Planting verbena seeds for seedlings: when and how to plant, rules for growing and care

Popular varieties and types of verbena

The most common types of verbena that can be found in summer cottages and in garden shops are:

• hybrid (from 20 to 50 cm);
• Canadian (up to 20 cm);
• tough;
• straight (up to 1.5 meters);
• Buenos Aires (up to 1.2 m).

Step-by-step guide to planting verbena seeds for seedlings: timing, substrate and sowing process

Landing dates in 2021

The optimal time for planting verbena seedlings is March... However, if you can arrange additional lighting to extend the daylight hours to the required hours, for example, phyto lamps or more economical LED lamps, then you may well be sowing verbena seeds already in the second half or end of February.

According to the lunar calendar in 2021

Choosing the optimal date for sowing seeds can help you Moon calendar.

So favorable days for sowing verbena in 2021 according to the lunar calendar are:

• in February - 1-8, 10-20, 25-29;
• in March - 2-8, 10-14, 29-31;
• in April - 1, 2, 5-7, 9, 17-20, 24, 25;
• in May - 2-6, 15-17, 20, 21, 25-31;
• in June - 2-4, 7-9, 11-14, 16-19.

Unfavorable days according to the lunar calendar for 2021 for sowing verbena are the following dates (days of the Full Moon and New moons, as well as the period when the Moon is in Aquarius, because it is a barren and dry sign -italicized):

• in February -10-11, 27;
• in March -9-10, 13, 28;
• in April -5-6, 12, 27;
• in May -2-4, 11, 26, 30-31;
• in June -10, 24, 26-27.

Capacity and soil

The choice of container for planting is primarily influenced by how much seedlings you are going to grow.

If you want to buy ready-made land, then it will be optimal to use a universal peat-based soil.

The ideal soil for growing verbena should be loose, airy, permeable and in no case acidic, or rather, neutral acidity.

Prepare your potting mix yourself with the following ingredients:

• 2/5 peat;
• 2/5 garden or vegetable garden land;
• 1/5 river sand.

Or more simple:

• 1/2 garden or vegetable garden land;
• 1/2 humus.

For 4-5 liters of soil mixture, add 1 cup wood ash, and then sift well.

Further be sure disinfect the soil in one of the ways.

By the way! To increase the moisture capacity and air permeability of the earth, you can add another 1-2 glasses of perlite for 4-5 liters of soil mixture.

Sowing seeds for seedlings

Due to the fact that verbena seeds, as a rule, germinate very unevenly, it will be very useful to treat them with a growth stimulator before planting. Then proceed according to the following step-by-step instructions for sowing verbena seeds for seedlings:

1. The first thing to do is to make the soil wet, that is, it is good to spill it with water.
2. Next, pour the seeds into a plate, and then put them one at a time with a toothpick moistened with water in even rows on the surface of the earth (if you do not want your crops to be excessively thick, then put them at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other). Alternatively, you can use a sheet of paper folded in half, slowly pouring the seed out of it.
3. If desired, sprinkle with vermiculite (or the remaining earth) in a very thin layer.
4. Now you need to spray with water from a spray bottle. Watering is no longer necessary before germination.
5. It remains only to cover with a film or a lid to create a greenhouse effect and transfer to a warm place where the air temperature is not lower than +20 and not higher than +25 degrees.

Care of verbena seedlings after germination

After, as a rule, 7-10 days, the first shoots appear. Now it is better to rearrange the planting capacity to a less warm place, where the temperature is within 15-18 degrees. After 2-3 days, the shelter can be removed.

By the way! Do not forget about additional lighting of young seedlings with lamps. The minimum daylight hours must be at least 12 hours. Otherwise, the seedlings will stretch out, and the plants will become pale.

Watering should be done as the soil dries up, but try not to dry it out.

Picking

When about 30 days have passed from the moment of sowing, and verbena has 2 true leaves, the seedlings can begin to dive.

Verbena can be transplanted into a large plastic container, keeping the distance between seedlings 4-5 cm, and in single pots or cups.

As for the soil into which the seedlings will dive, it will need a little more fertile. To do this, take:

• 2/5 peat;
• 2/5 of the usual garden or garden land;
• 1/5 sand.

And add half a glass of ash (40-50 grams) or 1/2 tbsp into the resulting mixture. spoons of complex mineral fertilizer (for example, nitroammophoska) per 3 liters of earth.

