When to plant phlox seeds. How to grow annual phlox

Phloxes are incredibly beautiful bright flowers which have a strong pleasant aroma. Plants are perennial, so abundant flowering it is necessary to take care of favorable growing conditions. In this article we will tell you about growing perennial phlox from seeds and give recommendations for planting and care.

How to propagate perennial phlox in the garden

Unlike annual phloxes, which are propagated only by seed, perennials propagated in three ways:

Seeds. Phlox is sown in spring, autumn or early winter.
By dividing the rhizome. In the spring, the bush is dug up, the rhizome is divided into several parts and young bushes are planted. Most often, this vegetative method is used to rejuvenate a flower when it for a long time grows in one place.
Cuttings. At the beginning of summer, cuttings are prepared and strong young shoots are selected. They are planted in open ground under the jar, water abundantly and wait for rooting. When sown in winter, phlox blooms the following year in the fall.

If the bush has lost its decorative properties, then it can be propagated by dividing the bush even in the fall (late August to mid-September). To renew the phlox, the oldest rhizomes are thrown away, and only the side parts are planted.

Summer and spring breeding more successful than winter.

How to plant phlox seeds

There are two ways to grow a flower from seeds.

Sowing seeds directly into the flower garden

Seeds are sown at the end of May or in November-December:

Pre-winter sowing. If snow has already fallen during pre-winter sowing, it is removed, the seeds are sown on top of the frozen soil at a distance of 5 cm from each other, sprinkled with a 2 cm layer of soil and covered with snow. Germination rate when sowing in winter is 70%. Sprouts appear in the spring, and when two leaves bloom, the seedlings are planted at a distance of 20 cm from each other.
Sowing in spring. Phlox seeds are sown in fertilized, moist soil. Place 4 seeds per hole. Cover with soil, water and cover with film until shoots appear. Two weeks after the seeds have fallen, the flowers are already fed with slurry or nitrophoska.

Sowing phlox seeds for seedlings

Favorable conditions for growing phlox

The main requirements are put forward to the quality of the soil. The decorativeness and development of phlox depends on the fertility of the soil. Soil requirements in the table.

Soil acidity is determined using litmus paper. Phloxes are suitable for the climate of the middle zone, where it is not very hot and there is moderate rainfall. For planting, choose an area with flat terrain, protected from the wind. On open sunny places Phlox is not planted, but shaded areas where the flower is shaded from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. are ideal.

When growing seedlings, the following conditions are favorable:

humidity above 70%;
the temperature after the seeds fall to 21 ˚С, within two weeks the temperature is reduced to 15 ˚С;
The container with seedlings is placed on sunny windowsills, and the film is removed.

Preparing the soil for planting phlox

If the soil is not suitable for planting phlox, it can be improved:

on clay soils add sand and manure;
Clay and lime are added to sandy loam soils, and peat is added to sandy soils;
poor soils are filled with peat, manure or compost.

Prepare the soil in the fall. Apply up to 8 kg/m. sq. peat or manure; add up to 300 g/m2 to acidic soils. sq. lime The soil is plowed to a depth of 30 cm. In the spring, the soil is plowed again, harrowed, and nitrophoska and potassium salt are added. A week before sowing the seeds, the ground is disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate.

Phlox planting and care plan

Phlox seeds are sown in spring, summer, autumn or winter. It all depends on the growing method. Let's consider an action plan for growing seedlings and caring for them.

Action	Deadlines
Sowing seeds in pots	February
Picking	When 2-3 true leaves appear
Hardening (seedlings are taken outside for a day)	April-early May
Transplanting seedlings into open ground	May June
Pinching over the fifth pair of leaves	July
Feed 5 times:	May-September
1. Liquid manure (100 g of manure per 10 liters of water).	The end of May
2. Slurry with potassium salt or superphosphate.	The beginning of June
3. Slurry or chicken manure solution.	Early July
4. Superphosphate and potassium salt.	Early August
5. Use ash, nitrophoska,	Beginning of September
Trimming phlox and mulching the soil with peat	October November

Phlox bloom from July to the end of September; they prefer potassium-phosphorus fertilizers

How to care for phlox in the garden

While the phlox sprouts are not yet strong after being transplanted into open ground, the soil is regularly loosened and the flowers are watered. Freshly planted phloxes are watered every three days for two weeks. The row spaces are mulched with mowed grass to prevent weeds from sprouting and moisture from leaving the soil.

If the summer is dry, up to 2 liters of water are poured under each bush every 2-3 days. In hot weather, the soil is mulched with peat or humus with a 4 cm layer.

Tip #1. In order for phlox to bloom profusely, faded inflorescences are always removed.

For abundant flowering, perennials are fed up to 5 times per season. Fertilizers for phlox are given in the table.

