I have long dreamed of breeding peonies, but here the neighbor shared the bushes and promised to give one variety in September. Tell me if you need to fertilize the peonies when planting in spring or autumn? What are the best drugs to use?
They belong to plants that do not tolerate transplants, they are able to live in one place for up to 50 years. Therefore, it is extremely important, even before planting, to determine the location of the bush and create the necessary supply of nutrients for the peonies for further development.
Flowering shrubs are not very demanding on the composition of the soil, but grow best on loams with neutral acidity. It is recommended to enrich poor soil by introducing organic and mineral substances at the planting stage.
You can plant plants as in early spring(before the seedlings begin to develop buds), and at the beginning of autumn, but most flower growers practice the August planting.
Spring planting of peonies can be carried out no earlier than the air temperature reaches 10 degrees Celsius.
Fertilizing the planting pit
It is better to prepare a place for planting flowers in advance, at least 2 weeks before planting (in this case, the earth will have time to settle). To do this, dig a fairly large depression, at least 50 cm in diameter. This will allow the powerful root system to develop freely and will make it possible to apply the necessary fertilizers.
Each pit must be filled with:
When growing peonies on soils with high acidity, it is also necessary to add lime (up to 200 g).
Feeding peonies after planting
Young bushes, planted in the soil with the introduction of nutrients, are provided with all the necessary microelements for development for the whole season. Further feeding must be done starting from the second year of planting peonies.
In total, peonies will need 4 fertilizing for the entire growing season:
- After the emergence of young shoots and they reach 10 cm in height... At the beginning of May, spray the shoots with a solution of urea.
- Before the buds are laid. Water the plants with a solution of mineral components: add 2 tsp to a bucket of water. urea and 4 tsp. the drug "Ideal". Watering consumption - at least 6 liters per bush. In a week to spend root feeding sodium humate.
- During the budding period... Water the bushes with a solution consisting of nitrophoska and Agricola for flowering plants"(4 tsp. Each for a bucket of water). After a 5-day break, spray the peonies over the leaf with "Bud" (10 g for the same amount of water).
- After the end of flowering... Carry out root dressing with complex fertilizers, for example, "Kemira-Autumn".
Timely application of fertilizers when growing peonies is a guarantee lush bloom so don't neglect it.
Peonies are flowers that start summer. They bloom in June for a short time, but so magnificently that they always attract the eye and cause delight. However, plants spend a lot of energy on this luxury; it is the gardener's task to make up for them. And to do this is very simple - just make one correct feeding.
Why do you need feeding for peonies in summer
Peonies are so unpretentious that it is enough for them to give only two dressings per season - in spring, during the growth of greenery, and in summer, after flowering. But if in the spring it is enough to introduce a simple nitrogen fertilizer, then in the summer the diet of this luxurious flower must be replenished with potassium, phosphorus and trace elements. It is these substances that the plant actively absorbs from the ground during flowering, and after it, thanks to them, it begins to lay flower buds of the next year and prepares for overwintering.
Video: caring for blooming peonies
The importance of different nutrients in the summer feeding of peonies
- Potassium participates in photosynthesis, promotes the outflow of carbohydrates from the leaves to other organs: during flowering - into the buds, and then - into the roots and replacement buds. As a result, the growth of greenery stops, and generative organs begin to form. With a good potassium diet, the peony easily tolerates summer drought, its winter hardiness increases, as well as immunity to diseases. If the plant lacks potassium, then its leaves begin to die off, drying out from the edges.
- Phosphorus contributes to the development of the root system. And without a root, as you know, a plant cannot exist. The stronger the root, the more powerful the bush and the more abundant the flowering. This element is involved in photosynthesis and in all life processes. With a deficiency of phosphorus, nutrition is disturbed both from the root and through the leaves, which means that there will not be enough strength to lay many peduncles, the buds will be small and inconspicuous. The first sign of a lack of phosphorus is that the leaves turn purple or red.
- Microelements are a whole set chemical substances, which peonies need in small quantities. These include: boron, manganese, magnesium, copper, iron, calcium, etc. For plants, they play the same role as vitamins for us: they stimulate growth, increase resistance to adverse conditions and diseases. Due to the lack of trace elements, the leaves curl or become stained, chlorosis develops.
