Cineraria: growing seedlings from seeds, planting and gardening

Category: Garden plants.

Cineraria (lat. Cineraria) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants of the Compositae, or Asteraceae, family, close to the genus Raspberry (lat. Senecio), which includes some garden cineraria. Most often, the cineraria flower is found in Madagascar and tropical areas of Africa. There are about 50 species in the genus Cineraria (from Latin this word means “ashen”), and the genus Krestovnik has more than a thousand plants. We will tell you about those cineraria and ragworts that are more widely used in amateur gardening than other representatives of these genera.

Cineraria flowers - description

Cineraria in natural conditions are perennial or biennial plants, but in culture they are grown as annuals. These plants have a highly branched stem ranging from 30 to 90 cm in height. The petiolate, pinnately dissected, oval or lyre-shaped leaves forming a basal rosette are quite large in size, while the stem leaves are much smaller. Both the leaves and stems of the plant are heavily pubescent, which is why they look like they are covered with felt. The basket inflorescences, single or double, form terminal corymbose inflorescences and consist of tubular central yellow flowers, while the ligulate flowers can be white, purple or red. The cineraria plant blooms from June until frost.

Growing cineraria at home

The main difficulties faced by amateur gardeners who decide to grow cineraria at home are maintaining optimal temperature, light and humidity. The plant immediately reacts to all violations of the required regimes by wilting and then yellowing of the leaves. It is very sensitive to drafts. Excess sunlight and lack of moisture lead to a significant reduction in flowering time.

That is why cineraria most often comes to our house from flower shops already in bloom in March-April. You need to buy plants that have more unopened buds. The flowering period with proper care lasts 4-6 weeks. Mandatory conditions for long-term flowering are a cool place (preferably no higher than 10-12 degrees) in partial shade and abundant watering with settled water at room temperature. After the plants have finished flowering, they are thrown away, since it is impossible to achieve re-blooming.

Flowering cineraria plants are delightfully beautiful and, perhaps, unparalleled at this time of year. A pot with a bright flower is a great gift for all spring holidays.

Growing cineraria from seeds

Sowing cineraria for seedlings

Typically, cineraria is propagated by seeds, which can be purchased at a garden pavilion or a specialty store. Seed germination rate is quite high. When to sow cineraria for seedlings? Sowing is done at the end of March or at the beginning of April. The seeds are laid out on the surface of a moist substrate consisting of equal parts of sand and peat, without covering them, lightly pressed with a wooden plank or ruler, sprayed with water from a spray bottle, covered with glass or film and placed in a warm place.

Caring for cineraria seedlings

Shoots will begin to appear within 7-10 days, and the container is immediately moved to the lightest windowsill, protecting the sprouts from direct sunlight. At the stage of development of two true leaves, the seedlings are taken out of the substrate along with a clod of earth and planted in separate containers. For picking, it is better to use peat pots: you do not have to disturb the root system of seedlings when transplanting them into open ground, since you can plant them in a flowerbed without removing them from the peat container.

Reproduction

Since our climate differs from the tropical one, cineraria has to be grown from seedlings. It is almost impossible to create ideal conditions for proper germination of seeds in open ground.

Note! The only variety that can be sown in the garden is cineraria graceana. Deciduous forms are propagated by cuttings, decorative flowering ones by seeds.

How to grow from seeds?

Seeds of silver cineraria (perennial or annual - depending on growing conditions) are purchased at a flower shop. Germination is usually not satisfactory. It is recommended to sow ashy ragwort for seedlings in April.

• Fill the container with a mixture of sand and peat in a 1:1 ratio.
• There is no need to deepen the seeds. It is enough to sow them on the surface and lightly tamp them with a wooden ruler.
• Using a sprayer, moisten the soil.
• Cover with glass.

Seedling care

The appearance of seedlings should be expected after 10 days. The container with the finished sprouts is transferred to a lighted place. As soon as 2 full-fledged leaves appear, make a pick. To do this, the plant is taken out of the container along with the soil and transplanted into a suitable container. A good option would be peat briquettes.

