Ageratum: planting and care in the open field, description of varieties and methods of reproduction with photos

Among the variety of flowers, it is sometimes difficult to decide which variety to buy for planting in the garden. You can pay attention to the ageratum. This is an unpretentious care and long-blooming flower. Planting and caring for an ageratum in the open field will bring a pleasure.

Description and features

Ageratum is native to Central and North America. The flower is characterized by a long flowering period. Inflorescences bloom in early June and bloom until frost. Ageratum is a small spherical bush. Its height is up to 70 cm.The leaves are rich green, the inflorescences are blue or purple, there are also pink and white. The inflorescences are small, with a rich aroma, collected in umbrellas.

Growing seedlings

Ageratum refers to unpretentious crops that are easy to grow. Flowers are planted at home for seedlings, and in the spring they are transplanted into open ground.

Timing

Ageratum is planted mainly by seed. The timing of planting seeds depends on the region of residence. In areas with early spring, seeds can be planted at the end of March. And in a colder climate - in late February, early March.

Soil preparation

For planting, you can use a special soil for flower crops or prepare the soil mixture yourself. For this you will need:

• soil from the site;
• peat;
• turf land;
• sand;
• drainage.

Drainage is poured into the bottom of the box. The soil is watered with potassium permanganate or calcined to disinfect it. Separately, mix all the other ingredients so that a homogeneous mass is obtained, and fall asleep in a box. After that, you can start planting seeds.

How to plant

Planting seeds is pretty easy. Ageratum seed planting process:

• Make small grooves in the soil and cover the seeds. It is better to plant planting material rarely so that the seedlings do not interfere with each other's growth.
• Sprinkle seeds lightly with soil.
• Sprinkle plenty of warm water.
• Cover the box with cling film.
• The film is regularly removed so that the soil is ventilated, and the seeds are watered.

Sprouts should appear in a few days. As soon as this happens, the cling film is removed. You may not cover the container, but with the help of cling film you can create a greenhouse effect, and then the planting material will rise faster.

Picking

Picking is not always necessary. Especially if the bushes have enough space in the tank. But if the seedlings are planted too close to each other, then they dive into separate pots. Picking is carried out after a couple of full-fledged leaves appear on the seedlings.

The seedlings are transplanted into peat pots filled with the same soil mixture as the seedling boxes. You can plant bushes in the ground with these pots.

Landing in open ground

The second stage of growing ageratum is transplanting into open ground. Before planting, you need to decide in advance how the plants in the flower bed will be planted.

When to plant

Ageratum seedlings are planted after the weather is warm outside. It's the beginning of May. If the spring turned out to be cold, then the transplant can be postponed until it gets warmer and the soil warms up.

Soil Requirements

Ageratum prefers to grow on loose, well-drained soils. Best of all, if the acidity is neutral. It is not recommended to plant seedlings in rocky soil with high humidity. Such conditions favor the development of disease.

Plant pattern

Plant plants at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other. Holes are dug 10 cm deep and 5 cm wide.

Care

Although the ageratum belongs to unpretentious crops, care is indispensable.

Irrigation

It is recommended to water the ageratum in the evening, after sunset. Or in the morning, while the sun's rays are not yet so active. You need to water every evening if it's hot. Or 2-3 times a week if it rains regularly. Warm water is used for irrigation.

Loosening and weeding

It is enough to weed flower beds once a week before watering. During weeding, all weeds are removed from the flower bed. Deep loosening of the soil is not recommended, so as not to damage the root system.

Feeding

In the first half of the season, nitrogen-containing fertilizing is applied to the soil to stimulate the growth of seedlings. And when the ovaries begin to appear, the soil is watered with chicken manure or manure diluted in water once every two weeks. Strong overfeeding of plants is not recommended, otherwise they will stop blooming.

Cutting

Dry, yellowed leaves and old inflorescences are cut off from the bush. Use sharp garden shears for pruning.

After flowering

After flowering, the inflorescences are pruned. Ageratum belongs to perennial plants, therefore, before the onset of cold weather, they dig out the most beautiful and largest bushes, plant them at home. And in the spring, you can again transplant the bushes to the street.

Pinching

Pinching the plant is not required.

Diseases and pests

At the first sign of disease or pests, it is important to take action.

Rot

Most often, when propagating a culture, one has to deal with rot. The disease develops at high humidity. The first sign is the appearance of black spots on parts of plants. You can get rid of rot by spraying with "Fundazol" or "Topaz" preparations.If these measures do not help, the bushes are dug up and thrown away, and the soil is disinfected.

Cucumber mosaic

Cucumber mosaic spreads through insects. The first sign of the appearance of cucumber rot is yellow spots. There is no cure for the disease. You can only prevent its occurrence. Weeds are regularly removed from the site and the soil is weeded. You also need to immediately deal with insects as soon as they appeared in the flower bed.

Bacterial wilt

In the southern regions often have to deal with bacterial wilt. The tissues of the infected bush begin to crack, active evaporation of moisture occurs, and turgor decreases. Yellow spots with a brown border appear on the leaves.

A plant can be cured of bacterial wilt only at an early stage of its appearance. Bushes are treated with Coronet. Prevention is important to prevent the onset of disease. Weeds need to be removed in a timely manner and plants should be fed .

