If you're looking to brighten up your garden with vibrant colors, be sure to check out this wonderful plant called astilbe. Planting and caring for it outdoors is simple, and the photos are stunning! So, let's take a closer look at this beauty: what it is, is it demanding and capricious, or is it simple and stately?
Diseases and care
Astilbe boasts lush, lush blooms, and is also easy to maintain. Just water it sparingly, and that's all it needs. Where else can you find such a wonderful plant? Moreover, it's virtually immune to disease, growing and delighting the eye with its beauty. The only hazards are nematodes, which can destroy the bushes, or spittlebugs, which can disturb it. In such cases, immediate action will be necessary to preserve such beauty.
Read more: Calendula - growing from seeds, when to plant.
And you also need to consider the specific characteristics of the varieties—some love full sun, others prefer partial shade. It prefers moist, well-drained soil, and requires little else from its owners except water. Fertilize it once in the spring, give it phosphorus and potassium when repotting, add bone meal, and add minerals in the fall—that's all the care you need.
Advice: To ensure you enjoy lush flowering for a long time, try feeding your astilbe with phosphorus while it's blooming, and then add potassium after flowering to help it gain strength over the winter.
Landing
Astilbe is best planted by dividing the bushes. After digging up a mature bush in the spring, trim off the foliage, then carefully cut it into sections so that each section has several buds. Remove any rotted or dried debris, and plant the resulting sections in the garden at intervals of 30 cm. Water well until the roots are properly established, and by autumn, the now-strong bushes will bloom.
Another good method is propagation by buds. In the spring, when growth begins, cut off the young shoots, cutting off the heel of the root, and sprinkle the wound with ash. Dig the young shoots into prepared soil with peat and gravel and cover them like a greenhouse to speed up establishment. In the fall, simply transplant them to the desired location, or you can wait until spring.
Take a look: Growing seedlings in plastic bottles on toilet paper.
Seeds are also used for planting, but this is rare—breeders mostly do this—and sowing astilbe seeds indoors isn't particularly effective. If you're determined to use seeds and have good seedlings, stratify them first—put them in the refrigerator or in the snow for a couple of weeks—then germinate. Keep the humidity high; this will help the seeds germinate better. This should be done in winter if you want to transplant the seedlings into the ground by spring.
Adviсe
When planting your astilbe, choose the hole depth based on the size of the root – it should fit comfortably in the hole, but be careful not to cover the growing point with soil. It's also recommended to add hydrogel to the hole before planting to retain essential moisture for this beauty; without it, it will quickly turn sour, wilt, and refuse to bloom.
As the astilbe grows, keep an eye on it. If the bush has grown too large and part of the root has become exposed, be sure to mulch it. This, by the way, will also help the plant avoid freezing in the winter.
See also: Planting pepper seedlings in 2016.