Gypsophila and its cultivation

Airy gypsophila can decorate any garden area. It is customary to grow this flowering herbaceous shrub through seedlings.

Gypsophila belongs to perennial flowers, members of the Clove family. The herbaceous bush often appears under the names "tumbleweed", "swing" and "gypsum". In translation, the main name of the culture sounds like "loving lime", since in natural conditions it often grows on limestone. The plant can be cultivated as annual and perennial. In the wild, it lives in the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia, Northeast Africa and New Zealand. In Russia, dried flowers can be found in the Far East, Siberia and in the European part of the country.

The gypsophila bush looks rather compact: its garden forms do not exceed 50 centimeters in height, and the semi-shrubs do not exceed 1-2 meters.

The flowers are usually white, but can also be pinkish or light green. The diameter of the opened bud does not exceed 5-6 millimeters. The root system of gypsophila is pivotal, very powerful and branched. The main root goes into the soil by about 50 centimeters.

The stem of the plant is either erect or creeping. It branches densely at its top. In perennial plants, it usually lignifies at the base. Gypsophila fruits are round or oval capsules containing several dark brown seeds in one nest. Flowering culture lasts from mid-July to late August.

About 150 species and many varieties belong to the genus gypsophila. For example, paniculata gypsophila is popular - a perennial that forms a spherical bush that reaches 1 meter in height. Branching stems are covered with pubescent narrow leaves of gray-green color. Terry flowers, as the name implies, are collected in panicles. In the Snezhinka variety they are painted white, in the Flamingo they are bright pink, and in the Rosenschleier variety they are pale pink.

Gray-green leaf blades are characterized by the presence of a lanceolate shape. The graceful variety combines the varieties "Rose", "Carmine" with bright red inflorescences and hot pink "Double Star".

Garden gypsophila creeping stretches 20 centimeters upward. The opposite linear sheets are colored dark green. The smallest colored buds that appear in summer and autumn are located at the ends of the shoots. Most often they are colored pink. The varieties of creeping gypsophila include "Pink Haze", "Monstroza", "Fratensis", "Fillow Rose" and others. Mention should also be made of the lilac-shaped gypsophila with purple asterisk flowers and the Pacific gypsophila, which casts a grayish tint before large buds bloom. It should also be said that the blue gypsophila, which often appears in floristry, is colored.

To collect the seeds with your own hands, the rounded seed pods will need to be cut off and spread out on a clean sheet of paper immediately after darkening. After some time, they will open their doors, and the contents can be removed. The material is dried in a dry room, being packaged in paper bags or matchboxes. It is important not to allow high humidity in the room, otherwise the germination of the seeds will significantly deteriorate.

It is most convenient to plant gypsophila through seedlings, especially when it comes to perennials. Sowing seeds in seedling containers is carried out in early spring. The grains are deepened by 0.5-1 cm into the soil or peat, after which the contents of the container are sprayed with water and covered with glass or plastic wrap. In order for the plants to soon appear on the surface, the seedlings will need to be provided with warmth and good lighting, ventilated every day and occasionally sprayed. When shoots appear in the container after about 14 days, they will need to be thinned or transplanted so that there is 15 centimeters of free space between the individual specimens. In the future, the gypsophila will require additional illumination, providing the culture with 14-hour daylight hours.

When the seedlings have 1-2 full leaves, the gypsophila will need to be transplanted into open ground. This usually happens not earlier than May-June, when the threat of return frosts becomes zero.

A well-lit place for the beds is selected. You can not place the gypsophila in areas with a close location of groundwater, otherwise such conditions will provoke rotting of the root processes. It is optimal if there is a small amount of humus and lime in the soil for planting. The absence of the latter component is normalized by introducing 30-50 grams of calcium carbonate for each square meter of the area.

When planting a plant, its root collar should be underground. The distance between individual bushes is kept equal to 70 centimeters, and about 130 centimeters are kept between the rows. After planting a flower, it is immediately irrigated with water.

Growing gypsophila in the open field does not present any particular difficulties. The plant should be light and warm, but otherwise basic care measures will be enough.

To grow gypsophila both in a pot at home and in the country, it is important to regularly moisten it, but not fill it. For irrigation, you can use only warm water warmed up to room temperature. If the summer is rainy, then the moisture of the plant stops altogether. In the dry season, no more than a third of the bucket should be used for each bush. The procedure should be accompanied by loosening the top layer of the soil. You should also take care of the crop by regularly weeding weeds.

The soil for gypsophila requires dry, not too overfed with organic matter. Adding a small amount of lime to the soil will be a plus. In the first year, you can not apply fertilizers at all to the garden, and in the second year you should limit yourself to the mineral complex at the beginning of summer. In autumn, the plant will respond well to the "treat" with potassium and phosphorus.

The culture does not tolerate low temperatures very well, and therefore it is recommended to dig the bush out of the ground before winter and move it indoors. Even if the gypsophila variety is positioned as winter-hardy, it will need to be additionally covered. It is recommended to first cut off all the shoots a few centimeters from the ground, leaving a couple of the strongest ones near the root, and then cover the beds with dry foliage, spruce branches and straw.

It is very convenient to propagate perennial gypsophila by cuttings. In this case, the material is harvested in mid-spring. Fragments of young shoots must be cut off before the inflorescences appear, or the process of forming blanks has to be postponed to the end of summer, when the flowering season is over. It is customary to root cuttings 3 centimeters in loose soil containing a small amount of limestone. For successful rooting, the material is kept at a temperature of + 20-22 degrees, as well as in 100% humidity and under 12 hours of light. The seedlings are transported to the open ground at such a time as to be in time before the onset of the first frost.

Suitable for gypsophila and the seed method. It is also possible to use the apical cuttings, the length of which is 7 centimeters. From such blanks, the lower leaves are removed, after which they are left for 24 hours in the rooting machine. After the above period, the gypsophila is planted in a mixture of peat and sand with a depression of 2 centimeters. Rooting is carried out under a film with periodic airing and watering. After 2.5 weeks, the covering material is removed, and at the end of summer, the cuttings are sent to their permanent habitat.

Improper care leads to infection of gypsophila with gray rot and rust. Gallic and cyst-forming nematodes are also characteristic of it. To combat the nematode, it is necessary to process the plantings with "Phosphamide" several times, maintaining intervals of 3 to 5 days between procedures. If this does not help, then the bush is carefully removed from the ground, after which its roots are washed in water heated to + 50-55 degrees.

The fight against rust and gray decay is carried out with the help of Bordeaux mixture, copper sulphate and "Oxychom". If the gypsophila has become infected with a black leg, then the diseased plant will have to be eliminated, and the whole bed should be treated with fungicides.

It is recommended to grow gypsophila in a flower bed in a company with marigolds, liatris, phlox and wheatgrass. It is effectively combined with cornflowers, evening primrose and red flax. Any type of culture will be an excellent addition to low-growing conifers, as well as shrubs with large flowers. The flower looks harmoniously in solitary plantings and in flower beds. It is customary to use paniculata gypsophila to decorate rocky surfaces and edging lawns.