The perennial tropical plant Mirabilis attracts gardeners with the brightness of inflorescences, delicate aroma, and healing properties. The plant tolerates drought, heat, blooms in difficult conditions, on loamy soil. Minus temperatures ruin even the roots of the "night beauty", so flower cultivation is preferable to seeds.
Mirabilis from seeds at home
Pick a tropical flower the best place to grow. Provide early flowering for guaranteed seed ripening:
- find in the garden the warmest, sunny place;
- protect plants from draft, strong wind;
- prepare soil neutral or slightly acidic;
- shade in the hottest afternoon hours;
- exclude lowland areas for landing.
Extend the period for seed ripening in regions with early frosts using non-woven material. They wrap a plant or make a small protective frame.
Preparation of soil and planting material
Light neutral soil is suitable for the "night beauty", but it also grows on loams. The site should be fertile, with good drainage performance. Waterlogging and increased acidity negatively affect the development of the plant. The cultivated area for planting mirabilis is recommended to be prepared in the fall. Under digging on a full bayonet, shovels make fertilizers: potassium salt, humus, calcium nitrate, wood ash. Light soil is weighted with clay at the rate of 18-20 kg / m. Lime and dolomite flour are introduced with excessive soil acidity.
The following method has proven itself well. A ditch is dug to a depth of 30 cm, removed weeds and food waste are laid in it, and dug with soil from above. Before landing, sprinkle with ash.
When and how to plant mirabilis seeds
They analyze the climatic situation of their region. About two months pass from the moment of seed planting to the beginning of flowering, another three weeks are necessary for the formation of seeds. Therefore, planting prepared planting material saves time. Germination of seeds is preceded by treatment with a solution of thick pink potassium permanganate for 2 hours
Accelerate the emergence of seedlings:
- apply scarification: carefully thin the seed coat with sandpaper, a nail file;
- warm with hot water for half an hour;
- placed between wet cotton pads;
- use solutions of growth stimulants (Epin-extra) for germination.
In the southern regions, mirabilis perfectly propagates by self-sowing. The grown shoots are thinned out depending on the variety. For low varieties, 30 cm is enough, large ones need 50-60 cm.
Air and earth warmed up to +10 ° C, the danger of frost has passed - seeds are planted in open ground. The processed, sprouted peas of mirabilis are laid out along the grooves with an interval of 5-8 cm. They are sprinkled with a substrate of 2 cm, watered with water, covered with non-woven material.
Growing seedlings of mirabilis at home
In regions with a cold climate, mirabilis is grown in seedlings. This provides early flowering and makes it possible to collect seed material. Choose a period from late March to mid-April so that 1.5 months are left before planting in open ground.
Strong seedlings are obtained by following these recommendations:
- Choose deep plastic glasses or pots. The roots of mirabilis develop inland and they need enough space.
- Universal neutral reaction mixtures are used or peat, river sand, garden soil are mixed in equal portions and containers for seedlings are filled with the obtained substrate.
- They neutralize the soil by adding wood ash or dolomite flour to the mixture. Spill it with a fungicide solution.
- Before planting, the seeds are soaked, removing pop-up specimens. The remaining planting material is placed in a humid environment for 12-20 hours.
- Only 2-3 peas are deepened by 2 cm into the prepared substrate, reserving space for large, powerful seedlings.
- Watered with warm water and cover using glass or film. Periodically ventilate.
- The shoots are already exposed on the illuminated windowsill with a couple of leaves. Avoiding drafts, conduct hardening on the street, if climatic conditions allow.
- Moisturize the soil abundantly before transplantation and the method of transshipment, preserving the roots, arrange the plant in open ground in a prepared place.
- The earth around the plant is mulched.
Seedlings from greenhouses are placed on the flower beds:
- Moscow Region and the Middle Strip - early June;
- Ural - the third decade of June;
- southern areas - the end of May.
Mr. Dachnik informs: collection and storage of mirabilis seeds
With proper storage, the germination rate of the collected planting material lasts 3 years.
Choose a strong plant, with the desired color of the petals. It is taken into account that the color of gramophones is not inherited when crossing, and the manifestation of incomplete dominance (Mendel law) is typical for mirabilis.
Like a perennial, the first seeds of the "night beauty" appear two weeks after the beginning of flowering. Inside the inflorescences with blooming gramophones, a seed box with a pentahedral dark brown fruit is visible inside. Signals the readiness of the seeds, a change in its color from dark green to straw.
There are several ways to collect mirabilis fruits:
- Selectively tear open seed boxes.
- Substitute a wide basin or cardboard box under the plant, shake it, collect peeled peas.
- Cut the plant with brown lower bolls, lay in a dry place and leave the upper peduncles to ripen.
- The upper part of the plant is removed, a paper bag is put on the remaining part, turned over and hung in a warm room until the seeds gradually ripen and crumble.
- Be sure to finish, ripen the fruits collected in advance.
We follow the rules:
- lay out boxes with peas on paper (preferably a net) or on drawers, for all-round drying with a thin layer;
- choose a place for ripening with good ventilation;
- mix periodically and monitor the appearance of mold;
- sign the collected material if it is of several varieties or of different colors;
- thresh seed boxes and remove excess debris.
Store correctly:
- The optimum temperature is from zero to +10 ° C, relative humidity 60%.
- Use paper bags or envelopes, linen bags.
- Sign, indicating the grade, color, year of collection of mirabilis.
It is recommended not to store the seeds in plastic or plastic containers.
Rooms with high humidity (bathroom, kitchen) are not used. If this cannot be avoided, they contain seeds in glass jars with screw caps. Silica gel (drying agent) is placed there.
