Garden carnation - Dianthus caryophyllus
Greenhouse cloves, next to roses, occupy a leading position in the production of ornamental plants. They are of commercial importance due to their large size, diameter up to 7 cm, beautifully colored flowers set on long ones, stiff stems. Moreover, because they are very durable, They are highly valued as a material for bouquets and all kinds of bouquets and wreaths.
The most common cultivars are white and various shades of pink and red from the Sim group.
Basically, cloves are perennial plants, but we usually grow them as biennials.
For proper growth and development, greenhouse cloves require a lot of air and light. For this reason, large greenhouses are suitable for growing them: 10-12 m wide, 6-8 m high, in which ventilators occupy 15-20% of the total area of the roof and side walls.
Cloves are often attacked by viral diseases or diseases that cause plants to wilt and die. Fighting these diseases is difficult and not always effective. The main protection against these diseases is planting healthy material in a pathogen-free substrate (peat). In Poland, you can buy seedlings tested and marked with the CC symbol, and free of wilt-causing diseases. Seedlings not attacked by viral diseases are obtained from tissue cultures, i.e.. by seedling meristems of growth cones. We have not produced such seedlings so far, but they are imported from abroad.
Planting. Greenhouse cloves are propagated exclusively by cutting the tops of the shoots. Shoots intended for seedlings should be well developed: nor too hard, neither too soft, 8-12 cm long. It is best to break these shoots out of the so-called. heel, and only use a very sharp knife to even out the skin around the edges. Do not trim the leaves, in order not to facilitate the infection and not to reduce the assimilation area. Where the shoots are very lush, we remove the lowest lower leaves, and located a bit higher, we shorten. If the temperature is high when cutting the cuttings, we protect them from drying out by covering them with a damp cloth. However, it is most appropriate to place the cuttings in the substrate immediately after preparation.
In large production plants, cuttings are cut from nurseries specially designed for this purpose, and in the case of small ones, side shoots emerging from the leaf axils of the main shoot after cutting the flower are used. The shoots from the middle of the main shoot are best suited for cuttings. The most suitable planting date is October - November, but you can also prepare seedlings in February and March.
A good substrate for seedlings is a mixture 2 parts of peat and 1 parts of sand or granules of "Perlite". The worse substrate is coarse-grained, washed sand, which, however, is still quite commonly used. Cloves are planted on tables or beds. At the bottom we put a 1.5-2 cm layer of deacidified peat, then a 6-8 cm layer of appropriate substrate. Sprinkle the material in layers for better compaction, each of which we pour water and whip. We mark the prepared substrate in 4X4 cm increments. Place the seedlings as shallow as possible, just so deep, so that they do not fall over after watering. Then we water the cloves and cover the tables or beds with frame windows.
Nursing seedlings. So that the clove cuttings take root well, they should be properly cared for. In the case of planting in summer! we ventilated greenhouses, and we sprinkle the passages, to keep the temperature as close as possible to 15 °. In autumn, the cuttings take root well when the substrate temperature is 12-15 °; the ambient temperature can be as much as 2-3 ° lower. Sprinkle the cloves carefully 1-2 times a day, but we pay attention, so that they do not wither. During sunny days, we shade the greenhouse or tables. In such conditions, they take 3 to 4 weeks to take root. When the cuttings begin to take root, We gradually raise the windows and stop shading. W 6 weeks after planting the window, we remove it completely and after a few days we start transplanting the plants. Take out the cloves planted in the sand directly by hand, in the case of planting in a mixture of soil and peat - use a special knife to cut off the substrate between the plants in two directions, as a result each? the seedling is as if in an earth pot.