Fertilizer name	Description	Application
"Ekorost" for garden flowers	Fertilizer based on humic acids. Increases seed germination, seedling survival rate, and increases disease resistance.	Root and foliar feeding: 2 caps per 10 liters of water, watered once every two weeks.
"Grow" fertilizer for flowers	A complex product that contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Accelerates growth, increases flowering duration and flower brightness	1 tbsp. l. per 1 sq. m.
"Windsor" for gardens and indoors	A complex product that provides abundant and long-lasting flowering	50-80 g/m. sq.m., water the flowers 1-3 times during the entire growing season
"Bud-2" for garden flowers	Provides long and abundant flowering	10-20 g/per 10 liters of water
Buoy fertilizers “Flower Paradise” for flowering plants	A complex liquid product that stimulates growth, flowering and increases disease resistance	10 ml/1 l water
Universal fertilizer for garden flowers "Pokon"	Improves soil composition, nourishes flowers and accelerates their growth	1 measuring spoon per 1 sq. m. Feed once a season in the spring.

In autumn, grown up phloxes of spring sowing are planted

Regardless of the growing region, perennial flowers are covered with peat or straw for the winter. In the South, fallen leaves are used instead of peat, but such mulch can harbor pests. Cover the bush when the stems have turned yellow and dried out. Dry tops are cut off, and the root zone is covered with a layer of mulch. In a snowy winter, if the layer of fallen snow is more than 50 cm, the phloxes do not need to be covered. Flowers are afraid of snowless winters, even if the frost is -10-15 ˚С.

Tip #2. Phloxes are used in landscape design for creating abundantly flowering flower beds. The flowers go well with monardas, astilbes, marigolds and heliopsis.

With abundant watering in dry summers, flowers are affected by powdery mildew or septoria. To prevent diseases, flowers are treated with fungicides.

How to deal with pests and diseases of phlox

Phlox diseases include spotting and powdery mildew. Recognize diseases by characteristic features. Let's look at the symptoms of diseases and methods of combating them in the table.

Name of the disease	Signs	Prevention and control methods
spotting	Dots on the leaves, with further twisting	Diseased leaves are removed, and the flower itself is treated with Bordeaux mixture
Powdery mildew	White coating on leaves and stems	To prevent infection of healthy flowers, sick plant removed and burned
Variegation	Peculiar patterns appear on the leaves
Fomoz	The leaves begin to dry out and the stems become thinner	For prevention in the spring, while the air temperature does not exceed 18 ° C, colloidal sulfur is sprayed on the stems and leaves
Septoria	Dark brown spots on leaves	The bush and the soil around it are treated with Bordeaux mixture every two weeks.

For disease prevention in the calendar spring work In the garden, phlox should be treated with a solution of Bordeaux mixture. Pests include threadworms, nematodes, slugs and caterpillars. If the bushes are damaged by nematodes or worms, the flower is dug up and burned. The land is treated with nematicides or lime every 20 days. Three treatments are needed.

Features of growing perennials and annuals

Growing perennials is generally similar to growing annual phlox, but there are the following differences:

Perennials are often sown in open ground rather than growing seedlings.
Perennials bloom later but last longer.
Before winter, perennials, unlike annual plants, are not sown because they are not frost-resistant.
Perennials need five feedings per season, and not 3-4, as is the case with annual phlox.
Seedlings are not planted closer than 0.5 m from each other, because perennials grow strongly in one place.

Answers to common questions

Question No. 1. When is the best time to sow seeds in a flower garden?

Phlox belongs to those garden flowers that are propagated year-round. They are planted in spring, summer and winter. But for seed propagation Spring is more suitable. In the second half of April, phlox seedlings are planted in flower beds. Spring planting has its advantages. The flowers manage to take root, but they bloom two weeks later than planned.

Autumn planting of seeds is possible only in southern regions And middle lane, where frosts occur later. Seeds are sown in early September. Before the first frost, the flowers take root and bloom the following year in July.

Question No. 2. How to pick phlox seedlings?

Sprouts dive 20 cm from each other into a greenhouse or greenhouse. Also, each sprout is planted in a separate pot, and when it warms up, they are planted in open ground.

Question #3. Is it possible to mulch the soil in the summer when it is very hot?

Yes. To protect from the scorching sun, the soil is mulched with peat or humus in a 5 cm layer. You can water on top of the mulch.

Question #4. When can you replant phlox bushes?

The best period is April or September. Replant as necessary in the summer, but without dividing the root system. Be sure to move the roots into a new hole along with a lump of earth.

Question #5. What are the popular varieties of perennials?

Popular varieties include the following perennials:

Subulate. The plant is completely covered with flowers ranging from white to dark red. Blooms in May.
Spread out. Blooms lilac-blue. The plant prefers shaded areas. Blooms in May.
Paniculate. Blooms in mid-summer. The inflorescences and leaves are large. Bushes 70-100 cm high.

Mistakes gardeners make when growing perennials

The mistakes gardeners make are as follows:

Phlox should not be watered in hot weather. cold water, otherwise the stems will crack.
Withered flowers cannot be left on the plant; they prevent new ones from blooming and delay flowering.
Many gardeners do not cover phloxes for the winter. If there is little snow in winter, then the flowers can die even at -10 ˚C, so it is necessary to mulch the soil in November.
Phlox cannot be planted in an area where strawberries were previously grown. Otherwise, pest invasion cannot be avoided.

Bright phloxes are often found in city flower beds, as well as in areas near dachas. They are grown on balconies and placed in school flower beds. Such popularity is completely unsurprising. The name of this plant is translated from Greek as fire.

