Lobelia perennial: planting and care, photo and description of the species swallow's nest, red volcano and others, as well as features of growing in open ground

Lobelia perennial is an amazingly beautiful decorative culture, but it is not grown so often today because of ignorance.

And this is not surprising, since this flower appeared on the modern market not so long ago, but every day attracts more and more attention among flower growers.

In care, he is not picky, abundantly and colorful blooms, and you can grow a plant in home and street conditions. In this article we will talk about the types of lobelia, as well as discover all the secrets of caring and growing this beautiful flower.

Types: description and photo

Red volcano

The height of this plant is 1.5 m. The leaf plate can be of two types: green or red. Less culture in its low frost resistance.

Bird home

This is a decorative grassy culture, which has blue or purple flowers, spike-like type. It is used to create floral arrangements, planted in flower pots and flowerpots.

Darling

This type of plant is the smallest. The height of the bush reaches only a few centimeters. Culture is growing in Australia, so wintering in central Russia is impossible.

Gerardi

This variety of lobelia is resistant to low temperatures. It is able to withstand frost up to 30 degrees. The height of the bush reaches 1 m, and the color of the flowers is purple.

Blue

This plant grows in America. The height of the culture is 1 m. The flowers are blue and purple. When grown in the middle lane, frost resistance is insufficient.

Sedentary

This species is designed for Siberia and the Far East. It has a good resistance to frost in the middle band. The height of the bush is 1.5 m. Flowers can be blue or lilac. This variety is poisonous. It winters well, but if winter is without snow, the bush will have to be mulched.

Purple

This name the plant received for the color of flowers. The height of the bush is 1.5 m. This species grows in humid conditions and is suitable for decorating a pond. But in it is not recommended to grow the middle lane, since the variety is not winter-hardy.

Landing Features

Sowing seeds of perennial lobelia for seedlings is best done in February-March. The fact is that the plant is characterized by slow growth, so they need to get stronger before planting them in open ground.

Priming

Planting measures should be carried out in a sterile substrate. To do this, pour it with boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate.

Reference! You can prepare a nutritional composition if you combine sand and peat substrate in a ratio of 1: 4.

Seeds

Advantages of the seed propagation method:

availability of planting material;
wide variety of varieties;
fast germination.

The method has some disadvantages:

the plant does not accept the varietal characteristics of its parent;
flowering occurs a few years after planting;
buying seeds, you can’t find out what the producers put there, as sometimes it’s not what you expect.

How to choose?

There are two types of seeds on sale: prepared or unprepared. The first option is best suited for direct planting of seeds in open ground. If you use planting material collected personally, then select only large grains, while their shelf life should not exceed 6 months.

Procedure

Planting seeds can occur in a container or in peat tablets. If the first method is selected, the procedure is as follows:

Lay a drainage layer at the bottom of the container. You can use bark, expanded clay and pebbles.
Then fill the container with soil mixture.
Gently fill the soil with seeds mixed with sand. After that, lightly sprinkle them with water using a spray gun. To obtain high germination, seeds should not be covered with soil and rammed.
Cover the container with plastic wrap, and then install it on its windowsill, carefully illuminated by sunlight. The air temperature should be 18-20 degrees. Remove film from time to time to prevent condensation.
The first Sentsa will appear on the 7-10th day.

When planting perennial lobelia seeds in peat tablets, you must adhere to the following instructions:

Peat tablets placed on a wide tray and pour them with water. After they have absorbed water, drain the excess liquid.
Since the seeds are small, use a toothpick to plant them.
Moisten the surface of the tablet with spray water, cover the pallet with foil.

As soon as the height of the senets reaches 3-4 cm, and the first leaves appear, then you can dive the plants into separate containers. Dive shoots need 3-4 pieces, while doing everything carefully and accurately so as not to injure the root system.

Important! Care for young plants should be regular.

Care is as follows:

Regularly moisturize the surface of the earth, avoiding stagnation of water and waterlogging.
Transplanted sprouts require pinching so that the bush is lush and flowering is plentiful.
2 weeks before planting the plants on the street, they need to be tempered so that they get used to the new conditions. To do this, take out the sprouts for 2-3 hours on the street, while creating protection against bright sunlight and draft.

