A Detailed Guide to the Planting, Propagation Methods and Cultivation Techniques of New York Aster
New York aster (Aster novi-belgii) is a perennial herbaceous plant with clustered stems and red, light blue to white flowers. It blooms profusely with vivid colors and has strong adaptability. It is native to North America and is widely used in China. New York aster was previously mostly cultivated as a potted flower. In recent years, the author has combined it with color-band plants in parks, used it in the foreground of flower borders, and planted it beside garden paths and at the outer edges of lawns as a supplement to floral displays during the National Day period, accumulating several points of experience in field planting.
Rapid propagation technique: New York aster can be propagated by sowing, cuttings, or division. After sowing or cuttings survive, they either need thinning or transplanting, which is relatively labor-intensive. The author uses the division method, which can both renew the original patch of New York aster and allow newly planted seedlings to quickly form a display. The specific steps are as follows:
1. Land preparation: Apply organic fertilizer or compound fertilizer as base fertilizer, and rotary till to a depth of 20 cm to 30 cm.
2. Division and planting: In mid-April, when New York aster has grown about 10 cm above the ground, use a shovel to cut out the tillers with roots and divide them into individual plants for planting. Each plant must be ensured to have roots. The plant spacing and row spacing is 15 cm × 15 cm. After planting, water thoroughly. Planting in the afternoon is more conducive to seedling recovery. During the recovery period, keep the soil moist, following the principle of drying out between waterings. This method can propagate a large number of plants with an extremely high survival rate.
The natural flowering period of New York aster is from August to October, with the full-bloom period lasting 7 to 8 days. Mastering the timing of the last pruning is the key to controlling the full-bloom period. Based on repeated practice over several years, the author believes that the last pruning should be done around August 20. When pruning, pay attention to the consistency of the overall height. At the edges, the crown width of New York aster can reach 40 cm.
Field-planted New York aster in parks requires relatively extensive management, has low landscaping costs, and achieves good results, making it an incomparable advantage over potted display flowers. Planted in masses in park green spaces, whether in arc-shaped or semicircular formations, it has considerable visual impact.
New York Aster Aster novi-belgii: New York Aster Illustrated Guide: How to Grow New York Aster / How to Propagate New York Aster
New York Aster ProfileNew York Aster Aster novi-belgii
Cultivation Methods and Precautions for New York Aster: An Introduction to New York Aster
New York aster is also known as New York purple aster. It is a perennial herbaceous flower of the Asteraceae family, Aster genus. It has many fibrous roots and underground stolons. The stems are clustered and much branched, 60 cm to 100 cm tall. The leaves are linear-lanceolate, smooth, and slightly purple when young. It forms umbel-like inflorescences at the branch tips, with blue-purple flowers, and the flowering period is October. New York aster is a perennial herb. The plant height is 50-100 cm. The leaves are elliptical, with solitary flower heads, blue in color.
Morphological Characteristics of New York Aster
New York aster has many fibrous roots and underground stolons. The stems are clustered and much branched, 60 cm to 100 cm tall. The leaves are linear-lanceolate, smooth, and slightly purple when young. It forms umbel-like inflorescences at the branch tips, with blue-purple flowers, and the flowering period is October. New York aster is a perennial herb. The plant height is 50-100 cm. The leaves are elliptical, with solitary flower heads, blue in color. New York aster is a perennial herbaceous flower of the Asteraceae family, with blue-purple or rose-red flowers, and a flowering period from August to October.
New York aster has luxuriant branches and leaves. When plant density is high and ventilation is poor, especially when humidity at the lower part of the plant is excessive, it is susceptible to powdery mildew. It should be promptly sprayed with 25% triadimefon wettable powder at 2000 times dilution or 20% triadimefon emulsion at 4000 times dilution for control.
New York aster blooms profusely with vivid colors and has strong adaptability, especially the introduced new varieties of New York aster, which have relatively shorter plants.
Ecological Habits of New York Aster
New York aster prefers sunny and well-ventilated environments and has strong adaptability. It likes moisture but is drought-tolerant, cold-tolerant, and tolerant of poor soil. It is not demanding about soil and is suitable for growing in fertile and loose sandy soil. Although New York aster is drought-tolerant and tolerant of poor soil, to make the plants luxuriant and the flowers abundant, it is necessary to maintain soil moisture and nutrient supply, but care should be taken to avoid excessive fertilizer and water to prevent leggy growth. As a perennial herbaceous plant, it can overwinter outdoors in Northeast China.
