There are a huge number of types and varieties of flowers with which you can transform landscape design. It is to such plants that nasturtium belongs. It is characterized by unpretentiousness in cultivation and care, beautiful appearance, valuable nutritional properties. The people often call nasturtium "colored salad", "Indian cress", "krasulka". She is able not only to decorate any flower garden with herself, but also to fill it with a pleasant and rich aroma. In some countries, it is used in the preparation of various dishes: salads, sauces, cheeses.
Varieties of nasturtium
I prefer to grow different types of nasturtiums in my yard:
- bush. They grow in compact bushes up to 40 cm high. The best varieties are: Cherry Rose, Black Lady, Vesuvius;
- ampelous. The length of their lashes reaches 4 m. This view looks beautiful on vertical supports. I prefer varieties: Yeti, Alaska, diamond.
What do nasturtium seeds look like?
The seeds of this plant are quite large. Their germination rate is 70%, you can store up to 5 years. If you plan to propagate flowers by collecting seeds from your own plants, you should know that they are connected in threes and are green in color. When ripe, the seeds increase in size and acquire a whitish hue. When fully ripe, the seeds fall off, so I recommend picking them slightly immature. If they are placed in a warm room, they will quickly ripen.
Before sowing seeds in the ground, I recommend pre-soaking them for 24 hours in water or a growth stimulator. Because they are too thick. If it is softened, the seeds will germinate faster.
Sowing dates
After the emergence of seedlings, nasturtium begins to bloom in 1.5 months. This should be taken into account when planting it. I recommend that residents of the middle lane sow nasturtium immediately in open ground no earlier than mid-May. Since this culture does not tolerate even minor frosts and immediately dies. Therefore, I recommend that residents of regions with a cool climate grow nasturtium seedlings, which, with the onset of warm days, can be transplanted into open ground.
Features of sowing in open ground
Planting nasturtium seeds immediately in open ground is carried out in mid-May, when the threat of night frosts has definitely passed. Before sowing, the soil must be poured with hot water so that all harmful microorganisms die in it. Next, I make indentations in the ground up to 2 cm and place 2-3 seeds in each hole. I sprinkle the holes on top with earth and lightly tamp.
Sowing nasturtium for seedlings
If you decide to grow these flowers through seedlings, this is ideal. Since when sowing seeds immediately in open ground, there are a lot of disadvantages:
- at night frosts seedlings immediately perish;
- flowering occurs much later, in mid-July;
- with unsuitable soil in the flower garden, the seedlings will sprout weak.
And when planting seeds in a warm room, all this can be avoided. The process of sowing nasturtium seeds is as follows:
- The soil and containers for sowing are being prepared.
- Indentations are made up to 2 cm.
- Each planting hole contains 3 seeds.
- From above, the planting material is sprinkled with soil, rammed and watered.
I recommend taking light and nutritious soil for planting nasturtium. It must contain sand or perlite.
Nasturtium seedling care
After the appearance of the first shoots, plants need to create favorable conditions for growth:
- the temperature in the room must be at least +20 degrees above zero;
- containers with plants are placed on a well-lit windowsill, as they need a large amount of natural light;
- Plants are regularly watered and fed.
As you can see, there are many ways to grow nasturtium. If you do everything right, your flower garden will be full of bright colors of these unusually attractive flowers all summer long.
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