Before replanting the Cineraria Silverdust plant or any other species, choose a well-lit place in the garden bed. It is advisable that at noon there is light partial shade. Neutral soil, saturated with useful elements, is suitable. It is better to plant in mid-May, when the likelihood of frost is almost zero. The technology for planting in open ground and further care is almost no different from other plants.

The recommended distance is 20-25 centimeters. The bush is removed along with a lump of earth and placed in a hole. Then lightly compact the soil and water it. If there is still a chance of frost, cover the plants with spunbond overnight and remove them in the morning.

How to propagate by cuttings?

The seaside species is propagated by cuttings. Prepare a portable box, the so-called “cutting box,” into which the cuttings will be planted. It is made independently from boards and plywood, drainage holes are made.

Primorskaya cineraria

1. The soil is garden soil mixed with sand. It is laid on the bottom 10 centimeters thick.
2. The next layer is coarse sand, the recommended layer thickness is 6-7 centimeters.
3. First, the surface is leveled and sprayed with a solution of potassium permanganate.
4. Each section is treated with root and immersed in the prepared substrate. Lightly tamp, cover with a plastic bottle, which can be removed only after complete rooting.
5. Water 2 times a day. Gradually remove the cover for 1-2 hours, and then forever.
6. For the winter they are placed in a cool room - cellar, basement. In spring you can plant it in a flower bed.

Proper watering

One of the strengths of the culture is drought resistance. Thanks to this feature, cineraria (ragus) can be considered a real masterpiece for flower beds, public parks and gardens. Natural precipitation is often sufficient. But during periods of severe drought, the decorative value of plantings can be significantly reduced. The leaves turn yellow and wither. Since cineraria does not bloom so profusely without watering, additional moisture is recommended. It is desirable that it be at the roots, and the water should be warm and settled. Water between rows, loosen the soil and remove weeds.

Note! Of course, moderation must be observed. Too swampy soil leads to the appearance of fungus. The roots begin to rot and the bushes die.

Rules of care

In addition to watering and loosening the soil, it is recommended to regularly pick off wilted flowers. Then cineraria diamond powder will bloom much longer.

Do I need to feed the plant? Undoubtedly. Fertilizing is carried out 2-3 times a month, mineral fertilizer is used. If decorative flowering species grow in a flowerbed or in pots, they are fertilized more often - once a week. Alternate organic and mineral fertilizers.

Planting cineraria in open ground

When to plant cineraria in the ground

Cineraria from seeds is planted in the flower garden in the second half of May, when the return frosts have left behind and the soil has warmed up well. Two weeks before planting, seedlings must undergo hardening procedures, the purpose of which is to prepare young plants for the environmental conditions in which they will find themselves. The seedlings are taken out into the garden or onto the balcony every day, providing protection from drafts, gusts of wind, precipitation and sunlight. Gradually, the duration of walks is increased until the seedlings can stay outdoors around the clock.

How to plant cineraria

Choose a sunny area for the plant that is in partial shade during the midday hours. The plant needs neutral or slightly alkaline soil, fertile and well-drained. When the time comes to plant cineraria seedlings in the garden, level the area, make holes at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other and transplant the seedlings into them together with a ball of earth using the transfer method. After this, fill the remaining space in the holes with soil, compact well and water the surface generously. If you are not sure that cold nights will not return, cover the cineraria in the evenings with lutrasil or spunbond, throwing the material over metal arches dug into the ground.

Hybrid Cineraria seeds (Pericallis cruenta) “Venezia F1” (formula mix) raw 100 pcs.

Cineraria senecio - hybrid cineraria (senecio, pericallis) Venezia F1, Jester F1

Both hybrids are easy to grow and highly uniform in production. Small (diameter 2.5-3.5 cm), but very beautiful flowers form dense “caps” of inflorescences. The plants are compact, round in shape, 25 cm high. Potted cineraria F1, unlike open-pollinated varieties, is not so sensitive to day length, and flower buds are formed even at a temperature of 16 ° C in the presence of 8 - 10 true leaves. Blooming cineraria can be obtained almost all year round. Flowering is stimulated under short day conditions. Growing time: Venice 14-17 weeks, pot diameter 10-14 cm; Jester 16-18 weeks, pot 10-14 cm in diameter.

