Planting, growing and caring for crocuses in the open field
Many summer residents are trying to decorate their summer cottages with beautiful flowers. Most often, saffron or crocus are planted in the garden or in flower beds. This herbaceous plant is distinguished from other flowers by its bright color and long flowering. Before planting a flower, you need to understand the peculiarities of planting and caring for crocuses in the open field.
Features of culture: the nuances of application in landscape design
Crocuses are considered to be one of the most common plants used in landscaping. They are used to decorate flower beds, ridges and mixborders. Many experienced landscape designers recommend combining crocuses with other flowers to create beautiful flower arrangements. The plant goes well with daffodils, hyacinths and even tulips.
Using saffron in landscaping, it is planted next to undersized flowers. This helps to create a unique and vibrant composition that can beautify any area.
Growing conditions
Before you start growing a plant, you will have to figure out the optimal conditions for its further growth.
Illumination
When growing crocuses, you need to take care of the lighting level in advance. Some people think that they should be grown right away in bright rooms, but this is not the case. The first 2-3 weeks, seedlings are germinated in a dark place, without sunlight. After the appearance of the first sprout, the container with the seedling is first brought into the light.
If the surface of the sprout is loose, it means that the light stage has not yet arrived and therefore you should not transfer the flower to the light. We'll have to wait another 5-8 days. When the flowering phase begins, the saffron will have to be moved to a shaded area for a week and a half.
Temperature regime
The quality of the planted seedlings and the duration of their flowering depend on compliance with the temperature regime. It is necessary to observe the temperature even before planting crocuses in the garden. First, the tubers are stored at 30 degrees Celsius for ten days, after which the temperature is gradually lowered to 20 degrees. Then the seed is hardened so that it gets used to temperature extremes.For this, it is stored for a week and a half in a cool room, where the temperature does not rise above ten degrees.
Planted flowers grow best at temperatures of 15-20 degrees.
Optimum humidity
When growing flowers, you need to monitor the humidity level so that it does not rise much. To maintain optimum soil moisture, you need to take care of good drainage. Experts recommend planting crocuses in loose soil, which allows water to pass through well and ensures normal air circulation.
Required soil composition
Crocuses are very easy to grow if you plant them in the most suitable soil for such a flower. Experts advise planting flower tubers in light, drained soil that is rich in nutrients. To make the plant grow better, overripe manure, a little compost mixed with sand and wood ash are added to the soil in advance.
It is contraindicated to feed a flowerbed with planted crocus bushes with fresh manure, as this may cause the plant to dry out.
Neighborhood
Before choosing a place for planting a crocus, you need to familiarize yourself with the plants near which it is best to grow it. Many gardeners plant it near such perennial plants:
- phlox;
- geychera;
- hydrangea.
The aforementioned perennials quickly grow in breadth and protect crocus seedlings from the sun. Thanks to this, their leaves turn yellow and fall less often.
How and when to plant crocus bulbs
To plant saffron correctly, you will have to deal with the timing and peculiarities of planting it.
Timing
There are autumn and spring planting dates for crocus bulbs. Therefore, before planting them, you must decide when it is best to do it.
Autumn before winter
Some growers are engaged in planting flowers in the fall. Most often this is done in October, when the ground has not yet frozen from the nighttime temperature drops. Residents of Moldova, Ukraine and the southern regions of Russia can plant almost until the end of autumn.
Gardeners who live in the Urals will have to plant flowers early. Planting work must be completed by the twentieth of September. Bulbs cannot be planted in October due to cold weather.
In the spring
People who did not have time to plant seedlings in the fall have to plant them in the spring. In springtime, it is necessary to plant pre-germinated crocus bushes in the flower beds. In this case, it is necessary to transplant when the soil is heated to 8-10 degrees. In the southern regions, the land warms up to this temperature by mid-April. Residents of Siberia will have to wait a bit, until mid or late May.
Depth and landing pattern
People who have never been involved in planting flowers are interested in how deep to plant crocuses. Experienced flower growers advise to deepen the tubers by 10-12 centimeters deeper. To make the first shoots appear faster, the seed can be planted higher - at a depth of 5-6 centimeters.
During planting, you need to monitor the distance between the holes. They should be 15-20 centimeters apart from each other. If you plant flowers too close, they will grow slower due to lack of nutrients and light.
How to care for a plant in the garden
Having planted young crocuses in the garden, they must be properly looked after.
