Recently, by March 8, many women prefer lush bouquets of fresh flowers in pots. Blooming hyacinths make a special impression, which in nature will not show their beauty yet. Such a plant can be bought in the garden center, but it is quite possible to grow it yourself, at home. The following describes the process of preparation and distillation of hyacinth, as well as the calculation of the planting period for flowers exactly for the holiday.
How to prepare hyacinth for pasture
Hyacinth is a bulbous plant, which is characterized by the presence of a dormant period after flowering. For successful forcing out of your own planting material, it is important to provide him with the necessary conditions in the summer. When buying a bulb, you need to make sure that the selected variety is suitable for distillation (there must be a corresponding mark on the package).
The plant got its name from the name of Prince Sparta Hyacinth, who was killed by the god Apollo. According to legend, the flower grew from the blood of a prince.
Bulb preparation
It is not necessary to take the first onion for distillation. Planting material should be healthy, without traces of rot and other diseases, and dense to the touch. The size of the bulb should exceed 5 cm, and the larger it is, the more magnificent the flower will be. After purchase, hyacinth should be stored at a temperature of about + 17 ° C in a dry place.
If bulbs from the garden are to be used, they should have been stored after summer digging at a temperature of + 25 ... + 28 ° C until September in order to properly form a flower bud. At the end of the month they are wrapped in cloth or paper and transferred to the bottom of the refrigerator.
Pot preparation
The choice of planting container depends, first of all, on the number of planted plants. If there are several bulbs, they should not be in contact with each other. The minimum container size for one hyacinth is 9 × 9 × 10 cm, but it is preferable to take a container with a depth of 15–18 cm, especially for large specimens.
Important! Planting material has its own international classification of size. Distillation hyacinths should be labeled 17/18 or 18/19.
How to prepare the soil for planting bulbs
At the bottom of the pot, a drainage layer of about 3 cm is necessary, for which you can use expanded clay, broken brick or pebbles. The soil mixture for distillation should be light and loose. It can be purchased universal soil with sand or peat. A mixture of sand, turf and garden soil (in equal parts) is also suitable.
Landing
The landing technology is simple and consists in the following:
- Cover the drainage layer with 2-3 cm of earth, then a layer of 1 cm of sand is needed. Compact and pour the resulting soil.
- Put the bulb in the pot. Cover the ground at 2/3, so that the upper part remains outdoors. Re-watering is not needed.
- Put the pot in a dark place with a temperature of + 5 ° C, for example, in the lower part of the refrigerator, for about 10 weeks. It is not necessary to cover the container with a bag, otherwise the bulb may begin to vomit.
When do you need to distill hyacinths by March 8
In order to accurately calculate the planting dates, it is advisable to know which variety a particular bulb belongs to (early, medium or late flowering period).
The plant needs, on average, 14-15 weeks from planting to flowering, which are distributed as follows:
- 9-10 weeks for a period of rest in the dark;
- 3-4 weeks for active growth in the light;
- 1 week for the formation of buds and the beginning of flowering.
To predict the date of appearance of flowers by March 8, planting is performed in the last 10 days of November. The duration of flowering of hyacinth is about two weeks.
Hyacinth Care
In order for the hyacinth to give a lush flower, and its life be long, it is necessary to adhere to the basic rules of care. The plant will need watering and top dressing. If desired, hyacinth can be planted in the garden for flowering next spring.
Lighting
During dormancy, the pot with the bulb should be in a dark place. After about 10 weeks, a green sprout will appear, and when its length reaches 4-6 cm, the pot should be moved to a place with diffused lighting and a temperature of + 13 ° C.
Important! In order to adapt successfully to new lighting conditions, it is recommended to put on a protective cap from a sheet of paper on hyacinth.
The next signal for a change in lighting will be the full opening of the leaves and the readiness of the buds on the peduncle. Now you need to put hyacinth in a well-lit place, but without direct sunlight. The temperature should be approximately + 20 ° C.
Watering
The planted bulb in the dormant period, most likely, will not need to be watered. If the ground is too dry during inspection, slight humidification is allowed. In this case, it is necessary to check that moisture does not directly touch the bulb, as this can provoke rotting. When hyacinth has already sprouted and stands in diffused light, watering is performed as the soil dries, carefully avoiding waterlogging.
Top dressing
During the flowering period, you can feed the plant with complex fertilizer. On sale you can find special compositions for indoor bulb crops. Top dressing is carried out according to the instructions.
Care after flowering
Hyacinths that have finished flowering are often thrown away, but you can extend the life of the plants in the garden. When the flower stalk dries, it should be removed and wait until the leaves die out. After this, the bulb should be removed from the pot and its roots cleaned from the ground. Then the upper part of the plant is cut at a distance of 1 cm from the bulb.
The next step should be the disinfection of planting stock, for which use, for example, Fundazolum.
After drying uniformly on each side, the bulb is wrapped in paper or placed in sawdust and cleaned in a dry place without access to light for 2-3 months, and then it can be planted on a flowerbed in the garden. Using such a plant immediately for repeated distillation is not recommended, since its strength has not yet been restored.
Did you know? Hyacinth can be distilled by simple hydroponics, in which the bulb is placed in a special container with water.
A bright and fragrant flower grown by your own hands will be a great gift for any woman. Using high-quality planting material and observing the basic rules of agricultural technology, it is easy to grow hyacinth by March 8 or another holiday.
