Due to its beauty and unpretentiousness, ampelous verbena is often used in landscaping balconies, windows and terraces. Anyone can cope with the cultivation of this plant. For abundant and long flowering, you need to know the basic rules for caring for it.
Verbena is undemanding in the conditions of detention and is considered an unpretentious plant. To grow it, you need:
- Sunny place. Withstands light partial shade.
- Neutral or slightly alkaline soil with good aeration (with the addition of coarse sand or vermiculite)
- Moderate watering (so that water does not accumulate).
- At the beginning of the season, top dressing with nitrogen fertilizers is relevant, during the budding period - phosphorus-potash (stores sell ready-made fertilizers for flowering plants).
- After planting, the space around the plant is mulched. For this purpose, last year's rotted sawdust or mowed grass is used. The grass is inspected for seeds so as not to bring weeds into the flower garden.
Verbena ampelous
Important!Faded inflorescences break off for abundant and long flowering.
Ampelic verbena, the cultivation of which is possible as an annual, after flowering breaks away from the root.
If there is a desire to leave the plant at home for wintering, then it is transplanted into a cache-pot. Shoots cut to 2/3 of its length. The room should be bright and cool - up to 15 ° C. Top dressing is reduced to two times a month. Fertilizers should contain more potassium and phosphorus than nitrogen. Watering is reduced. Such conditions remain until the end of February.
This plant is used both in flower beds and in containers or pots. At the same time, planting density and ampel verbena content factors are taken into account.
Planting in a cache-pot
Ampelic verbena is planted in a pot after all spring frosts - in late May and early June. Each plant should have 1.5 - 2 liters of soil. That is, 2-3 verbena plants are planted in a 5-liter pot, 4 seedlings in a 7-liter pot, and 6-8 plants in a 10-liter pot. It is advisable to arrange flowers at a distance of 25 - 30 cm from each other.
A drainage layer 2 to 3 cm thick is laid at the bottom of the pot. It is better to plant seedlings with a lump of earth so as not to disturb the roots and for their quickest adaptation.
Features of planting in open ground
It is preferable to plant ampule verbena in a group. After it grows up and fills the gaps between the plants, there will be no room for weeds. The interval between plantings is 30-35 cm. Approximately 40 copies per 1 m2. For a higher density, 50 plants per 1 m2 are used.
Seedlings of verbena ampelous
Home verbens are planted in the flower garden in the same way as in the pots. That is, when all the frosts passed. And it is better to transplant by transshipment - for less trauma to the roots. Before planting, the dug hole is carefully shed with water. This plant blooms poorly in cold rainy weather. Therefore, they prefer to grow verbena in pots, decorating balconies and terraces.
Carried out by cuttings or sowing seeds. Each method has its advantages.
Cutting verbena ampelous
Most often, varietal plants are propagated in this way so that children completely inherit maternal characteristics. There are vegetative varieties of verbena. They reproduce only by dividing the root or by cuttings. Flowers obtained from seeds do not always retain pure varietal characteristics. And also, plants from cuttings bloom faster.
To cuttings, choose an adult healthy plant. The procedure is carried out in late winter - early spring. At this time, daylight hours are already significantly lengthening.
Stages:
- Preparing land for planting. Use light, nutritious soil. For better aeration, you can add vermiculite, river sand or coconut.
- A green apical shoot, about 6 cm long, with 4-6 leaves is cut with a sharp razor. If there is an inflorescence on the handle, then it is removed. Otherwise, it will take strength to bloom.
- Lower leaves are also recommended to be removed.
- Between the slice and the lower internode should be a gap of 1-2 cm.
- Petiole is dipped in water, and then in heteroauxin for better root formation.
- Having made a small hole with a match, a stalk is placed there. It should be recessed along the lower internode.
- From above the pot is covered with polyethylene, glass or a cut-off top from a plastic bottle. The tank should be ventilated daily for 30 minutes per day. And the soil should be moist.
- Plants are kept in partial shade. After 2-3 weeks, new leaves should appear. So verbena is rooted.
Attention!The soil must be disinfected. Incandescent, spilling boiling water or potassium permanganate.
Seed collection
To get your own seeds from verbena, you need to wait until the boxes on the plants ripen and darken. After this, the fruits are picked and placed on a fabric or newspaper so that the seeds are dried. Sometimes they are evenly mixed. Dried boxes open and pour out seeds from them, which are stored in tissue or paper bags until sowing.
Collection of ampelous verbena seeds from fruits
Additional Information! Plants grown from seeds may not be similar to parent plants, especially from hybrid specimens. For example, they may have a different flower color.
Verbena sowing and cultivation
Sowing seeds is recommended in late February - March. Seeds are distributed on the prepared soil, leaving a gap between them 3-4 cm. Sprinkle a small amount of soil on top. The container is covered with glass or film. Shoots appear after 2-3 weeks at a temperature of 20 - 25 ° C. When the seeds hatch, it is necessary to lower the temperature to 16 - 18 ° C. Seedlings are planted 3 weeks after their appearance.
So that the plant does not rot, the tank is ventilated daily. The soil should be moist, but without stagnation of water. It is recommended to apply complex fertilizer weekly. Hybrid varieties of ampel verbena do not require pinching, since they have well-developed branching.
Before planting on the street or balcony, the plants are hardened. To do this, gradually increase the duration of "walks" in the open air. With strong sun, it is advisable to cover with two-layer gauze or newspaper so that the plant does not burn.
If the plant is healthy, then it has good immunity. And even if insect pests appear or attack diseases, the flower resists them and feels rather well. However, incorrect content reduces the strength of the plant. Verbena is subject to standard common diseases:
- rot of the root neck of seedlings, popularly nicknamed the "black leg";
- gray rot (mold);
- powdery mildew (white powdery spores spread on flowers and leaves).
Important! For prevention and treatment, they are treated with fungicides.
There is bacterial wilting of shoots. It appears as chlorosis and necrosis. In a later stage, the plant dies. On the section, pulling cords are visible - exudate.
In this case, a bactericide will help. In stores, a systemic fungicide and a broad-spectrum bactericide are found.
Among insects, the most frequently wrecking: spider mites, aphids, thrips.
- A spider mite, with a large population, forms a spider web on the leaves. It is especially noticeable on young shoots. On the reverse side of the sheet, specks of mite skins of ticks are visible.
- Aphids, with a strong accumulation, lubricate the shoots with their sticky milk. As a result, the plant is poorly developed and may die.
- Thrips eat plants, settling on leaves and flowers. They are noticed by the streaky leaf spot.
On the street, their number does not increase in large numbers due to rain, birds, wind. In homes, these insects thrive. The plant from them can be treated with phytoerm. This is a biological product that does not pose a significant threat to humans and animals. At least two treatments should be performed with an interval of 10 days.
Thus, observing the simple actions when planting and leaving ampel verbena, you can enjoy its flowering from the beginning of summer to frost.