Watering and feeding
Adherence to agricultural techniques for growing saffron will help grow healthy flowers. When caring for a plant, it must be properly watered and fed. If the area with the planted plants was covered with a dense layer of snow in winter, it is not necessary to water. A large amount of moisture negatively affects the growth of crocuses. However, if there was no snow, you will have to moisten the soil every 2-3 months.
Top dressing is applied once - when planting the bulbs. Potash and phosphorus fertilizers are applied to the soil.
Loosening the soil
Some people think that loosening the soil is not necessary, but this is not the case. In order for the flowers to grow and bloom normally, you need to regularly loosen the soil. This promotes the supply of oxygen and moisture to the topsoil. Loosening is recommended after each watering and lingering rains, when the ground is covered with a dense crust.
Flower pests and diseases: prevention and treatment
Crocuses that are planted often suffer from viral diseases, due to which deformation and cracking of the petals appear. Also, viral ailments lead to a stop in the growth of seedlings and yellowing of the leaves. For the prevention and elimination of diseases, crocuses are treated with fungicidal solutions.
Popular pests that often attack the flower include:
- aphid;
- slugs;
- scoops;
- rodents.
To prevent pests from appearing on the flowers, they will have to be planted near cultivated plants.
Transfer to a new location
Crocuses must be repotted every five years. In this case, planting in a new place is carried out at the same time as the usual planting of bulbs.
Before planting, all the bulbs are dug up and thoroughly dried in a room with room temperature for about three months. Then the exfoliated scales are trimmed and the old roots are cut off. After that, the dried and trimmed bulbs are planted in the ground.
Crocuses after flowering
Novice growers do not know what to do with crocuses when the flowering is over.
What time do you need to dig up the bulbs
After flowering is complete, it is recommended to dig up the bulbs for winter storage. This is done when all the petals have fallen on the plant. Most often, the bulbs are dug out during the dormant period, which begins at the twentieth of June and ends at the end of August. However, some varieties of crocuses can bloom longer and are therefore dug up several weeks later.
How to store bulbs
The bulbs extracted from the soil are washed from the remnants of the earth and dried in a shaded place, which is protected from the sun. They must be stored at a temperature of 18-20 degrees. After 2-3 months, the bulbs can be placed in a cooler place.
Crocus reproduction
Crocuses breed in two ways, which should be familiar with in advance.
Seeds
The easiest way is to propagate the flowers with seeds collected from adult plants. Seeding is carried out in late summer or in the first half of September. Before planting, the seed is treated in manganese liquid and in stimulants, which accelerate the growth of the planted crocus seeds.
Bulbs
Some flower growers prefer to plant not seeds in a flower bed, but sprouted bulbs. The main advantage of this method of growing flowers is that it is possible to obtain healthier seedlings that are resistant to most diseases.
For planting, large tubers are chosen, the size of which is 5-6 centimeters. On their surface there should be no damage or signs of decay.
Why don't they bloom
Sometimes planted crocuses stop blooming. There are several reasons for this problem.
Incorrect fit
Flowering problems can arise from improper planting of saffron. The plant blooms more slowly if the planting is too close. Therefore, when planting, it is necessary to ensure that the bushes are at a sufficient distance from each other. Also, flowers do not bloom due to non-compliance with planting dates and improper care.
Excessive division
Sometimes the mother's bulb gives a lot of babies, which negatively affects the development of the flower. In this case, most of the nutrients are spent on the development of daughter bulbs, and therefore flowering may be delayed or not start at all. In case of excessive division, it is necessary to remove all young bulbs so that they do not interfere with the growth of the plant.
Pests
Plants can stop blooming due to the fact that they are attacked by dangerous pests. Most often, crocuses suffer from rodents that feed on mature bulbs. Due to serious damage, flower buds cease to form on the bushes, and the plant gradually dies. To protect the seedlings from rodents, you will have to plant them in plastic containers.
Wrong variety selected
There are spring flowering and autumn flowering flowers that are planted at different times. Inexperienced gardeners who have not previously planted crocuses often confuse varieties, which leads to poor flowering and slow growth of the seedlings. Therefore, in order to avoid confusion, it is necessary to figure out in advance which variety is planted in the garden..
Conclusion
People who want to decorate their area with flowers sometimes plant crocuses. Before planting plants, you need to understand the peculiarities of growing bulbs in the open field and how to properly care for them.
