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Grimaceous gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea) from the Gentian family is a beautiful ornamental plant. It is very popular among modern landscape decorators. In its natural habitat, the blue gentian grows in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere at an altitude of up to 5 thousand meters above sea level. Various parts of the plant were used by the inhabitants of Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt and medieval settlements for the treatment of liver, gall bladder, stomach diseases, plague, fever, tuberculosis, convulsions, bruises, bites of poisonous animals, as an anthelmintic.
The plant received the Russian-language name "gorseed gentian" due to the bitter taste of leaves and roots containing a large amount of glycosides
Description of the species
Gypsum gentian is an attractive perennial, which is considered one of the most common species of this genus. An unpretentious, abundantly flowering plant is endowed with the following features:
- bush height from 60 cm to 80 cm;
- the shape of the bush is dense;
- the root system is shortened, thick, with several cord-like processes;
- shoots straight or curved, not branching, completely leafy, with flower buds;
- leaves are sessile, with a regular arrangement, whole, oblong-oval, lanceolate, with pointed ends, up to 10 cm in size;
- peduncle height up to 5 cm;
- the number of flowers on a peduncle is up to 3 pieces;
- inflorescences are five-membered, single;
- the shape of the corolla is bell-shaped, accrete, with five teeth;
- the color of the inflorescences is blue, dark blue or white;
- the pattern inside the corolla is black and white of spots and stripes;
- fruit - bivalve box with small sandy seeds.
Under natural conditions, you can find the ginseng gentian with ice-blue, snow-white or dark blue color.
Application in landscape design
Modern landscape designers pay great attention to the ginseng gentian.
The plant has been used with great success to create various solutions:
- elegant borders blooming from the second half of July;
- tight fit mixborders;
- in combination with hosts, ferns, black cohosh, geyher.
In the photo - gorseed gentian in group plantings with other ornamental plants.
The beautifully blooming crocus blue gentian is exquisitely and harmoniously combined with plants with purple, orange-yellow foliage
Breeding features
The perennial gentian ginseng reproduces in two main ways:
- vegetative (by dividing the bush, cuttings);
- seed (sowing seeds for seedlings, or in open ground).
The division of the root system of the gentian gorse is carried out in the spring, for a more comfortable engraftment of the ornamental culture. Autumn vegetative propagation of gentian gorse is undesirable, since disturbed plants may not survive the winter period. The bush is dug up, divided into several plots with points of growth, while maintaining an earthen lump. Plots of gentian gusset are planted in prepared holes at a distance of at least 25 cm from each other, watered abundantly.
Cuttings of the gentian ginseed are separated at the beginning of the growing season (at the end of spring). Lateral shoots are cut as cuttings. Cuttings should be deepened into the ground by 1/3 of the length.The plants are covered with a glass jar or plastic bottle to create a greenhouse effect. After 20-30 days, the first roots of the crotch gentian appear, so the shelter is removed.
Gentian seeds are planted in open ground at the end of September before winter or in spring, at the end of April. When sowing the seeds of a crotch crop in autumn, the material does not need to be stratified. The site is dug up, the seeds are spread over the surface and covered with a rake. During spring sowing, seedlings should be shaded and the required soil moisture level should be maintained. By autumn, the crotch culture forms a small leaf rosette.
In addition to planting in open ground, gorseed gentian is grown in seedlings.
Young bushes of gentian ginseed, grown by the seed method, produce flower stalks only for 3-4 years of life
Growing seedlings
Seed propagation is encouraged by most gardeners. To grow seedlings, seeds of gentian blue crotch are stratified for 1 month in the refrigerator. Before hardening, the seeds are mixed with granular peat or fine sand.
Sowing seedlings is best done in ceramic dishes. As a soil mixture, a nutrient composition of equal parts of sod land or soil for seedlings and coarse sand is used. Seedling sowing algorithm:
- seeds are spread over the surface of the soil mixture;
- crops are sprayed from a spray bottle;
- the container with crops is covered with plastic wrap or glass to create a greenhouse effect.
To germinate the seedlings of the gentian gusset, it is worth maintaining the air temperature up to 20 ° C for 10-20 days (until the first shoots appear). The container with crops must be ventilated daily, condensate removed.
After the first shoots appear, the shelter is removed, diffused natural light is provided and the air temperature is reduced to + 18 ⁰С.
When 2-3 permanent leaves appear on the sprouts, the seedlings are dived in separate containers and deepened to the cotyledon leaves.
In the open ground, the seedlings are moved at the beginning of May together with an earthen clod. Before planting seedlings, the sprouts are gradually hardened for 2-3 weeks.
