Content
Daisies are one of the most famous flowers and can be found everywhere. These unpretentious garden plants adorn the flower beds of personal plots, park areas, they are used by landscape designers to create various compositions. In general, flower growers prefer to plant daisies with seeds, although other methods can be used to propagate them.
Description
Daisies are low herbaceous flowers of the Astrov family. In the wild, they are widespread, found in North Africa and Mediterranean countries. For decorative purposes, they are grown everywhere, usually in a two-year cycle. In the first year of life, seedlings are obtained from seeds, which are later transferred to a permanent place. During this period, the plant takes root and forms a rosette of leaves. In the second year, daisies begin to bloom. In numerous varieties, this process occurs at different times. That is why daisies are so often used to create flower beds of continuous flowering, pleasing to the eye from spring to the onset of cold weather.
Blooming daisies can create a real living carpet
A brief description of the main parts of this plant is given in the table:
Parameter | Value |
Plant type | Perennial herbaceous. |
Appearance | A small bush 10-30 cm high. |
Root system | Superficial lobe of many fine roots. |
Stem | Naked, cylindrical, rather hard, green. |
Leaves | Spatulate, green, growing in a rosette from the root zone. |
Flowers | Reed male and tubular female, collected in chamomile-type inflorescences. The color of the petals is varied, from white to lilac and burgundy, the central part is yellow or greenish. |
Dates of sowing daisy seeds for seedlings
Daisies are planted with seeds for seedlings about 2 months before the transfer of young plants to open ground. In doing so, consider the following:
- If the weather conditions in the region permit, then sowing seeds can be done in January or February. It is important to take into account that by the time of transplantation into open ground, the earth must have time to warm up. In this case, it is worth waiting for the flowering of daisies already in the 1st year.
- In colder regions, planting seeds for seedlings is best done in March or April. Moving the dates to a later time will allow the earth to warm up, as well as avoid the threat of recurrent frosts. In this case, you should not wait in the first year after planting the flowering of daisies, this will happen only for the next season.
It is convenient to keep daisy seedlings on the windowsill
How to grow daisy seedlings from seeds
Growing daisy seedlings from seeds is pretty easy. It is better to purchase planting material from trusted sellers, on specialized Internet resources or in shops for florists. It is better to give preference to pelleted seeds, their shell contains all the necessary nutrients and does not require additional feeding.
Seed preparation
Pelleted seeds do not need special preparation before sowing. If the planting material is collected independently or is in its normal state, then it must first be disinfected by immersing it in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 20-30 minutes.
Self-collected seeds need to be disinfected
After that, the seeds should be rinsed with clean water and dried by spreading them out on a cloth.
The soil
A soil mixture for sowing daisy seeds can be prepared independently by mixing leafy soil, humus and sand in equal parts. Before use, it should be calcined for 20-25 minutes in the oven at a temperature of + 200 ° C. This procedure will kill pathogenic microflora and fungi. Suitable for germinating daisy seeds and common store-bought seedling soil.
Sowing
You can plant daisy seeds for seedlings in any containers, they should be wide and shallow. Before planting, such dishes should be disinfected by thoroughly rinsing and treating with boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate, if it is made of unstable plastic.
After filling the containers with soil on the surface, you need to draw shallow parallel grooves with a sharp object, into which the daisy seeds will be sown.
For planting small daisy seeds, it is convenient to use a sheet of paper folded in a corner
With its help, the seeds are evenly distributed along the grooves, then sprinkled with soil and moistened from a spray bottle. After that, the container is covered with transparent film or glass and removed to a warm, dark place.
Transplanting
The first shoots of daisy seedlings usually appear in 1.5-2 weeks from the moment of sowing. Until this time, the film cover must be periodically removed so that the soil is ventilated.
The growing seedlings of daisies need to be dived in separate containers
If the soil dries up, then it must be moistened with a spray bottle. After the first shoots appear, the film should be completely removed, and the container with the seedlings should be transferred to the windowsill.
Growing conditions
At home, the seedlings will stay for about 1-1.5 months. During this time, she will have to grow up and get stronger. In order for the plants to gain strength as quickly as possible and prepare for transplanting to a permanent place in open ground, they need to create comfortable conditions.
Shine
Daisies are light-loving plants. At the beginning of the year, the duration of an ordinary day is clearly not enough for them, because of this, the seedlings brighten, greatly thinner and stretch. To avoid this, artificial lighting is mounted above the containers. For supplementary illumination of seedlings, you can use various lighting devices, but special phytolamps, which give radiation of a certain spectrum, have proven themselves best in this capacity.
Phytolamps allow you to artificially increase the duration of daylight hours
Watering
Daisy seedlings need regular but very moderate watering. Excess moisture negatively affects the condition of the root system of plants and can cause fungal diseases. It is not recommended to use a spray bottle to moisten the soil; water falling on the leaves can harm them.
Watering daisy seedlings must be very careful.
Top dressing
Daisy seedlings do not require a lot of nutrients. There are enough of them in the ground, so no additional fertilizing is required. It is especially convenient in this case to use pelleted seeds. Their shell, gradually dissolving in the soil, enriches it with all the necessary nutrients and trace elements.
Spraying
Seedlings of daisies rarely get sick if quality care is provided for them.All preventive spraying is done later, after transplanting the plants to a permanent place in the open ground.
Pest prevention
After planting in open ground, daisies can be damaged by various pests. The danger to these flowers is posed by mice, moles and shrews, which can seriously damage the root system. Of insects, ticks, various caterpillars, slugs can cause tangible harm. Some of them are harvested by hand, various baits and traps are used against others, and plants are treated with special preparations.
Features of growing in the garden
Daisies are very unpretentious plants, they do not require serious maintenance. They can be grown not only outdoors, but also as potted flowers. For good growth and abundant flowering, they must be fed, at the beginning of the season this can be done with urea or nitroammofoska. The root zone should be loosened and cleaned of weeds.
Lack of moisture can lead to a decrease in the decorative effect of the daisy bush.
Plants need to be watered regularly, with a lack of moisture, the flowers lose their doubleness and dry out quickly. It is better to cut off dead inflorescences, this stimulates the growth of new peduncles and prolongs the period of active flowering.
Conclusion
Planting daisies with seeds is easy, these flowers have excellent germination and do not cause much trouble. You can collect the planting material of the varieties you like yourself. Daisies are unpretentious and at the same time very decorative, these qualities are appreciated by many gardeners and landscape designers.
