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Growing Gypsophila Paniculata
Growing Gypsophila Paniculata

Video: Growing Gypsophila Paniculata

Video: Growing Gypsophila Paniculata
Video: Planting and growing Gypsophila Paniculata at Home. 2024, March
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Gypsophila paniculata - a beautiful and fragrant plant for your garden

Gypsophila paniculata
Gypsophila paniculata

If you happen to see in some garden in the middle of a lawn or in a flower garden a delicate openwork cloud about a meter in diameter, then this is it - paniculata gypsophila. An amazing flower, unlike any other.

More precisely, this is not a flower, but a huge armful of the smallest flowers, white or pink. Because gypsophila is a ball-shaped bush consisting of branching shoots, and the higher, the stronger the branching. At the very surface of the ball, these are already short and thin, like threads, shoots, ending in tiny flowers.

Actually, the entire surface of the ball consists of such flowers. And all this structure exudes a pleasant aroma, so there are constantly swarming, feeding on nectar, all kinds of insects - bees, hoverflies and others.

Here is such a miracle - this gypsophila is paniculata, she is also swinging - a perennial herb of the clove family. This is one of the most interesting types of gypsophila. Translated from Latin, its name sounds like "lime lover". Already by this name alone, many growers whose gypsophila did not want to grow for more than a couple of years can understand one of the main reasons for failure - this is a lack of lime in the soil.

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There is one more circumstance that complicates the life of a plant in many gardens of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region: the close standing of groundwater. Gypsophila has an incredibly long taproot that seems to be able to grow through the earth to Canada. But, having reached the ground water, it suffocates, rots, the plant dies. Once I tried to transplant an adult plant to another place. I had to dig up the root.

It was as thick as a human hand, somewhere at a depth of about 80 cm, it split in two and climbed further down, depriving me of hope to get to its end. I had to abandon plans. Now this bush is already 25 years old. It is because of the presence of such a root that it is impossible to transplant an adult plant. Therefore, if you happened to buy a young root of gypsophila paniculata, you must plant it immediately in a permanent place, forever.

There are several varieties of gypsophila, which differ in the doubleness of the flowers, their color, and the height of the bush. In an ordinary off-grade variety, the flowers are simple, not very white, small - only a few millimeters in diameter. The leaves are small, narrow, the whole plant is grayish-greenish. In some varieties, the color of the flowers is pale pink.

In double varieties of gypsophila, the flowers are larger, snow-white, like tiny carnations. You can only admire them up close. From a distance, such trifles are not visible, just the bush looks more ponderous. In a bouquet, these flowers are more interesting than non-double ones.

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There is also a creeping gypsophila - a ground cover undersized form. It is used for planting on alpine slides. The height of such a plant is 15 cm.

Gypsophila paniculata in our area winters well without any shelter, moreover, it requires minimal maintenance. By this, and not only by its external sophistication, it is very attractive for gardeners.

Let's try to grow this plant in our garden. This can be done in three ways:

-

Seed. To do this, you need to buy seeds in a store or get them from neighbors and sow them for seedlings.

- Buy the root of a yearling plant in the spring stor

- Get cuttings of gypsophila from neighbors or friend

Seed method

Seeds are easy to propagate non-double forms. What they sowed is what they got. It is difficult to propagate terry forms by seeds. Firstly, they give out very few seeds in general, moreover, no more than 10% of terry plants grow from this small amount.

Sowing seeds in the ground. You can immediately sow seeds in a permanent place in the spring. Then you don't need to transplant and bother with different transplants. It is important to ensure that the crops do not dry out and that the seedlings do not die from drying out of the soil.

Sowing seedlings. Gypsophila seeds are very small, remain viable for 2-3 years. You can sow them in March - April in a container 7-8 cm deep and, without falling asleep with earth, cover with glass on top. Seedlings will appear in about two weeks. When the seedlings have their first true leaf, you can plant them in a permanent place.

I am using another way. I sow in the second half of March in tubes made of newspaper in two layers with a diameter of 2.5-3 cm and a height of 7-8 cm. I fill these tubes with soil (I take what is prepared for sowing peppers, add dolomite flour), insert them into plastic cassettes designed for sowing seeds. I sow 2-3 seeds into each tube, sprinkle everything with water, put it in a plastic bag, put it in a warm place with a temperature of + 20 … + 22oС for germination.

When the first true leaf appears in the seedlings, I cut off the weak plants, leaving one seedling in a tube. I walk the crops every day in the open air, removing the package. I start with 5 minutes and then increase the walking time every day. Then I shoot the film completely. You can also grow seedlings in peat pots.

Planting seedlings in the ground. You can plant seedlings in the ground in a permanent place at any summer time, preferably later in the second half of August, so that the plants take root thoroughly before winter. The seedlings must be covered with a jar and shaded with a newspaper. It is helpful to spray them daily with water. During the first two years, plants can be transplanted with a clod of earth to another place. Experienced gardeners will not let the transplanted plants die. It is useless to transplant later: they will not survive anyway, and if they survived, they will be stunted and will not live long.

Propagation of gypsophila by cuttings

This type of reproduction is used for terry forms. Cuttings are taken in early spring, they take root very difficult even with the use of heteroauxin. The method is within the power of experienced florists.

There is also a method of spring grafting of cuttings of terry species into the splitting of the root of a non-terry plant. To be successful, you need to have practical vaccination skills.

Planting a purchased gypsophila seedling

If you happen to buy a root of a terry plant in a store, and such roots are usually sold in February, immediately plant it in the soil and store the planting in the refrigerator or other cool place. In the spring, after hardening, plant it in a permanent place in the garden.

Conditions for growing gypsophila

Gypsophila paniculata
Gypsophila paniculata

The plant does not tolerate heavy clay soils, shade and dampness. Prefers sunny places with loose, dry soils rich in lime. Well-drained sandy loam, light loam, well-filled with humus sandy soils - this is for her. Near ground waters, absence of stagnant water are required. You can not bring manure into the planting pit.

The distance between plants, if you plant several pieces, is at least 70 cm, because these tiny seedlings grow quickly, and after 2-3 years you will get voluminous blooming balls.

Plants are good in solitary plantings, they look amazingly beautiful among rose bushes, as well as in mixborders. You can plant them just for cutting, because Gypsophila paniculata is good for decorating bouquets, as well as for various arrangements.

Caring for plants is very simple, as the plant is very unpretentious. In dry weather, young seedlings need to be watered. Every year you need to feed them with ash, add lime or dolomite flour to the soil. And, of course, to feed. Over the summer, it is enough to make two dressings: with a full mineral fertilizer and also organic matter: a tincture of grass or manure.

After flowering is complete, the stems of the plants can be pruned to stimulate the growth of root shoots. In the first 2-3 years for the winter, it is advisable to cover young seedlings with spruce branches in case of a winter with little snow.

Lyubov Bobrovskaya

Photo by Natalia Butyagina

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