Graceful Umbrellas Of Astrania. Reproduction

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Astrantia star bushes with graceful inflorescences sway under a light, warm breeze. Long bloom allows you to admire the unearthly beauty during the summer. There is a desire to increase the number of plants in the flower bed. How to propagate a favorite culture?

Breeding types

Gardeners use 2 breeding methods relative to astrania:

• vegetative (dividing the bush, segments of rhizomes);

• seed.

The first option retains all the varietal characteristics of the parent plant. The latter - can give completely different colors from the parental forms. Let's consider the technology of each method in more detail.

Vegetative method

In early spring or at the end of summer, they dig the bushes completely out of the ground, shake off the loose part. With a sharp knife, they are carefully disassembled into pieces. In each, 1-2 buds with a good root system are left.

Planted in pre-prepared holes. After a month, the plants take root, they begin to release leaves. They quickly build up vegetative mass. The next season, flower buds are laid.

The parts of the rhizomes remaining during dividing are planted on seed beds for growing in the summer or in separate cups for greenhouse placement in the winter with an autumn transplant. Such specimens bloom 3-4 years after division.

Seed method

Seed propagation is most often used by breeders to increase the number of new varieties. Astrantia seeds can be found in colorful packaging in horticultural shops.

For successful germination, long-term stratification of the seed is required for 1, 5-2 months at temperatures close to zero. Your own seeds can be sown before winter a week before the onset of stable frosts directly into the ground.

For home cultivation through seedlings in early spring, small boxes are used. Drainage holes are pierced, a layer of expanded clay is poured onto the bottom. Fertile loose soil is added on top.

Seal the surface with your hand, spill it with a pink solution of potassium permanganate. Spread out the seeds evenly, leaving 2-3 cm between adjacent seeds. Sprinkle with a thin layer of soil. Reclining the soil, provide a tight adhesion of the planting material to the soil. Cover with foil.

They are placed in a cold room, refrigerator or buried in a snowdrift near the house for stratification. In mid-April, they are brought into the room. Place boxes closer to the battery. After the first shoots appear, the film is gradually removed, accustoming the seedlings to the dry air of the apartment. Rearrange the seedlings on the windowsills.

In the evening hours, cloudy days, additional lighting is used to help get strong plants with a rich green vegetative mass.

In the phase of 2-3 true leaves, the seedlings dive in separate cups, carefully digging out with a clod of earth, trying to damage the delicate root system less. Youngsters create conditions for growth identical to the total capacity. As the soil dries up, it is watered in moderate doses, 2 times a month, adding mineral soluble complex fertilizers for flowers to the water.

With the onset of stable warm weather outside, Astrantia is transferred under the shade of trees to adapt to open ground conditions. A week later, they are planted in a permanent place.

Seed collection

If you wish, you can provide yourself with your own planting material, reducing the cost of purchasing it. Hand picking at the stage of full ripeness allows you to get a higher quality product with good germination.

In the middle of summer, after the inflorescences dry out, ripe umbrellas are carefully torn off. Place them on a newspaper in the room. Dry to a free-flowing state. Cleans from sepals, membranes. Store in paper bags at room temperature. Indicate the name, variety, year of collection on the package.

We will consider the proper care for large Astrania in the next article.