When breeding perennials in the country, most gardeners prefer this flower - the host, or funky. If cultivated by a host, planting and caring for an unpretentious plant are available even to a beginner. For culture to please with its decorative effect, knowledge of the rules on how to care for a hosta is appreciated.
Transplant after purchase
Perennial herbaceous culture, numbering more than 40 species, grows in the Far East and East Asia. For a bush, a place near a pond is preferable.
On a note! The inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom add to the host food. They believe that the plant has divine power.
Queen of the Shady Garden
The correct selection of the place is responsible for the well-being and life expectancy of the flower. Perennial is able to grow on a flower bed without transplanting for 20 years. It serves as a sure foundation for a flower bed of continuous flowering.
If the hosts are breeding, outdoor planting and care are ideal for spring: from the 3rd decade of April - until mid-May (after the threat of freezing frost).
It is advisable to prepare the soil in the fall: dig a flower garden onto the bayonet of a shovel and add organic matter.
Summer residents are interested in when and how they plant a host. Many gardeners practice planting from late summer to the first half of September. If the flower is planted at a later date in the fall, it may not take root until the frost comes. Soil before planting is intensively watered.
Cultivation of crops in the garden is carried out in unprotected soil, bushes are planted on flower beds near hedges or together with soil protectors and ferns. Some gardeners grow hosta in tubs, flowerpots, containers. They decorate the site with original compositions.
Host in tub
A perennial plant does not fear cold weather. Cultures or rhizomes bought in pots are planted on a bed in the spring when air is warmed up to + 12 ... +14 ° С. Adult garden individuals do not need shelter for the winter season.
Hosta does not like stagnation of water, waterlogging of the soil, strong winds. Water the flower early in the morning under the root.
Important! Do not water the bush from above during the heat - leaves remain on the foliage. There is no need to spray the host.
Optimal place
For landing hosts are preferable:
- a place in partial shade that takes refuge from the winds;
- humus soil, with drainage, moist, with a neutral or slightly acidic pH. The hosta flower does not grow well on heavy clay and sand. The soil mixture should include in equal proportions humus, peat, vermiculite, leaf turf. Crops like fertilizers.
It is advisable to arrange a flower garden on a site protected from drafts: a lawn behind a house or near a pond, in the northern zone of the garden. But variegated varieties need sunlight to maintain a bright color. For blue and gray varieties, a shadow is suitable, they have enough light 2 hours a day. Depends on the partial shade of how the leaves grow, while there is a slowdown in the development of the bush. The host will be harmed by the bright sun throughout the day - leaf burns are possible.
Selecting a location is a key component of success, which tells you how to plant a host competently. The sun is responsible for the correct color, but accelerates aging or completely destroys the foliage. The most suitable localization is shadow and partial shade.
Growing in full sun is not suitable for plants. Some varieties require a lot of sunlight and special care: a constantly moistened substrate to feed water supplies due to rapid evaporation.
Advice! It is not recommended to grow a flower near white walls or other surfaces that additionally reflect the rays of the sun, drying out the foliage.
To grow a plant in the sun, you will need:
- specially prepare soil containing compost, peat;
- apply mulch to protect the soil from overheating and evaporation of moisture.
When growing a crop in a sunny flower garden, the color of the leaf plate will change under such conditions:
- yellow hosts will receive white foliage;
- in blue varieties, the leaves turn greenish.
Yellow varieties cope with a large amount of ultraviolet in the morning and at noon. It is preferable to grow multi-colored varieties in partial shade. Pigment-free varieties (Color Glory, Supernova, George Smith, Tokudama Aureonebulosa, Dance with Me) are located on the flowerbed without solar access.
Step-by-step landing process
When planting, hosts on an open flower garden are guided by a step-by-step scheme. Required:
- Dig holes in increments of 40-60 cm for ordinary and 90-100 cm for tall species.
- Fill a peat in 2/3 parts with peat or compost.
- Water the seedlings, get the earth out of the flowerpot along with a lump, examine the delenki for spoilage or rotting of the roots.
- Put the seedlings in the holes.
- Straighten the roots, cover with earth, water.
- Put the mulch into the ground near the seedling - sawdust or bark.
Planting material for planting is selected carefully. 10-12 cm roots are elastic. It is advisable that the seedling have 2 or 3 buds.
How to select planting stock
Important! Storage of plants before planting is carried out in cool and dark at a temperature of + 5 ... +10 ° C. Just right insulated loggia, a shelf at the bottom of the refrigerator, a cellar.
When planting, the hosts of the kidney are located at soil level. If necessary, add soil under the root.
Planting crops in spring in unprotected soil is determined by weather conditions and air temperature. In the Urals, it falls at the end of the spring or summer season, in the Krasnodar Territory, work is started in the last ten days of April, in the Moscow Region until May 15.
Outdoor Care
Watering mode
Caring for the host involves drip irrigation. He is responsible for the beauty of the foliage, size, energy filling. In the absence of the possibility of watering the hosts carry out, trying to avoid getting on the leaf plates.
Manipulation will prevent the flushing of wax from the leaf surface. This is of great importance for blue varieties in which wax determines the color. Accurate spraying reduces the risk of developing fungal infections and sunburn foliage.
It is useful to timely water the plant; the soil should always be slightly moistened.
