Description of types and varieties of cellosis, planting and care, growing from seeds
In order for the site to play with bright colors, it is enough to plant a celosia on it. This plant can be with a scallop, paniculate or spike-shaped inflorescence, the color of which has a varied color palette. Bushes are planted not only in open ground, but also in pots, hanging pots, used in vases in winter as dried flowers. Planting and caring for the plant is not difficult, even an inexperienced gardener can cope with its cultivation.
Description and features
In natural conditions, the flower reaches a height of 1 meter, in home gardens it grows up to half a meter. The stems of the celosia are thick, firm, slightly ribbed. They are green in color, some varieties have a reddish tint. Celosia is a herbaceous perennial flower, cultivated in plots as an annual.
The leaves of the plant are oval, with smooth or wavy edges. Small flowers form large inflorescences of various color palettes. In shape, they are of 3 types: comb, spikelet, feathery. At the end of the season, a capsule with small black seeds inside is formed.
Additional Information. Celosia is not only a beautiful, but also a healing plant: it is used to treat inflammatory diseases, boost immunity. The plant oil is used for the preparation of cosmetics.
Growing from seeds
Celosia is grown by the seed method, sowing it first on seedlings, then transplanting the seedlings into open ground.
Sowing seedlings
The seeding time is calculated so that when the bushes are transplanted into open ground, the threat of frost is avoided. From sowing seeds to planting seedlings, 35-45 days pass. You can sow in a greenhouse or in boxes that are kept on a heated loggia or veranda.
Seed preparation
Since the seed coat is hard, pre-soaking is required. For this, a solution of Zircon or Epin is used at a dosage of 1 drop per 200 grams of water. The seeds are immersed in the emulsion for 3-4 hours.
Timing
In the southern regions, sowing begins in mid-March, in areas with a more severe climate - in early April. When planting cellosis within these periods, the young seedlings will have time to get stronger, harden and easily transfer the transplant.The time for sowing seeds in open ground is the end of April or the beginning of May. The soil must be covered with a film to protect it from frost, as well as for faster germination of seedlings.
Landing scheme
Seeds are sown in shallow boxes filled with loose soil. It is moistened with a spray bottle, then the seed is spread at a distance of 2-3 centimeters from the seed to the seed. A small layer of sand is sprinkled on top. So that you do not have to dive the cellosis, it can be sown in peat pots, which are then planted in open ground.
Watering
Watering is done as needed. The soil should not be dry, but constantly wet soil can lead to plant diseases. Seedlings need to be sprayed with water from a spray bottle: in this case, there will be no waterlogging, and the seeds will not go deep from watering.
Airing
After sowing, the box is covered with glass or foil to create a greenhouse environment. Every day the mini-greenhouse is ventilated, otherwise a fungus may form, which has a detrimental effect on the seedlings. When the first shoots appear, the shelter is removed.
Condensate removal
When airing a mini-greenhouse, condensation is removed from the glass or film. This should be done to prevent the formation of pathogens. Fungus formed in a humid environment can kill seedlings.
Backlight
In spring, daylight hours are short, so the seedlings need to be illuminated. Phytolamps are used for this. Additional lighting is applied in the morning and evening.
Picking
When 2-3 leaves appear on the seedlings, they are thinned out, leaving a distance of 4-5 centimeters between them. The removed plants can also be planted in seedling boxes. When the seedlings reach 10-12 centimeters, they are planted in separate containers. If celosia is transplanted into peat pots, then planted, the material, rotting, will serve as additional food.
Top dressing
Seedlings are fertilized twice: the first time after planting, the second time - 2 weeks before planting the seedlings in the flower bed. For this, a complex feeding is used, consisting of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, as well as other useful substances. Before watering celosia with fertilizers, the soil is moistened with plain water.
Important! Before planting in a permanent place, the bushes must be taken out for 30-60 minutes to fresh air for hardening.
Landing in open ground
The site for planting the celosia should be well lit by the sun's rays, protected from strong gusts of wind. The bushes prefer light, breathable soil. If the soil has an acidic reaction, it must be lime beforehand.
When to plant
In open ground, seedlings are planted from mid-May. During this period, the land is already well warmed up, and the threat of frost has passed. By this time, the cellosi bushes are strong and hardened, ready for transplantation to a permanent place.
Features:
The seedlings have a delicate root system, so the transplant must be done very carefully. For this, the plants are removed from the pots and, without breaking the earthy coma, are planted in open ground. Tall bushes are planted at a distance of 25-30 centimeters from one another, for undersized plantings a distance of 15-20 centimeters is enough.
Care
Plants planted in a flower bed require timely watering, loosening, feeding, protection from diseases and pests. In this case, they will delight with flowering until frost.
Watering
When watering cellosis, it must be borne in mind that it will more easily tolerate a short-term drought than waterlogging. Even if the plant is a little wilted, it will recover after the first watering. It is preferable to moisturize the flower in the morning, before the burning rays of the sun appear. In too dry summers, cellosis can be sprayed from above.
Diseases and pests
Like every plant, celosia can be subject to disease and pest infestations. This is most often due to improper care.
Blackleg
When bushes are frequently watered, or the soil on which they grow is too dense and water stagnates in the upper layers, a condition called black leg can occur. The affected bushes are removed, the ground under them is irrigated with antifungal drugs. Further watering is reduced, after the procedure, the soil is loosened for air access to the roots.