Phloxes are able to bloom for a long time, they give owners pleasant aroma and treat any weather vagaries with calm. These flowers are most often propagated vegetatively, by dividing bushes or by cuttings. However, it is possible to produce them from seeds. In most cases, seed division is used when growing annual varieties of this plant, however, perennials can also be grown in this way.

Seed preparation

Collect phlox seeds. Before this, it is necessary to determine the degree of their maturity. This does not particularly affect their appearance, because they are located inside the boxes. If you miss the moment of ripening, the seeds may scatter from the ripened boxes, and you won’t even notice it. If you collect seeds that are not ripe enough, they will not be able to ripen.

To determine the degree of ripeness, take an awl, carefully drill through one box and examine its contents. It should contain fairly large seeds, colored green color and having a dense structure. Planting material can also be purchased at flower shop.

Seeds of perennial phlox quickly lose their viability, which is why you should not wait until spring to plant them. Please note that full development of plants is possible only after the seeds are frozen, so planting should be done soon after collecting them.

Soil preparation and site selection

Determine a place on your site where the plant can grow quietly for several years. Remember that phlox loves sunny areas and semi-shaded areas. Do not plant them in swampy lowlands or under dense tree canopy.

Prepare the soil thoroughly for planting. It should be loose and nutritious, since on such soil phlox will grow well, and their flowering will not only be long-lasting, but also very lush. These plants do not do well in soils with a high sand content; they also do not like heavy soils with strong acidity. You are unlikely to be able to achieve seedlings in such places. Flowerbeds or beds should be prepared before the first frost.

Planting seeds

It is worth sowing seeds in late autumn-early spring. This process can also be carried out in January. You should not postpone this process to February, and even less so to March, since such crops most likely will not sprout. If there is snow on the beds, simply shovel it to the side.

Place the prepared seeds on the frozen area of your flower garden, placing them four to five centimeters from each other. Sprinkle them on top with a small amount of ordinary garden soil. You can prepare it in advance and store it in a fairly warm room without letting it freeze. The optimal soil can be selected in gardening stores, where it is sold throughout the year.

The layer of soil does not need to be made continuous, just sprinkle some seeds. Place snow on top of the bed and leave it until spring. Thus, you will get almost one hundred percent spring germination, while half of the plants should also bloom.
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Home cultivation

If you plant seeds of perennial phlox at home, it is worth subjecting them to artificial stratification. First, place the container with the sown seeds in a room with room temperature, then after fifteen to twenty days, move them to the cold (from minus two to plus four degrees) and leave for fifteen to twenty days.

Then place the container with the seeds near the window and put a screen away from the room and heating appliances, so that the temperature around it does not rise above twelve degrees. If phloxes were planted in February, then in April you can take the container with them out into the garden, covering it with agrospan or plastic film. Plants germinate best between five and twelve degrees.

After two or three pairs of true leaves appear on the flower, transfer them to the main place of growth, keeping an interval of twenty centimeters between them.

Care

The main care for phloxes is systematic weeding, loosening the soil, watering and fertilizing. Small plants can be mulched between them with mowed grass. Thanks to this, the soil remains soft longer and retains moisture, and weeds do not grow on it.

On hot and dry days, phlox should be watered, at the same time they may suffer from powdery mildew. For this reason, the plant must be sprayed with fungicides, otherwise it may die.

After the flower has grown stronger above the fifth pair of leaves, a clothespin is made. This procedure helps phlox tillering. The flowering of these plants lasts from mid-summer until the end of September. It is important to promptly remove faded inflorescences. Once every three to four years it is worth dividing the rhizomes, best time for this – early spring or September.

For the winter, the plant needs to be pruned, mulching the roots with dry peat or plant debris.

Phloxes are able to grow over a fairly significant area, forming a bright, beautiful carpet during the flowering period.

Phlox is an unpretentious crop of the Blueflower family, which is distinguished by its ease of care, lush flowering and a variety of shades. Moreover, the flowers also differ in height: there are varieties with long stems and low-growing groundcover species.

Thanks to such diversity, every gardener can feel like a landscape designer, creating unique compositions on their site.

Phlox flowers are small, collected in lush inflorescences of paniculate, pyramidal or cylindrical shape. Color – white, blue, lilac, purple, scarlet, plain or with inclusions in the form of dots, strokes, eyes. Flowering duration is about a month, early varieties begin to bloom in June, late varieties in August. We’ll look at how to grow phlox from seeds at home below in the article.

Phlox is grown in seedlings in central Russia and more northern regions. It is recommended to sow them for seedlings after March 15th.

Seed preparation

Seeds can be collected with your own hands, or can be purchased at the store. Personal collection has one drawback: when growing plants from seeds collected from hybrids, the characteristics of a particular variety may be lost.

The second option is attractive because there are not only single-color phloxes on sale, but also mixed ones, which makes it possible to get a multi-colored flower bed when planting seed from one bag. To decide what color phlox you would like to plant, you should look at the numerous photos that gardeners post online.

To increase the germination of seeds, soak them in water 3 days before planting. room temperature and place in a warm place.

Selection of soil and container

For phlox the best soil The soil is neutral or slightly acidic. If the acidity of the soil is increased, then it is necessary to add lime to level the pH.

