How to plant morning glory seeds
The editor will explain how to plant morning glory seeds and the steps and process of growing morning glories. Let's follow the editor to find out more!
Morning glory is a perennial herbaceous flower of the Solanaceae family, commonly cultivated as an annual or biennial. It is also known as butterfly flower, hybrid morning glory,灵芝牡丹, shuttlecock flower, dwarf trumpet, sweet potato flower, etc. The flowers are large and numerous, blooming profusely with a long blooming period and rich colors. It is an excellent flower bed and potted flower and can also be planted in a natural cluster or used as a cut flower. It can bloom all year round in suitable climates or under greenhouse cultivation. It is widely used for flower bed arrangements, flower trough configurations, scenic displays, window sill decorations, and home decorations. The dwarf morning glory grows 20-45 cm tall, with stems creeping on the ground, covered with sticky pubescence; the leaves are soft, ovate, entire, alternate, with upper leaves opposite; the flowers are solitary, funnel-shaped, double flowers spherical, resembling trumpets, and come in colors such as white, purple, red, pink, and white with red stripes, and are bordered with other colors, very beautiful. The blooming period is from April to frosting; the fruit is a capsule; the seeds are tiny.
Morning glory is native to South America, Argentina. It thrives in warm and sunny environments and is not frost-tolerant or flood-resistant. The optimal growth temperature is between 13-18°C, with winter temperatures between 4-10°C. If it drops below 4°C, the plant growth stops. It can tolerate high temperatures above 35°C in summer. Dwarf morning glory is a long-day plant, requiring plenty of sunshine during the growing season. Under normal lighting conditions, it takes about 100 days from sowing to flowering. How to raise morning glory seedlings at home? Generally, no seedlings are needed in courtyard ground or potted cultivation. Direct seeding can be used. The common methods for raising morning glory seedlings are by seeds or cuttings.
Firstly, the cultivation soil should be prepared. For home planting, morning glories are usually potted. For potting, the cultivation soil must be prepared first. Preparing the cultivation soil is quite important. A pot is a special small environment, and no single type of soil can meet all the needs of morning glories. Therefore, artificial preparation of cultivation soil is necessary for potted morning glories to replace soil in fixing the flowers in the pot, and it should have certain water retention, drainage, and be loose, fertile, and well-ventilated sandy soil. The cultivation soil for potted morning glories should be made up of 50% garden soil, 20% decomposed leaf soil, and 30% sand. The prepared cultivation soil is best sterilized at high temperatures (by stir-frying in a wok or steaming) before use, or it can also be sunned to kill germs.
Secondly, seedling raising: usually, morning glory seedlings are raised by seeding or cuttings.
Seedling raising is generally carried out in spring and autumn. In spring, when the temperature rises to about 20°C, you can sow. Autumn sowing usually blooms in mid-March of the following year. Spring sowing in May can bloom by early August. Ground and potted plants in the courtyard can be directly sown or transplanted after seedling raising. If seedlings are raised in a greenhouse, sowing can be brought forward to February. The common sowing methods are drill sowing, drill furrow broadcasting, or bed surface broadcasting. After sowing, cover the soil so that the seeds are not visible. Use straw mats or plastic film to keep the bed soil moist. Morning glory seeds can germinate in about a week. When the seedlings have two or three pairs of true leaves, thinning should be done promptly to remove weak, leggy, and mixed seedlings, maintain air circulation, and sufficient sunlight to allow the morning glory seedlings to grow rapidly. When the plants have three pairs of true leaves and the roots are fully formed, they can be transplanted or potted.
Cutting propagation can be carried out in spring and autumn when the temperature is around 20°C. Usually, 5-10 cm long stem segments with three internodes are cut as cuttings and inserted into sandbeds or half-clay and half-sand soil. Keep the soil shaded and moist, and roots can usually form in 35-45 days.
After the morning glory seedlings are cultivated, they need to be potted. First, place broken tiles at the bottom of the pot, then add some decomposed cake fertilizer, crushed bones, fish bones, chicken feathers, etc., then fill in the cultivation soil. When planting, trim the long lateral roots, injured roots, and excess fibrous roots of the morning glory plant. Pay attention to spreading the roots, fill the soil to half the pot, gently lift and shake the morning glory plant, compact the cultivation soil, and do not plant too deep. Keeping the rootstock level with the pot opening is fine. Too shallow affects survival, and too deep affects the growth of the dwarf morning glory after transplantation. Water thoroughly after planting. Initially planted plants, as the roots have not yet developed well, should be protected from prolonged exposure to strong sunlight. After potting, place it in a shaded environment for about a week and then move it to a sunny place for maintenance.
Morning glory is afraid of drought and waterlogging. In daily management, watering should follow the principle of drying and wetting according to the season. More watering is appropriate in dry and hot seasons, and watering should be controlled in low temperature and rainy conditions. Usually, water once in the afternoon during summer, and in rainy days, the pot should be laid down to promptly remove accumulated water. Reduce watering in autumn, and ensure water supply during the flowering period and summer. Morning glory likes fertilizer, but for potted morning glory, the amount of fertilizer should be controlled, especially nitrogen fertilizer should not be excessive. Foliage fertilizer can be used. After the morning glory forms flower buds, apply 2-3 times of 0.3% phosphorus potassium fertilizer solution to make the morning glory bloom continuously. In winter, move the potted morning glory into the room to overwinter, maintaining a temperature above 0°C for safe overwintering. Remove the single flowers after they fade to avoid affecting the view.
The above is[] about how to plant morning glory seeds and the steps and process of growing morning glories. Have green plant enthusiasts understood?
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