It is distributed on almost all continents. Clematis blooms from late spring to late summer, and individual species- before the onset of frost.
Clematis is ideal for decoration personal plot. Alas, not everyone knows how to properly feed and what exactly to fertilize this flower.
In this article you can find answers to your questions.
How to feed clematis
Clematis requires a lot of nutrients because it blooms a lot and for a long time, and also renews almost the entire above-ground part of the plant every year. But it is important to remember that the concentration of mineral fertilizers should not be high - apply them in small portions.
Some experienced gardeners They say: if you have fertilized the soil well, then you should start feeding clematis only in the third year after planting.
Mineral and organic fertilizers must be alternated. Before fertilizing, clematis must be watered well.
Clematis is fed depending on the phase of plant development, but no more than 4 times per season.
In September, during preparation, add bone meal (200 g/m2) to the soil. The fact is that it contains phosphorus, which is very necessary for clematis.
Without it, the leaves will begin to turn brown, roots and shoots will develop poorly.
You can also add up to 24 kg of humus under each clematis bush immediately before planting.
Nitrogen is necessary for the plant during its growth period. Due to a lack of nitrogen, clematis shoots may shrink, the leaves may turn yellow and acquire a reddish tint, and the flowers will be small and poorly colored. For this type of fertilizing, organic fertilizers are used: slurry (1:10), bird droppings (1:15).
Organic fertilizers should be alternated with mineral ones: ammonium nitrate, nitroammophoska or urea (15 g/10 l).
Potassium will help your plant bloom beautifully. Blackened peduncles and pedicels, lightened color of flowers indicate a lack of potassium. Use potassium nitrate in spring, potassium sulfate in August. Dilute 20 - 30 g in 10 liters.
During the flowering period, feeding is stopped. By feeding the plant during this period, you risk shortening the flowering period.
Fertilizing in spring
Fertilizing in spring is done no more than twice a month.
After the shoots grow, the time comes for the first feeding. Clematis during this period is best suited for foliar spraying with a weak solution of synthetic urea (up to 3 g per liter of water).
It is best to spray in evening hours or cloudy weather. The moisture will remain longer and the fertilizer will be better absorbed.
In spring, clematis are watered with lime milk to prevent soil acidification. Use 200 g of lime diluted in a liter of water per 1 sq.m.
To prevent the disease, you can dilute 50 g of copper sulfate and pour the solution on the bush at the base.
Water clematis in the spring no more than once a week, but try to ensure that the water reaches the roots of the plant (clematis roots reach 1 m in length). When watering, experienced gardeners use humus.
Fertilizers for clematis
Before planting clematis, the soil can be fertilized with the organomineral preparation “Omu universal”, which will not only nourish the plant, but will also retain moisture inside the soil.
Mix the fertilizer itself with the soil and then cover the clematis roots with it.
When transplanting clematis, you can use the drug “Zircon”, which will help the plant get used to its new environment. Just use this drug strictly according to the instructions.
To prevent diseases, spray the soil under the bush with foundationazole. early spring or late autumn (20 g per 10 l).
During the active development and growth of clematis, treat the soil under the bush with a fungicide. Use 3–4 liters per bush. This will protect the plant directly from the fungus. Carry out the procedure 2 – 3 times every 14 days.
The following preparations can be used as foliar feeding: “Master”, “Avkarin”, “Floral solution”. Your plant will receive the necessary nutrients already 5 hours after spraying.
So, if we systematize everything said above, we can draw the following conclusions:
- You can feed clematis no more than 4 times per season;
- if you used special fertilizers for the soil when planting the plant, then you do not need to feed clematis this year;
- There are different fertilizers for different phases of plant development. You can either purchase them in a store or make them yourself;
- To prevent various diseases, you can purchase special medications in the store.
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- This beautiful flowers, which belong to the ranunculaceae family. People also call them “lozinka”, “grandfather’s curls” or “clematis”. They are used in the form of vines for landscaping arbors and arches, and also as a beautiful ornamental plant. In addition to being a beautiful vine, clematis have a fairly long flowering period. They decorate with their bright colors garden for four months, until the very first frost. In order for clematis to develop well, they need appropriate care:
- abundant and regular watering;
- timely pruning;
- correct feeding.
