Among the huge variety of annual flowering plants, kochia deserves great attention. Despite the fact that its flowers are inconspicuous and small in size, the plant itself looks original due to the rich color of the leaves and the bizarre shape of the bush itself.
red kochiaKohiya belongs to the Marev family, its homeland is China. Represented by lush bushes, reaching a height of one or more meters. It has a rich green color, which by autumn can turn into yellow or burgundy. There are more than 80 species of kochia and it is distributed throughout the world. The reasons for this success of kochia are its decorativeness, ease of cultivation and unpretentiousness in care.
Sowing seeds
In the southern regions of the country, cochia seeds are sown in May, immediately into the soil. Kokhiya is characterized by sufficient cold resistance and night frosts are not terrible for her. In other regions of Russia, cochia is grown through seedlings. The best time for sowing seeds for seedlings is the first decade of April.
The seeds are very small, so they cannot be planted deep into the ground, just press them a little into the ground. For seedlings, garden soil interspersed with rotted manure is suitable. Before planting, the soil is moistened, which will give good and friendly shoots. Boxes with sown seeds are placed in a place where there is diffused sunlight. The temperature in the room is maintained at 18-22 degrees. In order to avoid drying out of the top layer of the soil, it is necessary to spray with water every day. Seedlings will appear a week after sowing. At this point, you need to have enough light, otherwise the sprouts will stretch and weaken.
Seedling picking
When the seedlings grow to 5 - 7 cm, for their further full development, they should be dived. To do this, they are removed with a clod of earth and moved to a separate container. After picking, the plants continue to be watered from time to time and provide sunlight.
Wild Cochia Transplanting cochia into the ground
In May, the seedlings will reach a height of 15-20 cm and it is time to transplant them to a permanent place. It is advisable to choose a sunny and wind-protected place for it. The soil for kochia should be light and permeable to water. When a place is chosen, they dig holes for planting. The landing step should be 35-40 cm, otherwise they will be cramped later. Prepared holes are filled with water, and then seedlings are planted there, keeping a clod of earth on the roots. 
plant care
During the summer growing season, kochia should be watered and fertilized. At a minimum, plantings should be fed twice during the summer with complete mineral fertilizers. Fertilizers promote the growth and development of plants and increase their resistance to diseases.
Kochia is a genus of plants that unites more than 80 species, including annuals and perennials of the Chenopodiaceae family. The scientific name is “bassia” and the second, more popular one, assigned to the genus in honor of the botanist V. Koch, and among the people, for its interesting appearance, it was dubbed “broom grass” or summer (one-year) cypress. The latter is true, since growing cochia from seeds (ornamental varieties) requires annual sowing. The main question is: "Kohiya growing from seeds when to plant?" Planting for seedlings or sowing in open ground is determined by the temperature regime in the region of cultivation of annual cypresses. Bassias are diverse and decorative, dense small-leaved shoots of semi-shrubs grow upwards and in breadth from 0.5 to 1.5 meters. They are literally created for an artistic haircut, embodying the wildest fantasies of landscape designers and amateur gardeners into reality.
Sowing dates
Pictured is Kochia
Under favorable conditions, the kokhiya summer cypress plant does not need to be grown from seeds, it propagates by self-sowing, but this is more likely to refer to wild species that do not represent decorative value in the flower garden. It is safer to purchase or collect, if ripe, small seeds and plant them in the spring in open ground under shelter or seedlings at home. It should be taken into account that the seeds of the broom grass lose their germination capacity for two years already, and choose the material for sowing with the “correct” terms.
So, kochia growing from seeds when to plant in open ground without shelter? Sowing begins closer to June (in the second half - the end of May), when the threat of severe frosts has passed. When using shelter - sowing seeds in the beginning or middle of May. The breaking shoots of broom grass are able to endure light frosts, but nothing more. In a number of regions, it is permissible to grow cochias from seeds by sowing into the soil before winter.
When planting seedlings from seeds at home, bassii can be sown from the end of March - mid-April. Young ornamental plants are planted in a permanent place only after warm weather is established, without minus temperature fluctuations.
