How to grow a delphinium from seeds: tips

Delphinium - a representative of the family of buttercups. A poisonous flower is one-, two-, and perennial. It tolerates low temperatures and grows up to 2 m in height. Blue, pink and pale white delphiniums adorn the gardens and use them to decorate walls and fences vertically. Ready seedlings of exotic flowers will cost a decent amount. It is more profitable to buy seeds and grow the delphinium with his own hands.

Where to buy seed

Only employees of reputable nurseries and breeders know how to properly store seed. Seeds of exotic flowers lose their vitality at room temperature. The billet is kept in the refrigerator or special chambers, where it is always dry, and the thermometer does not show more than zero.

Delphinium, sold in the markets or in supermarkets, 60-80% does not germinate. It is not a gardener who used the wrong substrate or fertilizer, but the seed itself. Market traders do not know how to create the right conditions for exotic flowers. Packed seeds in paper bags and kept warm with the rest of the plants. The result is a lack of germination and wasted money.

Ask for seeds of delphinium can be the neighbors who are engaged in the cultivation of bright bushes. With healthy and well-developed plants cut several brown boxes. Saturated color indicates that the flowers are ripe. Some rip off specimens that are only covered with brown spots and store in a cool place until the blanks change their shade.

Seeds are gently poured on a clean sheet, dried and placed in glass jars. Capacities put in the refrigerator or the freezer, take out on a balcony or a verandah. At sub-zero temperatures, seed is stored for up to 15 years. To "wake up" the delphinium, it is enough to stratify and plant the seeds in the ground.

Plant preparation

The seed is first disinfected:

1. Prepare a saturated pink solution of potassium permanganate or fungicide. Recommend "Fitosporin" or "Maxim", which is diluted with water according to the instructions.
2. Delphinium seeds put in a fabric bag and immerse in disinfectant liquid for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the workpiece and wash off the rest of the solution with running water, then put it on a saucer and soak it.

The liquid should be small, add a few drops of "Epin" or "Zircon" to it. Means stimulate growth and increase the percentage of germination. What to do after soaking?

1. After 24 hours, the dressing should be drained, and the seeds should be laid out in a thin layer on a wet layer on gauze or a piece of cotton fabric.
2. Roll the rag not too tight roll and put in a plastic container.
3. Put the seed container in the fridge and add 10–20 ml of water each time so that it covers only the bottom of the gauze roll.
4. When there is too much fluid, the seeds do not breathe and begin to rot.
5. An alternative to water is wet moss, which is shifted by fabric rolls with a delphinium.

Keep the seed in the refrigerator for about a week.When small white dots hatch, the workpiece is moved to the window sill and kept under fitolamps or fluorescent for several days. Germinated and heated seeds are planted in open ground or boxes with a special substrate.

Some gardeners in early spring soak the seed, wrapped in gauze and put in plastic bags. The workpiece is buried in the ground and left for 1-2 weeks. They do it in April, when the snow starts to melt and the temperature fluctuates from - 5–10 to + 3–6 degrees.

Outdoor cultivation

Seeds of the annual delphinium are recommended to be planted immediately in open ground in mid-April or early May. The soil is carefully prepared, making water. On 1 m2 of land will need:

• peat and humus - 2 kg;
• wood ashes - 100–150 g;
• nitrophoska - 20–30 ml.

Coarse sand is necessarily added to the heavy soil. Per square meter about a bucket and a half, so that the ground becomes more loose and moisture permeable. In the land with high acidity bring 20-30 g of lime, otherwise the delphinium will be weak and dull.

The components are thoroughly mixed, poured into the beds and dug up the soil in the depths of 25-30 cm.The territory intended for the cultivation of exotic flowers is carefully leveled, breaking up lumps and removing the remains of weeds. The site is slightly tamped and covered with shallow grooves.

The beds are filled with filtered water and sown with germinated seeds. Cover the future bushes with a centimeter layer of sifted earth. Protect from frost and rain with a thick film or tarpaulin. The soil is regularly ventilated and moistened, and on days 20–25 after germination fully open.

How to care for delphinium saplings

1. Ensure that the earth does not dry out.
2. Fertilize periodically: first nitrogenous, after flowering feed with phosphorus, and at the end of August and early September to feed with potassium.
3. Loosen the soil and clean weeds.

This is enough for the plant to develop normally, form buds in a timely manner and throw out buds.

From fridge to drawer

Growing perennial delphiniums is troublesome, but interesting. Seeds are disinfected and stratified, and after they are planted not in open ground, but wooden or plastic boxes with a depth of 10–20 cm.

While the planting material swells and germinates, prepare the substrate. Mixed:

• leafy or soddy land;
• sand;
• humus.

