Gomphrena is a plant of stunning beauty that combines a huge variety of different species. Botanists still cannot explain the true origin of the plant, it remains so mysterious. One thing we know for sure, gomphrena won the hearts of many gardeners with its appearance, so people began to plant them as decoration.
The plant is very thermophilic and difficult to endure the winter period of time, but we will try to describe the care of it in this ruthless period.
Varieties and species
Before we talk about planting and care, let's figure out what types and varieties this plant includes. Each site is characterized by its own species, which will boldly be able to overcome the difficulties of natural conditions and soil fertility. The good thing is that you can use several varieties at the same time to decorate the garden, which complements and only improves the appearance.
Gomphrena spherical is diverse, its flowers can be red, orange,pink, light cream and many other shades. After the plant blooms, you can observe an incredible picture: green buds turn into bright, saturated balls. Very often, when buying seeds for planting gomphrena, multi-colored varieties are put in the package, so that the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe garden was full of all the colors of the rainbow.
The plant is also divided along its length. There are both high (more than 35 cm) and dwarf varieties. Let's take a look at the latter, as they are in greater demand in today's society.
Low-growing varieties of spherical gomphrena
If you decide to decorate your garden with low gomphreys that will not interfere with the passage to the garden, then undersized varieties are suitable for you. They are not inferior to ordinary gomphrens, the only thing that distinguishes them is the length of the stem and the short life span. There are more than 50 species of such plants, but they are all divided into four subspecies, each of which is distinguished by color.
- White.
- Purple.
- Light pink.
- Lilac.
Short varieties of gomphrena flower will not last more than a year. The maximum length of such plants will be approximately 15 cm, no more. Despite the fact that the plants are dwarf - the buds have a fairly large diameter (from 3 to 4 cm). There will be no problems with such gomphrenas, as they easily survive both dry times and the most humid. Of course, from an excess of water, the plant can die as well as from its insufficient amount. Plants are grown only fromseeds.
Plants of this type are indescribably beautiful. You can watch their flowering for centuries, as it is not like everyone else. What is their characteristic difference? They can bloom until the most real frosts, while not losing their brightness and richness of buds. To obtain such a result, efforts must be made to care for and sow the seeds.
You should not plant plants in open ground, as gomphrena is not intended for such manipulations. This is unacceptable, based on the fact that the plant has a long ripening period, and by planting it incorrectly, you risk not waiting for the buds to bloom. It is necessary to prepare the land from the beginning of March to avoid unpleasant situations.
Preparing seeds for planting
How to grow a gomphrenu plant from seeds at home? Pour the required amount of seeds for seedlings into a small glass jar, then fill them with warm water. In order for the water not to cool down, you can put the jar on the battery. So it is necessary to change the water every day for four days.
After this period, you need to drain the water and rinse the finished gomphrena seeds with warm water, preferably boiled. Now it must undergo a course of seed cooling. Transfer them to an empty dry jar and refrigerate. Mind your own business, leaving the seeds for about 1.5 weeks.
Now you need to prepare the soil for gomphrena, a photo of which can be seen in the article. It is necessary to mix the soil with the selected fertilizer. It is important to remember that the resulting substance is notshould be wet, but only slightly moistened. If you do not know how to determine soil moisture, try squeezing a small piece of earth and throwing it down at a distance of 30 cm from the floor. If the ground is not very wet, then the lump will disintegrate in the same second when it comes into contact with any surface.
Now distribute the resulting soil into seed cassettes. After distributing the earth, tamp it so that it is not porous. Don't forget to put some more soil on top. Do not forget that the surface of the cassettes must be looser than its internal environment. The last thing to do, as you might have guessed, is to water the prepared cassettes.
Planting seeds
How is the cultivation of gomphrena spherical seeds carried out further? Prepare small holes for planting seeds. Remove pre-prepared seeds from the refrigerator and start planting. To avoid that some sections of the cassettes will not germinate, try to plant two seeds in each of the recesses. Do not worry, if two grow, they will not interfere with each other, on the contrary, they will be quite comfortable. It is necessary to cover the planted seeds with soil again.
If the cassette is small, then try to put it in a plastic bag and put it on the windowsill in the sun. If the size of the cassette does not allow using only the cassette, cover the seeds with cling film. If you have a small heater, put it near the cassettes, this will speed up their germination.
The first germination you will seein four days already. After this time, remove the film and remove the heater if you have used it.
Water seedlings
Water seedlings must be done correctly and in normal quantities. Do not try to water the plants constantly. This will cause the plant to become waterlogged, after which it will simply fall down, as the stem will not be able to withstand even the smallest leaves.
If suddenly this has already happened, try to lay ashes on the surface of the soil. During its duration, forget about watering the earth.
Caring for gomphrenia
So we got to the care of a germinating plant. Gomphrena is a picky plant, so the choice of soil is up to you. The only rule to follow is to choose a piece of land that is constantly lit by the sun. In this place, your future gomphrena will grow. After digging up this area, make small indentations for the sprouts with your fingers. The approximate distance between two plants should not exceed 25 cm.
Don't use fertilizers like manure. It contains too many vitamins, which is an excess for ornamental plants of this type.
Carefully try to remove the sprouted gomphrenes in the cassettes, and then proceed to planting on the site. Approximate landing time - the end of May. It should be borne in mind that the weather for the next three days at this time should be sunny. The temperature on such days should be at least 16 degrees.
Feeding gomphrena
For the mostproductive growth of gomphrena, it is necessary to feed it with various mixtures that contain minerals. Nutrition occurs in the first month and a half, since it is during this period that the roots “get used” to the soil.
However, do not get carried away with this, as in the case of water, this can lead to disastrous results. For example, a plant may be left without a flower.
Water gomphrenia
Gomphrena, as already mentioned, is unpretentious: drought does not frighten her. But this does not mean that it does not need watering at all. It is enough to water the plant 1-2 times in two weeks. In moments when you physically do not have time to do this, do not worry - the food will be provided by the leaves through photosynthesis. Thus, without watering, it can last a week, after which it is imperative to water the plant.
Winter period
The gomphrena plant does not survive the winter very well. Annuals generally die during this period, and perennials try to survive until spring, but it is very difficult for them. If you decide to plant peers, then you should not worry so much, because in any case you will have to dig them up and prepare to plant new ones next year. If you planted perennials, then the situation is certainly more complicated. In this case, you need to transplant all the plants into pots and take them home in a warm place. But not everyone has enough space for more than 30 plants. In this case, an ordinary old carpet will help you, with which it is desirable to cover the plants for the winter. The last way iscutting leaves and flowers so that gomphrena will bloom again next year. It would seem that the method is easy, but in fact it is the most deadly for flowers: the life of plants is reduced.
Homfrena Breeding
Gomfrenu spherical, the photo of which is presented in this article, can only be bred with seeds obtained after annual flowering. After you collect the seeds of the plant, you need to repeat all the same steps for preparing for sowing that we described earlier: planting takes place in the soil prepared in advance, planting dates for the garden are the end of May, the beginning of June.
Conclusion
Globular gomphrena is a herbaceous plant for open ground that even an inexperienced gardener can grow. This process is quite easy, especially if a person follows the simple rules and recommendations for care, which were described in detail in our article. However, do not forget that this plant is very difficult to tolerate winters, especially Russian ones. During this period of time, special attention should be paid to culture in order to try to preserve it. In warm regions of Russia, this will be easier. At the same time, each gardener can choose for himself the variety that he likes, because there are several of them. Thanks to this, you can create an incredibly beautiful flower bed in your suburban area, you just need to show a little imagination.