Heavy soil is diluted with sand, and if there is more sand in the soil than necessary, peat is added. To poor soils, not only peat is added, but also manure or compost. You can make the following mixture at home: turf, leaf soil, sand, peat (2: 2: 2: 1).

To disinfect the soil, keep it in the freezer for 1 day or calcinate it in the oven at 200 - 250 degrees.

To plant seeds, you can use regular store-bought plastic containers for seedlings or adapt another low, wide container.

Sowing

Despite the fact that the seeds are large and dense, they should not be deeply buried in the ground - just scatter them over the surface, lightly press them with your palm and spray them with a spray bottle.

After this, the container should be covered with film or glass and placed in a warm, bright place, the best option is a windowsill. Optimal temperature for seed germination - +23 °C, in no case lower.

Care consists of daily airing the container, spraying with water, and carefully removing accumulated condensation from the film/glass. The container should be located on the sunniest windowsill; the second option is supplementary illumination with phytolamps.

In order for the seeds to germinate faster, you should adhere to the following recommendations:

Provide high humidity in the room - it is ideal to use a humidifier for this purpose.
As soon as the first seeds hatch, watering should be reduced to prevent rotting.
As small phloxes grow, the temperature must be gradually reduced and eventually brought to 15 degrees.

When you see that the seed roots are attached to the soil, the cover should be removed. Shoots will appear in 7-10 days.

Picking

When young plants have 2-3 true leaves, they need to be picked. To do this, prepare required quantity plastic cups with holes for drainage.

When there is soil in each cup, it is recommended to spill it with Energen, and then make small holes. Before picking, phloxes need to be watered so that they can be easily removed from the container without the risk of injuring the roots.

Remove the plants using any suitable tool and plant 1-2 pieces in cups, deepening to the level of the cotyledon leaves. Next, carefully water along the edge of the pots, without pouring water under the roots of the sprouts.

After transplanting, keep the cups in a shaded place and place them on the windowsill at the end of the day. This technique will help phloxes adapt more easily to their new environment.

After picking, watering should be moderate: phloxes do not like excessive soil moisture. In order not to overdo it with moisture, use a spray bottle for this purpose and water only when the top layer of soil dries out.

To fertilize seedlings, you can use Fertika “Crystallon for garden flowers” (liquid) and Fertika Lux (mineral). Plants need to be fertilized 2-3 times before planting in open ground.

Important! Fertilizing can be done no earlier than 7 days after picking.

When 5 leaves appear, the top of the plant must be pinched in order to subsequently grow lush bushes.

Planting in a flowerbed

Seedlings are planted in flower beds in May from minimum distance between plants 15 - 20 cm for annual phlox and 0.5 m for perennials. For getting beautiful flowering It is very important to correctly determine the landing site.

Phloxes feel great in partial shade, but the shade should not be too strong, otherwise the flowering will be less lush and the stems will become elongated. In the open sun, phlox quickly turns pale and loses its aesthetic appearance. The best place- this is an area next to trees, which in the midday heat will shade the plants with their branches.

Phlox requires soil with a high percentage of humus; you should not plant plants in heavy soil with insufficient drainage, as this will negatively affect the seedlings. The best option is fertile sandy soil without clay, on which, provided there is sufficient watering, powerful plants grow. lush bushes. Peat, sand and organic fertilizer must be added to loamy soil.

You need to make a small depression in the soil and put compost or vermicompost there (as an alternative - two cups of ash) before planting root system should be straightened in a horizontal plane.

How to care for phlox

At the adaptation stage, while the phloxes have not yet become stronger after transplantation, the soil around them must be periodically loosened, and the soil must be watered once every three days during the first two weeks. Between the rows, it is necessary to organize a layer of mulch from mowed grass to prevent loss of soil moisture and the germination of weeds.

After the first 14 days, when the plants adapt, the soil still needs to be loosened, but less often (about 8 times a season in total). In the 2nd half of the growing season, add hilling during loosening so that the flowers develop a strong root system.

Important! If there is little rain in the summer, you need to water the flowers once every 2-3 days at the rate of 2 liters of water for each plant. It is advisable to mulch the soil with a layer of peat or humus 4 cm thick.

Plants should be watered in the morning or evening hours, pouring water under the root. The water should be at temperature environment, do not use under any circumstances cold water in the heat - this can lead to cracking of the stems.

For lush flowering plants should be fertilized regularly. The following compositions are used for this:

Fertilizer	Description	Application diagram
"Ekorost" for garden flowers	Contains humic acids. Increases the germination rates of seed, improves seedling endurance and increases disease resistance.	For root or foliar feeding at the rate of 1 cap per 5 liters of water. Olive once every 14 days.
“Grow” - fertilizer for flowers	Complex fertilizer with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Helps accelerate growth, enhances the brightness of flowers and prolongs the flowering period.	1 tablespoon per 1 sq. meter of soil.
"Windsor" for indoor and garden plants	Complex fertilizer that promotes abundant and long flowering	From 50 to 80 g per sq. m. Watering is done 1-3 times during the growing season
"Bud-2" (for gardeners)	Promotes long, abundant flowering	For 1 liter of water – 10 ml
"Pokon" universal remedy for garden flowers	Optimizes soil composition, provides flowers with adequate nutrition and promotes rapid growth	For 1 sq.m. 1 measuring spoon (Fertilize once a season in spring)
“Flower paradise” for blooming ones (Buy fertilizers)	Increases resistance to diseases,	50 ml: 5 liters of water

You can also use the following feeding scheme:

Fertilize the plants with liquid manure for the first time at the end of May, adding 25 g to a bucket of water.
The second time - early June. The same solution with the addition of superphosphate or potassium salt.
At the beginning of July - again liquid manure without additives.
At the end of July, add potassium salt and phosphorus to the solution.