SOWING: Venice can be sown in autumn, winter and early spring. For flowering in February - March, sowing is usually done in October - early November. Hybrid "Jester" is more suitable for winter flowering because... it requires slightly lower temperatures to set buds. Use a light substrate with a pH of 6-6.5 and add 0.5 kg/m3 of standard fertilizer to it. pH: 6 – 6.5 EC: 0.5 – 0.75

If very compact plants are required, add 0.5 kg/m3 of clay to the substrate. Sprinkle the seeds with a thin layer of substrate. Optimal germination occurs at 20-22°C and high humidity of 100%. After the embryonic root appears, the humidity level must be reduced to 70%. It is important to ensure good aeration of the roots throughout the cultivation of cineraria. The duration of the germination period is 5 – 7 days. The temperature after germination should be 18-21oC. After the first pair of true leaves appear, the temperature should be lowered to 15 - 17 oC. Seedlings must be protected from direct sunlight. At this stage, use calcium-containing fertilizers (NPK 13-2-13) with a nitrogen concentration of 0.01% for fertilizing.

PICKING. TRANSPLANTING: Picking is carried out after the cotyledon leaves have fully developed, placing the plants at a distance of 4-5 cm from one another. Boxes with seedlings should not be over-watered to avoid stretching the plants. When the leaves in the boxes begin to touch, the seedlings are transplanted into pots. If the plants are sufficiently developed, after 6-8 weeks they are transplanted into pots with a diameter of 10-15 cm, if the development is insufficient - into pots of a smaller diameter. When planting, plants are deepened to the base of the petioles. As the plants grow, the pots are arranged so that the leaves of neighboring plants do not touch. When growing cineraria in pots with a diameter of 11-12 cm, at the beginning of cultivation, about 75 plants are placed per 1 m2, and by the end of the culture - 16-25 plants. The optimal relative humidity in a greenhouse is 70 -75%.

pH: 5.9 – 6.2 EU: 0.75 – 1

Illumination level maximum 30,000 lux. Increasing light levels can cause leaf burn. After germination and some time after picking, the temperature should be 18-21oC. Immediately after transplanting into pots of constant diameter, the temperature should be kept at 14-16 ° C for 2 weeks and even lower for the formation of flower buds (for Cineraria Venice F1, a temperature of 16 ° C is sufficient, but a slight decrease in temperature for a period of 2 weeks further improves the quality of flowers). After cooling, the temperature is raised to 18 - 20 ° C. At this point, your produce should be 7-9 weeks away from flowering. From the point of view of saving money, you can not raise the temperature and get a flowering plant at 13 - 16 ° C, but flowering may occur later.

WATERING During cultivation, watering should be minimal due to the danger of root rot and stretching of plants.

FERTILIZERS Fertilizing should be carried out regularly, with each watering. Excessive watering and “overfeeding” with nitrogen lead to the formation of leaves that are too large. Before the formation of flower buds, fertilizing 1:1:1 is necessary, after that we increase the dose of potassium (1:1:1.5 (2)) for better flowering and more intense color of flowers. For longer flowering, long-acting fertilizers (for example, Osmokot) must be added to the transfer substrate. Intensive fertilizing to stimulate flowering should be done in advance, when the buds are still green. Foliar feeding with magnesium sulfate also helps (2 feedings before flowering).

GROWTH REGULATORS There is no need to use growth regulators as both hybrids are quite compact. Venezia F1 is more compact than Jester F1, so when using retardants there is a risk of getting a plant that is too compact. Plant growth can be controlled using the negative temperature difference method, reduced watering and minimal addition of ammonium.

MAIN DISEASES: Gray rot, pythiosis, powdery mildew, verticillium wilt.

MAJOR PESTS: Thrips, aphids, whiteflies.