Note! Celosia will tolerate short-term drought more easily than excessive soil moisture.
Aphid
Aphid colonies are able to destroy cellosia by sucking juice from the trunks and leaves. To get rid of it, use insecticides. Gardeners who do not allow the use of chemicals can use a solution of the following composition:
- 400 grams of water;
- 200 grams of vegetable oil;
- 20 grams of grated laundry soap.
The ingredients are thoroughly mixed, filtered through cheesecloth. Bushes are sprayed with a suspension in the evening every 2 days.
Top dressing
Celosia can develop without the use of fertilizers, but their use will contribute to a more decorative look of the bushes. Under the plantings, you need to shed a complex fertilizing for flowering plants. The frequency of fertilization is 1-2 times a month. Before the procedure, the celosia is irrigated with plain water.
Loosening
So that the bushes are not struck by fungal diseases, as well as for air access to the roots, after each watering, you need to loosen the soil. During this procedure, weeds are simultaneously removed, which drowns out the development of flowers. To retain moisture and prevent weed growth, the soil around the bushes is mulched.
Wintering
Celosia is not a frost-resistant plant, therefore, when cold weather sets in, it dies. If the bushes grow in containers, then in the fall they are brought into a warm room. At a temperature of + 5 ° C, flowering stops.
After flowering
When the flower ends blooming, the grower can collect seed material for breeding cellosis in the next season.
Collection and storage of seeds
To collect seeds, you need to follow these steps:
- cut the stems with peduncles;
- set them in a vase without liquid, where they mature and dry;
- put the container with the plant on paper or newspaper, on which the ripe seeds will fall.
The collected seed material is collected, put in paper bags, stored in a dry room.
Wintering
Since cellosia is not winter-hardy, after flowering in late autumn, it is dug up and burned. Since it is a dried flower, the stems with inflorescences can be cut and hung to dry, or immediately placed in a vase. In this case, the colors of the cellosi will fade a little, but, nevertheless, it will serve as a winter decoration of the room.
Advice! To admire the spectacular inflorescences of celosia all winter, you need to cut the flower arrows and put them in a vase without water.
Kinds
In nature, there are more than 60 types of cellosis. For cultivation in gardens, 3 of them are common: silver comb, spikelet, silver pinnate.
Silver comb
Celosia of this species reaches a height of 45 centimeters. She has large green leaves, cast with metal, and rounded or umbellate inflorescences. The top is shaped like a scallop, for which it is called scallop celosia. It blooms spectacularly until the very frost, next to it paniculata celosia is beautifully combined.
Silver feathery
Paniculate or feathery cellosia reaches a height of 1 meter, but some varieties are undersized, and even dwarf. The plant got its name for the inflorescences in the form of panicles. Their color ranges from yellow to dark red.
Spikelet
This type of tall cellosis is not yet in demand among gardeners, but, nevertheless, it is no less effective than other types. The spike-shaped flower arrow is white, yellow, orange, red. Plants look spectacular when dried.
Popular varieties
Each type of celosia is represented by different plant varieties, the most popular of them are described below.
Impress
The leaves of this variety of crested comb are colored purple. Inflorescences have the same color.
Atropurpurea
The stem of the cellosia has a comb-like pink-red color. Leaves are green, oblong; convex veins are purple in color.
Imperialis
The variety is undersized: in height, the bushes of celosia comb grow no higher than 25 centimeters. Its leaves are dark red, almost burgundy. The inflorescences are colored purple.
Goldfeder
This is one of the varieties of silver feathery celosia. The color of the inflorescences of the plant is golden yellow. The height of low-growing bushes is 23-25 centimeters.
Thomsoni Magnifica
The plant reaches a height of 80 centimeters. The foliage is green, the paniculate inflorescences are burgundy.
Fakelshine
The same tall plant, but the feathery inflorescences are colored red.
New Look
The height of the bushes is about 40 centimeters. Large feathery inflorescences are colored red.
Caracas
This is a tall variety: with good care it reaches a height of 1 meter. The leaves of the celosia are green, the inflorescences are pink-purple.
Flamingo
The bushes are tall, erect, their height is about 80 centimeters. The spike-shaped flower arrows are colored pink.
Use in landscape design
Celosia is loved not only by amateur gardeners, but also by landscape designers. Flower beds are decorated with it, low-growing varieties are hung in pots, or grown in pots, creating a mix of bushes of different colors in them. Celosia can be a backdrop for ground cover plants, as well as a medium for taller decorative deciduous green spaces.
Reviews
According to flower lovers, celosia is an unpretentious plant that even a novice gardener can grow. For this reason, the flower is a welcome guest of a rabatka, flower beds, mixborder.
Natalia, Krasnodar:
I sowed the seeds in May immediately into the ground, covered with a film. The spring was warm and my flowers rose quickly. In the summer I only watered, did not feed. From the beginning of July, celosia began to bloom. Pleased with flowering until the coldest days.
Svetlana Ivanovna, Chisinau:
Acquired last year seedlings of the Goldfeder variety. All the neighbors came to admire the bright yellow inflorescences. In the fall, she collected the seeds and distributed them to everyone. This year I will continue to grow a flower.
Raisa, Moscow region:
I bought cellosia seeds from a flower girl in the market. She said it was a mixture of different varieties. And indeed, on the flowerbed, a mix of bushes with a different structure and color of inflorescences turned out. Plants this year were the brightest spot on my site.