Features of growing perennial phlox

Caring for perennial phlox is practically no different from caring for annuals, but there are still some differences.

After planting in a flowerbed, the soil must be mulched with humus or peat.
Perennial phloxes are often sown in open ground, bypassing the stage of growing seedlings.
Annual phloxes need 3-4 feedings per season, and perennial ones - 5.

At proper care perennial phloxes grow for up to seven years in one place without losing their decorative qualities.

Diseases and pests of phlox

Some phlox diseases cannot be treated, and therefore the bush in such cases is dug up and destroyed. These diseases include variegation, in which the leaves of the plant are covered with an unnatural pattern. The same should be done when powdery mildew appears, which manifests itself in the form white plaque on the stem and foliage.

Fomoz – fungal disease, which leads to drying of the leaves and brittleness of the stems. Prevention consists of spraying colloidal sulfur on plants - this procedure should be carried out at an air temperature of at least 18 degrees.

Septoria - is expressed in dark brown specks on the leaf blades, which gradually increase in size. Plants and the soil around them must be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, and after two weeks do this again.

Phloxes are susceptible to “attacks” by naked slugs, which eat all parts of the plant. If you regularly loosen the soil and remove weeds, then slugs will not be able to get to the flowers, but if this does happen, then the ground should be periodically sprinkled with ash or fluffy lime.

If affected by a nematode (a worm that feeds on plant juices), the bush should be dug up and burned, and the soil should be treated 3 times with nematicides with a break between treatments of 20 days.

Phlox transplantation

If a perennial bush has grown too much and has lost its decorative qualities, then it needs to be replanted. Better time for this – from mid-August to early December.

Dig up the plant and divide the root system into several parts, removing the central part, which ages faster than others. Plant the resulting divisions, spreading the roots horizontally and sprinkle with soil in a layer of no more than 5 cm and mulch the soil with humus (peat).

If autumn is not rainy, then the plants will need abundant watering - 3 liters of water every 3 days. After watering, lightly loosen the soil to allow air to reach the roots.

Pruning phlox

Experts say that pruning phlox for the winter protects them from pests and diseases. The cutting time depends on the flower variety and region. Early varieties phloxes whose flowering ends earlier are pruned at the end of September, and late ones - in October.

The best solution is to cut all stems low, leaving 1-2 cm above the soil level. Some gardeners leave “stumps” 8-10 cm long, but practice shows that in the spring weaker shoots appear from them, which bloom worse.

After pruning, the soil must be mulched horse manure or peat (for 1 bush - 2/3 of a bucket).

Annual phloxes may bloom again in the spring, but the blooms will be poor. That's why best option- collect seeds, cut off dried stems and dig up the ground, removing rhizomes from it. In spring, you can sow the seeds and again enjoy the gorgeous view of the flower beds.

Growing phlox from seeds is a popular and successful way of propagating them. But they mainly grow through seedlings annual phlox, or Drummond. This is understandable, because such plants live only for one season, and you really want to see them bloom. The seedling method allows you to delay the appearance of inflorescences by a couple of weeks. After all, by the time it’s time to sow phlox in open ground, you will already have young, fully formed bushes. In addition, Drummond phlox seeds are quite expensive - there are usually no more than a dozen seeds in one bag.

When sowing annual phlox directly into open ground, often most of the crops do not germinate. To avoid such disappointment, experienced gardeners It is recommended to grow these phloxes from seeds using the seedling method. Today we will briefly tell you how to do this correctly.

When to sow

You can start sowing phlox seeds for seedlings in April. If you have the opportunity to provide the seedlings with additional lighting, sow the seeds another 2 weeks earlier.

It is not difficult to calculate the approximate sowing date: on average, from planting seeds to planting seedlings on permanent place 3 months pass. This is why you “dance”, taking into account the local climate.

What soil is needed to grow phlox seedlings?

Phlox has small seeds, so the substrate should be light but nutritious. You can use a universal soil mixture from the store. If desired, prepare a similar soil yourself by mixing:

peat;
sand;
turf ground.

How to grow phlox from seeds

After purchase suitable soil and seeds, you can proceed directly to sowing them:

Fill a shallow container (such as a plastic tray with a lid) with soil.
Spread the seeds over the surface of the soil, but do not cover them.
Spray well with a spray bottle.
Close the lid.

Place the container with the sown phlox on a bright and warm windowsill. When the seeds germinate, remove the lid. After each seedling has formed 3-4 leaves, plant the phloxes in separate containers for growing. You can also use a common pot, but plant no more than 5-6 bushes there so that they have enough space.

