Which is distributed on many continents. This plant prefers dry climates. Kochia belongs to the haze family. In a simple way, it is called prutnyak, summer cyprus, annual cypress, passion, broom grass.
The plant has a root in the form of a rod. It has a powerful structure and deep occurrence, so the bush is firmly rooted. The height of the kochia is approximately 60–80 cm. The stem is straight and branched along its entire length. The leaves are drooping, linear, rather narrow, and sometimes filiform. Cochia flowers are very small and are collected in spike-shaped or paniculate inflorescences. The flower is pollinated by the wind. After flowering, it forms fruits, which contain very small seeds. Once ripe, they are dispersed by the wind and begin to germinate after winter.
Kohiya does not have an attractive flowering, so it is grown exclusively as an ornamental leafy plant. It forms lush bushes that lend themselves perfectly to pruning. This plant can be used as hedges, borders and so on. Bushes can not only decorate the garden, but also be used for technical purposes, brooms and panicles can be made from them. Some varieties of cochia are used as a forage crop for pets.
Gallery: perennial kochia (25 photos)
Types of cochia
Kochia has over 80 various kinds. Not all species are widely distributed, but there are popular varieties.
The most requested are:
Growing Rules
Kochia is grown only from seeds. Moreover, once planting this plant in your garden, you can no longer worry about acquiring seeds. Growing kochia from them occurs independently.
Seeds germinate very well, almost all of 100 pieces will sprout. It is important to remember that they have their own expiration date and it is equal to 1.5 years. After this period, seed germination decreases sharply.
Sowing seeds in open ground
Seeds can be sown in open ground in the beginning of May. In any case, it must be remembered that young plants are very afraid of cold weather, they should be planted in open ground when the threat of frost has passed. If it was not possible to sow the seeds in May, then you can do this until mid-July. For sowing seeds, be sure to select a sunny area. Without sunlight, they may not sprout.
The surface of the soil is cleaned of debris, last year's grass, rammed and well watered. Now you can sow. The seeds laid out on the surface are slightly pressed. So that the bright sun does not burn the tender sprouts, they are covered with white material.
Shoots will appear in one to two weeks. At this time it is necessary to remove the material. If the seeds are planted too often, then they are thinned out, there should be a distance of at least 10 cm between the seedlings.
The first transplant is carried out at the moment when young seedlings reach a height of 15 cm. Such plants can be planted immediately on permanent place.
Sowing before winter
Landing can be done before winter. In this case, the seeds are sown 2-3 weeks before the onset of frost. It is important that the seeds do not have time to germinate in the fall, otherwise they will die under the snow. For sowing, you need to make grooves in which the seeds are laid out. From above they are sprinkled with a thin layer of soil and wrapped with a covering material.
Growing seedlings
You can grow seeds at home, and transplant small plants into open ground. Seeds are sown in a container in March-April. First you need to prepare the soil, it should consist of peat, humus and river sand. To disinfect the soil, you can ignite it in the oven for 30-40 minutes. This will prevent infection of seedlings with diseases and pests. The container can be taken shallow, pour soil into it.
Seeds are sown on the surface of moistened soil. To prevent them from being washed away with water, they are pressed a little. Water them periodically. To create a certain microclimate, the container is covered with glass or a dense film. The container is placed in a room with a temperature of 18-20 degrees and plenty of sunlight. Seedlings should appear in one to two weeks. At low temperatures, the seeds will germinate longer. If the seedlings are too stretched up, then you can cut off their tops.
When the seedlings grow to 5-7 cm, they need to be transplanted into separate pots. It is important not to damage the roots, so you need to remove a whole earthen ball from the ground with intact roots.
Young plants after transplantation can be fed with nitrogen fertilizer. Plants are planted in open ground that have grown to 15–20 cm.
Cochia care in the open field
In order for kochia to be lush and bright, it is necessary to adhere to certain growing rules.
Care features:
Pests and diseases
With proper care, the plant is not affected by diseases and pests.
Perennial kochia is rarely grown on garden plots, although it has its advantages over annual species. Knowing the features of growing kochia, you can confidently plant it in any area and get a lush, unusual and spectacular plant.