Landing
When sowing summer cypress seeds, pay special attention to a number of factors:
- Lighting plays a huge role in seed germination. Kohiya summer cypress growing from the seeds of which is carried out in artificial conditions requires lighting. Lack of light will cause the sprouts to be excessively thin, long and weakened;
- The temperature regime is very important. Greenhouse conditions are created for the rapid germination of seeds. The place of sowing (seedling container) is covered with a transparent film or glass, which retains heat and moisture inside. With this method, the first sprouts of bass will appear in a week;
- Soil quality. With the open method of sowing, the bed for planting summer cypress trees is dug up several times and disinfected by spilling a solution of manganese. The soil should be light and fertile, drainage is welcome. Ready-made peat or soil mixtures with the addition of sand are used as soil for seedling containers. Mandatory preplant treatment with fungicides (Topaz, Fundazol, etc.);
- Humidity. The plant does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil, which becomes the source of many diseases in the grown broom grass.
If the timing of when it is optimal to plant kochia is determined, and all the factors conducive to this are taken into account, then you should start sowing seeds of an ornamental annual. The main feature is that the seed material cannot be buried. When sowing, the seeds are scattered on the surface of a prepared, slightly moistened substrate, pressing down without pressure with fingers or improvised means (0.5-0.7 cm), or into grooves no deeper than 1 cm. a layer of sand.
plant care
Despite the fact that broom grass is considered an unpretentious annual, some care for this plant is still required. Frequent seedlings of bassia need thinning. With the seedling method, young ornamental plants grown at home are planted at a distance of 15-35 cm from each other. These fluffy giants require space, in the thickening of summer cypresses - wither away, premature flowering begins with the formation of seed pods, wilting of the crown.
Seedlings are light and thermophilic. Bassia loves open sunny areas, it can grow in partial shade, but there it risks not revealing its decorative potential. The bushes are not so fluffy, the trunks are elongated without abundant foliage. Terry shrubs will die with the arrival of the first frosts, therefore, in temperate latitudes, it is advisable to give preference to growing cohias from seeds through seedlings at home, then the plant will delight longer in the garden.
Young plants need regular weeding and loosening of the soil, which helps to avoid stagnant moisture. Waterlogging leads to rotting of the root system, a “black leg” may develop. Unpretentious broom grass is considered drought-resistant, but this does not mean that young growth does not need to be watered. Moderate soil moisture in hot weather will benefit the flower. In order to keep the soil moist without frequent watering, use a technique such as mulching with decorative sawdust or pieces of bark.
An important stage is fertilizing with mineral fertilizers. The first is carried out 1-1.5 weeks after planting the seedlings in a permanent place, the next - after 3-4 weeks during the period of active growth and after shearing to restore strength. It often happens that semi-shrubs grow well even without top dressing on fertile "fatty" soil.
But whether the summer cypress needs pruning is determined only by the owner of the garden. This procedure is optional, it does not carry any load, except for aesthetics. Therefore, it can hardly be called vital.
Types and varieties of cochia
Perennial plant species from the Marev family are not of decorative value; they cannot be found in flower beds and alleys of parks. Due to the high content of protein and protein in green foliage, they are valuable fodder crops. Perennial bassia are frost-resistant and unpretentious, self-sowing breed, grow rapidly on uncultivated plots of land. The flowers of the semi-shrubs are unremarkable and small, they hide in the axils of the leaves, by autumn the fruit-nut with a seed ripens.
Well-known to lovers of rocky hills and rock gardens is the ground cover Bassia Creeping (Prostata). The plant has a powerful root system, going deep into 3 meters. The shoots are long with thin and narrow filiform leaves, spread over the surface of the earth, forming a dense green carpet from 10 to 45-50 cm high. Flowering occurs in the second half of summer - early autumn, the seeds are sown by the wind.
The species of the annual Kochia panicled (Scoparia) has become a universal favorite. Its garden varieties are successfully grown for landscaping flower beds, park ensembles and gardens. Popular varieties: Broom, Woolly-flowered (Laniflora), Dense-flowered (Densiflora), Summer Cypress (Cyprus).
Broom Bassia is divided into two varieties: hairy (Trichophylla) and Childs (Childsii).
Hairy - an ornamental shrub with a powerful strongly branching stem. Reaches a height of up to 1 meter and up to 75 cm in circumference. The leaves are small, elongated, light green in summer and coral red in autumn. Easy to shape haircut.
