Decorative bow - planting and care in the open ground

Decorative onion Allium (Allium) is a herbaceous biennial or perennial bulbous plant, with a specific sharp taste and smell. Its inflorescences-pompons, consisting of many small flowers, can not be confused with any other plant. The variety of varieties makes decorative onions, planting and care in the open field for which are quite simple, popular among gardeners.

Planting decorative onions in the open ground

Allium is an unpretentious flower and fits perfectly into any flower garden. Varieties of round-headed and bowed (wild) onions due to the moderate stalk height of 50-60 cm are suitable for decorating garden paths. Variety Bulgarian can be planted along an unsightly hedge, which it decorates with its stems a meter high and flowers with a unique color from green to burgundy with a white border around the edges.

Allium flowers

Choosing a place to land

Growing allium will not cause trouble if favorable conditions are initially provided. The landing site should be selected in the open sun of an elevated area, quite remote from buildings, trees and flowers. The soil should be loose, easily permeable to air, with neutral acidity. With a high acid index, lime must be added in advance. They land in September or spring when the night temperature is set at 10 ° C.

Preparing planting material

For the cultivation of decorative onions, it is recommended that you carefully choose planting material. Bulbs must be carefully inspected before planting for mold and plaque. If there are doubts about the quality of the seed, then it is better to hold it for 30 minutes in a weak solution of manganese. If the wounds are completely fresh, then they are sprinkled with powdered charcoal or lubricated with a solution of diamond greens. Having finished with disinfection, the bulbs must be warmed up at 40 ° C for 12 hours. This will protect alliums from diseases (downy mildew, neck rot).

Planting allium bulbs

Landing process step by step

Transplantation of decorative onions into the ground is carried out in a certain sequence:

1. Choose a suitable place for culture.
2. Dig the soil, making it loose and saturating with air.
3. They add compost and wood ash to the soil, improving its nutritional value.
4. Dig holes at a distance of 20-25 cm from one another.
5. A drainage layer is laid at the bottom of the wells (its composition can be any).
6. Bulbs are placed in holes to a depth of 2 bulbs.
7. Sprinkle the holes with earth and gently compact with your hands.
8. Moderately water each planted bulb.
9. Mulch the landing site with coniferous needles or wood sawdust.

Allium breeding

Decorative onions are propagated in two ways: by planting seeds and vegetatively (with bulbs or through rooting of bulb buds). Since different varieties bloom at different times, you can pick and plant them nearby so that flowering is continuous throughout the season.

Seeds

Seeds for propagation are taken from the largest fully bloomed inflorescences, as they give the highest quality seed. You can plant them in autumn or spring, but you should not count on fast flowering - this will happen no earlier than in the third year, and some varieties will form the first buds even later (4-7 years after planting).

At home, the process is carried out as follows:

1. Damp earth is poured into a linen bag.
2. Seeds are immersed in the ground.
3. The bag is removed to the compartment of the refrigerator for vegetables for 2-3 months, sometimes getting out and wetting.

When the time comes for planting, the seeds are taken out, rotted ones are removed, and the viable ones are planted in the ground according to the usual scheme.

Allium - planting material

Vegetative way

Vegetative propagation of decorative onions is much easier than growing from seeds. The grown daughter bulbs are carefully separated from the mother ones or, in some varieties, cut off the flower heads with the resulting bulbs. For better rooting, both types of planting material can be treated with a growth stimulant.

Bulbs or bulbs are planted in the soil at a distance of 25-50 cm from each other, since they should have enough space to grow in the next 4-5 years (this is how much they will be in one place, growing children).

Caring for decorative onion with allium in the garden

Having correctly planted the allium in open ground, and care must be provided to him accordingly.

Watering

For normal development and flowering, regular moderate watering is necessary, depending on the level of natural precipitation. An excess of moisture will inevitably lead to rotting of the bulbs, and plant growth will be inhibited due to excessive dryness of the soil. Nevertheless, the scarcity of watering is not so detrimental to allium, in which case it can quickly recover.

Top dressing

Dressing decorative onions is carried out several times during the vegetative period:

• in the spring, during the appearance of the first feathers above the surface of the earth;
• at the time of the appearance of the first buds;
• in the fall, after the completion of the flowering of allium, so that the plant wintered better.

In the first two cases, the plants are fertilized with a mixture of compost with wood ash, and prepared for winter using a potassium-phosphorus granular preparation.

Watering a decorative onion

Bulb Care

After the leaves fade, it is advisable to dig, disinfect, dry, and leave the bulbs of some varieties (for example, Schubert, Christophe) and store them in a dry, ventilated room with a temperature of 18-20 ° C. Such storage will also not harm other varieties grown in warm regions, especially since the bulbs must be transplanted to a new place every few years. In the spring they are planted in the ground, following the description of the planting conditions.

So that during the winter dormant period the allium bulbs do not freeze and do not suffer from an abundance of rainfall in the conditions of the Moscow Region, it is recommended to mulch the soil. In summer, the same care measure will protect the plant from the invasion of pests and weeds.

Spring care

In spring, the plot planted with allium is opened, cleared, the soil is loosened, fertilizers are applied and a new layer of mulch is covered. Allium leaves tend to dry out, which can ruin the decorativeness of the flowerbed. It is not worth cutting them, otherwise the nutrition of the bulb will be disrupted. It is better to take care of this in advance by planting other plants nearby that will distract attention. Blooming peonies and irises, as well as petunias and poppies, opening buds throughout the season, are suitable for these purposes.

What to do if it does not bloom

It rarely happens that the allium does not bloom. Most likely, this happens due to the youth of the plant, but it may also be so that the growing conditions were violated:

• incorrect landing;
• bulbs are planted on excessively moist soil in a lowland;
• the air temperature is not warm enough.

In this case, it will be possible to obtain flowers only by correcting the errors made, if possible, and starting to care for the plant properly. However, a cold rainy summer will prevent the plant from flowering normally, and then it is better to take care of saving the bulbs from the waterlogged land.

Allium in combination with other colors

Pest control

The pests that can besiege allium are the same as the usual onions and garlic. Onion fly larvae settle inside the bulbs, ruining the plant. Therefore, it is better to take preventive measures in a timely manner, sprinkling the earth around the plants with a mixture of ash and tobacco dust, black pepper, dried wormwood leaves.

A large number of varieties of allium will allow any gardener to choose something suitable for their site. It is not so difficult to grow a decorative onion, called allium, but bright lush balls of inflorescences, subject to agricultural technology, will please both the grower and his guests.

Watch the video: How to plant a potted tree (May 2024).