Without meeting these basic requirements, growing beautiful flowers impossible. If, in principle, there is nothing complicated with watering and pruning, then applying fertilizer has its own rules.
Top dressing
Blooming liana is beautiful appearance. It can reach up to four meters or more in height. It has succulent stems, green leaves and large flowers. All this, as well as a long flowering period, requires additional strength, which means that clematis needs to be fed regularly.
And you need to start before landing. Before planting clematis in open ground, the soil must be fertilized, then the flowers will become stronger and grow faster. If the planting was done correctly and the soil was pre-fed, then fertilizer can be applied only in the second year of the plant’s life. But if the soil is insufficiently nutritious, you can start feeding clematis already in the first autumn of its life. At this time, it is best to use organic matter in the form of humus or compost, which is mixed with wood ash. The root circle is fertilized with this composition.
In addition to organic matter, you can and should add it to the soil mineral fertilizers. However, you need to be careful with them. Their high concentration harms the plant. Therefore, they should be introduced strictly, adhering to the required proportions.
In order to achieve abundant flowering, fertilizing with organic and mineral fertilizers should be alternated. You also need to take into account that when the soil is fertilized, it should first be watered abundantly. Clematis need moist and nutritious soil.
The time when fertilizers are applied must coincide with certain periods of growth and development of the vine. In total, four feedings are carried out per season.
And so, starting from the second year of clematis life, in early spring a sufficient amount of organic matter must be added to the soil. Into this time goes by active formation of young shoots and flower stalks being laid. Therefore, the vine needs nitrogen. Manure or bird droppings can be used as fertilizer. Organic matter is diluted with water in a ratio of one to ten and applied at the root. Organic substances can be replaced with urea, which is diluted in water. The amount of dry matter is calculated based on the fact that for one square meter soil needs twenty grams of urea.
In mid-April, root feeding is carried out and green weaving stems are sprayed. To do this, use a solution of three grams of urea and a liter of water. The spraying procedure is carried out exclusively in the evening or in cloudy weather.
In May, it is good to feed clematis with lime milk, which prevents soil acidification. This is a solution of slaked lime (150 grams per 10 liters of water).
When the first buds begin to form, the vine simply needs additional nutrients. During this period, the plant simply needs phosphorus and potassium. It is best to use complex mineral fertilizers that do not contain chlorine. Also, during the budding period, the soil is additionally nourished with a tincture of cow dung.
In summer, at the end of August, clematis needs potassium and phosphorus. It is best to use potassium sulfate, which is diluted in water and fed to the vine. Ten liters of water require thirty grams of the substance.
In the warm season, clematis love to be sprayed with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and boric acid. The liana is sprayed once a month in the evening.
In autumn the soil is not fertilized. During the season of active growth and vegetation, clematis received a sufficient amount of nutrients and now it needs to prepare for the winter season. At the end of September, the soil around the clematis bushes is covered with wood ash.
By fully implementing the above recommendations, clematis will develop well and will delight gardeners with abundant and long-lasting flowering.
But in order for the decorative vine to be protected, it needs preventive measures. One of them is treating clematis with a solution of copper sulfate, which is used to water the flowers once a week, or with a solution of foundationazole (twenty grams of the substance is diluted in ten liters of water). Also, to prevent the appearance of fungal diseases, the soil is treated with fungicides every two weeks.
Preventive measures allow you to avoid many troubles when growing clematis in the garden and country house.
Clematis are plants that need care both in summer and winter. In order for the vine to bloom profusely, you should carefully consider this procedure. If the plant is properly prepared for frost, it will delight its owners with large and bright buds.
Preparing for winter
Caring for clematis before the onset of cold weather plays an important role in their further development. Despite the fact that the plant has sufficiently adapted to our area, its southern roots still make themselves felt. Gardeners who have been growing these unusually beautiful plants on their property for many years know that their flowering depends on proper pruning, watering and fertilizing.
If the vines alone have enough summer and spring fertilizing, then for clematis they are obligatory in the later period of the year. It is especially necessary to fertilize if the flower grows on poor lands.