Advice! Before diving, it is better to water the ground beforehand, so that small seedlings easily slip out of it and not be injured.

Now you can fill the containers with soil, compact them a little, make holes - depressions and carefully plant small seedlings in them up to cotyledon leaves. Perform final watering of seedlings in a new location.

Video: verbena picking

Leaving after a pick

In 5-7 days after the pick, the verbena can be fed. To build up green mass and accelerate the growth of leaves, it is necessary to use nitrogen fertilizers.

Then, every 10-14 days, feed with a complex mineral fertilizer, where the nitrogen content in relation to phosphorus and potassium is less, for example, ammofosk, azofosk, nitroammofosk.

Ampel varieties of verbena must be pinched as soon as the height of the seedlings is 5-7 centimeters and 6 real leaves appear. After pinching, the growth of shoots will go very intensively, the bush will become very lush. Bush varieties branch well without pinching.

Important! If the soil in the container with seedlings has sat down, then do not be afraid to add some soil into it.

Video: verbena from seeds - growing and caring for seedlings

When and how to plant vervain outdoors

May is the optimal time for planting verbena seedlings in open ground. If at the beginning of the month it may still be cool, then by the end of the month, when the soil warms up enough, all conditions will be met.

In order for the seedlings to take root for sure, and they are not afraid of recurrent frosts, be sure to first subject it to a hardening procedure, gradually taking it out for a while on a balcony or in a greenhouse.

A place for planting verbena in your summer cottage is best found as open and sunny as possible, because if you plant it even in partial shade, then it will bloom noticeably less strongly.

Verbena grows normally and develops only on neutral soils. To reduce the acidity of the soil, apply to the ground before planting wood ash or dolomite flour... It also does not hurt to add 30-40 grams of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilizer to the soil before planting, again per 1 sq. meter of a bed (for example, nitroammofoski). Try to spread the fertilizer as evenly as possible throughout the flower bed. For this, it is recommended to mix everything well.

Note! When choosing a place for planting verbena, it is important that the soil is sufficiently permeable to water, in other words, the soil is calcareous and loose, with good drainage.

It is necessary to plant verbena seedlings together with an earthen lump in pre-dug and wet holes at a distance of about 30-40 centimeters, carefully sprinkling with earth.

Important! Do not thicken the planting, otherwise powdery mildew may form on the verbena in wet weather.

To protect the root system and provide the plant with additional air access, it is necessary to mulch the soil surface with peat.

By the way! Since the verbena root system is compact, it can be grown in hanging pots and flowerpots.

Outdoor care for verbena

The main components of outdoor verbena care include:

• regular but moderate watering;
• weeding and loosening (if you have mulched planting, then you will have to do this quite rarely);
• feeding.

Despite the fact that verbena is characterized as a drought-resistant plant, if it lacks moisture, then it will stop blooming and begin to set seeds. If you pour it over, then the flower may start to suffer from fungal diseases. Therefore, it is enough to water the vervain about 1-2 times a week, depending on the weather (hot - 2 times), closer to autumn, naturally, the frequency of watering decreases.

Therefore, if you want verbena to delight you with abundant lush flowering, then do not let the water stagnate at its roots. Also, be sure to keep the ground dry, especially on hot and sultry summer days.

With regard to dressing verbena, then follow the rule "Better less than more." If you use complex mineral fertilizers, then from July it is necessary to exclude nitrogen, and use only phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. You need to know and understand that the increased nitrogen content contributes to the rapid growth of the green mass of the plant, which will negatively affect its flowering.

In addition to mineral fertilizers, organic fertilizers can also be used, for example, fertilizing from compost or rotted manure is perfect.

Important! Organic feeding is best done in the first half of summer in June, when the plant still needs nitrogen. But it is preferable to use it as mulch during planting.

To enjoy the abundant flowering of verbena throughout the summer until mid-autumn, you must regularly cut off the flowering inflorescences. Branches with faded flowers need to be shortened by half the length or even leave only a quarter. This procedure will certainly contribute to the active growth of new shoots. In addition, proper pruning of its shoots can help extend the flowering period of the verbena.

Thus, even a novice florist can plant a beautiful verbena on his site. It is only necessary to properly sow the seeds for seedlings and follow the instructions for further caring for the seedlings until they are planted in the ground. And then this infinitely cute and very cute plant will decorate your garden with a variety of flowers and a unique aroma.

Video: growing and caring for verbena