Cosmos: Growing Methods for Potted Plants on a Home Balcony and Germination Time
Cosmos is a flower with very vigorous vitality. It loves sunlight and is not afraid of harsh environments, so it can often be seen in places like Tibet where natural conditions are not very favorable. Although cosmos has very strong environmental adaptability, mastering some planting techniques can help cosmos live better.
Growing Methods for Cosmos Potted Plants on a Home Balcony
1. Light
Cosmos is robust and loves sunlight, and can be grown under short-day conditions. Note that cosmos is not strict about soil requirements; if it is transplanted into fertile soil and the light is not strong, the plant will very easily grow leggy.
2. Water and Fertilizer Management
Watering: Cosmos loves water. During drought it can be watered 2-3 times a day, and normally once every 1-2 days. But avoid waterlogging in the pot.
Fertilizing: If base fertilizer is applied when potting, then no further fertilizing is needed during the growing period; if the soil is too fertile, the branches and leaves tend to grow leggy and flowering decreases. Alternatively, during the growing period apply diluted decomposed urine mixed with 5 times water once every 10 days.
3. Propagation Methods
Sowing: Cosmos is sown in March-April. Transplant when the seedlings have 4-5 true leaves, and pinch off the growing tips; thinning can also be done after direct sowing.
Cuttings: In summer, softwood cuttings root at a high rate. Do this in May; select thick terminal shoots and cut a section 8 cm to 10 cm long as the cutting, insert 3 to 5 stems per clump in a flower pot, and the pot should be buried in the soil with 4 cm to 5 cm exposed above ground, then water and shade it; roots will form after half a month. After rooting, apply a thin fertilizer solution once every 15 days, and when it grows to 15 cm, pinch off the terminal bud again to encourage more branching. If fertilizer and water are controlled properly, flowers can be seen in about 45 days.
How Many Days for Cosmos to Germinate
Cosmos takes about 5-6 days from sowing to germination.
The Relationship Between Cosmos and Gesang Flowers
1. Cosmos Morphology
Cosmos is an annual herbaceous plant with slender upright stems, many branches, and smooth stems or stems with fine hairs. The single leaves are opposite, about 10cm long, bipinnately parted, with narrow linear lobes and entire margins without teeth. The flower heads are borne on slender pedicels, terminal or axillary, with flower stems 5-8cm. The involucre has 2 layers, with the inner layer having membranous edges. There is 1 whorl of ligulate flowers, with petal tips toothed, 8 petals, in white, pink, and deep red. The tubular flowers occupying the central part of the flower disk are all yellow. The achenes have ribs, seed life is 3-4 years, and the 1000-seed weight is 6g. The flowering period is summer to autumn, and the seeds are crescent-shaped.
Horticultural varieties include white cosmos, large-flowered cosmos, and purple-red cosmos. Horticultural cultivars are divided into two major systems, early-flowering and late-flowering, and there are also single and double forms.
2. Gesang Flower Science Time
Gesang flower, also called Gesang Meiduo, has broad controversy over exactly which plant it is. In Tibetan, "Gesang" means "good times" or "happiness", and "Meiduo" means flower, so the Gesang flower is also called the flower of happiness, and for a long time it has carried the Tibetan people's beautiful feelings of longing for happiness and good fortune.
According to relevant literature research and interviews with key figures, the cosmos that is regarded as the Gesang flower in a large number of Tibetan films, songs, and Tibetan journals and magazines is not the real Gesang flower.
In a broad sense, "Gesang Meiduo" is very likely a synonym for the wildflower with the strongest vitality on the plateau, while in terms of botanical characteristics, plants of the Aster genus in the Asteraceae family and the commonly cultivated China aster from Lhasa to Qamdo both match the characteristics of the Gesang flower.
3. Sorting Out the Difference Between Cosmos and Gesang Flowers
In Tibet, people often use the Gesang flower to express and give voice to beautiful emotions, and many songs and stories praising the Gesang flower have been passed down. The Gesang flower holds a very high place in the hearts of the Tibetan people and is regarded by Tibetan people as a holy flower symbolizing love and good fortune.
Several plants called Gesang flowers by the people of Tibetan areas: cosmos, China aster, alpine rhododendron, shrubby cinquefoil, etc.
In other words, cosmos can be a Gesang flower, but Gesang flowers include many kinds of plants. People often attach beautiful wishes to flowers, so this Gesang flower can be a chrysanthemum by the roadside, or it can be shrubby cinquefoil.
The Language of Cosmos Flowers: Cherish the One Before You
Cosmos comes in various colors: white for purity, red for tenderness, pink for brilliance, rich and varied, like countless young maidens whose skirts sway in the breeze.
A warm and bright graceful maiden is worth everyone's gentle treatment. The world is never lacking in beauty, only in eyes that discover it.
When we set our gaze far away, of course we can only see a blurry, hazy scene; it is better to draw our gaze back and look at what is beside us. The scenery before our eyes is the most beautiful scenery.
Cosmos is often called the Gesang flower by people, but actually Gesang flower has a very broad meaning; it does not refer to a single kind of flower, but is a large collection of many different flowers. So when we look at Gesang flowers and cosmos, we should not be too narrow.