In winter, you can often see spectacular cineraria in flower shops. This low plant has pale green rounded leaves and very lush inflorescences-baskets, painted in various rich colors. The most common plants are those with pink or blue flowers, which change color to snow-white closer to the middle. However, under indoor conditions, cineraria does not want to grow and a short time after flowering ends, it dies. But why is this happening?

At home, hybrid cineraria (Cineraria hybrida) is grown; it is also called bloody cineraria (Cineraria cruenta). This flower is directly related to the Aster family. In the wild it can be seen in the Canary Islands. Cineraria maritime is its closest relative. This plant is intended for growing in flower beds. It is grown as an ornamental deciduous plant, as it has leaves painted in a spectacular silver shade.

The dark green jagged leaves of hybrid cineraria are quite soft to the touch, and there is a thin fluff on their surface. The flower is quite small, so during flowering, together with the lush basket inflorescences, its height is approximately 35–50 centimeters.

Breeding work has been going on for quite some time, and during this time many beautiful varieties of hybrid cineraria have been created. Different varieties may have different colors, as well as the size of the inflorescences, and, as a rule, they also differ in the height of the plant itself. There are small-flowered hybrids, the inflorescences of which cover the entire plant with a continuous cap of spectacular flowers. There are also large-flowered hybrids, their large inflorescences are attached to a branched peduncle.

This type of plant lives relatively short and this is its distinctive feature. After flowering ends, the hybrid cineraria should be thrown out. It is grown as an annual, but it should be taken into account that it has a fairly long growing season. So, from the moment the seeds are planted until the start of flowering, as a rule, 8 or 9 months pass. In temperate latitudes with a long winter period, growing this flower, which loves warmth, is quite a difficult task. Most often they are grown in a cool winter garden. Hybrid cineraria is also grown in gardens, where it blooms in late autumn or winter.

After purchasing such a flower, it is recommended to place it in a fairly cool place, this way you can prolong the flowering. When choosing a plant in a store, you should give preference to the one that has a large number of unopened buds, and there should be a minimum number of blooming flowers. When choosing a place to place a flower, you should not take into account the amount of light; you just need to know that the hotter it is, the faster the plant will bloom.

Cineraria hybrid loves light very much, so you need to choose a well-lit place for it. However, it should be taken into account that during intensive growth it needs diffused light and should be shaded from direct rays of the sun. A window located in the eastern part of the room is ideal for placement. During flowering, it doesn’t really matter to the plant where you place it.

Caring for cineraria in the garden

How to care for cineraria

Planting cineraria and caring for this African beauty in open ground is not at all difficult: growing cineraria involves regular watering, loosening the soil between the bushes, weeding and fertilizing. And do not forget to remove faded inflorescences in order to increase the flowering period of cineraria, and in decorative deciduous species the buds should be cut off as soon as they appear. As you can see, everything is very simple. However, it should be remembered that poor or insufficient care can cause illness and death of cineraria, so try to carry out the necessary care procedures correctly and in a timely manner, especially since it is not at all difficult.

Watering and feeding cineraria

From a lack of moisture, cineraria weakens, withers and dies, and from excessive moisture, the roots of the plant can rot. Since cineraria is drought-resistant, during a season with normal rainfall it will only need watering on very hot and dry days. Water heated in the sun is used to moisten the soil. After watering or rain, do not forget to loosen the soil around the bushes so that air can flow to the roots of the plant. At the same time, weeds can be removed from the area.

Cineraria are fed with both organic fertilizers and mineral complexes in the form of solutions, which are added to pre-moistened soil 2-3 times a month alternately. By organic fertilizer we mean solutions of chicken manure (1:15) or mullein (1:10).

Cineraria after flowering

Since heat-loving plants in our climate are grown as annual crops, at the end of the season, when the beautifully flowering cineraria loses its attractiveness, it is destroyed: the bushes are pulled out, plant debris is carefully collected, and the soil in the area is dug up to the depth of a spade bayonet. If you live in an area where frosty winters are the exception rather than the rule, you can try to preserve decorative deciduous cineraria species until next season by covering the bushes with a thick layer of dry leaves. In the spring, remove the shelter and trim frozen bushes so that they do not interfere with the emergence of young growth. Or you can transplant the garden cineraria into a pot in the fall and keep it in a cool, bright room in the winter, not allowing the soil to dry out, and return the plant to the flower garden in the spring.

