What are the planting methods and precautions for Cleome hassleriana (spider flower)

Cleome hassleriana, many people do not know about it, but those who first hear of Cleome hassleriana can imagine that it is a particularly beautiful and gorgeous flower. In fact, Cleome hassleriana is indeed beautiful and eye-catching, and it can also attract bees and butterflies; you can always see butterflies and bees around Cleome hassleriana, making people yearn for it. So do you know how to plant Cleome hassleriana?

How to plant Cleome hassleriana

1. First, prepare the soil for sowing. This plant does not need particularly special soil, but it is best to prepare some sandy soil with good drainage that contains humus. Because apart from poor growth in alkaline soil, this plant can grow healthily in either sandy soil or clay soil, and it grows most healthily especially in slightly acidic sandy soil. If you want to mix the soil yourself, you can mix leaf mold and vegetable garden soil in equal parts and blend them evenly as the soil for sowing and cultivation.

2. After the soil is prepared, it should be disinfected. Doing this can prevent diseases and insects from attacking the seeds or seedlings. The best way to disinfect is to put the soil in a pot and heat it while stirring, killing diseases and insects with high temperature.

3. Next, in order to improve the success rate of seed germination, we can first promote sprouting. Soak the seeds in water at about 25°C to 30°C for 3 to 10 hours, until the seeds swell because they have absorbed enough water, then they can be taken out.

4. Some seeds are relatively difficult to pick up by hand, so we can prepare toothpicks, moisten one end of a toothpick with water, stick up the seeds and place them on the prepared cultivation soil layer. They should be separated one by one, then cover them with a 1 cm thick layer of soil. Then place the sown flowerpot in water, with the soaking depth reaching about one-half or two-thirds of the height of the flowerpot, so that the water slowly rises.

5. For larger seeds that can be picked up by hand, they can be placed directly on the soil layer, and the spacing between seeds should reach a range of 3x3 cm. After sowing, cover them with a layer of soil, with a thickness of about 2 to 3 times the volume of the seeds. After sowing, the soil layer can be moistened with water, and then water can be given after the soil in the pot looks slightly dry.

Planting methods and precautions for Cleome hassleriana

1. Soil

Cleome hassleriana is a plant that is easy to care for and does not need special soil. It is best to use sandy soil with good drainage that contains humus. Cleome hassleriana has a relatively developed root system, so it is better to use a slightly deeper and larger pot, preferably with a pot diameter of 20 cm to 30 cm.

Apart from poor growth in alkaline soil, it can grow in sandy soil and clay soil, and grows best in slightly acidic sandy loam. You can use equal parts of leaf mold and vegetable garden soil mixed together as the growing medium. It requires loose soil with good drainage.

2. Light and temperature

It likes sunlight and warmth, tolerates heat, slightly tolerates half shade, and is not cold tolerant. Summer is the growing season, and the plant dies when it encounters frost. The suitable temperature for growth is 20-32°C.

3. Water and fertilizer management

Watering: It can tolerate drought, but grows better when given relatively high air humidity. In midsummer, water every day and water thoroughly. It likes relatively high air humidity; if the air humidity is too low, the single flowers will fade faster. It is also afraid of rain, and the leaves need to be kept dry at night. The most suitable relative air humidity is 65-75%.

Fertilizing: Like other herbaceous flowers, Cleome hassleriana has a relatively high demand for fertilizer and water, but it requires following the fertilizing (watering) principle of “light fertilizer applied frequently, small amounts with more applications, complete nutrition”, and after fertilizing, the leaves and flowers should be kept dry at night. For potted cultivation, during the bud stage, apply 2-3 times of diluted compound liquid fertilizer, and it can bloom during the Spring Festival period.

Precautions for Cleome hassleriana

1. Potting or transplanting

When potting small seedlings, first place a 2-2 cm thick layer of coarse-grained substrate or ceramsite at the bottom of the pot as a drainage layer, sprinkle a layer of fully decomposed organic fertilizer on top as base fertilizer, with a thickness of about 1-2 cm, then cover with another layer of substrate, about 1-2 cm thick, and then place the plant in, so as to separate the fertilizer from the root system and avoid burning the roots. After potting, water once thoroughly and keep it in a slightly shaded environment for one week of care.

2. Pinching

Before flowering, generally pinch twice to encourage more flowering branches to sprout: one to two weeks after potting, or when the seedling is 6-10 cm tall and has six or more leaves, remove the top shoot and keep the lower 3-4 leaves to encourage branching.

Three to five weeks after the first pinching, or when the side branches grow to 6-8 cm long, carry out the second pinching, that is, remove the top shoots of the side branches and keep the lower 4 leaves of the side branches. After two pinchings, the plant shape will be more ideal and the number of flowers will also be greater. When planting in flower beds, faded flowers should be removed in time so that they do not set seed, thereby prolonging the flowering period.

When to sow Cleome hassleriana

The growth pattern of Cleome hassleriana is similar to that of ordinary crops: sown in spring and harvested in autumn. Therefore, sowing is of course chosen in spring, when all things revive.

When the seeds germinate, the temperature needs to be above 20°C. In early spring, they need to be sown with insulation in a plastic tunnel before they can germinate uniformly. If the temperature is suitable, they can germinate about 1 week after sowing. Gardeners in the north can appropriately delay the sowing time, because spring in the north always arrives quite late.

In summary, I believe everyone has gained some understanding of the cultivation methods of Cleome hassleriana. In fact, Cleome hassleriana not only has extremely high ornamental value, but can also be eaten! Moreover, it tastes especially good, contains rich nutrients, and also has good therapeutic effects on some diseases!