Childs is a fluffy shrub 35 to 60 cm high, abundantly covered with light green thread-like leaves. A distinctive feature of the variety is the unchanged color in the summer and autumn periods.
Woolly-flowered (shaggy) and densely flowered bassii are cultivated much less frequently.
Shaggy bassia is a low-growing semi-shrub variety up to 20-60 cm high, the stems are covered with ocher curly hairs.
Dense-flowered bassia is a tall variety (1.2-1.3 meters in height) with an original white edge of snow-white hairs around the perianths, on shoots extending horizontally from the central trunk.
The most common cultivated varieties are represented by varieties of the Summer Cypress variety type (Cyprus). The leaves of an annual semi-shrub are so thin and small that from a distance they look like conifer needles. The pyramidal branched emerald kochia bush looks like a slender cypress. The selection work resulted in varieties of ornamental broom grass of various colors: yellow, orange, red, violet, purple, etc. figure compositions.
Summer cypress in the garden
Practical gardeners cut branchy bushes of broom grass and make brooms for domestic needs, but this is not the main purpose of an ornamental plant. Group plantings of annual bassies focus on flower beds, setting the rhythm of the entire composition. Slender tall green shrubs act as a backdrop for other flowers. Low-growing, creeping varieties fill gaps in rockeries and rocky alpine hills. Dense group plantings serve as a natural fence for flower beds. Successfully arranged tall plant varieties with a dense crown after artistic pruning and refinement become original garden sculptures. Growing decorative varieties of summer cypresses will not cause much trouble, and the result will not go unnoticed.
Cochia plantings in the open field are used by summer residents as a decorative element. The growing process does not require special labor-intensive flower care. Despite this, the result is always pleasing.
Features and varieties of kochia
Kochia owes its name to the German botanist Welhelm Koch. The birthplace of this plant is China, and the first mention of it occurs in the 17th century. There are many “folk” names in the arsenal of kochia: summer cypress, bassia, prutnyak, broom.
By its nature, kochia is a strongly branching evergreen subshrub. Outwardly, the plant is very similar to a cypress or a small Christmas tree, for which it was called the summer cypress. Similarity is achieved due to long thin leaves and a branched bush.
In the garden, kochia is easy to recognize by its green mass, but it has nondescript flowers. Often they are even hard to see. Whitish tiny flowers are hidden in the axils of the leaves and do not represent any decorative value. A feature of kochia is its pliability during pruning and long-term preservation of shape. Almost any figure can be created from dense bushes, and plants planted along the paths serve as a green border. In autumn, the kochia changes the color of the leaves and looks even more attractive.
Kochia is in most cases an annual crop, but there are also perennial varieties.
Cochia varieties:
- paniculate (coronal) kochia is a decorative and deciduous species, which includes annual and perennial subspecies. Used in ornamental horticulture and as an industrial crop;
- hairy kochia is an annual shrub, up to a meter high. In autumn, this type of kokhiya acquires a bright red color;
- Childsa kochia - plant height up to 60 cm, color throughout the entire growth period - light green;
- creeping kochia - squat half-bush;
- woolly-flowered - “shaggy” kochia, covered with thick yellow-red villi;
- densely flowered - a tall type of cochia. Due to the many white villi, it has a white tint.
Planting and propagation of kochia
Kochia reproduces only through seeds. Seeds are round, brown. Seed germination is always excellent. Seeds can be sown in three ways:
- Seeds in seedling containers.
- Seeds in open ground.
- Self-seeded seedlings.
Cochia seeds are sown for seedlings in early spring (March - April). The soil for growing seedlings of kochia is suitable for balanced. Seeds shallow (1 cm) are embedded in moist soil. It is recommended to create a greenhouse effect by covering the containers with foil. Seeds germinate within 7 days, after which the film is removed.
Attention! Young shoots of kochia are not watered, but sprayed from a spray bottle, otherwise the plant will die.
Cochia seedlings can hardly be called tender. It grows quickly without much hassle. When the seedlings reach 6-8 cm in height, and the weather is warm outside, the seedlings are planted in open ground. The disembarkation scheme depends on the desired result. For decorative borders and hedges, plants are planted 10-15 cm apart. When growing flower arrangements, the planting scheme is arbitrary.