Vegetative propagation of cineraria

Only the decorative deciduous seaside ragwort is propagated by cuttings.

Fragments of pagons about 10 cm long are cut in the summer, the sections are powdered with root and buried in a pre-prepared soil mixture of garden soil and sand, which is poured into a container with a layer of 10 cm, with another 5-7 cm of clean sand on top.

Before planting, the substrate is spilled with a weak pink solution of potassium permanganate.

The cuttings are covered on top with a plastic bottle cut to half, and watered every other day.

The appearance of new leaves is evidence of successful rooting, after which the cover is removed for an hour or two a day, accustoming the seedlings to the environment.

The cuttings overwinter in a cool room, and in the spring, when the weather warms up, they are planted in a flowerbed.

Diseases and pests of cineraria

Cineraria diseases and their treatment

Cineraria in the garden can suffer from late blight, rust or powdery mildew.

Late blight is a fungal disease that most often affects nightshade crops, so try not to grow cineraria next to potato, tomato, eggplant or pepper beds. The infection becomes more active in conditions of high humidity. Symptoms of the disease are brown spots on the leaves of the plant. As late blight develops, plants wither. As soon as signs of the disease appear, the affected specimens are immediately removed from the area and burned, and healthy cineraria are generously sprayed with a three percent solution of copper sulfate. The soil in which the diseased bushes grew is also spilled with a solution of vitriol, dug up and spilled with a solution of a tablespoon of Fitosporin-M in a bucket of water. Nothing can be grown in this place for at least two years.

Powdery mildew is a common gardening disease of a fungal nature. It appears as a whitish coating on the leaves and stems of plants. Over time, the plaque becomes denser and browner. The affected areas stop developing, turn black and die. Plants lose their decorative properties. Infection usually begins in early summer, the infection becomes more active against the background of sudden changes in temperature and humidity, and factors such as an increased concentration of nitrogen fertilizers in the soil contribute to the rapid development of the disease. At the first signs of the disease, the affected leaves are torn off, and the plants and the soil under them are treated with Topsin, Topaz, Fundazol, Quadris, Thiovit Jet or Bayleton. It is better to pull out severely affected specimens and burn them.

Rust is also a fungal disease. You can recognize it by the appearance of characteristic rust-colored formations on the underside of the leaf plate. When these red pustules crack, fungal spores spill out and are carried by wind and insects to other plants. Pustules appear as light yellow spots on the upper side of the leaves. Rust causes increased transpiration (evaporation of moisture), causing the plant to dry out and die. The infection can be destroyed by treating the plants and soil on the site with Topaz, Kuproxat, Strobi, Vectra or Bordeaux mixture, which is carried out 2-3 times every 10 days.

Cineraria pests and their control

Cineraria in a flower bed may suffer from spider mites, aphids and whiteflies. All these pests are sucking. They bite through the tender tissue of leaves and young shoots and feed on their juice.

Whiteflies are small white moths that resemble moths. They settle on the underside of the leaves and, if you move the bush, they rise above the plant in a white cloud. As a result of the activity of whiteflies, plants become lethargic, their development slows down, and then they develop chlorosis of the leaves. Whitefly feces are a favorable environment for all kinds of fungi, which clog tissue pores, thereby preventing the process of photosynthesis. If there are a small number of pests, they are cleaned from the underside of the leaves with a brush dipped in a soap solution, but if the whiteflies have multiplied, treat the bushes with a solution of 1 g of Aktara in 1 liter of water.

Spider mites are frequent guests in a flower bed with cineraria, as they prefer to settle on drought-resistant plants. Where they are bitten, tiny discolored areas remain on the leaves. The leaves gradually acquire a mosaic color and die off. Ticks are difficult to control, so don’t waste time trying to deal with these pests using traditional methods. The best way to get rid of ticks is to treat the leaves of the cineraria with an acaricide solution (ticks are not insects, but arachnids), for example, Aktellika, Fitoverma or Neorona.

