How to grow lobelia? The latest planting techniques and methods tutorial
Lobelia is a perennial herb in the genus Lobelia of the Campanulaceae family. The whole plant can be used as medicine, with effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting diuresis and reducing swelling, and it has extremely high medicinal value. In addition, its flowers are peculiar, and it is often grown as a potted plant, so how should it be planted? Let's take a look below.
1. Site selection
Lobelia likes moist environments, is cold-tolerant and drought-tolerant, can overwinter naturally in the field, and often grows wild in moist places such as field ridges, grasslands, and stream banks. Therefore, when planting, choose such an environment, preferably loose sandy soil with good drainage. Before planting, clean up the weeds and residual plant debris in the plot, then deep plow, harrow finely, apply base fertilizer, and prepare for planting.
2. Propagation
Lobelia can be propagated by three methods: seed propagation, cutting propagation, and division propagation. In production, division propagation is the main method. If the planting scale is large, cutting propagation can also be used. For division propagation, in spring from April to May, after the plant's new shoots grow out, divide it into 4-5 small plants according to the size of the plant, then open furrows and plant at a spacing of 10×25cm or 6×15cm. For cutting propagation, choose the high-temperature period in summer, cut off the stems and branches of robustly growing plants, insert them into the soil, keep the soil moist, and control the temperature between 25-30 degrees. After about 7-10 days, they will take root and survive, and then be transplanted the following year.
3. Field management
During the seedling stage of the plant, do a good job of loosening the soil and weeding, and weed in time to avoid affecting seedling growth. Loosening the soil can benefit seedling root growth. When weeding, try to do it manually and use fewer herbicides to avoid phytotoxicity to the seedlings. When weeding, also apply fertilizer once to promote seedling growth. After harvesting in summer, also apply a topdressing of ammonium sulfate and urea once, and in winter apply decomposed fertilizer or compost. In dry conditions, water in time to keep the soil moist. With each fertilization, water appropriately to speed up fertilizer absorption.
4. Pests and diseases
The main diseases of lobelia are Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium, Pythium, etc., and the insect pests include aphids, thrips, whiteflies, etc. Their prevention and control work should be done well. In addition to pest and disease control, the plant is also prone to lodging, which in most cases is caused by damping-off disease. Pay attention to soil moisture to avoid the stems remaining moist for a long time. Increase ventilation and regularly spray fungicides.
The above are the planting techniques for lobelia. We hope they can help you. To learn more planting knowledge, please stay tuned to us.