When to sow blue-eyed daisy? Master the best sowing time
The blue-eyed daisy (blue-eyed African daisy) is a daisy with white petals and a blue flower disc, suitable for both potted and open-field planting, so when should the blue-eyed daisy be sown?
1. Basic introduction to the blue-eyed daisy
The blue-eyed daisy is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family and the genus Osteospermum, often cultivated as an annual.
The blue-eyed daisy is also called African marigold, African daisy, large-flowered blue-eyed daisy, etc. It is native to South Africa, is not cold-tolerant, and dislikes heat. The suitable temperature is 18°C~26°C, and it likes a sunny environment. It prefers well-drained soil.
The blue-eyed daisy generally grows under 60cm tall. The basal leaves are clustered, and the stem leaves are alternate, oblong to obovate, usually pinnately lobed, entire or with a few serrations, and the leaf surface has white fuzz when young. The flower diameter is about 7.5cm, the ray florets are white with pointed tips and a light purple back, and the disc center is blue-purple. There are single-petaled and double-petaled types. The flowering period is summer and autumn.
2. When should the blue-eyed daisy be sown?
The blue-eyed daisy is generally sown in spring and autumn: the spring sowing time is around March; the autumn sowing time is around September.
The specific sowing method is:
1. Prepare sowing soil, preferably using Cuiyun sowing soil.
2. For sowing fine seeds, the soil is best sifted first, using a common household leaky fruit and vegetable basket. Set the fine soil that falls through aside, and first use the branches and debris removed by screening as a bottom layer, because the bottom of the seedling tray has small finger-sized drainage holes
, and fine soil is easily lost. This is exactly the chance to make use of these large pieces, then add fine soil until the cells are filled.
3. The moisture of the sowing soil should be appropriate, preferably forming a ball when squeezed in the hand and falling apart when the hand is opened.
4. Put the coarse soil left after sifting at the lower part of the seedling tray holes, and put the fine soil on top.
5. Spray water to fully moisten the soil surface. If you have 1# water on hand, you can spray it with a 500-fold dilution, which is beneficial for germination.
After sprouting, ventilation and sunlight are needed, and the soil must not remain constantly wet, otherwise the stems easily wither. When the first summer rain arrived, the blue-eyed daisy also sprouted tender yellow small buds. For large seeds, direct sowing as a single plant is also fine, but mixed sowing of multiple seeds is best.