Aphids, feeding on the cell sap of cineraria, weaken the plant. Cineraria begins to lag behind in growth and development, its young shoots become deformed, the leaves turn yellow, wither, and larvae and adult aphids accumulate on their underside. The excrement of this pest - honeydew - is a medium for the development of various fungal infections, including sooty fungus, which covers the leaves with an ugly black coating. In addition, aphids, like other sucking pests, are carriers of incurable viral diseases. Aphids are destroyed using the same methods as whiteflies.

Plant care

Watering

Cineraria are drought-resistant. Short breaks in watering are tolerated calmly, but with a prolonged lack of water, the leaves begin to turn yellow and the plants weaken. For good growth and flowering, it is better to provide the crop with regular watering, but without waterlogging. Fungal diseases begin to develop from excess moisture. The optimal watering regime is once a week. It is advisable to water with warm and soft water. The plant does not need to spray the leaves.

After watering, when the soil around the plants dries out, loosening and weeding are carried out.

Feeding

The culture is responsive to fertilizing. During the growth period, cineraria is fertilized once every 2 weeks, during the period of budding and flowering, more often - once every 10 days with a weakly concentrated solution of complex fertilizers. You can alternate feeding with organic and mineral fertilizers.

Diseases and pests

Most often, cineraria is affected by fungal diseases: fusarium, powdery mildew. The causes of diseases are stagnation of water, waterlogging of the soil, and a sharp drop in air temperature.

With fusarium, pathogens from the soil first penetrate into the roots. They begin to gradually rot, then turn yellow, turn brown, and the above-ground parts disappear: shoots and leaves.

Prevention of fusarium is important: pre-sowing seed treatment and soil disinfection with fungicides. Severely affected plants are destroyed.

Powdery mildew appears as a white velvety coating on leaves, stems and flower buds. For powdery mildew, cineraria is sprayed with fungicide solutions. Processing is carried out with caution, since the culture is sensitive to burns.

As air temperatures rise, pests appear: thrips, aphids and spider mites.

Thrips . Small flying insects of black color. They leave silvery streaks on the leaves. Plants begin to lag behind in growth, flowers become deformed and become covered with spots. Insecticides help fight thrips.

Aphid . A small, egg-shaped insect that can reproduce quickly. Favorite habitats are shoots, buds, lower parts of leaves. By sucking plant juice from them, pests weaken the plants.

Spider mite . Signs of the appearance of a pest are white dots that then become black at the bottom of the leaf and a thin dense web enveloping the plant.

Pests are destroyed by biological means: sprayed with Fitoverm, infusions of tobacco and garlic, or chemicals are used.

Types and varieties of cineraria

Cineraria graceful, or graceful groundsel ( Senecio elegans = Cineraria elegans) is a perennial or biennial plant native to southern Africa, which is cultivated as an annual plant. The height of the highly branched stem of this species reaches from 30 to 60 cm. The leaves forming the basal rosette are large in size, the stem leaves are much smaller. Both stems and leaves are covered with sticky hair. The baskets, opening from mid-June to autumn, are collected in corymbose umbrellas. Reed flowers can be white, pink, crimson, purple or red, and the middle ones are always yellow. Cineraria graceica has two popular varieties:

• Nanus – dwarf bushes up to 25 cm high;
• Ligulosus is a plant with terry baskets consisting of reed flowers of white, red, purple or violet.

Bloody cineraria, or hybrid cineraria ( Senecio cruentus = Pericallis cruenta = Senecio hybridus = Cineraria cruenta ) is native to the Canary Islands. Its leaves are light green, oval, slightly pubescent. Baskets with reed flowers of various colors and a yellow center of tubular flowers resemble daisies - sometimes double, and sometimes two-colored. This species is used both for growing in the garden and as a potted plant. The best varieties:

• Masterpiece is a low bush with simple baskets reminiscent of daisies with a yellow center and wide pale pink reed flowers;
• Grandiflora is a line of varieties reaching a height of 45 cm, with large baskets with a yellow center and reed flowers of various colors;
• Double - bushes up to 70 cm high with baskets up to 5 cm in diameter;
• Stellata - a form up to 70 cm high with small star-shaped baskets;
• Nana - compact low bushes with baskets of bright colors.

