Celosia: types and varieties, planting and care, growing from seeds

In order for the site to sparkle with bright colors, it is enough to plant celosia on it. This plant can be with a comb, paniculate or spike-shaped inflorescence, the color of which has a diverse color palette. Bushes are planted not only in open ground, but also in pots, hanging planters, used in winter in vases as dried flowers. Planting and caring for celosia is simple, even an inexperienced gardener can cope with its cultivation.

Description and features

Under natural conditions, the flower reaches a height of 1 meter, in home gardens it grows up to half a meter.Celosia stems are thick, stable, slightly ribbed. They are green in color, some varieties have a reddish tint. Celosia is a herbaceous perennial flower cultivated in the field 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, pinnate. At the end of the season, a box is formed with small black seeds inside.

Additional information. Celosia is not only beautiful, but also a healing plant: it is used to treat inflammatory diseases and boost immunity. The oil of the plant is used to make cosmetics.

Growing from seeds

Celosia is grown by seed method, sowing it first on seedlings, then transplanting seedlings into open ground.

Sowing seedlings

The sowing time is calculated in such a way that when the bushes are transplanted into open ground, the threat of frost has passed. 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 shell of the seeds is hard, they will need to be pre-soaked. 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 celosia during these periods, 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.

Plant pattern

Seeds are sown in shallow boxes filled with loose earth. It is moistened from a spray bottle, then the seed is laid out at a distance of 2-3 centimeters from seed to seed. A small layer of sand is sprinkled on top. In order not to have to swoop down, celosia can be sown in peat pots, which are then planted in open ground.

Irrigation

Watering is done as needed. The earth should not be dry, but constantly wet soil can lead to plant disease. 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.

Ventilation

After sowing, the box is covered with glass or film to create greenhouse conditions. Every day, the mini-greenhouse is ventilated, otherwise a fungus may form, which has a detrimental effect on the seedlings. When the first sprouts appear, the shelter is removed.

Condensate cleaning

When airing a mini-greenhouse, condensate is removed from glass or film. This must be done to prevent the formation of pathogens. A fungus formed in a humid environment can kill seedlings.

Backlight

In the spring, the daylight hours are short, so the seedlings need to be illuminated. For this, phytolamps are used. Additional illumination 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. Removed plants can also be planted in seedling boxes. When the seedlings reach 10-12 centimeters, they are seated in separate containers. If you transplant celosia into peat pots, then plant it, the material, rotting, will serve as additional nutrition.

Feeding

Seedlings are fertilized twice: the first time after planting, the second time - 2 weeks before planting seedlings in a flower bed. For this, complex top dressing 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 celosia should be well lit by the sun's rays, be protected from strong gusts of wind. Bushes prefer light, breathable soil. If the soil is acidic, it must first be limed.

When to plant

Seedlings are planted in open ground from mid-May. During this period, the earth is already well warmed up, and the threat of frost has passed. Celosia bushes by this time are strong and hardened, ready for transplanting to a permanent place.

Features

Seedlings have a delicate root system, so transplanting must be done very carefully. To do this, the plants are taken out of the pots and, without breaking the earthen 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, top dressing, protection from diseases and pests. In this case, they will delight with flowering until the frost.

Irrigation

When watering celosia, it must be borne in mind that it will more easily tolerate short-term drought than waterlogging. Even if the plant is a little wilted, it will recover after the first watering. It is preferable to moisten the flower in the morning, before the scorching rays of the sun appear.In too dry summers, celosia can be sprayed from above.

Diseases and pests

Like every plant, celosia can be subject to diseases and pests. Most often this is due to improper care.

Black leg

When bushes are watered frequently, or the soil on which they grow is too dense and water stagnates in the upper layers, a disease called blackleg 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.

Pay attention! Celosia will tolerate short-term drought more easily than excessive soil moisture.

Aphid

Aphid colonies can destroy celosia by sucking juice from 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 gauze. The bushes are sprayed with a suspension in the evening every 2 days.

