How to care for情人草 (Lover's Grass)
The editor answers for netizens on how to care for Lover's Grass and the cultivation methods and precautions for Lover's Grass in terms of green plant maintenance, with the following specific content:
Lover's Grass, also known as Hybrid补血草 (Limonium sinuatum), is a perennial herbaceous plant developed from wild补血草 through artificial hybridization, belonging to the Limonium family and the补血草 genus. The leaves are oblong, entire, up to 25 cm long, with a blunt apex and a narrowed base into a long petiole; the flower stems are tall with numerous branches, each with 1-2 small flowers; according to 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, preferring dry and cool climates, requiring strong sunlight, suitable for calcareous slightly alkaline soil, and most dislikes hot and humid environments. It is often cultivated as an annual or biennial plant, but can also be planted as a perennial in cool climates, with a change of crop every 4-5 years.
The whole flowering branch of Lover's Grass looks like mist from a distance, with a hazy beauty, making it an ideal cut flower variety after baby's breath, especially loved by young people. Lover's Grass is also famous as a dried flower, with a decorative effect that can last over a year.
Lover's Grass can be cultivated using tissue culture.
The method is as follows: Take seeds, seedlings, or young flower branches, disinfect the surface, and then insert them into the culture medium. Seeds will germinate after 3-4 days, quickly growing into tufted seedlings, while seedlings will grow into tufted seedlings in about 3-4 weeks. Young flower branches will grow new buds in 4-7 weeks, and the adventitious buds obtained from the explants are transferred to the culture medium for proliferation, with a transfer every 4-5 weeks, a proliferation rate of 3-4 times. After proliferation to the required number of seedlings, they are transferred to the culture medium for cultivation, and roots can grow 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 transferred to a matrix of peat and perlite (1:1), where they are managed with moisture and shade. In an environment of 20-30°C, they can be planted in the ground after 45-60 days. Seeds can also be used for cultivation, as they are small, with a thousand-grain weight of about 22-28 grams, and can be sown in autumn when the average daily temperature is 18-21°C. Disinfected leaf mold or a mixture 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 sand. They usually germinate in 5 days and the seedlings can emerge in about 10 days. When the first true leaf appears, thin the seedlings, and when they have 5-6 leaves, they can be transplanted into nutrient pots or planted.
Seedlings are usually planted from October to November and can bloom from January to the first week of 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. If conditions allow, it is best to disinfect the soil. In areas where the soil is acidic, apply 750 kilograms of quicklime per hectare to adjust the soil pH and disinfect the soil. During planting, fine-tune the soil, making deep ditches 60 cm wide and 40-50 cm 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 cm x 40 cm, with double rows cross-planted to facilitate ventilation and light.
After planting, water sufficiently. If planted in early autumn when temperatures are still high, provide appropriate shading to ensure survival. Generally, the plants can grow after 10-15 days of planting and can be appropriately fertilized with dilute soybean cake water to promote growth. Afterward, water should be controlled to ensure the healthy growth of the roots. In winter, it is important to keep the plants warm, with the optimal growth temperature being 16-18°C during the day and 10-13°C at night, with the minimum temperature not below 0°C, otherwise, they will freeze and die. In winter, remove old and withered leaves to reduce diseases and pests and promote growth in the spring. When the weather warms up in spring and new buds emerge, remove weak flower branches to avoid nutrient consumption. When temperatures rise to 7-10°C, strengthen fertilization and water management, applying fast-acting nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as top dressing. After flowering, use a sunshade net to cover the edges of the bed to lower the air and soil temperature, which can extend the flowering period of the cut flowers.
The above is the complete content on how to care for Lover's Grass and its cultivation methods and precautions. Green plant enthusiasts may refer to this for reference.