When sowing cochia seeds in open ground, they should only be lightly tamped. It's not worth it to sprinkle. For faster germination, planting can be covered with a film, but not necessary. If the seedlings are too thick, the landings are thinned out.
Kochia is one of the many self-seeding crops. To do this, just leave a few adult plants to winter in the garden. New dense shoots will appear in the spring. Moreover, the seeds are dispersed by the wind, and kochia can grow even in the most unexpected places.
Advice! Do not rush to plant kochia. It grows quickly, but late spring frosts will kill this plant.
Kochia care, diseases and pests
Cochia is planted in a well-lit place, only slight shading is permissible. In the shade, culture grows quolo, lifeless.
Young seedlings need top dressing, at least several times a month. Top dressing should be carried out with nitrogen fertilizers, since it is nitrogen that affects the growth of the green mass of the plant.
Watering kochia should be done very carefully. Better underfill than overfill. The plant is able to withstand a short drought, but stagnant water is detrimental to it.
Pruning is also an important step in caring for kochia. It is carried out easily, with secateurs or scissors. After pruning, kochia keeps its shape for a long time.
Kochia diseases are not terrible. She has strong immunity. Here are the pests to watch out for. The spider mite infects kochia quickly enough, therefore, having noticed the first signs of its activity, you should not hesitate to treat it with pesticides.
Kochia in combination with other plants in landscape design
The topic of using kochia in landscape design is endless. You can draw ideas for arranging a flower bed from a photo on the Internet or turn on your own imagination. Cochia plantings are used to decorate hedges, green borders, decorate flower beds in home gardens and in urban gardening. Summer cypress will decorate the garden composition and even the alpine slide.
Cochia will dilute any paints with its greenery. Yellow lush hats of marigolds on a green background of kochia look gorgeous. No less effect is achieved from planting cochia in a rose garden. Alpine slide will sparkle with new colors when combined with lavender cochia.
Particular attention, as an element of landscape design, should be given to figures from kochia. Their diversity is simply amazing. On the network there are photos of kochia in the form of a heart, nesting dolls, snakes, complex geometric shapes. Zigzag hedge or wavy border, whimsical shapes or strict geometric shapes - everything is possible with the use of grown kochia.
With the onset of autumn, flower beds with kochia are transformed again. The property of the kochia chameleon can be taken into account in landscape design and used to advantage. In summer, kochia can serve as a green background, and in autumn it can transform into red, yellow or orange accents of a flower bed. In combination with the queen of autumn, chrysanthemum, the effect is simply amazing.
Florists also respect kochia. Cut branches are used to create bouquets. Dried sections are dyed by florists in different colors and used in "dry" compositions.
Application of cochia
Cochia is used not only as an ornamental plant. It can serve as food for animals, and dried branches will find their use in the household as a broom. Culinary experts add cochia to gourmet first courses.
In alternative medicine, kochia has also found its niche. Folk healers use cochia in the treatment of eczema and other skin diseases, inflammatory processes. The diuretic and diaphoretic properties of cochia help to cope with edema, and the cardiostimulating effect will help with heart disease.
As you can see, kochia planting and care in the open field does not require much effort. The plant is worthy of attention due to its wide range of uses. Unpretentiousness and resistance to all diseases makes caring for kochia a pleasure.
Growing cochia from seeds: video
Types of cochia: photo
Kohiya is a wonderful decoration of the local area, garden, cottage, park. This shrub belongs to deciduous plants with a high decorative effect. After a haircut, it quickly builds up a green mass and becomes even more beautiful. Read about how to grow kochia from seeds in the article.
plant description
Kohiya is a fluffy annual shrub with a dense branching crown, reaching a height of one meter. Decorative plant gives not flowering, but the beauty of the foliage. The inflorescences are small and inconspicuous. Attractive is the narrow foliage of an oblong shape. It is bright green or light green in color, and in autumn - raspberry or burgundy.
Due to the peculiarity of changing shades of foliage in the process of growth, the shrub always stands out among other garden vegetation. The leaves bear a strong resemblance to needles and feel prickly to the touch. But in fact, the shoots are very tender and soft, for which the plant is popularly called broom grass. Bath brooms are made from its twigs. In addition, there is another popular name: summer cypress, and in science - bassia.