If clematis are not cut and wrapped for the winter, they may die completely or freeze out in places. Therefore, to avoid negative consequences, you should wrap the plant well before the onset of cold weather, and also remove unnecessary shoots. You will learn how to do this in the article.
Work completion time
In order for the vine to bloom profusely, its shoots must be trimmed throughout the year. There are several categories of this plant, the care for which is slightly different.
Main groups of clematis:
- First group. These are wild varieties, Texas and Eastern vines. They need to remove dry and damaged branches after the leaves fall. The shoots on such bushes should be trimmed in the spring. If this is not done, the plant will lose its shape. Over time, such vines become bare, and buds appear only in the upper part.
Flowers of this group are pruned only in spring for the first two years. Then the procedure should be carried out in the summer.
Bushes that are two years old should remove all branches, leaving one bud at a time. This should be done from January to February.
- Second group. These are vines that bloom twice a year: from May to June and from August to September. These flowers are pruned in the last month of autumn and summer. This is explained by the fact that the buds form on last year’s branches. The summer procedure should be carried out in June, when flowering ends.
- Third group. These are the most popular species that can be found in any garden. These include hybrids and herbaceous varieties. You can observe their flowering in early July. Such vines are pruned only in autumn. It is better to do this in October or early November.
Important! Plants of the second group must be severely pruned once every 5 years. This is necessary so that the bush is lush and the flowers bloom at eye level.
Fertilizers and fertilizers
If the plant was well fertilized during planting, then the next procedure should be carried out in the third year of the vine’s life. But in cases where the soil is poor, it is recommended to apply fertilizers in the first autumn.
Before fertilizing, you should water the flower generously for several days before the procedure.
Advice! The plant does not tolerate an overabundance of drugs, so they should be applied in diluted form.
Humus, compost, and potassium-phosphorus fertilizers can be used as fertilizing. If humus is used for fertilizer, then its quantity per trunk circle should be 10 kg. It is not recommended to use preparations containing nitrogen. This component promotes the active growth of green mass, which clematis does not need at all in the fall.
Also, before covering, the base of the bush should be strewn with wood ash and compacted well. It should be well chopped. It is better to sift it before use. Optimal quantity is 0.5 kg of substance per bush.
In addition to organic products, clematis can be fertilized with mineral preparations. They must be used extremely carefully. Such compositions should be added according to the specified proportions on the packaging. If you follow it throughout the year correct amount fertilizing, then in the fall you don’t need to use them at all.
Advice! The last nutritional feeding should be carried out in September.
Caring for clematis in the fall also includes spraying the root part. This is done immediately after pruning the shoots.
For this you can use:
- two percent iron sulfate;
- one percent solution of Bordeaux mixture.
Apply this procedure follows for all types of vines. It is necessary to protect plants from the development of dangerous fungal diseases.
Pruning clematis
This is an important part of care that should be treated with special care. From correct pruning a lot depends. First of all, this is the full development of the root system.
Types of plant pruning:
- sanitary (removal of dry shoots and leaves);
- formative (necessary for better growth vines);
- winter (protects the flower from freezing).
Clematis is one of the plants whose leaves do not fall off on their own in the fall. Therefore, in order for the flower to have an attractive appearance in the spring, you should remove the dry leaf plates yourself.
Advice! Damaged leaves must also be cut off from wintering branches.
The method of pruning depends on the type of plant and how old it is. Some species do not need this procedure at all. As for young flowers, they should be cut off completely, leaving no more than 30 centimeters of shoots above the ground.
The most effective is pruning in three tiers. It can be applied to different varieties plants. If you use this method, the plant will certainly delight you with its appearance in the spring.
First tier. No more than four shoots are pruned. Each of them is pruned at a height of one meter above the soil.
Second tier. Each of the four branches is trimmed 0.5 meters above the ground.
Third tier. On at this stage 4 shoots are also used. It is important to ensure that two to three buds remain above the soil during pruning.
The remaining branches will need to be removed at the root, and those that are cut off will need to be carefully placed on the surface of the ground.
Shelter for the winter
This procedure should be carried out at the end of autumn. It is best to do this in the second half of October or early November. The liana tolerates light frosts quite easily, but it is not worth experimenting with. During winters with little snow, clematis shoots are quickly damaged, which will negatively affect its flowering.
