How to cultivate peony flowers to thrive
Today's focus is to introduce to you the experience of how to cultivate peony flowers to thrive and the precautions for peony maintenance in the aspect of green plant care. If there are any mistakes, please feel free to correct them!
Peony flowers are magnificent, graceful in appearance, and have beautiful leaves, known as the "national color and fragrance," ranking second among the top ten famous flowers in China, and被誉为 the king of flowers representing wealth and auspiciousness. Peony flowers are large and fragrant, and when planted in courtyards or balconies, they are particularly striking and beautiful; potted in living rooms or studies, they are dignified and elegant, filling the room with brilliance and showcasing the owner's grandeur.
However, many families now do not know how to properly care for their peony flowers. Below, I will share with flower enthusiasts the cultivation methods and requirements for peony flowers in pots at home.
1. Temperature and lighting should be suitable. Peony flowers prefer a warm, slightly dry, and sunny growing environment and are not tolerant of high temperatures and humidity. The optimal growing temperature is around 15 to 25 degrees Celsius. Especially in summer, avoid direct sunlight and exposure to the scorching sun. Therefore, proper shading and sun protection should be done in summer to prevent sunburn.
2. Soil selection needs careful attention. Different plants have different soil requirements, especially in terms of breathability and fertility. Therefore, special care should be taken when choosing soil for peony cultivation. The soil for planting peonies should be a fertile, breathable, and loose loamy soil, avoiding alkaline, acidic, or heavy clayey soils. For home potted plants, a mixture of fertile humus soil, garden soil, and coarse river sand can be used. Flower pots can be 15 to 20 centimeters in diameter, and for perennial large plants, pots 40 to 50 centimeters in diameter should be used, with a depth of about 50 centimeters to ensure the peony roots grow strong and healthy.
3. Watering and fertilizing should be appropriate. It is common knowledge that watering is the first factor in growing flowers well, and excessive watering is the number one "killer" of flower cultivation. When watering peonies, it is important not to water excessively and to adjust watering based on seasonal and weather changes. More watering is needed during dry spring and autumn seasons, but avoid waterlogging in the pot. In summer, with high temperature and humidity, watering should be done in the morning and evening; less watering is needed during the plum rain season. Peonies should be fertilized at least three times a year, with an additional application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer before flowering and a nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium compound fertilizer after flowering.
4. Pruning after flowering should be timely. During the peony's leaf-falling period, cut off the thick branches above the flower buds. To cultivate large flowers, remove the withered flowers and appropriately remove flower buds to limit the number of flowers. In autumn and winter, cut off the withered flowers, dry flower stems, and weak branches and leaves to accumulate energy for the next year's flowering.
5. Disease and pest control need to be kept up. Peony flowers are prone to red spot disease, brown spot disease, and gray mold disease. In spring and summer, a mixture of insecticidal and fungicidal agents should be sprayed on peonies during watering. If diseases and pests are severe, a mixed spray of fungicidal and insecticidal agents should be applied every half month to prevent the spread of pathogens and infection of the entire plant.
Peony propagation methods: One is division propagation. Every autumn, select 4 to 5-year-old large clusters of plants, remove the soil from the roots, place them in a loud place to air-dry for 2 to 3 days, cut the connecting parts of the roots with a knife, plant them vertically without twisting, layer the soil, and water thoroughly. The second is播种. Sow seeds immediately after harvesting in autumn. The planting depth is about 2 to 5 centimeters, cover the soil flat, and after a month, the radicle can grow, but no seedling will emerge from the soil. In the following February or March, the seedlings will emerge from the soil, and it will take 3 to 5 years to bloom.
The detailed content of how to cultivate peony flowers to thrive and the precautions for peony care has been shared above, hoping it can be of help to you!