Calendula: varieties and species with a description, cultivation and reproduction with a photo

Calendula is widely used by man. Many medicines and traditional medicine are made from it, used in cosmetology and cooking. Also, this bright flower is often involved in decorating flower beds, lawns, borders and balconies. There are about 20 varieties of calendula, while only 2 species are used in floriculture.

Description of the plant

Calendula or marigold is a perennial plant with yellow or orange flowers that has a distinctive balsamic scent. In Latin, its name sounds like Calendula, which means "little calendar" or "little clock".This is no accident, because the flowers of the plant always close and bloom at the same time of day.

Flowering at the marigold occurs from June to mid-autumn. Most often they are found in home gardens and horticultural farms, it is extremely rare to see them as weeds.

Pros and cons

Calendula has many benefits. Among them are the most basic:

• seeds available;
• simple cultivation;
• unpretentiousness to conditions;
• widely used in various industries;
• a large number of varieties.

Disadvantages of this plant are difficult to find, since there are practically none. But still, the disadvantages include the fact that calendula is contraindicated for pregnant women.

Calendula varietal variety

There are quite a lot of varieties of calendula, while initially there were only 2 of them - field and medicinal, and breeders bred the rest of the species. All varieties of calendula are divided into short, medium and tall varieties.

Field

The homeland of marigolds is southern Europe. The inflorescences of this species are small. They have an ocher yellow hue. They grow from 10 to 30 centimeters.

Medicinal

Medicinal calendula is the most common. This is an annual plant that, like the field calendula, is the ancestor of other varieties.

Radio

Large-flowered variety, the inflorescence of which is 8-12 cm in diameter. The stem reaches 50 cm in height. Inflorescences are bright orange in color with a pleasant aroma. Flowering occurs from August to September.

Yuvel

Twisted shrub with light green foliage, 40-50 cm high. Flowers 5-8 cm in diameter, semi-double, orange.

Bonbon

This variety is slightly lower than the previous one, about 30 cm tall. It has flowers in the form of a thick double cap with a diameter of 8 cm. The color can be yellow or orange.

Indian prince

The Indian Prince variety has a tall stem, up to 75 cm, and flowers 9 cm in diameter. The flowers of the variety are bronze-orange. They have a dark center with burgundy strokes along the edges of the petals. Often these flowers are used to decorate flower beds and flower beds.

Features of growing crops

Growing nails is easy. They reproduce by seeds that can be bought or harvested from other members of this crop.

Date of planting

The best time for planting marigolds is early spring or before winter. Growers in each region make their own decisions about when it is best to do this.

Spring planting should take place when the snow completely melts and the soil thaws at least 10 cm. And in autumn, calendula is sown between frosts and freezing of the ground.

Preparation of planting material

At the end of March, marigold seeds without any processing should be planted in separate peat cups. From above, everything is covered with earth by 2 cm and sprayed with warm water. Then they are covered with foil. Keep the cups in a dark place where the air temperature is 18-20 degrees.

In a week, the first shoots will appear, the film is removed and the cups are moved to a place where the temperature will be a maximum of +15. Seedlings should be placed in diffused light and watered as needed.When the plants have 2 leaves, they can dive. And planted in the ground when they already have 5-6 leaves. 2 days before planting, the plants are hardened, leaving them outside for the whole day.

It is also possible to sow directly into open soil, as calendula is a frost-resistant plant. At the same time, growing through seedlings significantly accelerates the appearance of the first flowers.

Selecting and preparing a site

The ideal site for marigold flowers is an open, sunny location with moist, loose soil. For 10-15 days, the site is dug up, humus and mineral fertilizers are applied, it can be potassium chloride, urea or superphosphate.

Boarding process

For sowing seeds, the soil should be leveled with a rake and grooves 2 cm deep should be made. A distance of 30-40 cm is observed between rows. Sow the seeds and fill the grooves with earth.

When planting seedlings of ornamental species, keep a distance between plants of 25-30 cm, and row spacing should be at least 60 cm. When planting medicinal varieties, keep a distance between seedlings of 7-10 cm and 30-40 cm between rows.

Subtleties of flower care

Nail care does not require any special processes. It is enough to follow standard care procedures, such as weeding, loosening, watering and top dressing.

Irrigation

Calendula loves water, so it should be watered regularly. After planting seedlings in open ground, watering is carried out 3-4 times a week. While already an adult plant needs additional moisture only during periods of drought. If there was no rain for a long time, then water the marigolds 2 times a week.

Fertilizer and top dressing

Feeding is carried out at least once a month. To do this, use ammophoska or nitrophoska.

Important! Instructions for use on fertilizer packages must be followed, if more than indicated, disease may occur.

Fertilizers are applied when planting in the form of humus. If the soil is poor in nutrients, a phosphorus-potassium mixture is added to the humus.

Soil

Marigolds grow and develop better in loose, moderately moist soil. To check if the soil is loose enough, you need to take a lump in your hands and throw it up. If at the same time the soil crumbles, it is quite loose.

Wintering

Calendula is not a perennial plant, so after the flowers have finished flowering, the bushes are dug up and removed from the site.

Cutting

Marigold flowers are cut off so that more new inflorescences appear. You need to do this regularly when they begin to fade. If it is a medicinal calendula, then the flowers are cut off at full opening.

The flower stalks are also pruned, but this happens later, towards the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

Pests and diseases

The most common plant diseases are black spot and powdery mildew. With black spotting, black and brown spots appear on the leaves, and with powdery mildew, a white coating forms.

To avoid illness, you need:

• thin out plantings in time;
• remove weeds;
• fertilize plants properly;
• dig up a plot in the autumn;
• remove already affected plants from the site, preferably with roots.

Of the pests on calendula, only aphids can live. But sometimes this is also a plus, because if there is calendula on the site, then all the available aphids will gather on it, and it will be easy to destroy it with the help of one of these drugs: Actellik, Akarin, Antitlin, Biotlin or " Karbofos.

Reproduction of calendula

The plant propagates with the help of seeds. They are quite large, have a shape similar to the letter "C". Seeds are collected when the inflorescences begin to fade. In order to prevent self-seeding, which often happens if seeds are not collected in time, a bag of gauze is put on a flower that has not yet withered. Its edges are tied on the stem of the plant.

After collecting, they are dried in a ventilated, dark place and winnowed. Store in cloth bags until sowing.

Application in landscape design

In landscape design, marigold flowers are in perfect harmony with warm red, orange and yellow hues. Also with cold: blue and purple. From neutral shades, white and cream are perfect.

Marigolds look good on border compositions, they are often used undersized plants. They are also used as an accent in a vegetable or pharmaceutical garden. They also collect flower beds exclusively from calendula flowers of different varieties with different shades.

Calendula will decorate any area, either alone or in combination with other plants. At the same time, marigolds are not just a beautiful flower, but also useful. In addition to medicinal properties, it repels pests from the site, thereby helping other plants.

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