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With the arrival of warmer weather, gardeners begin selecting nutritional compositions for flowerbed flowers. You can feed peonies in the spring for lush flowering with manure, ash, bone meal or complex mixtures. Each type of fertilizer has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Properly selected fertilizer will stimulate the formation of large, bright and lush buds
The need to feed peonies in spring
Spring feeding is especially important for garden flowers. It determines how quickly the plants begin to awaken after the cold, whether they have enough strength to lay buds, and how long the flowering will be.
If you apply fertilizer in the spring, at the beginning of the growing season, later the peonies will delight you with lush, bright color. These garden flowers can grow in one place for more than a year. This causes soil depletion and the crop weakens.
From the third year after planting, peonies need regular spring feeding. This is the only way the leaves of the crop will be fleshy and green, and the buds will be lush and large.A strong plant rarely gets sick and can withstand insect attacks more easily.
Types of fertilizers for peonies in spring
3 years after planting, as soon as the flowering bush has grown, it is time to apply mineral fertilizers. In spring, it is recommended to use solutions of complex compositions for irrigation.
The first fertilizing is applied even before the snow completely melts. This could be the beginning or end of March, depending on the region. Mix 10 g of nitrogen and 15 g of potassium and scatter them in the root zone. As soon as the snow begins to melt, the necessary microelements will seep into the root system of the flower.
The second feeding is applied during the formation of buds. Combine 10 g of potassium, 8 g of nitrogen, 15 g of phosphorus, mix with the soil in the root zone.
Feeding is important for the formation of buds
In addition to mineral fertilizers, organic fertilizers are also used. They are effective for feeding peonies in the spring for abundant flowering.
Is it possible to feed peonies with ash?
Experienced gardeners often use this type of feeding in the spring. Peonies are fertilized with ash at the end of April. Immediately after the snow melts, before the first shoots appear, the soil in the flower garden is crushed with ash.
The substance will strengthen awakening young plants and in the future will affect the intensity of flower color
Ash feeding for peonies is not carried out in a mixture with urea. The substance promotes rapid melting of snow and the hatching of new shoots. This is disastrous for them, since in April there is still a high probability of night frosts.
Is it possible to fertilize peonies with eggshells?
Shells are not an effective flowering food for peonies. Crushed into powder and mixed with soil from the tree trunk, it can reduce the acidity of the soil.
The shell, crushed into large fragments, is used as a soil loosening agent if it is too dense.
The process of decomposition of the egg shell is long, such drainage will be effective for several years
Is it possible to fertilize peonies with manure?
This organic fertilizer is considered the best for feeding peonies in the spring. The substance promotes the formation of a fertile layer of soil, enriches it with essential microelements, and improves its structure.
As soon as the flower sprouts increase in size to 10 cm, they are covered with a thin layer of manure.
Sprinkle organic matter on top with any flower fertilizer.
You can feed peonies with manure this way: organic fertilizer is dug into the soil around the plants, then watered abundantly.
You need to use rotted manure; it contains less nitrogen than fresh manure and does not “burn” the roots and young shoots. The abundance of nitrogen in fertilizing stimulates the growth of the green part of the crop, while buds may not form at all.
In spring, only rotted manure is used for feeding.
Fresh manure is used only on depleted soils and when planting plants. You can scatter it in the snow at the end of winter. During the melting process, some of the nitrogen will disappear, and the required amount of minerals will flow to the root system of peonies.
When to feed peonies in spring
The first fertilizing is applied at the end of April, in the southern regions of the country. In the center of Russia this period will occur at the beginning of May, and in the northern regions - at the end of the month. The time depends on the onset of heat and the process of snow melting.
It is important that not all the snow cover disappears from the flowerbed.Mineral or organic fertilizers are placed directly on a layer of snow, the substances are mixed with melt water and quickly reach the root system of the plant.
How to fertilize peonies in spring
In the spring-summer period, three feedings are enough for a flowering bush. They are introduced taking into account the important stages of the growing season: awakening and growth after winter, budding, flowering.
Feeding peonies in early spring
You can feed the plant in April with mineral fertilizers. Adding them to the soil near the shoots is not effective. In the described flower, the rhizome lies deep, making it difficult for nutrients to reach it.
To begin with, stepping back half a meter from the center of the bush, use the handle of a shovel to make depressions no more than 15 cm in the ground. You can dig 3-4 of them around the bush. For spring feeding of peonies, complex fertilizer “Kemira” is used.
Take half a tablespoon of it, pour it into each depression near the bush, and dig in with earth.
How to feed peonies for abundant flowering
At the end of April, buds begin to form. During this period, the plant especially needs feeding. They will stimulate the formation of new flower buds. At this time, watering is carried out with potassium-nitrogen fertilizers.
Mullein is also suitable for these purposes.
Mullein is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:6 and the bush is watered generously
Later it is necessary to loosen the soil.
How to feed peonies during flowering
The third time the flower bush is fertilized 10-14 days after the first bud blooms. During this period, fertilizing is combined with watering. Liquid mineral formulations with a short duration of action, for example, Agricola, are suitable.The drug is used according to the instructions.
You can also mix 20 g of phosphorus and 15 g of potassium and plant them in the soil near the bush. This fertilizer will extend the flowering period.
As soon as the budding process begins to decline, the peonies are fed with bone meal.
Bone meal powder is embedded in the soil and dug up
At 1 m2 300 g of substance is required.
Rules for feeding peonies in spring for flowering
It is effective to combine watering with fertilizing. If spring and summer are rainy, it is not recommended to additionally moisten the crop. The application of mineral compounds is reduced during drought, and increased when humidity is high.
To strengthen peonies and stimulate flowering, root and foliar fertilizers are used.
Spraying shrubs with nutrient solutions is no less effective than watering with their addition. 40 g of urea are dissolved in 10 liters of water. Peonies are treated with this solution in the spring, as soon as the above-ground part of the plant begins to sprout.
Repeated spraying is carried out after 15 days
You can use ready-made solutions for foliar feeding, for example, the “Ideal” preparation. It is diluted in 10 liters of water, add 1 tbsp. l. crushed laundry soap. This solution will remain on the shoots and leaves of the plant for a long time, stimulating its growth.
Mineral root feeding begins in early March. Phosphorus-potassium mixtures with a low nitrogen content are suitable. They are scattered around the bush, initially the soil should be moistened. This procedure is repeated twice - at the beginning of May and at the beginning of June.
Mineral fertilizers can be replaced with organic matter. In the spring, the following composition is effective: fresh mullein (1 part) is diluted with water (10 parts), 1 part of chicken manure is added, and the mixture is infused for 1.5 weeks.Application: at a distance of 25 cm from the center of the bush along the circumference, dig a shallow ditch and pour a nutritious infusion into it.
This fertilizing is applied once, in the spring, during the budding period. This is mid or late May.
Conclusion
There are many ways to feed peonies in the spring for lush flowering. Organics and mineral complexes are used for the procedure. They can be applied directly at the root or sprayed on plants. A crop fertilized on time produces lush and long-lasting flowering.