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Description and features of kochia
It is slender, small (usually less than a meter high), fluffy, belonging to the Marev subfamily. Kochia interesting for its unusually narrow leaves, at a superficial glance so similar to needles that many mistakenly take it for a prickly coniferous fauna.
However, appearances are deceiving, because fresh tender shoots are very pleasant and soft to the touch. For this quality, the people called kohiyu– broom, making beautiful bath brooms from her twigs.
Homeland is China, it is in this ancient country a significant number of varieties of this flora were bred, brought to Europe several centuries ago by the German professor Koch, which gave rise to the name.
Pictured is Kochia Sultan
It immediately attracted the attention of gardeners with its originality, as well as the ability to change the color of the leaves as it grows. How can you be sure of photo of kochia, young are covered with emerald, light green leaves.
However, after just a few months, the color scheme changes radically, taking on pink, raspberry and other shades. On cypress cochia similar to a clear pyramidal shape of the crown. In addition, as it turned out, the shrub tolerates pruning painlessly, regaining its lost splendor in a very short time.
lovely decorative properties, giving scope for the creative imagination of designers, have become the reason for the active cultivation of this flora in many countries and parts of the world for a long period.
Modern gardeners use fast-growing, densely branching to decorate flower beds, borders and fences, in landscaping kochia extremely in demand. It may be annual or perennial.
It looks great planted in boxes and pots displayed in front of the house. In flower beds it goes well with, fragrant tobacco, and other summer ones. When planting bushes at a short distance, they make a wonderful fluffy hedge.
Appearance, which takes on with the onset of autumn, depending on the variety, yellow, pink, purple, bronze and crimson-red hues, it only gets better in this cool season. And cut and dried branches can serve as a wonderful material for making winter compositions in designer bouquets.
In the photo, red kochia
summer cypress kohiyu called in the common people, in the scientific literature - bassia. The leaves of the plant are fed to silkworm caterpillars. Flora is also famous healing properties, has long been used in Chinese medicine to relieve itching and fever.
Now, for the manufacture of medicinal infusions and decoctions, an inconspicuous and inconspicuous-looking kochia flower, as well as the leaves and stems of the culture, its fruits and seeds.
These funds are used for various diseases, and without any contraindications. Ointments from the elements of the plant treat diseases of the skin and nails. From the leaves of kochia, an extremely healthy soup is prepared, by the way.
Planting and propagation of kochia
This plant is characterized by extremely fast reproduction. The strength of growth inherent in the seeds is quite sufficient for spreading by self-sowing, and germination at growing cochia very high, almost one hundred percent, which makes the cultivation of this plant extremely convenient and feasible even for inexperienced gardeners.
However, those who want to have it on their site should make sure that the planting material does not expire, because it should be stored for no more than one and a half years.
In open ground cochia planted in May days, it is better if at the very beginning of the month. However, it all depends on the vagaries of the weather, because you should choose the right time when the frosts completely recede and can no longer damage the heat-loving flora.
Planting kochia
Kochia does not tolerate temperature extremes, and in the future it should be borne in mind that prolonged autumn frosts can kill. Since it grows and develops quite quickly, it is possible to sow much later than the previously indicated period, but only until mid-June.
First, seedlings should be grown in an area specially designated for temporary placement. And only then move the plants to the place of permanent growth. No special tricks in the science of success growing cochia from seeds does not exist.
It is enough that the seed, which needs only to be slightly pressed down, but not sprinkled on top with a layer of earth, blocking access to the beneficial rays of the sun, simply touches the moist soil. And then the nature and strength of the plant will do their job.
After the planted area is covered with a transparent film to create greenhouse conditions inside it and protect the sprouts from the cold. This shelter is removed after a couple of weeks with the arrival of real heat, and the exact period varies depending on the weather conditions.
After the emergence and strengthening of seedlings, the sprouts are thinned out, while a distance of the length of the human hand is left between the shoots. When the height of the seedlings reaches 15 cm, they should be transplanted to the place allotted for constant growth.
seeds buy kochia you can in specialized stores, if any special varieties are required, information for purchasing them is easy to find on the Internet.
