How to grow the lover's grass to make it grow
An article with detailed introduction on how to grow lover's grass and the cultivation techniques of lover's grass, let's follow the editor to see the specific content!
Lover's grass, also known as hybrid blood grass, is a perennial herbaceous plant artificially hybridized from wild blood grass, belonging to the blood grass genus of the Plumbaginaceae family. The leaves are elliptical, entire, up to 25 centimeters long, with a blunt tip and a gradually narrowing petiole at the base; the scape is tall with many branches, each branch having 1-2 flowers, which are small. By flower color, there are mainly four varieties: Blue Ocean, Blue Mist, White Mist, and Pink Mist.
Lover's grass is native to Russia, Bulgaria, the Caucasus, and China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It prefers dry and cool climates, requires strong sunlight, and is suitable for calcareous slightly alkaline soil. It is most averse to hot and humid environments. It is often cultivated as an annual or biennial plant in production, but can also be grown as a perennial in cool climates, changing the crop every 4-5 years.
The whole flowering branch of lover's grass looks like mist from a distance, creating a blurred beauty. It is an ideal cut flower variety after the baby's breath and is especially loved by young people. Lover's grass is also a famous dried flower, with a decorative effect that can last for more than one year.
Lover's grass can be cultivated using tissue culture.
The method is as follows: Take seeds, young buds, or young flowering branches, disinfect the surface, and then insert them into the culture medium. Seeds will germinate after 3-4 days, quickly growing into dense seedlings. Young buds will grow into dense seedlings in about 3-4 weeks. Young flowering branches will grow new buds in 4-7 weeks. The adventitious buds obtained from the explants are transferred to the culture medium for proliferation, with a transfer interval of about 4-5 weeks, achieving a proliferation rate of 3-4 times. After sufficient seedlings are proliferated, they are transferred to the culture medium again and can grow roots in about 20 days. After the plants have grown roots, they are removed from the test tubes, the remaining culture medium is washed off the roots, and they are moved to a matrix of peat and perlite (1:1), where they are managed with moisture retention and shading. In an environment of 20-30°C, they can be planted in the ground after 45-60 days. It can also be cultivated with seeds, as the seeds are small, with a thousand seed weight of about 22-28 grams. They can be sown in autumn when the average daily temperature is 18-21°C. Disinfected decomposed leaves or a mix of peat and perlite (1:1) can be used as the seedbed. After sowing the seeds, water them and cover the surface with a thin layer of moist fine soil or fine sand. Generally, they will germinate within 5 days, and the seedlings can emerge in about 10 days. When the first true leaf appears, the seedlings are transplanted, and when they have 5-6 leaves, they can be planted in a nutrient pot or directly planted.
Seedlings are usually planted from October to November and can bloom from January to early April the following year. When planting, choose dry, loose, and fertile soil, apply sufficient organic fertilizer as a base fertilizer, about 60-75 tons per hectare. It is best to disinfect the soil if conditions allow, and in areas with acidic soil, apply 750 kilograms of quicklime per hectare to adjust the soil pH and disinfect the soil. During planting, precision farming should be practiced, making deep narrow ridges that are 60 centimeters wide and 40-50 centimeters high. As lover's grass has a high demand for boron, 3 kilograms of boric acid should be added to the base fertilizer per hectare. The planting spacing is 40 centimeters by 40 centimeters, with double rows crossed for planting to facilitate ventilation and light.
After planting, water sufficiently. If planted in early autumn when the temperature is still high, appropriate shading should be provided to ensure survival. Generally, the seedlings can grow within 10-15 days and a dilute soybean cake water can be applied to promote growth. Afterward, water should be controlled appropriately to ensure robust root growth. In winter, timely insulation work should be done, with the most suitable growth temperature being 16-18°C during the day and 10-13°C at night, with the minimum temperature not falling below 0°C, otherwise it will freeze and die. In winter, old and withered leaves should be removed to reduce diseases and pests and promote sprouting in the second spring. In spring, as the earth warms up and new buds sprout, weak flowering branches should be removed to avoid nutrient consumption. When the temperature rises to 7-10°C, fertilization and watering management should be strengthened, with a top dressing of fast-acting nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers. After flowering, the edge of the bed should be shaded with a sunshade net to reduce the air and soil temperature, which can extend the flowering period of the cut flowers.
The benefits of planting lover's grass are high. In Xinhua and Yanji towns of Shuyang County, Jiangsu Province, flower farmers cultivate this plant. Not only is the market demand good, but the profit per mu can reach more than 10,000 yuan.
The above sharing on how to grow lover's grass and the detailed introduction of its cultivation techniques hope to bring some knowledge of flowers to green plant enthusiasts.