This plant from the haze family has 80 species, one of them is Green Forest cochia. Growing from seeds is carried out both in open ground and at home. This variety of kochia is characterized by a bright color of juicy green leaves throughout the growing season, which gives the shrub a special decorative effect. Hence the name, which in translation from English means "green forest". There is no particular difference in the care of varieties. However, when landscaping garden plots, hairy cochia and Childs cochia are more often used.
Cypress comes from the ancient country of the East - China. It was here that many varieties of this crop were bred, which was later brought to Europe by Koch, a professor from Germany, which determined the name of the plant. Due to its excellent decorative qualities, it began to be cultivated in various parts of the world. Kohiya is very similar to cypress crown, which has the shape of a pyramid.
Growing with seedlings
With this method, healthy seedlings are guaranteed. To grow kochia (summer cypress) from seeds, they must first be sown and seedlings obtained. This time falls on the spring period, or rather, at the end of March. Seeds are sown in small containers. Before this, the containers are washed with hot soapy water, and then treated with potassium permanganate.
The soil is also disinfected. First you need to steam it, and then spill it well with the same hot solution. The soil should be loose and finely structured. It is important that it is new and well passes air and water. It can be prepared independently, for which you should mix peat with sand or perlite in equal proportions.
Seed sowing technology
If everything is done correctly, planting material will quickly germinate. Growing cochia from seeds is not difficult. The sowing procedure is as follows:
- The soil must first be compacted, and the seeds evenly distributed over the entire surface.
- Sprinkle them on top with soil mixed with sand, or sand alone.
- Water the soil using a spray bottle. If necessary, moisturizing is carried out daily. The main thing is to prevent the top layer of soil from drying out.
- Cover landings.
- Place the container so that it is not rearranged later. After a week and a half, shoots will appear.
- After 14 days, their height will reach five to seven centimeters. It's time to start picking seedlings, preferably in peat pots along with a clod of earth, so as not to damage the roots.
- At this time, plants need regular watering and fertilizing with fertilizers containing nitrogen.
- As soon as the return frosts pass and the seedlings reach a height of 15-20 cm, they are planted in flower beds in the garden, keeping a distance of 25-30 cm between the bushes. If cochia is used to create living borders, then the plants are planted after 10-15 cm.
Sowing in the ground
Kochia is an ornamental inhabitant of open ground, although the plant is also grown at home. Since cypress is an annual crop, it can be grown by sowing seeds immediately to a permanent place of growth. But experts do not recommend using this method. It is better to grow strong seedlings indoors and plant them in a garden area where there will be a lot of light and no draft.
When growing cochia Summer Cyprus from seeds, it should be borne in mind that this plant does not tolerate acidic soils. Therefore, before sowing, the soil must be deoxidized. To do this, its surface is sprinkled with ash or neutral soil is added to the landing site or directly into the hole. Sowing seeds can be done using soil fertilized with rotted manure. Kohiya prefers to grow in a humid environment, but does not tolerate stagnant water. In this case, plants are susceptible to damage by a disease such as black leg. Therefore, it is important that the soil is well-drained.
When to plant kochia?
Growing from seeds begins with their sowing in open ground in the spring, at the end of the season. It is important that there are no return frosts. In regions with a warm climate, seeds are sown in May, at the very beginning of the month. The optimum temperature for their germination is 16-18°C. It does not matter if for some reason in May it was not possible to do planting work. Sowing continues until the middle of the first summer month. The emergence of seedlings will have to wait a long time, about two weeks.
To speed up this process, give the seedlings plenty of sunlight. To do this, scattering the seeds over the surface of the soil, you should not cover them with a thick layer of earth. It is enough to press the seeds into slightly moist soil. To prevent young plants from being damaged by low night temperatures, they are covered with spunbond or other material at this time of day.
"Summer cypress" immediately after planting does not grow fast, it looks like a stunted and unsightly plant. This is because the seeds give almost 100% germination, the plants are too crowded. Therefore, seedlings should be thinned out, leaving a distance of at least 35 cm between them.
