Foxglove (Digitalis)

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

Digitalis (the second name is Digitalis) is a plant that is a representative of the Plantain family. According to its vital activity, the culture is divided into annual, biennial and perennial species. The stems of the plant have a yellow light, erect shape and height up to one and a half meters. On it are inflorescences in the form of tubular bells in the form of thimbles. Hence the name of the plant

The color of such a flower in nature can be red, yellow, purple. Sometimes flowers may have spotted or dot patterns. The flowering phase of this culture takes up the entire summer season. Closer to autumn, special fruit-boxes are formed on digitalis. They contain tiny seeds.

How to properly plant a foxglove in the garden?

The foxglove plant is planted by dividing the bush, sowing seeds or by seedling. Each grower chooses the option he likes in accordance with his tastes and preferences. For cultivation by dividing, the clusters of inflorescences must be trimmed in late spring or early summer.

After fourteen to twenty days, about six pieces of new rosettes of the root plan are formed in the main part of the stem. They usually have seven or eight leaves. They should be separated from the main plant. Then they must be planted in prepared places, avoiding soil getting into the middle of the outlet. The rules for caring for digitalis in this case are very simple and not time consuming. You need to weed, loosen and water the flowers in time.

However, when watering, you need to be as careful as possible, since with stagnant water in the middle part of the flower, the shoot can rot and, therefore, die. Already in the autumn season, the roots will be fully formed, and several leaves will grow. For a good wintering, young seedlings will need to be covered with branches or spruce branches. It is worth remembering that not all foxglove varieties are positive about this planting method.

For seedlings, sow seeds in boxes in March by shallow planting. Here it is not necessary to sprinkle the planting material with earth at all. After the planting process, it is necessary to cover the container with glass or polyethylene. As soon as the first true leaf appears, you can pick the seedlings into wider and deeper pots or containers. In the autumn season, you need to plant the plants at a distance of forty centimeters from each other.

The easiest way to grow digitalis is by planting directly into the ground. This method is used most often and is popular with flower growers. In order to collect seed, you need to pay attention to the largest-sized flowers at the bottom of the foxglove. It is necessary to select only completely ripe bolls, but which have not yet burst. You can distinguish them by their brown color.

In order to prevent various plant diseases, you need to soak the seeds in a weak manganese solution. They need to be kept here for twenty minutes.

A very important issue for any grower is the time of planting the foxglove. The optimal time for this operation is at the end of April or mid-June. In some cases, the flower can be planted in the fall. If it is planted too early by the winter season, the digitalis can grow too much. Then in winter he is threatened with death from rotting away.

Before planting a plant, it is required to loosen the soil, breaking it into lumps and leveling it. Further, the seeds must be very carefully placed on the surface of the soil and sprinkled with earth or sand. For several days, the bed or flower bed should be covered with dense material. After the emergence of seedlings, the seedlings will need to be thinned out. After the formation of five to six leaves, you need to remove the excess shoots again or move them to a new place.

When planting, a distance of thirty centimeters must be maintained between the plants. During planting, you need to understand that it will be possible to observe flowering and active growth only next year. Almost any type of soil is suitable for foxglove. However, it is still desirable to give preference to fertile, loose soils with a high content of nutrients. It is important that the soil is breathable and moisture permeable.