One of the most popular and well-known summer fragrant plants is fragrant tobacco. It belongs to the Solanaceae family and was introduced back in the 15th century by the famous traveler and discoverer Christopher Columbus. Today, tobacco is grown not only for smoking, but also as an ornamental garden flower.
The plant lives only one season, but true amateur gardeners give great preference to such a flower as Growing from seeds will not cause much trouble even to the most inexperienced gardener.
A flower is sown in spring: in March or April, in greenhouse conditions or at home. The plant is very thermophilic, in principle, like any summer. Prefers light and fertilized soils. However, if you are faced with the fact that there is clay soil in the garden, then for good growth it is necessary to dig and fertilize it abundantly. Fragrant tobacco seeds are quite small: from one gram of seeds, you can get up to five thousand such flowers as fragrant tobacco. Growing from seeds must begin by pressing them into the ground. It is not advised to sprinkle with earth on top, since the seeds themselves are very small. Sowing must be covered with polyethylene or glass. On the fifteenth day, flower shoots appear, after which the temperature in the room should be slightly reduced. When leaves appear, fragrant tobacco, the cultivation of which is not a particularly difficult process, must be transplanted into separate pots for each flower.
By the time the seedlings become stronger, the flower must begin to harden in the fresh air. With the onset of consistently warm summer weather, the plant must be transplanted into outdoor soil. Flower bushes are located at least twenty centimeters from each other. They also need to provide moderate watering. Do not overdo it with water, as an excess of moisture does not like fragrant tobacco. Growing from seeds is not the only way to reproduce. The flower can also reproduce by self-sowing. However, the flowering of such a plant will begin only in the second half of the summer season.
In cases where it is necessary to preserve a flower, before the onset of cold weather, it is necessary to transplant into a pot and bring fragrant tobacco into the heat. Growing from seeds requires certain knowledge. So, you need to remember that the flower tolerates a lack of heat, light or moisture, as well as
small drops in temperature. The plant is a phytoncide - this means that some types of pests are not afraid of it.
A few bushes of a well-developed plant can fill a whole garden with a pleasant aroma. Especially fragrant tobacco in the evening. Having a couple of bushes, for example, on your balcony, you will be provided with abundant flowering until late autumn.
The most common are white tobacco flowers. During the day, the flower is closed and almost odorless. However, hybrids with pink or red flowers are now often found. The smell of such flowers is no less pleasant and will fill your garden with a strong honey aroma even in the daytime.
If you are attracted to fragrance and Amazing beauty fragrant tobacco, then you should familiarize yourself with how to grow it on your own suburban area. This plant will decorate any flower bed. Currently, in stores you can find various hybrids of fragrant tobacco, which differ in color, shape and aroma.
Cultivation of fragrant tobacco
Now this plant is mainly found in European flower beds. Fragrant tobacco has become an adornment of any summer garden. The plant was first introduced by Columbus in 1492.
The plant belongs to the annual family. America is the birthplace of tobacco. The plant is distinguished by its aroma, in which spicy notes are felt. The buds look like five-pointed stars. Some representatives of the flora bloom and smell fragrant only in the evening.
Landing
Fragrant tobacco grows well in light and fertilized soils. An ideal piece of land that is well lit sunlight. If only clay soil is found on the site, then before planting it must be fertilized with compost and humus.
Reproduction occurs due to small and round seeds. Flowers tolerate various transplants and weather anomalies well.
How to plant seedlings
Many summer residents plant all plants in open ground with seedlings. Fragrant tobacco is no exception. The ideal time for planting seeds is the horses of March early April. It is worth remembering that tobacco seeds are small, so you should not bury them deep in the ground. To increase seedlings, seeds can be processed.
To do this, do the following:
- wrap the seeds in gauze;
- fill with warm water.
You can plant the seed when it is completely swollen. The main thing is not to wait until the seeds have already hatched.
For planting, you can use ready-made soil mixtures, which are sold in specialized stores. If there is a desire, then the earth is easy to prepare yourself. For this you need to prepare:
- land from your site;
- peat;
- humus.
All ingredients are added in equal proportions. Do not forget that garden soil must be disinfected. The easiest way is to shed it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and let it dry completely.
After the seeds have been planted, it is necessary to close all the containers with a film in order to form a greenhouse effect. The first shoots should appear in 2-3 weeks. After that, the film is removed so that fresh air enters the plants. Seedlings should be watered as needed.
Basic seedling care
At the stage of two true leaves, all seedlings must be dived. It is necessary to do this in separate containers. In order for the seedlings to take root well, it can be hardened off.
Planting seedlings in open ground
Transplantation to a flower bed is carried out when all frosts have passed. The best time for this is May. Fragrant tobacco is planted at a distance of 20 cm from each other.