Cultivation Techniques of New York Aster
New York aster has densely arranged flower heads, with a flowering period from August to September. The flower colors include blue, purple, red, white, etc. It is commonly propagated by sowing, cuttings, and division. For sowing, sow in spring in April, and germination occurs 12-14 days after sowing, but superior varieties tend to degenerate. Cuttings are carried out in spring and summer, cutting young stems as cuttings. Rooting occurs 18-20 days after insertion. Division can be carried out in spring or autumn, generally once every 3 years. To make the plants full in shape and the flowers abundant and colorful, attention should be paid during cultivation to:
1. Timely pruning and pinching. New York aster is a pruning-tolerant plant. Pinching and pruning can promote dense flowering.
2. Fertilizing and watering. Apply sufficient base fertilizer before planting. During the growing season, apply diluted cake fertilizer once every 2 weeks to promote vigorous growth. At the same time, water as appropriate, and water promptly during drought.
3. If pests and diseases are found during cultivation, spray pesticides promptly. New York aster is generally susceptible to powdery mildew. Do not plant too densely, pay attention to controlling humidity and ventilation, and spray pesticides promptly once infection is found.
Reasonably Select the Plot
New York aster is a dryland crop, so a plot with convenient transportation and close to a water source should be selected. Sandy soil or sandy loam with loose texture, fine soil particles, good air permeability, and pH 6.5-7 is required.
Select Superior Varieties
Based on many years of planting in the area, seeds imported from the Netherlands are generally used, with varieties such as Fogus, Tabor, and Vintor, which are easy to cultivate and manage.
Make Good Pre-Sowing Preparations
Plan early and establish ditch systems both inside and outside the field. Dig 1 cross ditch every 30 m of bed length, with a ditch width of 35 cm and depth of 35 cm; establish 1 main vertical ditch every 10 beds, with a ditch width of 30-40 cm and depth of 40 cm; the surrounding ditch should be 40 cm wide and 50 cm deep; the ditch outside the field should be 80-100 cm deep to ensure smooth drainage. Plow the land early and apply base fertilizer well, applying 10-15 kg of potassium sulfate compound fertilizer per mu; make beds in a north-south orientation, with a bed surface width of 90 cm, sow 3 rows, with a ditch width of 30 cm and depth of more than 30 cm, to enhance soil permeability.
Sow at the Right Time
Bolting occurs, vegetative growth transforms into reproductive growth, and the function of the fleshy root is lost; if sowing is too late, the root crown is damaged during overwintering, affecting the quality of the fleshy root.
Precision Sowing
On the bed, drill sow at a row spacing of 30 cm, generally using 50-60 g of seed per mu (25,000-30,000 seeds).
Sowing Method
For large-area sowing, use a seeder, with a sowing depth of 1 cm. After sowing, check the covering thickness. If it rains, manual hand sowing can be used as a supplement.
Cover in Time
After sowing, water first, then cover with grass. After covering, pay attention to checking seedling emergence and moisture conditions, and remove the covering in time to prevent leggy seedlings. This can prevent the effects of high-temperature exposure and rainstorm erosion on New York aster, ensuring uniform and complete seedlings.
Thin Seedlings in Time
The first thinning is carried out at the 5-6 leaf stage, with a plant spacing of 6-7 cm, using a small knife to gently cut off the seedlings to be thinned; the second thinning is carried out at the 9-10 leaf stage, with a plant spacing of 13-15 cm, and the seedlings can be gently pulled out with roots. At the same time, combine with clearing ditches, loosening soil, and weeding.
Timely and Reasonable Topdressing
In the middle growth stage of chicory, the leaf color noticeably fades. For fields with poor growth, apply a small amount of potassium sulfate compound fertilizer, at 5 kg per mu, or use amino acid high-efficiency liquid fertilizer for foliar topdressing. Never use excessive chemical fertilizer.
Management
It prefers warm, humid, and sunny environments and has strong cold tolerance. It is also tolerant of drought and heat, and is suitable for fertile, well-drained sandy loam or leaf mold.
The division method is mostly carried out in spring from April to May after new shoots grow. Dig up the roots, cut them with a knife, and each piece should retain 3 to 5 buds, then plant, firm the soil, and water. The cutting method is generally carried out from May to June. Cut young shoots 5 cm to 6 cm long with 3 to 4 nodes as cuttings. The cutting bed should preferably be sandy soil or coarse sand, properly shaded, and kept moist. Rooting occurs about half a month after insertion. After roots grow, they can be transplanted to open-field cultivation or potted.