Feeding peonies with mineral fertilizers
The simplest feeding of peonies in the summer is to take 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate and potassium salt (potassium sulfate) and add under the bush. Spread this fertilizer evenly around the circumference of the plant and loosen. If the soil is dry, water it. You can add phosphorus-potassium salts and in the form of a solution. To do this, dilute the indicated amount in 10 liters of water. Water at the rate - a bucket of top dressing for one adult peony.
Superphosphate dissolves better in hot water.
However, in this case, the deficiency of trace elements remains. It is difficult to find them separately from macronutrients on sale. Therefore, if you want to provide a balanced diet, instead of simple phosphate-potassium fertilizers, buy a complex mixture for garden flowers... They are sold under the brands: Fertika, Agricola, Flower Paradise, etc. Each is accompanied by its own instructions.
Most optimal way top dressing - buy a ready-made mixture for garden flowers and water the peonies according to the instructions
Natural feeding
Natural fertilizers include organic matter and wood ash. But in summer, bird droppings, infusions of herbs or mullein are no longer needed by peonies. Organic is the main supplier of nitrogen - building material leaves and shoots. And the peony bushes have already grown and are finishing the growing season. This means that only wood ash remains relevant.... Unlike the already mentioned phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, it is rich in trace elements, it contains almost the entire periodic table, except for nitrogen. In summer, it is enough to add only ash under the peonies.
Video: about the benefits of ash for plants
Choose one of the following ash feeding methods:
- Shake a glass of ash in a bucket of water and pour until the heavy fractions have settled.
- Scatter a glass of ash under the bush, loosen and pour.
- Insist a glass of ash for 7 days in 10 liters of water. Pour under the root or strain and pour over the leaves.
- Pour a glass of ash with 2 liters of water, boil for 20 minutes, strain, bring the volume to 10 liters and water the whole bush, wetting the leaves.
Some gardeners feed peonies with a talker made of stale bread or rusks. Such feeding serves as a source of yeast, which is organic, that is, nitrogen enters the ground with it. In summer, peonies should not be fed with bread, it is better to leave this event until spring.
Summer feeding is needed for peonies to lay flower buds and good development root system. It should include phosphorus, potassium and trace elements. Their source can be a ready-made complex mixture for garden flowers from a store, simple mineral fertilizers or ordinary wood ash.
This article will take a closer look at vegetative propagation peonies, a brief description of them is given. We will give the following recommendations:
- when can peonies be transplanted;
- how to transplant peonies;
- how to feed peonies;
- how to get rid of ants on peonies;
- why peonies do not bloom;
- how to use peonies in landscape design.
The plant is named after the physician Pean (or Peon), the legendary disciple of the god of healing Aesculapius, who healed the gods. According to legend, Pean cured Hades himself, who in gratitude after death turned him into a flower resembling a rose.
Botanical description
Peony (Paeоnia) is a herbaceous plant or deciduous shrub ( tree peony). V modern classifications this species is the only representative of the Peony family. Natural habitat - subtropics of Eurasia and North America... For this article, we will consider only herbaceous species, leaving the tree species for more detailed consideration separately.
Peony is a plant with a powerful rhizome, thick cone-shaped roots. The leaves are trifoliate or oddly pinnate, green or gray, attached to several stems up to 1 meter high. The flowers are large, fragrant, up to 25 cm in diameter, bright or pastel colors - white, yellow, cream, all shades of pink and red, sometimes with spots of a darker color at the base. The fruits are a complex multileaf, in some varieties they are very decorative, the seeds are large, shiny, black or brown. They bloom in spring or early summer.
Brief description of species
There are now about 5,000 varieties herbaceous peonies, and this figure is constantly growing, since the interest of breeders in this plant has not weakened for many centuries, they are usually classified according to the shape of the flower, today there are seven groups.
- Non-double - with large flowers arranged in one or two rows, numerous stamens located inside the flower.
- Semi-double - large flowers, usually with seven rows of petals, the stamens are located either among the petals or within the flower.
Peony simple, non-double 
Anemone peony 
Terry peony 
Semi-double peony
- Terry - bomb-shaped, spherical, hemispherical - depending on the shape of the flower with full disclosure.