The flower bed on which the seedlings are planned to be planted must be prepared. To do this, they dig up the whole earth with manure or any other organic fertilizer. For 1 square meter consumes approximately 5 kg of manure. We make small holes. We add superphosphate to each of them. After transplanting, all seedlings are watered.
Basic Care for Fragrant Tobacco
In order for the plant to please the eye, it is necessary to carry out a number of caring procedures:
- Watering. It is enough to moisten the earth once a week. If the summer is dry, then the procedure must be repeated.
- Fertilizer. It is enough to feed the plants twice during the whole season. Fragrant tobacco is fertilized for the first time when buds form in it, the second - during the flowering period. To do this, you can use complex fertilizers for flowering plants.
- Soil loosening. After each watering, after about 1-2 days, it is necessary to loosen the ground. Carry out the procedure so that oxygen enters the roots. It is necessary to carry out loosening after rain.
- Treatment. Fragrant tobacco refers to those plants that are resistant to various infections and pests. Since this plant is a class of phytoncides, all ill-wishers bypass it. Many gardeners plant tobacco near orchards and other plants that need to be protected.
Helpful Hints
In order for tobacco growing to be successful, it is worth studying a few growing recommendations:
- If you want to continue caring for the plant during the onset of cold weather, then the tobacco bush must be transplanted into a pot and brought into the house.
- Care for your home tobacco in the same way. The first flowering falls on the period after the New Year holidays.
- Remove any wilted buds promptly.
- If proper and timely care is carried out, then one bush can be grown for about 10 years.
Fragrant tobacco - an annual with a pronounced sweet aroma, being planted by a group, it can become a real decoration of a flower bed, rockery or Alpine slide. Because the given flower differs in thermophilicity, it should be planted in the flower beds in the form of seedlings. The rules for planting fragrant tobacco in a greenhouse, the features of caring for seedlings and adult plants will be discussed in this article and in the photo.
Fragrant tobacco - a modest flower with a heady aroma
Fragrant tobacco or winged tobacco is an annual herbaceous flowering plant, 40-150 cm high. It owes its popularity with flower growers primarily to its amazing aroma, which intensifies with the onset of darkness.
Fragrant tobacco is a very popular plant among gardeners.
Attention! Brightly colored flowers - red, purple-red, carmine or burgundy, are found only in hybrid forms of sander tobacco that do not have aroma. Such flowers do not close during the day, unlike fragrant varieties, but differ in bright and long flowering.
The stem of the plant is covered with hairs that secrete a fragrant, sticky substance. The flowers of fragrant tobacco are collected in inflorescences, the buds themselves can reach 8 cm in diameter, shaped like stars on a long tube. Since most of the existing varieties, the flowers open in the evening, the color of the buds is pastel:
- white;
- pink;
- lilac;
- light green;
- yellow.
The classification of fragrant tobacco varieties distinguishes undersized - 40-80 cm and tall forms - 90-150 cm.
To popular undersized varieties relate:
- "Green Light", blooming with pale light green inflorescences;
- "Winged" - has a strong aroma and different shades inflorescences;
- "Night bonfire", blooming with bright red buds.
Among the best tall varieties stand out:
- "Ringing Bell" - a hybrid form with red, profusely flowering buds;
- Aroma Green - unusual shape fragrant tobacco with green bell-shaped flowers;
- "Delight" - characterized by rapid growth, long flowering and abundant branching;
- "Maju-Noir" blooms with snow-white inflorescences. Feature varieties - rich exotic aroma;
- "Dolce Vita" is a large-flowered hybrid, distinguished by a variety of bud colors.
Choosing fragrant tobacco for landscaping arbors, balconies, verandas, it is easy to create beautiful mixed flower beds or spectacular blooming mono groups.
How to grow fragrant tobacco seedlings
Fragrant tobacco, like all annuals, is perfectly propagated by seeds. The seeds of the plant are small, spherical. To achieve early flowering, fragrant tobacco is grown by seedlings.
For getting flower seedling, seeds are sown from February to April in a greenhouse. As a substrate for growing fragrant tobacco, it is recommended to use a soil mixture consisting of equal parts of earth, peat and humus, with the addition of a small amount of sand. Since tobacco seeds are very small, they are sown superficially, without embedding them in the ground, moistened from above with a sprayer and covered with a film or glass. Seedlings appear on the 10-14th day.
Fragrant tobacco shoots appear 10-14 days after planting
Attention! Before germination, it is necessary to keep the temperature in the greenhouse at the level of 21-23°C and then reduce it to + 16°C and maintain it at this level for about a week. This technique avoids pulling seedlings. To maintain the required soil moisture, crops should be moistened every other day with a sprayer.