Sowing can be done in late autumn. Here it is also important to correctly guess the time, it is better shortly before the onset of frost, but not earlier, so that the seeds do not have time to germinate, otherwise they will surely die in winter.
Kochia care
Wherein planting material it is laid out along shallow grooves prepared in advance in fertile and loose soil, and in this case they must be sprinkled with a thin earthen layer (the sun's rays during this period will not be useful, and future plants need protection from cold and wind).
It happens that the owner of a summer cottage or personal plot in the spring has a desire to please himself and those around him with the beauty of the delicate emerald leaves of this decorative as early as possible.
When to plant kochia seeds in this case? It should be done in April, even in March. In this case, future plants are first grown in room conditions in boxes or containers.
This process should begin with the preparation of the soil, to which river sand, humus and are added. In this case, the seeds are simply poured into shallow grooves, and the box is covered with a transparent film on top to create a suitable environment with diffused lighting for the shoots growing inside.
After the container, the soil in which should be regularly moistened in the future, is placed in a warm place in the room. It is better not to put the box directly on the windowsill, but when sprouts appear, they should be provided good lighting by moving closer to the sunlight on the window. If the shoots, with unexpectedly intensive growth, begin to stretch too much, it is better to cut the tops.
After a while, the seedlings, which have reached a length of about 7 cm, are transplanted directly from the ground into separate pots. In this case, you should act carefully so that the roots of the young are not damaged.
photo of kochia seeds
But first, the soil should be prepared on the site by loosening it, adding a little ash and sand. The interval between the final planting depends on the decorative purposes of growing flora.
To create a fluffy fence, it should be about 20 cm. If the gardener wants to emphasize the beauty of each of the bushes, then the distance between them should be somewhat larger. It is a great idea to grow this flora in flower pots, homemade cochia can greatly decorate rooms and verandas.
Kochia care
It is unpretentious, in fact it requires minimal maintenance. Most importantly, it must be regular and, above all, literate. Healthy depends on it. appearance decorative fluffy bushes, which will surely betray the original look of lawns, gardens and home gardens, for the decoration of which they are bred. Knowing the subtleties how to grow kochia, will make things a lot easier.
It should be remembered that the plant perfectly tolerates the lack of moisture, and natural precipitation may well be enough for a healthy, full-fledged growth.
However, watering, which should be judiciously regulated, is an important component in the process of caring for kochia, so it is better if the saturation of the soil with moisture is relatively frequent, and watering is at least weekly.
And again, when compiling a regime, it is necessary not to be too zealous, allowing water to stagnate on the site, which is much more dangerous than a prolonged drought. Mulching can be used to keep the soil always moist with relatively infrequent watering. decorative stones, rubble or bark.
Grows well in light shade. However, it is better to choose planting kochia the place is brighter, there the conditions for development will be more favorable.
In the photo, cochia seeds sold through retail chains
For cutting, as already mentioned, the flora is very adapted, and this procedure does not create problems, giving beginner gardeners every opportunity to practice.
Kohiya is convenient for giving it bizarre, even fantastic shapes. At the same time, a plant without pruning is very quickly able to stretch to a length of more than a meter.
After a haircut, in a short time, restore the vegetative system, increase the leaves of the shrub with the help of minerals with a predominance of nitrogen, which again has a beneficial effect on the appearance and beauty of the ornamental.
In general, the first feeding should be done ten days after the germination of seedlings. Further, the procedure must be repeated in the period active growth in a month or more.
Types and varieties of cochia
There are about eight dozen subspecies in the genus Kochia, but some of them are especially common and well-known. All of them are unpretentious and differ mainly in the height and shape of the bushes, as well as the color of the leaves in autumn period. Ornamental subspecies are mostly annuals.
The most popular and widely used for landscape decoration is cochia coronata or cochia broom. characterized by a spherical shape of the bushes, which become burgundy-red by autumn.