Watering
Cultivation of cochia from seeds in open ground is carried out using a number of agrotechnical measures, one of which is irrigation. Cypress is considered an unpretentious plant, so it does not need to be watered often, it satisfies the need for moisture due to precipitation from the atmosphere. But in a dry summer, watering is necessary, they are carried out once a week. Mulch to keep moisture in the soil. To do this, use small gravel or bark, as well as decorative stone.
top dressing
Cypress grows amazingly fast and grows green after the next haircut. Therefore, in order to maintain its magnificent appearance, the plant should be fed. Approximate schedule of procedures:
- If the seeds are sown immediately in open ground, then two weeks after germination, complete mineral fertilizers should be applied to the soil, since at this time the cochia needs microelements.
- After a month and a half, top dressing is repeated, but with nitrogen fertilizers.
- After a bush has been formed with a haircut, the plant should be fed with nitrogen again so that the leaves grow faster.
How to grow kochia at home?
To do this, you need containers for seedlings, fertile soil and seeds. Growing kochia from seeds at home is not difficult. In the garden soil you need to add a little humus, peat or sand. Since the seeds of the plant are small, they do not require special preparation. It is enough to treat them with a growth-stimulating solution: Epin, for example, or Energen.
The soil needs to be calcined for 25 minutes at a temperature of 110 o C. After that, it needs to be processed, for this you can use a solution of potassium permanganate. Seeds should be sown in moist soil, on the surface of which grooves of small depth are made. Seeds are evenly poured into them and watered. Planting material is not sprinkled with earth, but is slightly pressed against it. Planting boxes should be covered with film or glass and placed in a well-lit place, but away from heating devices.
When growing cochia from seeds at home, the room temperature should be maintained at 18-20 ° C. Water daily in the morning or evening. The seeds will germinate in a week. When three leaves appear, the seedlings dive into cups, preferably peat ones. In the future, they are planted in the ground along with plants. It's like an extra power source.
What are the benefits of kochia?
Despite the fact that the cultivation of cochia from seeds must be started anew every year, gardeners breed shrubs on their plots due to a number of advantages:
- Emerald greens are a great addition to any garden arrangement.
- Kochia looks advantageous on stones in rockeries, and is also an adornment of alpine slides.
- Borders using shrubs are very neat and elegant.
- The plant lends itself readily to shearing. Krone can give any shape even to a novice designer.
This original and curious ornamental leafy plant has gained rapid popularity among gardeners, flower growers and owners of suburban areas only in the last decade. Today, kokhiya is widely used by both amateurs and professionals of landscape design for various types of landscaping.
Kochia can be grown from seed in two ways, each with its own benefits.
- Through seedlings.
- Sowing seeds directly into the ground.
Seedling plants will enter the growing season earlier, take shape faster and acquire a decorative look. Those sown in the ground will grow more slowly, but their resistance to diseases and weather effects will be higher.
There are many varieties of cochia bred today. They may differ not very much, but they may differ dramatically - in height, color of the leaves, their shape.
Although, the plant is characterized by the fact that almost any shape can be given to its bush. This, of course, is not boxwood, but among annuals, kochia is definitely the leader of the haircut and can even serve as an excellent base for creating topiary.
By the way, some varieties of summer cypress have green cheerful leaves, which rapidly turn red with the onset of autumn days. Some species wear foliage that is rather pale in color, but later it turns blood red. There are varieties with foliage of the usual herbal shade, which will turn orange by autumn.
Sowing for seedlings
Since the plant is used for decorative purposes, it is best and most convenient to grow it with seedlings. Seedlings ready for planting are easy to move to the planned place, thus creating a design quickly and surely.
The timing of sowing summer cypress for seedlings will depend on climatic conditions. In the middle lane, it's time to start sowing in the last week of March.
You will need containers that are 12 cm deep. It is better not to use a round shape, a square with a minimum side of 25 cm or a rectangle 20x40 cm is more suitable.
Cochia containers must be cleaned and disinfected so that the seedlings do not die at the beginning of the growing season. To do this, the containers are washed with hot soapy water (without impurities), and then rinsed with a bright solution of potassium permanganate.
Priming
You can buy the soil ready, but it is better to prepare it.
Ingredients:
- small-fraction high-moor peat;
- fine-grained river sand;
- a fifth of crushed humus;
- perlite.