In separate cups produced in phase 2 true leaflets. 10 days after picking, it is recommended to feed the seedlings with a solution of azofoska, kemira or other complex fertilizer. Re-feeding is carried out after 2 weeks.
Fragrant tobacco seedlings easily tolerate transplantation. The optimal time for planting tobacco seedlings in open ground depends on climatic conditions: in the southern regions, fragrant tobacco is planted in early May, in middle lane and to the north - in early June. The recommended interval between the bushes depends on the varietal characteristics and is 25-50 cm.
Advice! In the southern regions of the country, bypassing the stage of growing fragrant tobacco seedlings in a greenhouse, you can directly sow its seeds into the ground. It also reproduces well by self-sowing, but such plants bloom much later.
Fragrant tobacco from an annual is not difficult to make a perennial. To do this, adult plants in the fall should be dug up and transferred to. Transplanted bushes should be cut to 1/3 and watered periodically. With the onset of spring heat, the bushes can again be planted in open ground.
Growing conditions and care features
Fragrant tobacco belongs to the category of unpretentious care plants. It tolerates fluctuations in temperature, lack of moisture and slight shading. Tobacco blooms from July, until the very frosts, steadfastly enduring the first short periods of cold snap.
- Any loose and rich in humus soil.
- Periodic weeding.
- Regular watering. Especially compliance with the watering regime is important during dry periods.
- Monthly deposit complex dressings. For getting abundant flowering use phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, hobby, leads to the formation of green mass and lack of flowering.
- Pinching bushes to improve bushiness.
- Cleaning of faded inflorescences.
- Carrying out anti-aging pruning after the first wave of flowering.
The advantages of fragrant tobacco include a certain resistance to fungal diseases and damage by insect pests. The only danger to scented tobacco is downy mildew or powdery mildew, a disease that causes premature death of foliage.
Observance of not false growing conditions will allow you to fully enjoy the divine aroma of this modest but sweet flower, using it in mixed and mono plantings.
Growing fragrant tobacco - video
Fragrant tobacco - photo
When growing fragrant tobacco flowers, be prepared for the fact that during daylight hours you will not be able to admire their modest beauty, since these plants bloom only with the onset of evening. But on the other hand, in the dark, you can fully enjoy the smell of fragrant tobacco - it is so strong and pleasant that it fills the entire garden and its surroundings with a magical fragrance.
Description of fragrant tobacco and photos of flowers
The strong aroma emitted in the evenings has made this plant a favorite of many gardeners. Even though the description of fragrant tobacco is not particularly sophisticated, and its flowers are not so elegant, and besides, they close during the day, this culture is very loved by the people.
This is with a straight thin branched stem up to 80 cm high. The leaves are large, basal - rounded, stem - elongated.
Pay attention to the photo - the flowers of fragrant tobacco are regular, non-double, single:
The shape of the flower is star-shaped with a long tube, the diameter of the flower is from 6 to 8 cm.
The color of the main species is white, but there are varieties with greenish, yellow, pink, purple-red and red colors. Red color is typical for tobacco hybrids, the flowers of which do not close for a day, but also have no smell.
When growing fragrant tobacco from seeds, remember that this plant is thermophilic, shade-tolerant and moisture-loving, it does not tolerate spring frosts, and autumn colds down to -4 ° C do not cause significant harm to plants. Tobacco blooms from mid-June to late autumn.
How to grow fragrant tobacco: planting in the ground and care
How to grow fragrant tobacco on garden plots? Under this plant, well-fertilized light soil is taken away and plants are watered abundantly. Semi-shady places are most suitable, as in the sun its flowers droop and close.
The flower is propagated by sowing seeds for seedlings. It is possible to plant fragrant tobacco in open ground immediately on permanent place. The plant also reproduces by self-sowing.
Tobacco tolerates transplanting well even in a flowering state.
Planted for seedlings in March, and in the ground - at the end of April. Shoots appear in 10-12 days. Tobacco seeds are very small (up to 8000 pieces in 1 g), therefore, before sowing, they are mixed with sand and not covered with earth.
They are planted in a permanent place in May, when the threat of frost has passed, at a distance of 15-40 cm, depending on the height of the variety. Seedlings and young plants are watered regularly, flowering plants do not require frequent watering. Seeds ripen in August-September, they easily spill out of the boxes.
Soaking the seeds of flower crops is well combined with heating. To do this, snow water is heated to 50 °, seeds are poured into it and left until the water cools down. Then they are dried, and the crops are watered with melt water heated to 25 °.
Flowers grown in this way take root well in open field, grow faster, bloom more abundantly and are more resistant to disease.