Take components by eye to get a light loose soil that lets air through and does not trap excess moisture. Peat is desirable not to add. It will make the substrate too acidic, and the delphiniums will turn pale.

Replace peat with wood ash: 100 g of the additive on the bucket of the finished substrate. An alternative to organic makeup is the mineral complex. A tablespoon of fertilizer for 10-12 liters of land.

Fill 2/3 of the box with the prepared substrate, not forgetting about the drainage layer. Spread germinated seeds. On 1 square. see accounted for 1-2 pieces. Sowing material is small, therefore it is recommended to use a wooden toothpick:

• Moisten the sharp tip in water.
• Gently pick up the seed.
• Put it in the box, slightly squeezing into the ground.

Sprinkle the future seedlings with a thin layer of the substrate, tamp with a sheet of paper or glass. Cover the box with a sacking cloth or a piece of cardboard to prevent light from entering the seeds, and send the delphinium to a cool room. Maintain a temperature in the room no higher than +15, otherwise the flower will not rise.Periodically moisten the soil with a spray bottle or a small watering can with a strainer on the spout.

Delphinium is contraindicated for abundant watering, otherwise rot or black stem appear on the plant, and the seedlings die. The temperature should not fall below +12.

The first shoots will turn in 8-10 days, maximum - 3 weeks. Only 60–70% of the seeds usually germinate, even if the seed was of high quality, and the gardener carefully prepared it. Weak seedlings need the sun, so the box with the seedlings are moved to the window sill. The temperature is gradually increased to +20 so that the delphinium feels comfortable.

If the seeds were planted at the end of February or the beginning of March, when the daylight is not long enough, thin seedlings should be lit up with fitolamps so that it does not stretch and weaken.

Dive is carried out after the formation of the third full leaf.

How to seat a delphinium

Saplings of an exotic flower are planted in peat pots. Ordinary plastic, filled with a nutrient substrate with the addition of mineral fertilizers will do.Peat tablets are recommended to soak in a solution of the fungicide to protect the delphinium from the black leg.

Seedlings in a box before picking pour water to soften the ground. The young sapling is separated from the rest with a spatula or with hands, trying not to injure the root system. Remove from the box with a lump of soil. Do not scrape the earth, but immediately transfer the flower to a new pot. Leave the cotyledon on the ground surface.

The transplanted delphinium is watered in 2–3 days. The plant will take time to adapt and settle down. 3 weeks after the picking, the seedlings are fed with mineral fertilizers intended for roses, or organic solutions. For example, from wood ash or mullein.

In a healthy delphinium leaves are saturated green. If the top is faded, the flower needs more sun or top dressing.

Preparing for the natural environment

In the open ground, an exotic plant is transferred in early or mid-May. The main thing is that at night the air temperature does not fall below +10. Light frosts will not harm young bushes, and severe frosts can destroy seedlings.

To delphinium quickly caught on in the garden, it is hardened. In the afternoon they put on the illuminated window-sill and open the windows. Seedlings will get used to ultraviolet and cool air. Flowers can be hardened on the balcony, but at night you must bring it into the house.

To seedlings grown with such difficulty, did not die after transplantation, you need to choose the correct area:

1. One of the main conditions is a lot of morning sun. After lunch, a shadow should fall on the plants.
2. It is not allowed to melt or rain water on the plot with delphiniums.
3. To plant flowers at a decent distance from shrubs and trees. Their root system will dominate and draw all the nutrients from the soil, depriving the delphinium of food.
4. High exotic bushes can break from strong gusts of wind, so they are recommended to be planted near the house or the fence, which will protect the plant.

Between flowers, a distance of 40–60 cm is observed. A mixture of humus, lime, wood ash, and mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen is added to the pits. The root neck and buds are left on the surface of the earth.

Perennial delphinium is fed in the same way as the one-year one:

• spring nitrogen fertilizer is applied;
• when flowers wilt, phosphoric composition;
• in early August, fertilized with potassium.

Important: If at the end of May - beginning of June the flower stalks of the delphinium fell, there is no need to add an additional portion of fertilizer. The symptoms point to a yellow heart-shaped moth that lays eggs in the root part of the plant. To prevent insect infestation, delphinium bushes are sprayed with insecticides in the spring and summer.

After flowering, the withered twigs are cut, and the hole is covered with clay so that no water accumulates inside the stem. Moisture contributes to the decay of the plant. Every 4-6 years, the bush is transplanted to a new place, because the flower gradually depletes the ground.

Long-term delphinium will be a garden decoration. It is necessary to take care of two-meter bushes only in the first year of life, then it is enough to water and loosen the ground in a timely manner, periodically clean the area from weeds and carry out preventive spraying with insecticides.

Video: The secret of delphinium seed success