When picking, you must not bury the growing point, otherwise the seedlings may die.

For phlox seedlings, choose a well-lit place, otherwise they will stretch out. Remember to water the plants regularly, but try not to overwater. If there is an excess of moisture, there is every chance of the appearance of such a scourge as black leg. You can feed the seedlings once, but not earlier than a week after picking. Do complex exercises once every two weeks mineral supplements– this will help to grow lush and strong phloxes.

Annual phloxes lend themselves well to shaping. To get a round bush, from the second month of the seedlings’ life, start pinching the tops.

Having grown phlox from seeds, when the weather warms up in May, calmly send them to the flowerbed. By this time, you will have already strong plants, and some may even show their first flowers.

How to grow phlox from seeds through seedlings - video

Phlox (lat. Phlox)- genus herbaceous plants from the family Polemoniaceae, which includes about seventy species, of which about forty are cultivated. Phlox appeared in Europe in the middle of the 18th century; since then, breeders have developed about 1,500 varieties of beautiful and fragrant flowers. In Greek, "phlox" means "flame." This name was given to the plant by Carl Linnaeus in 1737 for its very bright flowers some types. The homeland of phlox is North America, harsh climate which made the plants unpretentious and tenacious. In addition, phlox is very fragrant and blooms for a long time.

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Planting and caring for phlox (in brief)

Landing: sowing seeds in spring or in November-December in open ground or sowing seeds in March for seedlings.
Bloom: from June to autumn.
Lighting: penumbra.
The soil: medium loamy, rich in humus, moist, light and loose, neutral reaction.
Watering: moderate (1.5-2 buckets of water per m²), regular.
Hilling: in the second half of the growing season.
Feeding: organic and mineral solutions: 1st - at the end of May, 2nd - at the beginning of June, 3rd - at the beginning of July, 4th - at the end of July. Perennial varieties are fed for the fifth time during the formation of ovaries.
Reproduction: annuals only by seeds, perennials mainly vegetatively - by dividing the bush, rhizome and leaf cuttings, but it is also possible by seed.
Pests: nematodes, slugs, caterpillars.
Diseases: variegation, powdery mildew, Phoma, Septoria, Verticillium wilt.

Phlox flowers - description

Phlox are diverse even within the same species: their “appearance” changes depending on the climate in which they grow. For example, at an altitude of 4000 meters they are bryophytes and low-growing, their stems are branched and covered with evergreen leaves, and the height of the plants is from 5 cm to 25 cm. In more favorable conditions, phloxes are erect bushes with a height of 30 cm to 180 cm. And there are and subshrubs. According to the flowering time, they are spring (early), summer (middle) and summer-autumn (late). The culture is dominated by species and varieties of erect phlox. Their leaves are sessile, opposite, entire, oval-lanceolate or elongated-ovate.

Phlox flowers are from 2.5 cm to 4 cm in diameter, have a tubular-funnel shape and are collected in complex inflorescences of up to 90 pieces each. The flowers have five reflexed petals, five stamens and one pistil. The phlox fruit is an oval capsule. All phloxes grown in culture are perennial plants, and only Phlox drummondii and its many varieties are annuals.

Growing phlox from seeds

Have blooming phlox in the garden from spring to the end of September - this is real, you just need to know how to grow phlox. Phlox most often reproduce by vegetative methods - cuttings, layering or dividing the bush, but some gardeners prefer growing phlox with seeds. The seeds of perennial phlox, collected the day before in the fall, need to be sown in the ground before winter - in November-December. Choose a site where your phlox will grow for several years. If there is already snow, remove it from the garden bed and scatter the seeds at a distance of 4-5 cm on the frozen ground. Sprinkle them with a 1-1.5 cm layer of sifted soil, and cover with snow on top. The soil can be prepared in advance so that it is not cold and frozen, or you can buy soil in the store.

The germination rate of seeds that fall into the ground in winter is 70%; by spring, their germination rate sharply decreases.

In early spring, seedlings will hatch, which will need to be picked after the appearance of two pairs of true leaves at a distance of 20 cm from each other. You will plant these seedlings at the right time.

Most often, annual phloxes reproduce by seeds. In the spring, prepare the bed, scatter the seeds over it at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other, water them with a sprayer, and cover with polyethylene. Do not cover with soil, but lift the film briefly every day, shaking off condensation from it, so that the seeds can breathe. As soon as the seeds sprout, the polyethylene can be removed.

In the photo: Growing phlox in open ground

Annual phloxes - planting and care

Planting annual phlox

We have already talked about how to plant phlox from seeds. But some gardeners do not want to put the seeds at risk, fearing severe spring frosts, so they plant phlox seedlings in the spring. Annual phlox seeds are sown for seedlings in March, seedlings appear within a week. Emerging sprouts need light, watering and moderate temperature. After two to three weeks the seedlings sprout.

In the first days after picking, try to protect the seedlings from direct sun rays to avoid burns. Cover them with newspaper or opaque film.

Before planting phlox in open ground, you can feed the seedlings two or three times mineral fertilizers. The concentration of fertilizing should be two times less than for an adult plant. To achieve the splendor of the bush, shoots in the phase of 4-5 leaves are pinched.