Coastal cineraria, or silver cineraria, or silver cineraria, or seaside ragwort (Cineraria maritima = Senecio maritima) is found in nature in the Mediterranean. In culture, this decorative deciduous perennial plant is grown as an annual plant. It has pinnately divided leaves, covered below with thick silvery pubescence, which makes the plant look like felt. It is better to remove unattractive inflorescences from yellow flowers as they appear. The best varieties of the species:

• Cirrus - bushes up to 45 cm high with oval silver-green leaves with jagged edges. Over time, the color of the leaves becomes silvery-white;
• Silver boat is a white-silver plant with erect stems and thinly dissected leaves covered with felt pubescence;
• Dust and Silver are low-growing compact varieties with silvery leaves.

Description and types of cineraria

Cineraria is a very beautiful flower of the Asteraceae family. This genus includes annual and perennial herbaceous plants and subshrubs with corymbose small inflorescences.

In nature there are about 50 species of them. Some cineraria used in landscape design belong to the genus Raspberry.

These flowers are characterized by a variety of alternately arranged leaf blades. They can be elliptical, ovoid, dissected, lobed and entire. The following types of cineraria are most often used for growing from seeds:

• Primorskaya (silver, sea), which is often called “seaside godson”. It grows up to 40 cm in height. It is popular in landscape design due to its decorative, pubescent leaves. They are painted in a pleasant silver color. The leaves have unusual, graceful carved edges. This plant is valued precisely for its beautiful foliage, and not for its inconspicuous yellow flowers.
• Graceful , 60 cm high, with a branched stem and green, dissected, lyre-shaped leaves covered with hairs. It blooms from June to October. The inflorescences of this cineraria are simple or terry baskets. Its central flowers are always yellow, and the reed flowers are of various shades.
• Bloody , having green oval leaves, with inflorescences resembling daisies. Varieties of cineraria with different colors can be double or two-colored.

Cineraria in landscape design

Because of its compactness and brightly colored baskets, beautifully flowering cineraria is often used to decorate the front tier of a flower bed or border. Flowering species of cineraria grown in pots decorate balconies, terraces and verandas. They are successfully used in mixed flower beds next to other plants or create a mix of just cineraria of different colors. The best partners for this plant are marigolds, phlox, petunias, celosias, coleuses, begonias, ageratums, impatiens, lobelias and salvias.

Silver cineraria is planted in crevices of masonry or as a decorative border against a background of bright flowers.

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Cineraria fertilizer

The plant itself needs good feeding, this is especially true if the soil is poor. A couple of times a month, the soil is sprinkled with mineral fertilizer for flowering plants (sold in gardening stores). When a plant is first planted in open ground, it will need nitrogen fertilizer in order for it to develop lush and voluminous foliage. During the flowering period, the soil is sprinkled with phosphorus fertilizers.

Several times it will be necessary to replace mineral fertilizer with organic matter (manure).

Potted cineraria is fertilized using mineral mixtures for indoor flowers.

Pest and disease control

Cineraria is known for its stable immunity, thanks to which it is almost not afraid of parasites and pests. Most problems begin due to improper care, which can be easily corrected.

Do not overwater the soil, otherwise the flower may begin to rot and rust will appear on the leaves. Wet fluffy sheets are an ideal environment for powdery mildew. In these cases, it is almost impossible to cure the damaged plant, and it is better to get rid of it before the disease spreads further.

Rarely do spider mites or aphids settle on cineraria. In this case, you will need insecticides or homemade solutions of nettles and soap. If a whitefly has settled in your garden, the mechanism for fighting it is exactly the same.

Photo: livemaster.ru