- Japanese - non-double or semi-double, forming a pompon of modified stamens in the center of the flower.
- Anemonic - transitional from Japanese to terry. Two rows of wide, round petals surround a ball of shorter, narrower central petals.
- Pink-like - they look like a very large rose.
- Crowned - consist of three tiers - the upper and lower ones of large wide petals, the middle one of small, narrow ones. Moreover, the middle row in the early stages of flowering usually differs in color from the other two.
One of the most popular is the narrow-leaved peony - an early flowering species with thin leaves and numerous medium-sized red flowers of extraordinary beauty.
Treelike peony bushes, large carved leaves and delicate flowers which are very decorative, can become wonderful ...
Landing
Choosing the right place
The peony is very durable - in one place it can grow and bloom for decades. Before replanting peonies, you need to choose the right place for planting.
The landing site should be sunny and sheltered from the wind. In partial shade and in places where the sun is only 5-6 hours a day, they will also bloom, but not as abundantly as we would like, the flowers will be smaller, and the color will be paler.
Most of all, peonies love well-drained loamy soils. Never plant them in lowlands. An adult plant will endure frost, drought, but even a short-term stagnation of water at the roots for it is a direct path to death.
Site preparation
The soil for peonies must be prepared at least a week or two before planting. V clay soil add low-lying peat (high-moor peat has an acidic reaction, which is unacceptable), humus and sand, into sandy - low-lying peat, sand and clay. Deacidify acidic soil with lime (2 glasses per bucket of water) or dolmitic flour.
Dig planting holes about 60x60x60 cm, place drainage from rubble, gravel or broken red brick on the bottom of the hole, fill coarse sand, on top - prepared soil mixture, water abundantly. The earth will sink, and it will be possible to plant the cuttings to the required depth.
Features of the disembarkation and transplantation process
The best time for planting and transplanting is September-October. Planting peonies in spring is not recommended.
Good planting material- 1-2 year old plant, or a cut with 3-4 buds and a piece of rhizome. When planting, properly deepen the buds. They should be approximately 3-5 cm below the soil level. If the buds are deep, the plant develops well, but there will be no flowering. Winter frosts tend to push the rhizome out of the soil, it can freeze. Therefore, planting too shallow can damage the plant.
After planting, it is necessary to gently crush the ground around, water abundantly.
Peonies are rarely transplanted. But perhaps the old plant began to bloom worse, or you needed planting material, or the design of the place where the bush stands does not provide for such large plant- then you need to sit down.
Any transplant, except for sanitary (when we save an incorrectly planted or diseased young plant), necessarily involves dividing the bush. This is the simplest and reliable way reproduction. How to dig up and divide a bush is described in detail in the section "Reproduction by dividing a bush" below.
Spring planting
in the fall - the most correct solution... In spring, this plant is actively growing green mass to the detriment of root development. But when planting, the main thing is to accelerate the growth of the root system as much as possible. It is wrong to remove the leaves so that they do not interfere with the development of the roots - the plant will die, and very quickly. So spring is the time when it is not worth replanting peonies.
But it happens that the plant overwintered badly and may die, or it was bought at the exhibition new variety... The question is - what to do next? In such cases, planting peonies in the spring is simply necessary. It is best to start transplanting peonies in the spring to another place, as soon as the snow has melted and the ground has thawed, before the buds germinate.
They will help us a lot with spring planting root-forming drugs, such as "Kornevin" or "Heteroauxin", which are added to the ground, or diluted in water.
Reproduction
Seed reproduction
With seed propagation, varietal traits are usually not transmitted. In addition, a plant grown from seeds will bloom no earlier than in 4-5 years (even later in tree varieties).
Let's leave seed propagation breeders.
Vegetative propagation
Vegetative propagation occurs by dividing the bush. This is a simple, reliable way that is available even to a novice gardener. It allows you to preserve the varietal characteristics of the plant and performed correctly, in the right time, always gives excellent results.
Dig out the bush carefully. If it is old, very overgrown, first dig it in a circle, stepping back 20 cm from the rhizome, then use a pitchfork to loosen the plant, pull it out of the ground. Gently peel, rinse, trim the leaves and flower stalks, and let sit for a couple of hours in the open air to let the root wither a little and become less fragile.
