where they extend from the root neck.
When the delphiniums reach a height of half a meter, they put supports and tie up the stems.
How to water the dolphinium at different times of the year?
Delphiniums are hygrophilous, but do not tolerate stagnation of water at the roots, like most plants. With excessive soil moisture, they begin to hurt and rot. To better maintain moisture, the soil on the flower bed is covered with mulch.
During the season, one plant needs about 60 liters of water. If the summer is dry, a full watering can is poured under each bush once a week.
- It is better to water less often, but abundantly, than little by little every day.
- In autumn, plants are watered before the onset of frost so that the roots do not freeze in dry land.
- In winter, dolphiniums do not need watering.
The stems of the plant are cut in the fall at a height of 30 cm above the ground. It is advisable to close the tops of the hollow stems with something (plasticine, chewing gum) so that moisture does not get inside.
Fertilizer and fertilizer
Delphinium flowers are demanding on soil fertility. Prepare the land before planting - make rotted compost, wood ash and complex mineral fertilizers.
Perennial dolphiniums in the second year of growing need spring top dressing. It is applied immediately after the snow melts, using complex mineral fertilizers with an equal content of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
The second top dressing is carried out during budding, when dolphiniums need more potassium and phosphorus than nitrogen. Therefore, during this period, drugs intended for flowering plants are chosen. Before top dressing, the soil on the flower bed is loosened and moistened.
Plant propagation methods
The annual delphinium reproduces by seed. Sow seeds in the open ground in autumn or spring. Perennial plants with this method of reproduction do not retain varietal differences.
Varieties growing on a flower bed for several years are propagated by cuttings.
Thin young shoots are used for cuttings, cutting off their apical part (about 10 cm) with leaves.
Cuttings are well rooted in a mixture of sand and peat.
Another way to reproduce perennials is to divide the bush in the spring during transplantation. This is the most reliable and productive way to get new plants.
How to plant a dolphinium
They begin to plant the described plant before the start of the growing season, when leaves have not yet appeared from the buds. In April, they dig a root from the ground and cut it into pieces, each of which should have a growth point and a root.
All sections are sprinkled with wood ash and dried in the air.
The resulting parts of the bush are planted in holes at a distance of about 40 cm.
You can plant the plant in a more "tough" way, without digging. In August, when the flowering ends, divide the bush, plunging a sharp shovel into the desired location of the cut. The sedimented part of the plant is dug up around the circumference, carefully taken along with a lump of earth and transferred to a new place. Fresh earth is being poured into the vacant space around the roots of the mother bush.
Protection against diseases and pests
Delphiniums can be affected by viruses, bacteria, pathogenic fungi and insect pests.
Possible diseases:
- Fusarium and bacterial rot - for the treatment of plants treated with fungicides;
- astro jaundice virus - sick plants burn;
- tobacco mosaic virus - the bushes are removed and also burned.
Of the insects, leaf-eating caterpillars, hard-winged scoops, aphids, and thrips settle on the leaves of the delphinium. To control pests using ordinary insecticides or ammonia (1 tbsp. L. To 5 liters of water).
When it rains every day and the earth is constantly wet, the delphiniums turn yellow. Fungal infections affect the roots, after which the aerial part of the plant begins to disappear.To help him, it is advisable to spray with fungicides ("Skor", "Topaz"). Preventive treatment is done on healthy leaves.
Beautiful delphiniums are easy to grow in their area. They require attention, no more than other garden plants and gratefully respond to the care of beauty and an abundance of flowers.