Pictured is Kochia Nephrite
This culture is convenient for growing in countries with a temperate climate, as it is able to endure frosts and slight frosts with firmness, which makes it possible to enjoy the beauty of its appearance until late autumn.
hairy kochia- a slender and tall variety, with narrow leaves lowered down, acquiring a burgundy color as they develop. Kochia jade attractive unusually fast growth and convenient to create, by cutting, from the bushes of artistic sculptors.
This decorative subspecies is considered thermophilic, but it can grow without problems in areas with depleted soil. The Childs variety is a short, rounded bush, pleasing with green foliage throughout the season.
perennial kochia little used in ornamental floriculture, but some are highly valued as fodder crops. One of these subspecies is izen. , growing to a height of no more, or even less than 50 cm.
In the photo, kokhiya broom
Branching at the base, it has salient feature spread over the earth. puts down deep roots underground. its small, seemingly inconspicuous, seeds ripen in them by the end of summer.
The culture is rich in nutrients, quite productive, adapts well and grows in areas with a cold or, conversely, arid climate. This is a promising fodder crop, but it is also used to decorate landscapes. Most often planted in sunny beds or rocky hills.
Diseases and pests of kochia
However, it may well be that the owners of the plots that breed this plant will one day find that they have divorced on pretty tender bushes. spider mite.
kochia seedling it is often affected by the so-called "black leg" - a fungal disease in which the lower bases of the stems turn black, which can result in death.
Pictured is Childs cochia
A good prevention from this is tillage with a solution of manganese or ash. If the seedlings grow in a container in the room, then it is better to move it to where the temperature in the room is slightly lower.
As you can conclude, growing, resembling a gentle cloud, once brought from the blessed East, brings more pleasure than trouble.
And the beauty of cheerful multi-colored small bushes that grow in the warm season in the garden, and in winter at home in flower pots, will create good mood for the whole year.
Prutnyak, broom, ruff, bass - all these are the popular names of kochia.
This semi-shrub from the Marev family, thanks to thin elongated leaves resembling needles, and a highly branched structure, looks like a small Christmas tree.
Therefore, it is also called summer cypress. This plant has gained popularity due to its distinctive qualities:
It is easy to trim (the shape of the bushes is limited only by the imagination of the "barber");
It has “chameleon abilities” (closer to autumn, the color of the leaves changes - depending on the variety, it can be purple, burgundy or remain emerald green until frost)
Variety of colors of kochia
Drought-resistant and unpretentious (planting and caring for kochia are simple and do not require labor-intensive measures).
For these reasons, kochia is often planted not only on summer cottages; landscape designers use it to create "living" labyrinths, borders and hedges. Yes, and as a tapeworm in a flower bed in combination with contrast flowering plants she looks great.
The main types of cochia
Summer cypress has about 80 species, of which about 10 are cultivated in horticulture, which are distinguished by the greatest decorative effect and bush shape:
The hairy bassia is an annual with a dense branched crown. The color of the leaves varies from a rich light green shade in summer to red or pink in autumn. It tolerates a haircut;
Kohiya Childsa is a compact shrub with a dense crown, reaching a height of up to 0.5 m. The color of the foliage (pale green) does not change with the onset of autumn;
Bassia densely flowered - an annual tall species (reaches a height of up to 1.3 m). Its peculiarity is that during flowering, long whitish hairs grow around the base of the flowers, giving the plant an unusual appearance;
Woolly-flowered kochia is a low-growing variety of summer cypress (0.1-0.6 m) of yellow-green color. Shrub branches are densely covered with wavy villi;
Creeping cochia - undersized perennial height 0.1-0.5m with a powerful root system. Its branches covered with villi spread along the ground, for which the plant got its name.
Other varieties of perennial bass have no decorative value, therefore they are not cultivated in horticulture and are used mainly as feed raw materials.
Features of growing and planting cochia
Before planting a summer cypress, you need to plan a place to plant it. Kochia is a light-loving plant and feels best in sunny areas (in nature, it grows on rocky and semi-desert open areas).
With a lack of lighting, the color of the leaves will be faded, the branching will be weak, and the bush itself will lag behind in development.