Before planting peonies, remove any old, rotten or diseased-looking roots and rhizomes. The roots should be trimmed so that they do not exceed 15 cm in length. Do not cut too small or too large. For a good, healthy plant, leave a piece of rhizome with 3-4 well-developed eyes and a few roots. Be sure to sprinkle the cuts with ash or crushed activated carbon. Plant as described above.
Lily is a beautiful noble flower that adorns almost every garden. Refined, whimsical and aromatic ...
Care
Watering- peonies do not tolerate stagnant water at the roots. Watering them is necessary rarely, but in large quantities. For one adult plant you need 2-3 buckets of water. Between watering, we loosen the soil (it is also called dry watering). The peony especially needs moisture in the spring at the beginning of the growing season and in August, when buds are laid for next year's flowering.
Top dressing- for good development and full flowering, the plant must be fertilized regularly. Wait for the beginning of the growing season before feeding the peonies in the spring - and in the spring, any nitrogen-containing fertilizer is applied to the soil. During the laying of buds and a week or two after the end of flowering, the plant must be given full mineral fertilizer for flowering plants. Autumn feeding of peonies - a single application of phosphorus-potassium fertilizer - it will allow the plant to winter better, the next year it is better to bloom.
Seasonal care
Caring for peonies in spring - top dressing, watering, regular loosening, if necessary - treatments for pests and diseases. Remove faded flowers during the entire period when peonies are in bloom.
Continue sanitation in the summer. Caring for peonies after flowering - removing peduncles, feeding. If the weather is right, you can start transplants.
In the fall, peonies are planted and transplanted, sanitization continues. After the first frost, cut the foliage down to the ground, remove it from the site. If you have planted or transplanted peonies this year, care must include mulching. It is also required for severe or little snowy winters.
Why don't peonies bloom?
- Plants transplanted in spring or last year do not bloom. Remember, there will never be any flowering in the year of planting. It will not bloom the next year, if the planted division was too small. Just wait.
- Old bushes do not bloom. It's time to plant the plant.
- There is no flowering in low light conditions. Transplant the plant.
- Overflowing. Stop flooding. If the foliage has lost its elasticity, it looks bad, dig up the plant, inspect the root. If necessary, clean it, soak it for 1-2 hours in Previkura solution. If the landing site is to blame and water constantly accumulates there, transplant or arrange drainage.
- Incorrect planting depth. You do not need to deeply deepen the peony, plant the plant correctly.
- The plant is not planted, but bought (donated). Give him one more year to adapt and build up the root system and only then sound the alarm.
Correct fit is the key to lush, long flowering(how to do this is described above).
Narrow-leaved peony 
Narrow-leaved peony
Narrow-leaved peony - planting and care in open ground no different from other herbaceous peonies.
Pests and diseases
Diseases of peonies can be caused by overflows, frequent rains, dense planting, excess nitrogen.
Most often, peonies suffer from gray rot. Here, treatment and prevention consists in treating the plant and the soil under it with copper-containing preparations. It is necessary to cut out the parts of the plant affected by rot with a sterile tool, remove them from the site.
Prevention: treat the plant with copper before flowering - in early spring and when the first buds appear, and twice with an interval of 2 weeks after the peonies have faded.
Less commonly affected powdery mildew and rust. Buy any medication for these diseases. If you performed preventive treatments with copper-containing preparations and took into account all our recommendations on how to care for peonies, the plant should not get sick.
Ants on peonies are a big problem. They not only breed aphids, but they themselves love to feast on the nectar that secretes the unopened peony bud.
Ants on peonies
Ants can work on flower buds in such a way that they won't open at all. Before going to chemistry, try spreading peeled and crushed chunks of onion or garlic cloves on the ground around the roots. If it does not help, there is big choice ant control agents.
Viruses are a huge problem. How to deal with them is unknown. A heavily affected plant is simply destroyed.
The most disease-resistant is the narrow-leaved peony.
Peonies in landscape design
Peony is a favorite flower of landscape designers.
He is good in solitary (single focus) and group landings. Can be used in any flower bed, goes well with other plants. Blooming peonies in the garden are beautiful, but faded ones, due to the fact that the leaves of the peony are very decorative, will become a magnificent background for other flowering plants.