The plant should be covered after the vine is pruned and processed. To carry out the procedure, you can use dry tree branches, weathered peat, wood shavings, dry leaves and other materials.
In order for the vine to feel good in cold weather, it is worth pouring a layer of dry soil on top of the material. It is also recommended to additionally protect with a thick layer of snow. Varieties that need insulation must be shortened to 150 centimeters.
The principle of the procedure depends on the variety and type of flowering:
- Clematis, whose buds appear on last year's branches, are the most frost-resistant. These include large-petaled, alpine, spreading and mountain varieties. In regions with relatively warm climate, the plant can overwinter directly on the supports. Trimming the shoots is not necessarily enough to protect the root system from severe frosts. Wrapping should be carried out at a height of 40 centimeters from the surface of the ground. To do this, just use a good layer of dry soil and leaves.
- A plant that forms buds on both last year’s and young branches needs pruning. After removing unnecessary shoots, the vine must be removed from the support and leveled. Carefully roll the unraveled lashes into a ring and place them on the ground. Sprinkle plenty of dry leaves on top and cover non-woven material. It can be either agrofibre or lutrasila.
- Lianas, the flowers of which appear on young shoots, are the most common in our country. They are easy to care for and tolerate frost well. After pruning, such clematis only need hilling. These include hybrid varieties. Additionally, there is no need to cover such flowers.
Conclusion
In order to understand how to properly cover a plant, it is enough to know its variety and how high it climbs. If you follow all the rules autumn care, the plant will certainly delight you with abundant flowering.
Clematis are liana-like plants of the ranunculaceae family. Among gardeners, it is known as clematis, vine or grandfather curls and is widely used for vertical gardening. Spectacular climbing shoots of clematis, covered with graceful flowers from early June to August, serve as decoration for gardens and cottages, balconies and gazebos. To receive lush flowering proper care is required throughout the growing season. Spring events are of particular importance. First of all, feeding, which lays the foundations for future flowering.
- When the mercury column stops falling below 0 °C during the daytime, protection is done ventilation holes, providing access to fresh air and light to the shoots of the plant.
- Winter shelters are removed completely only when the threat of night frosts has disappeared.
- For varieties that bloom twice a year, all old and dried shoots are removed, and healthy shoots are shortened to 1 m.
- Clematis that bloom on the current year's shoots are cut to a length of 30 cm, leaving 2-3 buds.
- In spring, remove all broken and deformed branches.
- fertilizers are applied after watering or into moist soil;
- to prevent “overfeeding”, solutions of medium concentration are used, dry additives are scattered in small portions;
- the application of mineral additives is alternated with the use of organic matter.
- enriches the soil with potassium and calcium, without which it is impossible to obtain bright flowering;
- allows you to correct the acidity of the soil: clematis do not tolerate an acidic environment.
- when shoots grow, during the 1st feeding, young shoots are irrigated with a weak (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water) urea solution;
- at the end of spring, during the formation of buds - using the preparations “Master”, “Avkarin”, “Floral Solution”.
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Care after winter
They begin to care for clematis literally immediately after the snow melts, freeing the awakened plants from their winter shelters and performing a number of other simple but important activities.
Removing covers
After wintering, the protection is removed from clematis. Do this gradually:
Trimming
Clematis are pruned in the fall. If for some reason this could not be done, then pruning is carried out in early spring:
Support and garter
Spring growth of clematis shoots begins in May, reaching its maximum by the middle of this month. At daytime temperatures above 10 °C, the vine stretches 7-10 cm per day and needs support, natural or artificially erected. It is worth taking care of its presence and staking of the vine in early spring.
The first garter is carried out on minimum distance from the ground. As they grow, the clematis shoots are fan-shapedly distributed over the surface of the support, carefully ensuring that they do not intertwine, and fixed. This will ensure good illumination of the shoots, protect the plant from mechanical damage and their consequences, and also give the bush a decorative appearance.
Scheme for fixing clematis shoots
Watering
In spring, clematis experience an increased need for moisture. After the snow melts, the soil is sufficiently saturated with water, but its reserves are quickly used up. Clematis react painfully to moisture deficiency, so in the spring, especially with little rainfall, the soil is moistened.