In the photo: Phlox seedlings grown in cassettes

In May, grown phlox seedlings are planted in a flowerbed at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. It is very important to choose the right place for planting. Annual phloxes are cold-resistant, drought-resistant, love light, but do not tolerate overheating of the root system. The most beautiful phlox grow in partial shade, and the thicker the shade, the less abundant, but longer, the phlox will bloom. In the sun, phlox flowers quickly fade, but in partial shade they retain their color saturation for a long time, and if you planted the so-called “blueing” varieties, the flowers of which become almost blue in twilight lighting, you will have an incomparable aesthetic pleasure from the flowering of phlox grown in partial shade guaranteed. It is best to plant phlox on raised beds, away from trees and shrubs with a highly branched root system.

In the photo: Growing phlox in a flowerbed

Garden soil for phlox should contain a large amount of humus. Heavy soils with poor drainage are destructive for phlox. They also do not like acidified areas; in this case, lime will need to be added to the soil. The best soil composition for phlox is fertile sand without clay impurities - provided good watering will allow you to grow powerful flowering bushes. In heavy loams you will have to add sand, organic fertilizers and peat. The seedlings are planted in a shallow hole, into which vermicompost or compost (or two handfuls of ash) are added before planting; the roots are straightened horizontally.

Caring for annual phlox

Growing annual phlox is a pleasant and easy task. The main thing is not to interfere with their growth. All other care is traditional for flowers: careful loosening of the soil (6-8 times), hilling during loosening in the second half of the growing season so that the phloxes quickly form a root system, fertilizing with organic matter and mineral fertilizers.

The first feeding with liquid manure (25 g per bucket of water) is carried out at the end of May.
The second is in early June, but potassium salt or superphosphate is added to the manure solution.
The third (liquid manure without additives) - in early July.
The fourth feeding, at the end of July, should contain phosphorus and potassium salt.

In the photo: How phlox blooms in the garden

Watering phlox you need regular, but moderate, morning or evening. You need to pour water at the root at the rate of 1.5-2 buckets per 1 m² of planting. It is harmful to water phloxes with cold water during the heat of the day, because the stems may crack. It is advisable to delete wilted flowers, preventing the growth of new ones that have not yet blossomed. As for diseases and pests, phlox has plenty of them.

For example, a disease such as variegation covers the petals of the phlox with a pattern unusual for the species, disfiguring appearance plants. There is no cure for this disease, so the bush is dug up and destroyed to avoid infecting other plants. The same sentence will have to be carried out if it is discovered that the plant is infected with a fungal disease, powdery mildew, which manifests itself as a whitish matte coating on the leaves and stems.

Phlox suffers from another fungal disease - Phomasis, making the shoots brittle and the leaves dry. As a preventative measure, it is suggested to spray colloidal sulfur on the leaves and stems of phlox (not on the inflorescences), but the air temperature should not be lower than 18 ºC.

Septoria disease appears as dark brown spots on plant leaves, which increase in size as the disease progresses. At the first signs, spray the bush and the soil around it with Bordeaux mixture, and repeat the treatment two weeks later.

Another disease verticillium wilt, destroys the root system of phlox, but only phlox growing on acidic soils suffer from it.

Phlox pests

Of the pests, phlox is most often attacked by nematode, a tiny thread-like worm that feeds on the sap of plant tissue. As a result, the inflorescences become disfigured, the flowers become smaller, and the stems become thinner. The affected bush will have to be dug up and burned, and the contaminated soil will have to be treated three times with an interval of 20 days with nematicides.

They harm phloxes naked slugs, eating the bottom of stems, leaves and even flowers at night. They live in upper layers soil, so preventive loosening of the soil and removal of weeds will be quite effective means of combating slugs, but if they do appear on the site, dust the soil with fluff lime, ash or a mixture of ash and tobacco dust.

If phloxes damage butterfly caterpillars, it would be best to collect them by hand, but if there are too many of them, then treat the phlox with preparations against leaf-eating pests.

Perennial phlox - planting and care

Planting phlox

Growing perennial phlox is not much different from growing annual phlox, but there are still some peculiarities. For example: spring planting perennial varieties carried out in the same way as annual ones, but after this the area must be mulched with dry peat or humus. In addition, the distance between plants should not be 15-20 cm, but at least half a meter, because phlox will grow in this area for many years, and they need a place where they will grow.

If you bought phlox in the fall, then do not plant them, but dig them to a depth of 20-25 cm in a place protected from the wind, where snow lingers in winter. As soon as the soil freezes, cover the buried phlox with peat or dry leaves.

In the photo: White phlox in open ground

Besides, In some cases, perennial phlox is planted in the fall. For example, in the case when the bush has grown greatly and has lost its decorative appearance, it is dug up in the fall (from mid-August to the first ten days of September), the rhizome is divided, the middle of the bush is removed, which ages earlier than other parts, and the side parts are planted. Also in the fall, grown phlox from spring cuttings should be planted in a permanent place. Before autumn planting compost is added to the soil; if the soil is clayey, then also sand, and if sandy, then peat. The divisions are placed in holes located at a distance of half a meter from each other, their roots are straightened horizontally and they are buried shallowly (no deeper than 4-5 cm). If there is no rain, planted phloxes are watered abundantly at the rate of 2 liters of water per bush every 2-3 days for two weeks, the dried soil is loosened and mulched with peat or humus with a 4 cm layer.