Attention! Hosts are watering in a small trickle and only at the root. Water falling on leaf plates provokes their unattractiveness and damage to slugs and snails.
Watering under the root
Auspicious time to water the flower is until 11 o’clock in the morning. If it is cloudy outside, it is allowed during the day. Otherwise, he will get burns if water drops fall on the sheets.
Top dressing
When cultivating hosts, care determines its appearance. Application of fertilizing affects the decorativeness of the flower. It is advisable to feed the plant three times during the vegetative period:
- at the growth stage;
- in the flowering phase;
- after flowering.
Often used feed with nitrogen (N), potassium (K), phosphorus (P). Humus is also introduced, which is fed in the fall. Organics are preferred over mineral top dressing. The main thing is not to overdo it. Too frequent or intense replenishment is the cause of burns.
This factor affects the color of the leaves, its weight, elasticity. The flower does not need plentiful feeding. Fertilize in the season several times or use sustained-action recharge.
It is important to keep the proportions of the components when fertilizing the host. An excess of nitrogen leads to lightening and erosion of the pigment, therefore they are fed in 2 stages: early in spring, until the leaves are formed. In the phase of saponification and hibernation, fertilize with humus. As a mineral component, agents with a nitrogen content plus calcium nitrate are used, which are added during the formation of the first sprouts.
According to the responses of summer residents, for large plants it is preferable to apply a handful of fertilizers per 1 crop, for small plants - less, for miniature flowers, a teaspoon is enough.
In the spring-summer season, staining of hosts depends on the balance of the contained nutrition components (phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen) in the ratio: 1: 1: 1, 1: 1: 2 or 1: 2: 1.
This period is suitable for the use of long-lasting effects, for example, Osmokot.
Osmocote - flower dressing
In addition, it is important to fertilize crops with foliar supplements 2-3 times. Nutrient supplemented chelates are ideal. Nitrogen-based foliar supplements are suitable for plants with green or yellow foliage.
These drugs are used with accuracy for blue hosts. They help transform it from blue to green culture. For blue varieties, top dressing with balanced NPK is appropriate.
Organics is rich in micro - and macrocells. It guarantees the safety of the flower. Fertilizers are difficult to use in order to maintain the required NPK ratio, and avoid changing the color of foliage.
When planting hosts in fertile soil, they do not think about fertilizers for 3-4 years. The use of organic matter occurs in 5 years late in the fall, with the onset of spring it is introduced in the form of mulch:
- herbs;
- compost
- straw;
- peat;
- overripe manure.
When growth and pallor of adults deteriorate, granular fertilizer is introduced into the loose soil, where the components are contained in the same volume. Then the flower is intensively moistened under the root.
Advice! During the growing season, recharge is carried out 2-4 times, the last feed falls on the first days of August.
In stores, it is easy to find special fertilizers in liquid soluble form with micro-, and macroelements for deciduous and decorative crops. They are suitable for a flower, contribute to the correct development, improvement of expressiveness and texture, the contrast of heterogeneous foliage.
During flowering
If the hosts are breeding flower care and cultivation during flowering include:
- weed removal and systematic cultivation;
- feeding with liquid-soluble fertilizers;
- regular hydration: twice a week, with drought increase the volume;
- liberation from old flowers;
- pest control.
Growing a large number of plant varieties on the flower bed increases the threat of getting crops affected by diseases and harmful insects. It is useful to carefully select planting material, periodically inspect the flowers.
To keep the appearance of the host, eliminate arrows and buds.
Flowering hosts
During rest
When the plant finishes blooming, timely removal of peduncles is carried out, preventing the bushiness of the bush.
Every year in the fall, adult specimens that grow very much are transplanted. Propagation of the flower is carried out by dividing the bush. The host is intensively watered, dug up and divided into segments. Each part includes 2 sockets, as well as roots.
How to share the host
Plant the plant until mid-September. Until the cold comes, the seedlings must take root and prepare for wintering.
The soil for transplantation is chosen fertile and breathable. Wells with dividers moisturize and mulch with sand or sawdust.
Winter preparations
Correct flower preparation for winter is appreciated. It will be necessary to trim flowering shoots, sprinkle soil near the hosta with foliage, sawdust, peat. Foliage trimming is not carried out.
Preparing for the winter season
The fallen snow is used to additionally cover the bushes. They cover the host with spruce paws. It is undesirable to cover the culture with a film - the access of oxygen is blocked, conditions are created for the survival of pests.
Some gardeners transplant the host for the winter in a flowerpot and grow at home on the windowsill. However, the opinions of gardeners differ on whether the host can be a room culture. According to individual summer residents, a flower feels great only in an open flowerbed. Other gardeners speak with confidence about the possibility of growing hosts as a pot plant, if the rules of agricultural technology are followed.
Advice! In the regions of southern Russia, the host winters well: it does not get wet and does not freeze during the thaw and in cold weather. It is important for summer residents of the Moscow Region and the Urals to worry about plantings ahead of time, by mulching the plants.
The issue of foliage removal is controversial among gardeners. In warm areas, foliage is removed under the root to protect the plant from parasites that have hidden in the greenery. In the north, leaves are preferable to leave as protection against frost.
The queen of the shady garden opens up great opportunities for gardeners in landscaping. Unpretentious host flowers will decorate a summer cottage and will delight owners and passers-by for a long time, if you follow simple tips and recommendations for care.