How fragrant plant tobacco is planted near arbors, verandas, on balconies and loggias. Low varieties, the flowers of which do not close during the day, look good in discounts, mixborders and how potted plants. Tall varieties are used in the garden when creating groups and in single plantings. Suitable tobacco for cutting.
When planting and caring for fragrant tobacco, do not forget to protect plants from diseases. The greatest danger is posed by downy mildew (peronosporosis), which causes premature death of leaves and loss of decorative plants.
The best varieties of fragrant tobacco
The best varieties of fragrant tobacco undersized (45-70 cm):
"Green light"- with flowers of pale salad color.
"Winged"- mixture of colors, strong evening aroma.
"Night bonfire"- dazzling bright red color, opens in the evening and in the afternoon in cloudy weather.
Tall varieties (90-150 cm):
"Ringing Bell" F1- a hybrid, elegant red bell flowers completely cover the plant from June to October.
"Aroma Green"- original tall, sprawling plants with unusual green fragrant bell flowers.
"Pleasure". A new interspecific hybrid, which is characterized by high resistance to diseases. Great for landscape gardening: plants are tall, fast growing, with abundant branching. Covered in an incredible amount of flowers all season long!
"Maju Noir"- has the most intense and exotic aroma, flowers-bells of snow-white color.
Dolce Vita F1- large, fragrant flowers of this tobacco are open all day, have a stunning variety of colors.
How you want to fill the garden not only with beautiful colors, but also with aromas. Fragrant tobacco is ideal for this purpose. This plant from the nightshade family was brought along with potatoes and tomatoes from America and, of course, it is thermophilic. In our climate, it is an annual that blooms from June to autumn frosts.
Most often, fragrant tobacco comes in white and purple colors. And these flowers are the most fragrant. Now many varieties and hybrids of this amazing plant. Therefore, you can find a wide variety of colors. But not all of them are suitable for collecting seeds. Usually this plant is tall (60 cm - 1.5 m), but there are also dwarf varieties (30-40 cm). You can find views that almost do not close the whole day. But usually this plant is nocturnal. Fragrant tobacco is a powerful natural phytoncide (with its smell, it scares away many pests not only from itself, but also from neighbors). Therefore, it is very useful to plant it under trees and near fruit bushes. He looks very nice both on his own and in groups.
Fragrant tobacco: photo
How to grow a miracle flower?
Fragrant tobacco is very easy to grow from seeds. Therefore, this is the main way of cultivating flowers at home. Tobacco can be grown in seedlings and seedlings, self-sowing, it can also bloom in the southern regions. Seedlings are used for abundant and early flowering.
How to grow seedlings of fragrant tobacco on your own?
If you have the opportunity to provide the necessary light and heat regime, grow the bushes yourself, starting from the last week of February and until April. Consider the sequence of work.
- Land preparation for sowing. You can buy ready-made light soil for indoor flowers. But it is allowed to mix sand, compost and earth from the garden in equal proportions. After thorough mixing, warm the soil in the house for a day.
- Sowing and first shoots. Tobacco seeds are very small, so they are not immersed in the ground, but only pressed a little and sprinkled with water. Cover with a piece of oilcloth or glass. Shoots appear after 10-14 days. Now you need to make sure that they do not stretch out. Therefore, we reduce the temperature to 17-18 degrees and provide 10 hours of daylight. And so on until the first 2 true leaves appear.
- Picking and preparing for planting . With the advent of 2-4 true leaves, the seedlings are ready for picking. That is, you need to plant each seedling in a separate container, pinching a little thin root. It is important to keep the soil moist, and after 1.5 - 2 weeks, you can fertilize the plants and start hardening them - open the window or take them out to the balcony.
Little care and lots of fun
Fragrant tobacco (planting and caring for it) will not take much of your time. When planting, you need to remember that it is better to choose sunny areas, but partial shade is also suitable. In the shade, he tends to stretch out. Fragrant tobacco has wide growing leaves, so you need to maintain a distance of 30-40 cm between the bushes. The earth should be fluffed up.
Care consists in watering, loosening the soil after each flowering, harvesting faded buds and pinching on 3-4 leaves, which will give 4-5 flowering branches instead of 2-3. You can also fertilize the plants every 2 weeks. organic fertilizers. This will help to keep flowering until the first frost.
But even in winter you can arrange a garden in a pot on the windowsill. To do this, cut the bush by 2/3 and shorten the root. Transplant to a pot and cover with a bag (remember to ventilate!) and limit watering. After some time, fragrant tobacco will grow and bloom in winter. You can also choose dwarf varieties and plant seedlings immediately in pots. When the cold weather comes, just bring them into the house in a cool, well-lit place without drafts.