Transplanting the gentian ginseng into the open ground is relevant when a stable warm temperature is established
Planting and caring for the crotch gentian
Gypsum blue gentian is a mountain culture that “loves” areas as close as possible to natural habitat conditions. Compliance with the rules of planting and simple maintenance will allow you to enjoy the pretty bloom of blue-blue inflorescences throughout the second half of summer.
The bell-shaped flowers of the ginseng gentian delight with a piercing blue flowering
Landing terms and rules
When a stable warm temperature is established: at the end of April or at the beginning of May, the seedlings of the gentian are transferred to the open ground.
Algorithm for transplanting seedlings into open ground:
- bushes of seedlings are moved into the prepared holes along with an earthen lump;
- the plants are sprinkled with earth and pressed a little into the ground;
- seedlings are abundantly watered and mulched with a mixture of peat, limestone and horn flour.
Seedling planting scheme - from 15 cm to 30 cm between individual bushes.
For plants, you should choose slightly shaded areas:
- on the western side of the local area;
- under the crown of a spreading or old tree;
- near artificial reservoirs.
In order to retain natural moisture, low-growing cereals can be planted in the area where the crotch gentian is located. Cereals will not only help mimic natural conditions, but also help to avoid overheating and drying out of the soil.
The most acceptable for the crotch gentian is permeable, neutral, nutritious, loose soil with a mixture of natural gravel.
Blue gentian blue reacts poorly to moisture stagnation at the roots
Watering and feeding schedule
For seedlings of gentian gusset, minimal care associated with watering and fertilizing the soil is sufficient.
According to the rules of agricultural technology, humidification should be systematic and sufficiently abundant, since the ornamental culture adapts better and develops in moist soil. The intensity of watering should be increased during the period of budding and opening of inflorescences.
If, for any reason, watering must be limited, the bed with the crotch gentian will have to be covered with a layer of mulch made of peat, sawdust or straw for long-term preservation of natural moisture. In the dry summer period, the blue gentian is in need of additional irrigation.
The uniqueness of the flower lies in the fact that the culture does not need feeding. For bushes, spring mulching with peat mixed with crushed limestone and horny flour is sufficient.
Blue gentian "does not tolerate" moisture on the leaves
Weeding and loosening
Every time after watering, the plants need to loosen the soil. Removing weeds is a mandatory procedure for the care of the decorative blue crotch gentian.
In addition to weeding and loosening, dry inflorescences should be removed in a timely manner.
Preparing for winter
Preparing a plant for wintering consists in cutting off the ground part. Since the crocus gentian is a frost-resistant crop, it is not necessary to cover the bushes for the winter in places with a temperate climate. In the northern regions, the plants must be covered with a layer of spruce branches or branches.
In areas with little snowy winters, the bushes of the crotch gentian are also pre-covered until spring.
Diseases and pests
In the open field, the gourd gentian is most vulnerable to pathogens of the following diseases:
- Gray rot manifests itself as characteristic brownish-gray spots at high air humidity. Infected areas of plants should be promptly removed, the bushes should be treated with fungicides.
Gray rot is a faithful companion of thickened plantings, where the process of natural air circulation is disrupted
- Brown spot in the form of brown-yellow spots with purple rims it appears after infection of plants with a fungal disease.
A solution of copper sulfate, Bordeaux mixture and other modern fungicides will help to quickly get rid of the brown spot on the bushes of the crotch blue gentian
- Rust characterized by the appearance of dark brown pustules. Infected areas are subject to complete destruction.
The part of the plant that is not affected by rust must be carefully treated with fungicides
- When rot appears at the base of the stems of young bushes of seedlings, this is a sign basal rot... The fungicidal preparation "Tsineba" is used as an effective means of control.
Parts of the crotch culture affected by fungal diseases should be burned, such components are not suitable for forming a compost heap
Nematodes, caterpillars, ants, snails, slugs, thrips can be distinguished among the main pests of gentian blue crotch. These representatives of the world of living fauna gnaw at foliage, plant buds, as a result of which they lose their attractive and decorative appearance. To combat pests, insecticides are used, as well as folk methods (traps with beer or compote, cut potatoes).
Natural antagonists of slugs and snails are toads and hedgehogs
Conclusion
Gypsum gentian is a pretty ornamental plant that attracts flower growers with the harmonious flowering of numerous blue-blue bells. Mountain decorative flowers require simple maintenance: regular watering without drying out and excessive moisture, timely loosening to prevent stagnation of moisture in the roots, removal of faded buds to preserve the decorative planting.