Bassia grows well on well-drained, easily permeable water and air to the roots, soils with a slightly acidic or neutral reaction.
Lowlands and areas with close occurrence ground water not suitable for growing cochia. Its root system, when moisture stagnates, is susceptible to various rots.
Methods for planting kochia (photo)
Green cypress is planted in flower beds with seedlings or seeds.
To obtain seedlings, cochia seeds are sown in the second half of March in bowls with universal primer to which perlite or coarse sand is added. The dishes for growing seedlings should be treated with an antiseptic, and the prepared soil should be shed with a fungicide (for example, Fundazol, Topaz, Vitaros, Fundazol, Ridomil Gold, Previkur).
For successful germination of kochia seeds, it is important to follow these rules:
The seed material must be fresh (its germination decreases within one year);
The presence of sufficient lighting.
The seeds are laid out on moist soil to a depth of 1 cm. You can only lightly sprinkle them with a thin layer of sand or just barely press them into the soil with a spoon or a small piece of plywood.
Sowing cochia: the seeds on the soil are slightly pressed
After that, the landing boxes are covered with glass or transparent film and placed on a warm windowsill. At room temperature, seedlings appear after 1-1.5 weeks. After that, they do not need shelter.
Young seedlings of kochia are prone to such a disease as the "black leg", in which the lower part of the stem first turns brown and then rots. Hence the name of the disease. Therefore, in order to reduce the percentage of damage to seedlings, boxes with seedlings after emergence are kept in a cooler room at an air temperature of + 10-15 ° C. Seedlings are watered moderately: with a lack of moisture, the plant quickly withers, with waterlogging, the possibility of damage to the “black leg” increases. When the seedlings grow 2-3 true leaves, they dive into separate pots.
Cochia seedling picking
Although kochia seedlings are not as whimsical as adult plants, unexpected spring frosts can destroy them. Therefore, it is better to plant it in flower beds when stable warm weather is established + 18-20 ° C (the last week of May - the beginning of June). Before planting, nitrogen-containing fertilizers (for example, ammonium nitrate or superphosphate) are applied to the soil. A month later, top dressing is repeated.
Bassia can be sown directly into the ground. At the same time, the seeds are laid out in grooves at a distance of 30 cm from each other, so that in the future each plant has enough space for development. Immediately after sowing, the beds are watered and the soil on them is always moist.
There is another tricky way to sow summer cypress: in the fall, cut off selected branches from the bush and put them on a bed in a greenhouse. In the spring, young shoots will appear under the dried "brooms". They can be pricked into separate pots or thinned out, left in place, and when the seedlings grow up, transplanted into flower beds.
Kochia can propagate by self-sowing. If you leave a couple of adult bushes to winter, then shoots will appear in the spring. Thanks to the wind that carries the seeds, kochia can grow in any corner of the garden. Thick seedlings must be thinned out, otherwise the plants themselves will create a shadow for themselves and develop poorly.
The planting scheme depends on the desired result: for borders and hedges, plants are planted at a distance of 0.3-0.4 m from each other, and in flower arrangements location is arbitrary.
Kochia care (photo)
Summer cypress - unpretentious culture. This "child of the semi-desert" is drought-resistant and is content with minimal care. However, in hot summer weather, kochia still needs to be watered. It is better to do this in the morning and evening hours, otherwise leaf burns are inevitable.
Bassia actively grows with regular top dressing. In the spring, before planting, nitrogen fertilizers are applied, and a week later they are “treated” again with the same preparations. A month later, foliar top dressing is carried out with complex mineral fertilizers. In order for the color of the leaves to retain a bright color, the plants are watered every two weeks with liquid nutrient formulations (Kemira wagon, Agricola, etc.).
Kochia loves aerated soils, so the ground around the bushes needs to be regularly loosened and weeded.
Another of the points of care for kochia is its pruning, which it tolerates easily. Thanks to this bushes, you can give any configuration. After shearing, to maintain a weakened plant, it is fed with liquid mineral fertilizers.
Shaping kochia haircut
Few of the summer residents know what a kochia is.
