Content
Echinacea can be grown without picking and sown directly into unprotected soil.
Sowing in open ground is carried out in the spring, when the soil temperature is above 12 degrees.
The soil is loosened before this.
The seeds are scattered over its surface and sprinkled with a thin ball of soil.
As a rule, the first planting of a plant is done using seeds.
Echinacea seeds have one peculiarity - they take a long time to germinate, within about 30 days.
Seeds sown directly into the ground usually produce rather weak seedlings, their root system is not strong, and the flowers are dull.
Echinacea requires a sunny area with fertile soil that allows moisture and air to pass through well.
The soil must be neutral or slightly alkaline. If acidity is high, lime is added to the soil before planting. Echinacea seeds are large and have good germination.
But the most effective and simplest method of propagation is to transplant the shoots of the mother plant.
Tiny seedlings are carefully dug up and transplanted to a new location.
The transplanted plants are watered.
During the establishment period, it is important to prevent the soil from drying out or becoming waterlogged.
As a rule, the plant blooms in the first year. In the second year, the bush grows and can be divided.
In autumn, seeds ripen on the stems in dark round baskets.
They are collected in dry weather, when the seeds easily come away from the receptacle.