They go well with roses, delphiniums, phloxes. They are especially good against the background of junipers. Narrow-leaved peony is used in rock gardens, in combination with cereals and eremurus. The neighborhood of yellow with purple counterparts looks very impressive.
Cut peonies
Peonies stand in a vase for a long time, fragrant and pleasing to the eye. Their magnificent beauty will not leave anyone indifferent.
For cut cultivation, varieties with large fragrant buds are chosen. beautiful shape... Peonies will give especially large flowers if only one bud is left on the stem, while the rest are pinched as soon as they become the size of a pea. It is necessary to cut flowers half-open early in the morning or buds.
In order for the plant to bloom well next year, we cut off no more than half of the buds from the bush.
The peony settles in our gardens for a long time - not every flower is so durable. It's easy to grow a beautiful and healthy bush, make a minimum of effort - and it will delight you every day.
Remember - the fashion for peonies has always been and always will be. It's just that sometimes this extraordinary flower push other flowers out of the pedestal a little. But who remembers their names today?
Not demanding to itself increased attention... But certain agrotechnical methods for obtaining lush flowering of peonies still exist. It is especially important to know how to feed the peonies so that they bloom magnificently in the summer and overwinter safely in the open field.
What fertilizers are needed for peonies when planting
Competent and timely feeding of peonies is the key to their full development and lush flowering for many years. Providing the plant with nutrition should start with preparing the ideal soil composition for it.
Peonies garden flowers need fertile soil and fertilizing.
It is impossible to plant a peony in ordinary garden soil, since for proper development it needs fertile, loose soil. To plant a peony, you need to prepare a hole with a diameter of 70 and a depth of 60 centimeters. Two buckets of humus or peat and 300 grams of bone meal are placed at the bottom of the pit. Instead of bone meal, you can add 200 grams of superphosphate. V clayey soils for loosening it is recommended to add a bucket of sand. If the soil is sandy - a bucket of clay.
With the correct filling of the soil, the plant does not need to be fed up to 3 years old. The fertilizers introduced into the pit will be enough to form a powerful peony root system.
Advice. If buds have formed on the bush in the first 2 years, they need to be cut off so that the plant can use all its strength to grow the roots.
The scheme of feeding adult plants during the vegetative period
For lush flowering in the garden, peonies need to be provided with all the necessary nutrients.
Before applying top dressing at the root, the soil is moistened.
When fertilizing peonies, you need to consider whole line features:
- With a lack of organic matter in the soil, the introduction of mineral mixtures instead of benefits will harm the flower.
- Fertilizers at the root are applied only to moist soil. You cannot apply fertilizer to dry soil - this can burn the roots and destroy the peony.
- Fertilizers are applied taking into account the age of the bush. The older the plant, the more magnificent its flowering, which means the greater the need for fertilizers.
The composition of fertilizers in spring and autumn is different, since the plant requires special nutrients at different periods of development.
Top dressing in early spring
The first feeding of the peony is carried out in the spring, in the first days after the snow melts. The plant is watered with a solution of potassium permanganate at the rate of 1 gram per 5 liters of water. This amount of liquid is used to water one bush.
As soon as the peony sprouts begin to bloom, they are fed with ammonium nitrate. For 10 liters of water - 15 grams of fertilizer.
Fertilizing peony during budding
Peonies begin to bloom in the third year after planting. By this time, 10-15 main stems are fully formed on the bushes. During the formation of buds, a second feeding of adult bushes is carried out.
For feeding, use the following mixture:
- nitrogen - 10 grams;
- phosphorus - 20 grams;
- potassium - 15 grams.
This amount of minerals is dissolved in 10 liters of water and used to water one bush.
Summer dressing during and after flowering
In the summer, to improve the quality of flowering, it is recommended to feed peonies with one of the following compositions:
- Potassium salt - 5 g., Superphosphate - 10 g., Saltpeter - 7.5 g., Per 10 liters. water.
- Potassium - 10 g., Nitrogen - 10 g., Phosphorus - 15-20 g., 10 l. water.
During the flowering period, peonies are watered with a mixture of superphosphate and potassium salt.
This amount of fertilizer is consumed for 1 adult (5 years and older) or for two young bushes.
