Content
Verbena is a popular decorative culture from the Verbenov family. Differs in beautiful corymbose inflorescences with a pleasant smell and color from pinkish-white to yellow, red or deep purple. To breed a crop in your area, you can use the seed method, especially since other methods sometimes turn out to be ineffective. It is necessary to collect the material and properly prepare it for planting. Growing verbena from seeds can be a feasible task even for novice gardeners, if you know all the secrets of planting and care.
Features of growing verbena from seeds at home
Planting verbena seeds for seedlings is practiced quite often, since the propagation method by cuttings is not suitable for all varieties. When seed propagation, you must adhere to the rules that will help grow full-fledged specimens.
What verbena seeds look like
Verbena seeds are rather large and outwardly similar to aster planting material. Fruits are elongated-linear, dihedral, convex, brown or brownish in color.
Verbena fruits are prefabricated nuts divided into four parts
How to collect verbena seeds (collection and storage)
The easiest way to buy verbena seeds is from a store. However, many gardeners prefer to collect planting material on their own. The seeds are harvested after the capsules dry out and acquire a pronounced brown tint. This color indicates that the seeds are as close to full maturity as possible.
The inflorescences are cut with garden shears, after which they are laid out on clean paper sheets and removed to a dry place.
To dry completely, they need to be turned over periodically. This step prevents the development of mold. Seeds are poured into a separate box and stored in a cool dry place. It should be borne in mind that seeds may not retain a number of quality characteristics inherent in the parent plant.
When to plant verbena seedlings
Verbena seedlings are grown in such a way that seedlings are planted in late May - early June, when return frosts are no longer a threat. Verbena seeds for seedlings are sown at the end of February or in March. To determine the optimal day for planting seeds, experienced summer residents use the lunar calendar.
Planting verbena seedlings
Verbena is an unpretentious crop that grows excellently from seed in open field conditions. Usually no pre-sowing preparation is needed, but the seeds of some varieties of vervain have a too dense shell, which makes germination difficult. In such cases, stratification (cold treatment) is used. After spreading the seeds on a damp piece of cloth, they are put into the refrigerator in an opaque plastic bag for 3-4 days.
Verbena seeds are characterized by uneven germination; in order to obtain friendly shoots, they need preliminary treatment with growth stimulants, such as Heteroauxin, Zircon or Epin.
Choice of capacity
The seed container should not be too deep, but wide enough. It is filled with pre-prepared soil. The surface is leveled and the soil is compacted with a small plank.Seeds are evenly distributed over the entire area of the soil with a piece of paper. Sprinkle them with soil on top is not required. Under favorable temperature conditions, the seeds begin to hatch already on the second or third day. After that, the container is transferred to a cool room, since verbena does not like hot and stuffy rooms, as well as window sills with hot radiators.
It is preferable to germinate seedlings in shallow containers made of wood or plastic with a sufficient number of drainage holes
Soil preparation
It is better to plant verbena seeds for seedlings in fertile soil. The soil should have neutral acidity, as well as airiness, friability and high water permeability. To prepare the soil mixture, take garden soil, peat and sand in a ratio of 1: 2: 0.5. You can use ready-made mixes that are sold in stores, followed by the addition of washed sand.
For every 4 liters of soil, 1 glass of wood ash is added, after which the mixture is sieved. To neutralize the soil from weeds and pests, it is steamed for an hour. Disinfection of the soil mixture is done with a fungicide solution. To provide the soil with greater air permeability and moisture capacity, 1 glass of perlite is added for every 2 liters of the mixture. Increased soil acidity can be neutralized with dolomite flour or wood ash.
When landing in open ground, vervain needs to choose a place with high illumination, which is reliably protected from the winds
How to sow verbena for seedlings
Large holes do not need to be prepared for seeds. You just need to spread them evenly over the surface of the earth and sprinkle them with a thin layer of fine sand or humus. The container is filled with soil, which is watered with a small amount of warm water, followed by leveling the surface. Verbena seeds are gently pry with a wooden toothpick and transferred to the prepared hole. When sowing verbena for seedlings, a distance of 2-3 cm should be left between the seeds, which will allow you to create a planting with a normal density indicator.
After 7-8 days, seedlings appear from the seeds, and after 2 weeks, young shoots will turn green in slender rows in containers
How to grow verbena seedlings
To get beautiful plants, you need to know the tricks of sowing verbena seeds for seedlings. In case of late planting, the flowering time will shift. You cannot plant seeds in cold soil, since they will simply rot in it. It is not necessary to use a special thermometer to determine the soil temperature. Well-known garden tips are worth paying attention to. For example, blooming crocuses show that the soil has warmed up enough.
Planting in separate pots is resorted to 8 days after the germination of verbena seeds. The container can be taken out into the street only after relatively warm weather without frost has been established. Since vervain has a compact root system, it can be grown both outdoors and in a container. Indoors, verbena retains its decorative qualities for 9-10 years. However, she will need an annual transplant.
Microclimate
Verbena seedlings tolerate negative temperatures down to -3 ° C, but in case of severe frosts, seedlings will die. Therefore, it is necessary to sow seeds during a period when the seedlings will not be threatened by frost and strong temperature drops. To get early shoots of verbena, you can plant them at home or in greenhouse conditions. Seeds, placed in containers with humus soil, are kept under glass or under a film at temperatures from +17 to +21 ° C.
Until the emergence of shoots, the mini-greenhouse must be ventilated by removing the glass cover or polyethylene from it for 20-30 minutes a day. The accumulated condensation must be disposed of in a timely manner with a napkin. When the first shoots appear, the covering material can be removed.In order for young plants to better adapt to changes in external temperature conditions, it is recommended to remove the coating gradually, increasing the hours of airing every day.
Young seedlings require long daylight hours (up to 14 hours), so the seedlings are provided with additional illumination
Watering and feeding
Young verbena sprouts need moderate watering, because in case of excess moisture, their root system can rot. If the soil is too dry, then before planting the seedlings, pour a glass of water into each hole and wait until the moisture is completely absorbed. If vervain is planted after rain, no pre-wetting is required. After planting verbena seeds for seedlings, until the germination of seedlings, watering is done exclusively from a spray bottle.
With proper care, verbena blooms from mid-summer to early fall. Excessive addition of fertilizers to the soil is fraught with delayed flowering. The plant needs periodic feeding. The first application of nutrients is carried out before flowering, all subsequent ones - when the plant blooms. It is recommended to fertilize with a complex solution no more than once a month. Excess nitrogen affects the abundant growth of leaves and delays the moment the flowering begins.
The plant needs watering when the soil underneath is completely dry. Otherwise, there is a high risk of waterlogging and the occurrence of a number of problems, such as rotting of the root system. When shoots appear, watering is performed at the root using a syringe. Moisture should not get on the seedlings themselves.
Picking verbena seedlings
When the first 2-3 leaves appear on young plants, they are seated in separate pots, in which there should be drainage holes. You can additionally pour fine expanded clay or pebbles on the bottom. The plant requires deepening to the cotyledonous leaves, followed by careful compaction of the soil and moderate watering.
To form a bushy structure, after the appearance of the fifth pair of leaves, the top is pinched
Transfer
Developed specimens are dug out of the soil together with a clod of earth and transferred to the wintering indoors. The room temperature should not exceed +10 ° C.
Conclusion
Growing verbena from seeds is not an easy task, but a feasible one. Some gardeners find it much easier to propagate a crop by cuttings. However, the seed method has a number of advantages, and with a competent approach, it allows you to get healthy specimens with decorative qualities that are not inferior in beauty to mother plants.