Phlox care

Perennial phloxes need to be cared for in the same way as annual ones. But if annuals need to be fertilized four times during the growth period, then perennial species fertilized five times - the last one occurs during the period when seeds are formed in boxes. Feed the phloxes with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers (10 g of potassium sulfate and 20 g of superphosphate per bucket of water). Do this in the evening after watering, being careful not to get the solution on the leaves.

With proper care and good feeding, phlox grow in one place without losing its decorative appearance for up to seven years.

In the photo: Not yet opened inflorescence of garden phlox

Perennial phlox is one of the rare crops that can be take cuttings throughout the growing season. You can start from the moment the shoot reaches 5 cm, but the last cuttings are removed at the end of September. It is worth remembering, however, that spring and summer rooting is more successful than later rooting.

In addition to cuttings, phloxes reproduce layering, and this method is much less labor-intensive than cuttings. Before flowering, the stem is bent to the ground, fixed along its entire length and covered with humus and peat. In the fall, a new plant is formed from this shoot, which is separated from the main bush and transplanted to where it will grow permanently.

Phlox after flowering

Annual phlox may bloom next year, but the quality of the inflorescences is unlikely to be high. Therefore, collect the seeds if you want, cut off the tops that have dried in the fall, and dig up the soil on the site, removing the phlox rhizomes from it. In the spring you will be able to sow collected seeds, and the flowers you like will bloom again.

In the photo: Phlox blooming in the garden

Wintering phlox

Perennial phloxes, or rather, their growth buds, can freeze out in a snowless winter if the temperature drops to -10-15 ºC, and if the frost reaches -20-25 ºC, the rhizome of the phlox will die. Therefore, in the fall, after the phlox tops have turned yellow and dried out, cut them off and sprinkle the root collars with a layer of soil with peat. Cover them with straw, fallen leaves or spruce branches to keep the rhizomes in the ground until spring. If snow falls 50-60 cm thick, then you don’t have to be afraid of thirty-degree frosts.

Varieties and varieties of phlox

Phlox annuals

Phlox Drummond- one of the best annuals among garden flowers. It was discovered in Texas and brought to England in 1835 by the English traveler, naturalist and theologian Henry Drummond. The flower has taken root in England. Drummond phlox blooms from June until frost. Its leaves are oval-lanceolate, opposite. Thin branched stem from 12 cm to 30 cm tall. Fragrant flowers of purple, dark red, white, yellow, salmon colors.

In the photo: Drummond Phlox

Phlox Drummond comes in two varieties: star-shaped and large-flowered. Phlox drummondii cuspidata usually reaches 30-40 cm in height, although low-growing forms are also known - up to 12 cm. The petals of its bright flowers are beautifully dissected, and the flowers look like a star with an eye. Large-flowered Phlox drummondii mixed grows up to 30cm in height. Him large flowers a variety of colors, but red shades are especially attractive.

In the photo: Drummond Phlox

Some gardeners divide annual phloxes according to their size into large-flowered and dwarf (15-20 cm tall). Large-flowered varieties include such varieties as Tall White, Tall Fiery Red and Tall Bright Red. Compact low varieties (dwarf) represent Snowball(white), Shamoa (pink), Isabella (yellow), Salmona (salmon), Defiance (fiery red). Both large-flowered species, and star-shaped, and dwarf species have double and semi-double varieties. Popular varieties of terry phlox Promise different shades.

Phlox perennial

Among the perennial varieties of phlox, it blooms earliest (in May). phlox subulate. Its densely branching stems are so abundantly covered with flowers of different shades from snow-white to dark red that the leaves, narrow, awl-shaped, for which it got its name, are not visible. This variety of phlox is planted in rockeries and on alpine roller coaster. Phlox splayed also blooms in May, one to two weeks later. Its small bushes with delicate lilac-blue flowers look very elegant.

This species is not as light-loving as awl-shaped phlox; it has lignified stems and larger but less dense leaves. Perennial phlox is also represented by such a species as paniculata phlox, which blooms in mid-summer. This is exactly the phlox that we are all familiar with: huge fragrant caps of flowers, beautiful green leaves.

In the photo: Phlox awl-shaped

In the photo: Phlox splayed

Phlox paniculata

The ancestor of many exquisite varieties, including terry phlox Pure Feelings (large inflorescences of white flowers with a green stripe in the center, purple below; petals are elongated, twisted, plant height - 70-80 cm) and terry phlox Natural Feelings (very small white -green-pink flowers, inflorescences resemble a branch of lilac). The result of selection has also resulted in such winter-hardy varieties as phlox Orange (Orange Perfection, Orange Spat) of orange-red shades that do not fade in the sun. They are easy to breed, easy to care for, and incredibly beautiful. But oddly enough, the most popular among gardeners is phlox King, up to 1 m high with flowers up to 4 cm in diameter in crimson, pink, lilac, white and other colors.