Content
Verbena is a popular ornamental crop from the Verbena family. It is distinguished by beautiful corymbose inflorescences with a pleasant smell and color from pinkish-white to yellow, red or deep purple. To grow a crop on your site, you can use the seed method, especially since other methods sometimes turn out to be ineffective. It is necessary to collect the material and properly prepare it for planting. Growing verbena from seeds can be a feasible task even for novice gardeners, if you know all the secrets of planting and care.
Features of growing verbena from seeds at home
Planting verbena seeds for seedlings is practiced quite often, since the method of propagation by cuttings is not suitable for all varieties. When propagating from seeds, you must follow the rules that will help you grow full-fledged specimens.
What do verbena seeds look like?
Verbena seeds are quite large in size and look similar to aster planting material. The fruits are elongated linear, dihedral, convex, brown or brownish in color.
Verbena fruits are prefabricated nuts that are divided into four parts
How to collect verbena seeds (collection and storage)
The easiest way is to buy verbena seeds in the store. However, many gardeners prefer to collect planting material themselves. The seeds are extracted after the capsules have dried and acquired a distinct brown tint. This color indicates that the seeds are as close to full ripening as possible.
The inflorescences are cut using garden shears, after which they are laid out on clean paper sheets and put in a dry place.
To dry completely, they need to be turned over periodically. This step prevents mold from growing. The seeds are poured into a separate box and stored in a cool, dry place. It must be borne in mind that seeds may not retain a number of qualitative characteristics inherent in the parent plant.
When to plant verbena seedlings
Growing verbena seedlings is carried out in such a way that the seedlings are planted in late May - early June, when return frosts no longer pose a threat. Verbena seeds for seedlings are sown at the end of February or in March. To determine the optimal day for planting seeds, experienced summer residents use the lunar calendar.
Planting verbena for seedlings
Verbena is an unpretentious crop that sprouts excellently from seeds in open ground conditions. Usually, pre-sowing preparation is not needed, but the seeds of some varieties of verbena have a too dense shell, making germination difficult. In such cases, stratification (cold treatment) is used.Having spread the seeds on a damp piece of cloth, they are put in the refrigerator in an opaque plastic bag for 3-4 days.
Verbena seeds are characterized by uneven germination; to obtain uniform shoots, they require pre-treatment with growth stimulants such as Heteroauxin, Zircon or Epin
Selection of capacity
The sowing container should not be too deep, but wide enough. It is filled with pre-prepared soil. The surface is leveled and the soil is compacted using a small board. The seeds are evenly distributed over the entire area of the soil with a piece of paper. There is no need to sprinkle soil on top of them. Under favorable temperature conditions, the seeds begin to hatch already on the second or third day. After this, the container is transferred to a cool room, since verbena does not like hot and stuffy rooms, as well as window sills with hot radiators.
It is preferable to germinate seedlings in shallow containers made of wood or plastic with a sufficient number of drainage holes
Soil preparation
It is better to plant verbena seeds for seedlings in fertile soil. The soil should have neutral acidity, as well as airiness, looseness and high water permeability. To prepare the soil mixture, take garden soil, peat and sand in a ratio of 1:2:0.5. You can use ready-made mixtures that are sold in stores, followed by the addition of washed sand.
For every 4 liters of soil, add 1 cup of wood ash, after which the mixture is sifted. To neutralize the soil from weeds and pests, it is steamed for an hour. Disinfection of the soil mixture is done with a fungicide solution.To provide the soil with greater breathability and moisture capacity, add 1 cup of perlite for every 2 liters of mixture. Increased soil acidity can be neutralized with dolomite flour or wood ash.
When planting verbena in open ground, you need to choose a place with high light, which is reliably protected from the winds.
How to sow verbena for seedlings
There is no need to prepare large holes for seeds. You just need to spread them evenly over the surface of the earth and sprinkle them with a thin layer of fine sand or humus. The container is filled with soil, which is watered with a small amount of warm water, followed by leveling the surface. Verbena seeds are carefully lifted using a wooden toothpick and transferred to the prepared hole. When sowing verbena for seedlings, you need to leave a distance of 2-3 cm between the seeds, which will allow you to create a planting with a normal density.
After 7-8 days, shoots appear from the seeds, and after 2 weeks, young shoots will turn green in orderly rows in containers
How to grow verbena seedlings
To get beautiful plants, you need to know the tricks of sowing verbena seeds for seedlings. In case of late planting, the flowering time will shift. You cannot plant seeds in cold soil, as they will simply rot in it. To determine the soil temperature, it is not necessary to use a special thermometer. It is worth paying attention to well-known gardening tips. For example, by the blooming crocuses you can understand that the soil has warmed up sufficiently.
Planting in separate pots begins 8 days after germination of verbena seeds. The container can be taken outside only after relatively warm weather without frost has established.Since verbena has a compact root system, it can be grown both in open ground and in a container. Indoors, verbena retains its decorative qualities for 9-10 years. However, she will need an annual transplant.
Microclimate
Verbena seedlings tolerate negative temperatures down to – 3 °C, but in the event of severe frosts, the seedlings will die. Therefore, seeds need to be sown at a time when the seedlings are not threatened by frost and severe temperature changes. To obtain early shoots of verbena, you can plant them at home or in a greenhouse. Seeds placed in containers with humus soil are kept under glass or under film at a temperature of +17 to +21 °C.
Until the emergence of seedlings, the mini-greenhouse must be ventilated by removing the glass cover or polyethylene from it for 20-30 minutes a day. Accumulated condensation must be promptly disposed of using a napkin. When the first shoots appear, the covering material can be removed. In order for young plants to better adapt to changes in external temperature conditions, it is recommended to remove the covering gradually, increasing the ventilation hours every day.
Young seedlings require long daylight hours (up to 14 hours), so the seedlings are provided with additional lighting
Watering and fertilizing
Young verbena sprouts need moderate watering, since if there is excess moisture, their root system may rot. If the soil is too dry, then before planting the seedlings, you need to pour a glass of water into each hole and wait until the moisture is completely absorbed. If verbena is planted after rain, pre-moistening the soil is not required.After planting verbena seeds for seedlings, up to the moment of germination of seedlings, watering is carried out exclusively from a spray bottle.
If properly cared for, verbena blooms from mid-summer to early autumn. Excessive addition of fertilizers to the soil can lead to delayed flowering. The plant needs periodic feeding. The first application of nutrients is carried out before flowering, all subsequent ones - when the plant blooms. It is recommended to fertilize with a complex solution no more than once a month. Excess nitrogen affects the abundant growth of leaves and delays the start of flowering.
The plant needs watering when the soil underneath is completely dry. Otherwise, there is a high risk of waterlogging and a number of problems, such as rotting of the root system. When the shoots appear, watering is carried out at the root using a syringe. Moisture should not get on the seedlings themselves.
Picking verbena seedlings
When the first 2-3 leaves appear on young plants, they are planted in separate pots, which should have drainage holes. You can additionally add small expanded clay or pebbles to the bottom. The plant requires deepening to the cotyledon leaves, followed by careful compaction of the soil and moderate watering.
To form a bushy structure, after the appearance of the fifth pair of leaves, the top is pinched
Transfer
Developed specimens are dug out of the soil along with a lump of earth and transferred indoors for wintering. The temperature in the room should not exceed +10 °C.
Conclusion
Growing verbena from seeds is not the easiest task, but it is doable. Some gardeners believe that it is much easier to propagate the crop by cuttings.However, the seed method has a number of advantages, and with a competent approach it allows you to obtain healthy specimens with decorative qualities that are not inferior in beauty to the mother plants.