Feeding

Celosia can develop without the use of fertilizers, but their use will contribute to a more decorative appearance of the bushes. Under the plantings, you need to shed a complex top dressing for flowering plants. Frequency of fertilizer - 1-2 times a month. Before the procedure, celosia is irrigated with plain water.

Loosening

So that the bushes are not affected by fungal diseases, as well as for air access to the roots, after each watering, you need to loosen the soil. During this procedure, weed grass is simultaneously removed, which drowns out the development of flowers.To retain moisture and prevent the growth of weeds, 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 flowering of the flower ends, the gardener can collect seed material for breeding celosia in the next season.

Collection and storage of seeds

To collect seeds, follow these steps:

• cut stems with peduncles;
• set them in a vase without liquid, where they ripen and dry;
• put the container with the plant on paper or newspaper, on which ripened seeds will fall.

The collected seed material is collected, placed in paper bags, stored in a dry room.

Wintering

Since celosia 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 put in a vase. At the same time, the colors of celosia will fade a little, but, nevertheless, it will serve as a winter decoration for the room.

Advice! In order to admire the spectacular inflorescences of celosia all winter, you need to cut off the flower arrows and put them in a vase without water.

Views

In nature, there are more than 60 types of celosia. 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, shimmering with metal, and rounded or umbrella inflorescences. The top is decorated in the form of a scallop, for which it is called scallop celosia. It blooms spectacularly until the very frosts, next to it beautifully combined celosia paniculata.

Cirrus Silver

Paniculata or pinnate celosia reaches a height of 1 meter, but some varieties are undersized, and even dwarf. The name of the plant received for inflorescences in the form of panicles. Their color varies from yellow to dark red.

Spikelet

This kind of tall celosia is not yet in demand among gardeners, but, nevertheless, it is no less spectacular than other types. Spike flower arrow is white, yellow, orange, red. Plants look spectacular when dried.

Popular varieties

Each type of celosia is represented by different varieties of plants, the most popular of them are described below.

Impress

The leaves of this variety of comb celosia are purple. Inflorescences have the same color.

Atropurpurea

The stem of celosia comb is pink-red. The leaves are green, oblong; convex veins are purple.

Imperialis

The variety is undersized: in height, the bushes of comb celosia grow no higher than 25 centimeters. Its leaves are dark red, almost burgundy. The inflorescences are purple.

Goldfeder

This is one of the varieties of celosia silver pinnate. The color of the inflorescences of the plant is golden yellow. The height of undersized bushes is 23-25 centimeters.

Thomsoni Magnifica

The plant reaches a height of 80 centimeters. The foliage is colored green, the paniculate inflorescences are burgundy.

Torchshine

Same tall plant, but feathery inflorescences painted red.

New Look

The height of the bushes is about 40 centimeters. Large feathery inflorescences are painted 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. Spike flower arrows are colored pink.

Landscape use

Celosia is loved not only by amateur gardeners, but also by landscape designers. Flowerbeds are decorated with it, undersized varieties are hung in flowerpots, 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 ground for taller decorative leafy 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 flower bed, flower bed, mixborder.

Natalia, Krasnodar:

I sowed the seeds in May immediately into the ground, covered with a film. The spring was warm and my flowers came up quickly. In the summer I only watered, did not feed. From the beginning of July, celosia began to bloom. Pleased with flowering until the cold weather.

Svetlana Ivanovna, Chisinau:

I bought seedlings of celosia variety Goldfeder last year. All the neighbors came to admire the bright yellow inflorescences. In the fall, I collected seeds and distributed them to everyone. This year I will continue growing the flower.

Raisa, Moscow Region:

I bought celosia seeds from a flower girl in the market. She said it was a mixture of different varieties. And indeed, the flowerbed turned out to be a mix of bushes with different structures and colors of inflorescences. The plants this year have been the highlight of my yard.

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