2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The wonderful lemongrass culture has proven itself well in our gardens. A beautiful liana for decorating a shady corner of the garden, gazebo, terrace. When you cannot find planting material, you have to propagate it by seeds. How can you make this process more successful?
Sowing
Seeds require long-term stratification, about 8 months. At the same time, the germination rate is kept at the level of 55-60%, it is considered good. Fresh harvest is used for sowing. Storage for six months sharply reduces the percentage of obtaining high-quality planting material.
A wooden box 10-12 cm high is filled with a mixture of humus, sand, garden soil in a ratio of 2: 1: 1. They compact the soil well. Cut grooves with a depth of 0.5 cm at a distance of 3 cm from each other. Spill with a solution of potassium permanganate.
Spread out fresh seeds every 2-3 cm in a row. Fall asleep with a layer of 1 cm, press the earth with your hand. Cover with tar paper or roofing felt from above, press with slats.
In the garden, a pit is prepared in a dry place with a depth of 2 times the height of the box. The sides and bottom are laid out with iron or slate so that the mice do not get to the seeds in winter. A nursery is installed, covered with soil from above, a mound 15-20 cm high is created. They compact the earth well. Pegs are placed along the edges to indicate the place.
In the cold season, they observe the wintering of seeds. The embankment should remain covered with snow in any weather so that the soil does not freeze too much.
Germination
At the end of March, the cover begins to melt. Dig out the box, focusing on the pegs. Use the veranda for 3 days to thaw the soil. Then the roofing and slats are removed. They wait another 2 days.
After that, the container is installed in a glazed greenhouse in the sun. As the soil dries up, it is watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate as a prophylaxis for the "black leg". Seedlings appear at the end of May.
In the phase of 3 true leaves, the seedlings dive into the open ground.
Breeding ground
The garden bed is prepared in partial shade. Add compost, a little sand on heavy soils. The malevolent weeds are carefully selected. Dig a shovel onto the bayonet. Planted according to the scheme 10 by 10 cm. They form small pits, spill with potassium permanganate. Carefully take seedlings out of the box, trying to disturb the roots less. Set in holes, sprinkle with loose earth. At first, the bed is shaded with a non-woven material. A week later, a mulching layer of leaf litter is laid out.
The main condition for the successful cultivation of seedlings is keeping the soil moist. The roots of young plants are superficial and tender. The slightest drying out of the soil leads to inevitable death. Timely weeding in the "thin thread" phase, gentle surface loosening, helps to retain moisture for the main crop.
In the middle of summer, lemongrass finally gets used to new conditions, restores the disturbed root part. Begins to actively extract water from the underlying horizons. At this time, the shelter is removed from the garden, watering is reduced. Bushes are left overwintering under the shelter of spruce branches. In the future, they cover the nursery with snow.
The next year, the grown vines are tied to a wire stretched along the plantings in several rows on supports. Care consists in watering, surface loosening, mulching the soil.
Closer to autumn or next spring, lemongrass is transplanted to a permanent place.
Thanks to seed reproduction, more planting material is obtained from one mother plant. The seedlings are adapted to the local climate conditions. They develop well, give useful, vitamin-rich, tasty fruits annually, starting from 4-5 years of age. Try it yourself to go through the entire development cycle from a small seed to an adult plant. Hope the experiment is interesting.
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