Watering is carried out infrequently (once a week), but abundantly, trying to moisten the soil to a depth of half a meter, which is explained by the taproot type of plant root system. From 10 to 20 liters of water is poured under young bushes, 1.5-2 times more for adults. The older the plant, the more moisture it needs.
Loosening the soil
After each watering, the soil is loosened. This will avoid excessive evaporation of water and prevent the growth of unwanted vegetation.
The first time the soil is loosened in early spring, still wet from the melted snow, in order to destroy the soil crust and weeds. Loosening is carried out to a depth of 2-5 cm.
Mulching
Covering the soil with mulch partially replaces watering and loosening. It helps retain moisture in the soil, saturate it with oxygen and protects the roots from overheating.
Used as mulch various materials: peat, half-rotted manure, sawdust, straw, compost, humus. The use of organic matter helps plants receive additional nutrition during rain.
Mulch is placed around the bushes, being careful not to touch the shoots. This will protect them from damage by rodents.
Planting annual flowering plants at the base of clematis shoots works similarly to mulch. These could be marigolds, which not only protect the roots, but also repel some insect pests with the help of their smell.
Prevention of diseases and pests
The roots of clematis, especially in waterlogged soil conditions, are susceptible to fungal diseases (fusarium, wilt, gray rot), which can lead to the loss of the plant. To prevent the occurrence of diseases in the spring, apply to clematis bushes. copper sulfate(50 g per 10 l), foundationol (20 g per 10 l) or any other fungicide, 3-4 l per bush. The treatment is repeated 3-4 times.
Dangerous pests of clematis are root-knot nematodes, which penetrate root tissues and form thickenings (galls). To prevent their appearance, spring mulching of the soil is carried out using mint or wormwood, the smell of which repels them.
Spring feeding
The growing season of most varieties of clematis is characterized by the annual renewal of almost the entire above-ground mass and long and abundant flowering. To carry out these processes, the plant needs a large amount of nutrients. Therefore, after winter, clematis need to be fertilized.
For normal development, the plant needs 16 micro- and macroelements. It receives three of them (oxygen, carbon and hydrogen) mainly from the air. The remaining 13 are from the soil.
Rules for applying fertilizers
Fertilizing clematis in the spring is carried out in compliance with several rules:
Clematis do not tolerate chlorine-containing fertilizers.
Spring feeding scheme
During the season, adult clematis bushes are fed 5 times. Most of the fertilizing occurs in the spring.
| Subsequence | Dates | Fertilizers used | Important information |
| 1 | First half of May | Urea solution (30 g per 10 liters of water) or ammonium nitrate solution (2 g per 10 liters of water for a bush from 5 to 10 years old) or sprinkle fertilizer over the soil surface | Nitrogen is necessary for the growth of green mass. It activates cell division processes, preventing their aging. With a deficiency of this element, the growth of shoots slows down, the leaves become smaller and acquire a yellowish or reddish tint, and few buds are formed |
| 2 | A week after the first feeding | Infusion of mullein (1:10) or chicken manure (1:15). | - |
| 2/3 | Additionally, between 2 and 3 feedings (mid - end of May) | Liming the soil: 150-200 g of chalk (lime) or dolomite flour are dissolved in 10 liters of water. This solution is used to treat 1 sq. m. soil. | Adding lime milk accomplishes 2 tasks: After liming, the soil is mulched |
| 3 | 1.5-2 weeks after the second feeding | Any complex fertilizer, for example, Kemira station wagon, 1 tbsp. l. for 10 liters of water | - |
| 4 | During the budding period | Superphosphate, potassium nitrate 1 tbsp. l. for 10 liters of water | Phosphorus and potassium are necessary for the formation of buds. With their deficiency, few flowers are formed. The pedicels of some of them darken, the buds droop down and do not always open. |
In summer, clematis are not fed. This reduces flowering time!
Foliar spring feeding
Clematis responds well to holding foliar feeding.In the spring they are carried out twice:
Clematis will definitely respond to spring troubles and will delight you with its blooms all season long.
Initially, clematis (they are also called clematis) began to be cultivated in Japan, then in Western Europe, after which they spread throughout the northern hemisphere because of their beauty. Currently there is more than 370 varieties and varieties, which are registered by the Horticultural Society of Great Britain.