The soil before sowing must be disinfected, as well as seedling containers. To do this, completely ready, mixed and sifted, it is heated in an oven at a temperature of + 60 ° C, and then spilled with a solution of potassium permanganate in water heated to + 40 ° C.
Sowing step by step
Usually, subject to the temperature and water conditions, summer cypress seedlings begin to sprout 8-10 days after the seed sowing procedure.
Summer cypress seedling care
As soon as the shoots have appeared, it is time to remove the lutrasil, and move the containers to another room where the temperature is three to five degrees lower (you can simply gradually lower the temperature in this room, but without arranging through ventilation).
For the correct development of seedlings of cochia, the temperature at the first vegetative stage should not be higher than + 16 ° C.
Watering the seedlings is carried out with a thin stream of water that flows down the edge of the container, and nothing else.
Seedlings of summer cypress are prone to black leg infection. You can protect the sprouts from death if you maintain a medium low temperature. Overflow and soaking of the soil are unacceptable.
The soil should not dry out either. Cochia leaves at the slightest hint of drought will droop, wither and recover after that with great difficulty.
If drainage is placed in the seedling containers (which is very desirable), and the soil has a light structure that can be aerated, then watering the seedlings is carried out twice a week.
What to do with the black leg
If it nevertheless appeared, and the plants began to become covered with characteristic darkening, and then fall off and die with a rotten blackened leg, measures must be taken.
- Remove from the container all diseased or suspected plant infection.
- Completely stop watering.
- Cover the surface of the soil with dried river sand so that it absorbs excess moisture.
- When the soil dries out, pour the seedlings under the root with a solution of potassium permanganate.
If the measures taken did not help stop the mass loss of seedlings, they urgently need to be transplanted into fresh and dry soil, previously disinfected soil.
picking
So that the summer cypress does not grow too broad and too fluffy, so that the bushes retain their compactness and neat appearance, the seedlings need to dive. Picking is carried out two to three weeks after germination. By this time, the seedlings should have at least 2 leaves.
Container for picking is taken personal - pots with a diameter of 10 cm.
Disinfection of containers, preparation and disinfection of the soil is carried out in the same way as before sowing seeds.
Three seedlings are placed in each container, in order to then remove the weak ones, and leave the stronger ones for planting.
After picking, the plants are given the brightest place, and the temperature and watering schedule remain the same.
top dressing
Summer cypress seedlings will have to be fed at least three times before planting. The first time the complex for seedlings is used. Top dressing takes place after a dive, a few days later, during watering.
The second and third times, top dressing is also carried out with a complex where nitrogen predominates. This happens two weeks after the previous feeding.
Transplanting
The planting of summer cypress will take place as early as mid-May, but it is better to wait until the end of the month. The place is preferably sunny, so the plant can "open up" in all its glory. Drafts and winds are excluded - kochia needs calm.
The soil will need loose, fertile above average, in no case waterlogged.
The distance between kochia seedlings when they are planted in a regular flower garden is 30 centimeters. If the plant is planted in the form of a border or a low hedge, no more than 15 centimeters are left between the seedlings.
While the seedlings will take root, they will need enhanced watering. In two weeks, the landing should be followed by another top dressing. Then you can carry out the first haircut, and after this procedure, every time the summer cypress will again need to be fed.
If sown in the ground
A few words about how to sow kochia immediately into unprotected soil, for those who do not have the desire or ability to grow seedlings.
- Be sure to wait for suitable temperatures - on the day + 18 ° C, and at night not lower than + 12 ° C. Traditionally, this is the month of May.
- The soil on the sunny site for kochia will have to be carefully loosened, crushed lumps, watered.
- It is better to sow in the morning. Just like in a container - on top. Then sprinkle with sand and cover, but not with a film, but with a non-woven fabric.
It will take twice as long to sprout “in the wild”, and seedlings can be quite stunted. They must be thinned out at the distance indicated above, depending on the purpose of cultivation, and then fed with a mineral-nitrogen complex.
Kohiya or summer cypress is an annual, it must be grown from seed every year. However, this ornamental plant is worth the effort spent on growing it. Lush balls of summer cypress can change and ennoble any landscape.
Video review of kochia
