Greetings friends, the warm days have finally arrived, the snow is melting fast. In this article I want to share with you what you should do with peonies in spring so that they please them with large, lush flowers.
Many gardeners grow herbaceous peonies; not long ago ITO peonies appeared; They are the result of the crossing of tree and herbaceous peonies. The care of these two varieties of peonies is basically the same.
Spring care for peonies.
1. After the snow melts, remove all plant debris, weeds, clean up old foliage around the peony, and cover mulch, if any. If you didn’t trim the stems in the fall, trimming them also need to be trimmed.
Herbal peonies do not cover, but tree peonies in cold climates sometimes need shelter, so in the spring it is necessary to remove the covering, but this should be done gradually.
2. Very carefully loosen the soil at a certain distance from the bush if the soil is very dense, in this way we will give the plant access to oxygen and it will be necessary to make a hole to water and fertilize.
3. If spring is dry, then it is necessary to water the shrubs; I pour 1 bucket of water into 1 bush, but not immediately, but let it soak. If the bush is very large, I don’t skimp on water and pour in 2 buckets of water. If the ground is wet and there was a lot of snow, then watering is not necessary. But remember that peonies love water.
4. Feed to be applied for growth and lush flowering. To feed the peony, elements such as phosphorus (for root development), potassium (for flowering and color brightness), and for the growth of the green mass, the peony needs are important. nitrogen and there should be more of it.
Prepare the fertilizer: 1 tablespoon of nitroamofoska + 0.5 tablespoon of ammonium nitrate per 10 liters of water. I have nitroamofoska with the formula NPK 16 16 16 nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and to make it a little more nitrogen I added half a tablespoon of ammonium nitrate.
Mix everything together and water a little at a time under the root so as not to expose the roots, but it is necessary to pour a bucket of fertilizer on 1 bush. This fertilizer is suitable for any type of peony, whether herbaceous or artificial.
Once all the moisture is absorbed, I make sure to cover the shrub with dried humus and we get a double effect, i.e. humus as mulch and as fertilizer. With each subsequent watering, additional nutrition will be supplied to the roots. There is no hummus, take straw, peat, whatever you have. After this feeding you will see what the flowering will be like, it is just a fairy tale.
I’ll tell you what else you can feed peonies in the spring.
I make a furrow around the shrub at a distance from it, so it is more convenient to apply fertilizer. I take 100 grams of nitrofoska and spread it evenly along the furrow, spread rotten manure there and feed it into the soil.
Regarding watering, look at your soil; if it is wet, it is useless to water if it is dry, then pour it directly into the trench where we apply the fertilizer;
At the beginning of April you can apply fertilizer in dry form, such as urea, you will need 20 grams per bush, it is more convenient to apply it in the furrows, embedding it in the soil, then water and it is better. a shower with a shower so as not to wash the soil and not expose the roots.
Treatment for diseases
For lush flowering, not only fertilization is important, but also protection against diseases. Most often, the plant is affected in spring, for example by gray rot or others. It can be treated, for example, with preparations containing copper. like OxyChom. Hom, or the same 1% Bordeaux blend.
Second fertilization for flowering
This fertilization is applied during the formation of the buds. At this time, you don’t need as much nitrogen as you do phosphorus and potassium. Here you can use old ash for 10 liters of water, add 1 liter of ash and mix. , let it sit for a while and water the peonies.
Ash is also well adapted to soil acidification and can be acidified by applying mineral fertilizers. An excellent option for fertilizing with a folk remedy.
If there is no ash, add 20 grams of superphosphate + 10 grams of urea + 15 grams of potassium sulfate to 10 liters of water. Dissolve all of this and water the peonies.
And then the care will consist of watering regularly, pruning the wilted flowers. Watering is very important for them, because once
the peony finishes blooming, it will start to put new shoots for the next year.
In general, peony requires attention both before and after flowering. Without fertilizing, it is difficult to get such a beautiful bloom if fertilizer is not applied, the soil is impoverished, and the shrubs will not give a beautiful, lush bloom.
This is everything I wanted to share with you, you can also share your tips and photos in the comments.