Find out more about the planting of seeds for seedlings and the rules for care when growing seedlings in a separate article.

Another interesting way to plant lobelia seeds is described in this video:

Cuttings

The advantages of the method are as follows:

the ability to grow a plant while maintaining varietal traits;
availability of planting material;
fast flowering.

Cons of the method:

cuttings are often affected by disease;
planting material is difficult to root.

Training

For vegetative propagation in late autumn, before severe frosts occur, you need to dig up the bushes and transfer to a bright room, where the temperature regime is 5-7 degrees.

In March, when the growth of young shoots occurs, you need to break off one, lower its tip into the water, and then into the Kornevin solution. Next, transplant the stalk into vermiculite or sawdust. Cover the container with planting material with plastic wrap and place in a slightly darkened place for rooting.

Step-by-step instruction

After 2-3 weeks, when the cuttings take root, they can be transplanted into a separate containerobserving the following procedure:

To prepare the container, it should not be too spacious, since the root system does not develop well.
Fill the pot with the nutritional composition purchased at the store. Choose soil for flowering plants. Fill the pot 1/3 with the nutrient mixture.
Plant the cuttings, sprinkle with the remaining composition and lightly tamp. Moisten the soil with water and install in a good, bright room.

Learn more about the features of growing lobelia, methods of propagation by seeds or grafting, and caring for a plant in this material.

Street cultivation

Perennial lobelia prefers to grow on light and loamy soil fertilized with organic. As organic compounds, you can use rotted manure or humus. The place should be shaded, as direct sunlight negatively affects the plant.

Attention! It is easy to grow perennial lobelia in the open field. It is important to regularly water the plant, make fertilizing.

But there are a number of problems that flower growers may encounter when cultivating a flower.

Most often these are pests and diseases:

Ticks. They occur when summers are hot and dry. To combat them, you need to use drugs such as Actara or Actellik.
Slug. They need to be collected manually or use chemicals if severe damage is observed.
Viral diseases. It will not be possible to fight them, so the affected plant will have to be removed from the ground. But for prevention, use the drug Topaz.

Wintering

Lobelia perennial refers to those plants that do not tolerate frost. Therefore, they must be carefully prepared for the winter. Otherwise, the plant will simply die.

In order for the flower to please the grower for many years, it must be dug up for the winter and transfer to a room with full lighting and a temperature of 5-7 degrees heat.

As soon as spring arrives, approximately in the early days of March, cuttings, picking, and reproduction of the culture should be performed.

Learn more about growing frost-resistant varieties of lobelia in this article.

Care

Lighting and temperature

Perennial lobelia is a cold-resistant plant. Gentle bushes can be grown at a temperature of -7 degrees. Lighting should be bright, although slight shading is allowed.

Watering

For full-fledged plant growth, he needs full-fledged watering. Use the settled water for this. Water only after the topsoil has dried. Pour water strictly under the root, especially when the bush is not blooming. Weeding and loosening the earth.

Important! After each watering, the soil must be loosened. This will prevent crusting. But as soon as the plant grows and covers the ground with leaves, then loosening can be abandoned.

Fertilizers

Lobelia perennial must be fed. Introduce nutritional formulations every 2-3 weeks. To do this, it is better to use mineral fertilizers diluted with water according to the instructions.

Pruning

In order for the plant to bloom throughout the summer, it must be cut, or rather, to remove faded branches. You can wait until the bush fades completely, and then cut it by 10-15 cm. Thanks to this procedure, new shoots and peduncles are formed.

Transfer

It is necessary to transplant the plant every 2-3 years. To do this, prepare a container made of ceramic or plastic. It must have drainage holes. Then fill the container with nutritious soil. Transplant the bush by transshipment so as not to injure the root system. After transplanting, water the plant and install in a well-lit place, where the temperature is 23 degrees.

Long-term lobelia is an interesting decorative culture, which is appreciated not only for its appearance, but also for its unpretentiousness in care. You can grow a flower even in the open field, but only take care of the winter, replanting the culture in a pot. A full and regular care will allow the bush to bloom abundantly and for a long time.