A photo of a broom plant is known to almost everyone. Cheerful and fluffy brush should be on everyone suburban area, because it gives just huge opportunities for use!
Strictly speaking, before people knew only one of its uses - as a broom, but later the breeders did their best, and now gardeners successfully use light green, crimson, carmine and even pinkish “panicles” of kochia to realize their most daring ideas.
By the way, if a person has the skills of a sculptor or simply has a certain craving, then he can use this plant as a material for sculpting his “sculptures”. It's so nice to look at a bear or a swan. As if carved from a living green bush!
Basic growing rules
Summer residents consider the cultivation of cochia very exciting process. Kochia perennial - light-requiring enough. If there is no place at all under the constant sun on the site, then somewhat darkened areas can be distinguished. The main thing is to periodically sunlight got there too. Otherwise, the kochia plant will lag far behind in development and will not be able to fully please the owner with its living beauty. By the way, in nature, kochia grows in semi-desert areas, which contributes to the peculiarities of its cultivation.
What kind of soil does kochia like? Growing this plant in terms of soil practically does not bring problems. Even forest and poor soil is suitable for her, but she does not tolerate land with a significant acid reaction. Highly moistened soils will also be undesirable, and this quality has also become derived from its natural habitat.
Experienced gardeners also note that kohiya, planting and care of which was carried out in an open area without many close plants in the neighborhood, grows significantly better than that that was planted next to other plants or their fellows. Kochia loves space, because it is freedom that gives her the opportunity to build up a vegetative mass. In the event that it is planted between shrubs or without additional thinning, it begins to bloom ahead of time, and the decorative properties of its flowers are not so highly valued. This can also explain the fact that kochia is practically unsuitable for growing in standard room conditions.
In what period is cochia planted with seeds?
Cochia seeds are usually planted first in small pots. Gardeners note that this plant has an exceptionally high germination rate. No special knowledge is required for planting it in pots for seedlings. It is only important to create conditions - drained semi-dry soil, room temperature and sunlight. Everything else can be done by nature. Seeds should not be deeply covered with earth. The soil should rise above the seeds by a maximum of 1 centimeter. You can even just press the seeds into the soil and then cover them with a special material to help keep the environment moist. Seeds begin to germinate in about a week and the covering material can be removed.
Already from mid-April, plants can be planted in the ground. Kokhiya, which is grown in the conditions of the southern region, can be planted even earlier. In the continental northern climate, frosts should be feared, so the desired time for planting in the ground is May-June.
You can also plant kochia even earlier, at the beginning of winter. To do this, you should wait for stable low temperatures, and then plant the plants in special furrows, which are then covered with a thin layer of soil.
It is also advisable to build a greenhouse or simply cover it with paper, spruce branches or other means, however, if the winter is planned to be snowy, then a few centimeters of fluffy snow will be enough to ensure the life of the seeds for the whole winter.
Seedling
Seedlings are people's favorite way of growing. To do this, kochia is planted at the beginning of spring in greenhouses or special containers that must be filled with a special substrate. These seeds are lightly pressed into moist soil, covered with a material to maintain certain moisture and temperature characteristics, and then they are placed in a bright place. The temperature during germination should be no more than 20 degrees. After the kochia, the planting and care of which will give their results very soon, will show its shoots, the temperature must be lowered to a maximum of 15 degrees.
Care
The main care for a kochia is her haircut. A summer resident can even feel like a real hairdresser, because sometimes she has to cut her hair several times a season. In this case, the secateurs - best tool for the gardener. He can do almost everything with them. If the summer resident likes the natural forms of kochia, then you only need to occasionally pinch the top leaves. This will help the plant to slightly stop its upward growth.
In the process of growing kochia, gardeners may encounter several pests. In particular, the spider mite is very fond of settling on the leaves of kochia. Aphids can also take a fancy to kokhiya lettuce bushes. In this case, it will be necessary to treat the plant with special insecticidal agents, which can be purchased at any store for summer residents. As a rule, after the initial treatment, another one is required, which should be carried out after two weeks.