The third fertilizing during the vegetative period is carried out after flowering, after 14-15 days Experienced florists recommend to use the drug Kemira-kombi with the addition of potassium monophosphate.
Peony autumn feeding
The last feeding of peonies during the growing season is carried out in the fall, at the end of September or in the first decade of October. It is not recommended to carry out liquid fertilizers at this time, as they will provoke the growth of shoots.
The last dressing consists of a glass wood ash and 100 grams of bone meal. This amount of fertilizer is evenly distributed around each peony bush and embedded in the soil by loosening.
Mineral and organic peony feed
In addition to the main nutrients, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, a lush peony bush needs a number of minerals, which are called microelements.
Peony leaves signal the lack of any substance with their color and state:
Peony bushes respond well to feeding organic fertilizers in pure form or in combination with mineral mixtures. During budding, you can water the peony with a mullein solution (1:10) with the addition of 40 grams of phosphorus and 20 grams of potassium.
Feeding with chicken droppings has a beneficial effect on peonies. Half a bucket of chicken manure is diluted in 100 liters of water and fermented for 14 days. At the end of fermentation, the resulting solution is mixed with water in a ratio of 1: 3, 100 grams of superphosphate and 200 grams of wood ash are added to it. For one top dressing, 10 liters of fertilizer are used for each bush. With this composition, peonies can be fed twice a season: in spring and summer.
Peonies can be fertilized with diluted chicken droppings.
Foliar feeding of peonies
Foliar dressing is especially important in the first three years of a plant's life. At this time, the bush grows a root system.
For the correct development of a young plant, three sprays are necessary:
- Urea - 5 grams per 5 liters. Spraying is recommended. as soon as the first shoots break out of the ground.
- A mixture of urea and universal mineral fertilizer. 14-15 days after the first feeding.
- Trace elements, 2 tablets in a bucket of water. Spraying is carried out in the middle of summer.
Advice. In order for the top dressing to better linger on the leaves during spraying, and not drain from them, it is recommended to add a small amount to the solution laundry soap... This technique will additionally help rid the peony of pests.
Only healthy and well-fertilized peonies can give abundant and long flowering, therefore, feeding cannot be neglected. Required condition correct feeding Is a combination of fertilization with abundant irrigation and loosening of the soil.
Experienced flower growers advise not to get carried away with organic fertilizing, as from an excess of nitrogen, the peony will begin to "fatten", that is, to increase the green mass and slow down flowering. It is also important to observe the dosage of minerals in the dressing. For young plants, it is recommended to reduce the rate by half, and for adult bushes (over 5 years old) to increase by a third.
On video experienced gardener shows and tells how to properly feed peonies in your garden.
During the growing season (spring), it is important to pay attention to your peonies and they will delight you with unusually lush flowers. About how to feed peonies and in what time frame this article will tell.
In one place, peonies can long time grow superbly and bloom luxuriantly. To do this, you need to carefully look after the peony bushes. In the third year of plant development, when the peonies are going to bloom, in addition to regular watering and loosening, they must be additionally fed.
Three times a season, we carry out foliar feeding of peonies, which will allow the peony to please you with friendly and long flowering throughout the season. Spraying is carried out with any complex mineral fertilizer(eg Ideal) over the leaves.
For effectiveness, add a little laundry soap to the fertilizer solution or washing powder(1 tablespoon per 10 l of solution), so it is better for the nutrient solution to linger on the surface of the leaves,
Foliar dressing should preferably be performed in the evening or in cloudy weather.
- Bread dressing. Experienced summer residents consider this feeding the most effective. She prepares like this: In a bucket with warm water soak rye bread (about half a loaf), add a glass of sugar, Leave it to swell for three hours. Water the peony bushes with this solution.
- Yeast feeding. 100 g dissolve yeast in a bucket of warm water. We leave for 20 minutes. Water the peony with this solution.
- Chicken droppings. Take 1 part chicken dung and 25 parts water. We leave in a warm place to infuse for two weeks. We dilute the resulting solution with more water in a ratio of 1: 3, add a handful of wood ash.
Following our advice, fertilizing your flowers in a timely manner, you will grow strong and healthy peonies that will delight the chic and abundant flowering... But remember that in addition to feeding, you need sufficient watering and loosening the soil around the peony bushes.