Whitefly

Determining the appearance of a whitefly is easy. If you touch the bushes, white midges begin to scatter. Insects feed on plant sap, causing the bushes to die. You can destroy the whitefly using the preparations "Aktellik", "Aktara" or "Admiral".

Spider mite

A sign of the appearance of a spider mite - yellow dots. If there are a lot of pests, then you can see a white web on the bushes. Pests are very tenacious and quickly adapt to chemicals, so they need to be rotated. The drugs "Fufanon", "Fitoverm" and "Aktellik" are suitable for the fight.

Nematodes and Cutworms

Nematode infects the root system. You can destroy it with the preparations "Thiaz", "Rogor". From the scoop, treating the bushes with insecticides helps.

Reproduction

There are two ways to propagate a plant - seed and cuttings. Most often, when growing ageratum, the seed method is used.

Collection and storage of seeds

After pruning the inflorescence, you can collect the seeds. The inflorescences are dried, and then the seeds are collected. You can store them for 3-4 years, so it is not necessary to collect planting material every year. Store the seeds in the refrigerator.

Cutting

By autumn, the bushes are dug up and transplanted into pots. In the spring, the side branches of the plant are cut to the very root. The cutting length must be at least 5 cm. The cuttings are planted in the ground and covered with a plastic bag to create the effect of a greenhouse. When the cuttings take root, the bag is removed.

Views

There are a large number of varieties of ageratum. The main difference between all species is the color of the inflorescences. Although the most common are purple or blue shades of flowers.

White

Low-growing variety, the height of the bushes is about 15-20 cm. The diameter of an adult bush is 25 cm. The inflorescences are snow-white in color, collected in panicles with small flowers. Refers to annuals. Prefers to grow in open sunny areas.

Blue

The bushes are of a short type, grow up to 20 cm in height. Inflorescences are blue in color, 1-2 cm in diameter. Flowering is long and abundant. The bush begins to bloom in June and ends with the onset of frost.

Houston

Houston Ageratum, or as it is also called - Mexican, in its natural environment it belongs to perennials, but in our latitudes it is most often grown as an annual. The height of the bush can vary from 15 to 50 cm. The inflorescences come in various shades, but are always monochromatic. Based on this variety, a large number of varieties of various shades have been bred.

Red

Unusual variety with a non-standard shade for ageratum - red. Inflorescences in such varieties from pale pink to rich burgundy. The height of the bushes can be different and depends on the variety. Inflorescences are collected in spherical panicles.

Dwarf

There are dwarf varieties of plants, the height of which does not exceed 15 cm. Such varieties can be of various shades. Suitable for growing in pots due to the small size of the bush.

Short

Low-growing varieties grow from 15 to 25 cm high. The shades of the inflorescences can also be varied. Flowering is long, the bushes begin to bloom in July and finish in October after the onset of frost.

Popular varieties

Breeders have bred a large number of varieties of ageratum, which differ in the shade of inflorescences.

Alba

The inflorescences of this variety are white, the bush is compact, up to 20 cm high. Foliage is rich green.

Azur Pearl

The inflorescences of this variety are large, saturated blue.

Faye Pink

Compact bush up to 30 cm high. The leaves are small. Inflorescences of dark pink color, one flower in diameter 4-6 mm.

Blue Mink

The Blue Mink variety is distinguished by fluffy inflorescences of a blue hue. The bush is compact, up to 25 cm high. The flowering period is from July to October.

Blue Bouquet

Tall variety, the height of the bush grows up to 45 cm. Blue-blue inflorescences.

Bavaria

Bushes grow up to 25 cm. Inflorescences can be from snow-white to deep blue.

Hawaii

The inflorescences of this variety are white or purple. The variety belongs to dwarf, grows up to 20 cm in height.

Blue mink

The height of the bush is from 30 to 70 cm. Inflorescences up to 3 cm in diameter, blue in color with a rich aroma.

White ball

Inflorescence varieties White ball of snow-white shade, spherical shape. Bushes 25-30 cm high.

Pink Fire

Compact bushes, rich pink flowers.

North Sea

Short variety, height of bushes is 15-20 cm. Sky-blue inflorescences.

Leda

The Leda variety has a two-tone color of the inflorescence.

Cardinal Bordeaux

Inflorescences of a rich red hue, bushes up to 35 cm high.

Salvia

Scarlet flowers with rich aroma. Bushes are undersized, up to 35 cm high.

Kalinka

Inflorescences of red color. Bushes up to 40 cm high.

Alisum

Yellow inflorescences. The bush is undersized, grows up to 15 cm in height.

Possible difficulties

When growing any flower crop, even the most unpretentious, problems can arise.

Mistakes in growing ageratum:

• Introduce a large amount of nitrogen-containing fertilizers into the soil (an excess of nitrogen leads to the fact that the bush does not bloom, but grows foliage). In addition, the plant's immunity to diseases is reduced.
• Ignore pruning (Regular pruning of faded buds promotes side shoots, making the bush more lush).
• Incorrect watering (excess and lack of moisture negatively affects the growth of bushes).

With proper care, ageratum can be grown for more than one year.

Landscape use

Ageratum is distinguished by its universal use in landscape design. The plant is combined with almost all flowers, including tall and shrubs. Ageratum is also used to decorate city flower beds.

Recommended