Varieties are divided into simple, double and semi-double. The first have one row of petals, the second have two or three circles, the third have more than three. There are bicolor varieties in which the outer sepals differ in color and shape from the inner ones. Varieties are divided into large and small. In large clematis sepal diameter up to 15 cm, for small ones - up to 5 cm.
As it grows, the species forms a vine that can reach a height of 3 m. They are often used to decorate arches or mesh fences.
Lianas need to be propagated by layering, since when seed propagation they do not retain varietal characteristics and quickly degenerate. Prefer acidic soils, at which the pH can drop to 4.0. For some varieties, neutral or alkaline soils are preferable - this needs to be clarified when purchasing seedlings.
Feeding and caring for clematis in summer
In summer, clematis, like other plants, requires the entire complex of nutrients: nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Nitrogen promotes the growth of green mass, potassium is responsible for abundant flowering, and phosphorus supports the root system and is responsible for the plant’s immunity. Suitable for feeding clematis in the summer are both organic substances - manure, ash, phosphate or bone meal, green fertilizers, and mineral ones - urea, superphosphate and potassium sulfate.
Particular attention should be paid to choosing a landing site. This place should not be dry, as if there is a lack of water, the flowers will be small. Watering is required 3 times a week in hot weather - done in the evening, while the leaves are also irrigated with water.
Fertilizers for clematis are applied after abundant watering in liquid form. Fertilizing clematis for abundant flowering should be carried out at the stage of bud formation. This will strengthen the plant and make it possible to accumulate nutrients for the entire flowering period.
What to feed young clematis:
- At the time of landing- rotted manure in the hole and superphosphate for the roots.
- In two months watering with green fertilizer.
- Feeding clematis in August-September superphosphate before wintering.
Video: What is needed for abundant flowering of clematis
How to feed old clematis in summer:
- In the spring, when the snow begins to melt, pour a handful of urea or ammonium nitrate around the roots.
- In 3 weeks water with a solution of complete mineral fertilizer.
- In another 2 weeks– a solution of manure or chicken droppings.
- During flowering– potassium sulfate at the root.
- Near the end of summer– potassium and phosphorus.
- After flowering Clematis are fed with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer.
To prevent nematodes from infesting the roots, wormwood, marigolds or calendula are planted around the clematis.
Preparing for winter and pruning vines
How to feed clematis in the fall so as not to cause green growth - there are two options:
- stove ash containing potassium and phosphorus– everything you need for roots and bud formation for next year;
- bone meal– a long-lasting source of calcium and phosphorus, after which phosphorus nutrition with mineral potassium can be avoided for 3 years.
Fertilizers for clematis are applied in dry form in the fall, since the plant will not actively accumulate nutrients in winter. By spring, soil microorganisms will process the minerals and in the spring they will be available to plants.
A more important step is pruning. You need to know which variety grows flowers on last year’s shoots, and which ones grow on young growths.
If flower stalks form on young shoots, then such a plant is completely cut off for the winter, leaving 2 - 3 internodes, which are covered with a layer of insulation. To prevent the mulch from being blown away by the wind, you can place a wooden box on top. If flowering begins on old shoots, then you need to leave about 1.5 m in height, trim the rest.
All types of clematis need to be covered for the winter, as they are afraid of frost, and the quality of flowering will depend on the safety of the shoots. After pruning, the branches are laid on the soil, pressed with staples and covered with mulch - sawdust, leaves. In particularly cold regions, covering material is used for gardeners.
Carefully! In spring, it is important to open the vines in time so that they do not evaporate under the mulch or covering fabric. Due to untimely ventilation, many plants reduce their flowering characteristics or begin to suffer from fungus
It is better to propagate clematis in winter. To do this, dig a groove from the mother bush and sprinkle it with phosphorus fertilizer. One shoot is dug in and mulched.
Over the winter root system has time to germinate and will produce new shoots upward in the spring. After this, you can cut off the young seedling from the main bush. The plant does not tolerate transplantation well, so if possible, transplant it immediately to permanent place. The distance between bushes should be at least 2 meters so that they do not compete with each other for nutrients.
