Peony Planting Time and Care Methods
Friends who love growing flowers are surely very familiar with peonies. Peonies have extremely high ornamental value and are known as “national beauty and heavenly fragrance.” Peonies have always been praised by people of every era, symbolizing prosperity and honor, and are deeply cherished by flower lovers. Today, let us introduce some basic knowledge about growing peonies.
When to plant peonies
The characteristics of peonies are the “four likes and four fears”: they like coolness but fear freezing, like warmth but fear heat, like light but fear shade, and like dryness but fear dampness. Therefore, when planting peonies, choose a spacious, ventilated spot with morning sunlight and fertile, loose soil. Do not plant them in waterlogged areas, damp shady areas, or rubble-filled ground.
When building a raised bed for planting, the size of the bed should be determined by the number and size of the plants, and the height should be determined by the original terrain and the groundwater level at that location. The general height is 50-100 cm, with the base built from stones or bricks and covered with some broken tiles or broken bricks. If the soil is heavy clay, it should be replaced with potting mix. The potting mix is made by mixing 6 parts garden soil, 3 parts leaf mold, and 1 part rice husk ash. After planting peonies, there is no need to water, and certainly do not water with manure water. When winter comes, mounding soil around them is enough to protect against the cold; after spring warms up, pull the mounded soil away to promote growth.
How to grow peonies well
1. Planting: The soil should be loose and fertile, neutral to slightly alkaline. Cut off broken and diseased roots from the peony seedlings to be planted, soak them in insecticide and fungicide, then place them in a pre-prepared pot or hole. The root system should be spread out. Fill with soil to more than half of the pot or hole, lift the seedling gently and shake it, then firm the soil and cover it. The depth should be such that the root crown is slightly below the pot surface or ground level.
2. Watering: After planting, water once thoroughly. Peonies dislike waterlogging, so water as appropriate during the growing season. In arid northern regions, generally water before flowering, after flowering, and before the ground freezes. For potted plants, to make management easier, after flowering you can cut off the faded flowers and bury the whole pot in the ground.
3. Fertilizing: One year after planting, fertilizer can be applied in autumn, mainly well-rotted organic fertilizer. It can be applied together with loosening the soil, by broadcasting, or by hole application. In spring and summer, chemical fertilizers are mostly used, applied together with watering before flowering and after flowering. For potted plants, liquid fertilizer can be applied together with watering.
4. Pruning: In the year of planting, mostly cut back to the base. After spring sprouting, keep about 5 branches and remove the rest to concentrate nutrients so that the flowers are large and brightly colored the next year. In autumn and winter, along with clearing the garden, cut off dried flower stalks, thin weak branches, and non-flowering branches. For potted plants, trim them into the shape you like as needed.
5. Cultivating: During the growing season, cultivate the soil promptly, pull out weeds, and watch for the occurrence of diseases and pests. In autumn and winter, carry out tilling of the soil mounds for peonies more than two years old.
6. Repotting: When potted peonies have grown for three or four years, they need to be repotted in autumn into a larger pot with added fresh fertile soil, or divided and replanted separately.
7. Spraying: Before sprouting in early spring, spray lime sulfur mixture; in summer, use a mixed solution of insecticide and fungicide, once every 2 weeks depending on the condition. Along with fertilizing, it is also suitable to add chemical fertilizers and growth regulators, etc.
How to repot peonies
1. When to repot
If the flower has not grown very large, you can repot it once a year. If it is a relatively large flower, you can replace only half of the soil each year, so it will not be greatly affected and the risk of death is avoided.
2. Choosing a flower pot
It is best to use a relatively deep clay pot for repotting. Choose a suitable pot according to its size. Generally, a pot 30 cm to 40 cm deep with a diameter of 25 cm to 30 cm is best. In addition, we can place relatively hard plastic foam at the bottom of the pot to make the soil more breathable.
3. Preparing the soil
Because its roots are fleshy and relatively well developed, it is very easy for it to die if there is too much water, and if nutrients are insufficient it will grow relatively thin and spindly. You should choose soil that drains well and is relatively fertile and thick. You can prepare it by using ordinary garden soil plus rotted leaves or sandy soil.
4. Handling the plant
Wash its roots, then soak them for half an hour in a disinfecting liquid. It is best to add some rooting powder to the disinfecting liquid. Because its roots are relatively long, you can soak them in a container that allows the roots to spread out. After taking them out, let them dry, then trim the roots. Remove all rotted roots and old roots, keep the newly grown roots and relatively fine roots, and according to the size of the new pot, cut the roots a bit shorter.
5. Moderate watering
After changing to a new pot, place it in a windy, cool area. The branches and leaves also need appropriate pruning; diseased branches and thin, spindly branches also need to be cut off. Keep 4-6 branches on each plant. After repotting, water it thoroughly. Generally, water it when the surface soil turns slightly white. Do not splash too much water.
6. Reasonable fertilizing
After changing it to a new pot, you should give it one application of fertilizer to help it recover better. In daily care, starting from early May, give it one application of animal manure or cake fertilizer each month, and during rain, sprinkle ferrous sulfate once or twice.
Points to note when growing peonies
1. Do not shade during the flowering period
During the full bloom period of peonies, it is not appropriate not to provide shade. During this period, if shade is not provided appropriately and they are exposed to the sun, the flowering period of the peonies will be greatly shortened, and the blooming flowers will also lose their luster, which reduces the ornamental value of the peonies.
2. Moving them outdoors too early in spring
In spring, peonies should not be moved outdoors too early. In spring, although the temperature has slowly begun to rise, low-temperature weather can still occur sometimes. The normal flowering time of peonies is from April to May, depending on the temperature during care. If peonies are moved outdoors too early, once they encounter low temperatures, their flower buds will stop growing or even fall off, and severe cases may cause the plant to wither and die.
3. Waterlogged soil
Peonies themselves have fleshy roots and are relatively afraid of waterlogging. When growing peonies, if too much watering occurs, it is easy to cause root rot, affecting the plant's growth and flowering. When watering peonies, be sure to do so at the right time and in the right amount, keeping the soil only slightly moist. During the rainy season, strengthen drainage.
4. Improper pruning
Reasonable pruning is an essential process for peonies to bloom. Improper pruning will cause peony flowers to be small, dull in color, and even deformed. When pruning peonies, the terminal buds and flower buds should be cut off, side buds should be kept, and after the flowers fade, the faded flowers should be cut off to avoid consuming nutrients.
When people grow a kind of flower, they hope the plant can go healthily from sowing to the end of its flowering period. Although this situation is not very difficult to achieve, peonies are considered one of the more delicate plants, so during the care process they need even more attention from flower lovers.