For pot cultivation, use fertile culture soil. Pot the divided or cutting seedlings, pay attention to watering, and topdress in time, mostly using human manure, bean cake water, horse manure water, etc. Small seedlings need less fertilizer, so topdress once every 7 to 10 days. After autumn, the fertilizer should be more concentrated. After flower buds form, apply once every 4 to 5 days. During the growing season, prune as needed in time. After flowering, cut off the aboveground parts and place the pots in a cold room for overwintering. If in a warm room, the plants can be taken out of the pots and planted in a 30 cm deep pool, packed together, and covered with soil or grass for overwintering.
Open-field transplanting is mostly carried out in spring from April to May, choosing a sunny, fertile, well-drained location for cultivation. During land preparation, fully apply compost or barnyard manure as base fertilizer. After planting, firm the soil and water. After emergence or before flowering, dig trenches around the roots to fertilize and water thoroughly. During normal times, water when the weather is dry. During the growing period, pruning and shaping can be carried out several times according to different cultivation purposes. After entering September, pruning should no longer be done to prevent cutting off flower buds and affecting flowering. It is susceptible to aphids and red spiders, which mainly damage leaves and stems, causing leaves to yellow and affecting growth. They can be controlled with dimethoate at 1000 to 1500 times dilution.
Note
Choose a sunny, well-ventilated environment and fertile, well-drained sandy loam. During the growing season, fertilize once every half month, and in summer carry out shaping and pinching to promote more branching and more flowering. However, plants should not be too dense, otherwise powdery mildew is likely to occur.
Propagation Methods of New York Aster
Propagation methods include division and cuttings. Some varieties have extremely strong tillering ability and can be directly propagated by dividing and planting tiller buds, which makes survival very easy. Cuttings are carried out in summer, and under conditions of about 18°C, rooting occurs in about 10 days. It grows well and blooms profusely in moist and fertile soil. During the growing season, apply diluted fertilizer once every 10-15 days, and pay attention to timely watering. Before winter, water once with freezing water to overwinter safely, and the following year it sprouts again from the roots and grows into new plants. It should be divided and replanted once every 2-3 years, cutting off old roots and dividing each plant into several clumps for replanting. Prune frequently to control the flowering period and plant height. Choose a sunny and ventilated site for planting. When the seedlings for field planting or potting are 1 cm tall, pinching can be carried out to promote more branching. During the growing season, fertilize once every half month. In autumn, the weather is dry, so pay attention to watering. After the aboveground parts wither in winter, properly earth up to protect the seedlings.
Propagation methods commonly include seed propagation or tiller propagation, and cuttings can be used for a small number.
1.Seed Propagation
Based on planting experience in recent years, the best sowing period is from July 25 to August 15. If sowing is too early, bolting will occur ahead of time, vegetative growth will transform into reproductive growth, and the function of the fleshy root will be lost; if sowing is too late, the root crown is damaged during overwintering, affecting the quality of the fleshy root. Sow in pots or beds in a warm, sunny place in a greenhouse. Under conditions where the room temperature is not lower than about 15°C, full emergence can occur in about 7 days. When the seedlings are about 5 cm tall, carry out the first division and planting in time to avoid leggy growth. You can choose small pots with a diameter of 12 cm or divide and plant in beds. In early May, carry out the second division and planting for final planting, planting into large pots or directly into the field as needed. For field planting, control the plant spacing at about 40 cm to facilitate further tillering and proliferation.
2.Tiller Propagation
New York aster has very strong tillering ability, and tillered plants can be separated and planted individually. The division and planting time is generally chosen in early spring after the soil thaws and the mother plant has just grown clustered leaves. Dig out the overwintered underground roots, cut the original clump into several pieces with a knife, and plant them separately. The survival rate of the tiller seedlings is extremely high. This method can be used to propagate perennial plants in large quantities.
3.Cutting Propagation
Perennial plants grow a large number of tiller seedlings after the beginning of spring. Young tiller seedlings can be cut off with a knife for cuttings. Use plain sand or perlite and vermiculite as the substrate, keep the temperature above 20°C, provide shade or use a full-light misting system to maintain air humidity, and rooting occurs in about half a month. Rooted plants can be directly planted into pots or beds.
4.Grafting Cultivation
Using wild yellow wormwood as rootstock for grafting cultivation gives good results. The specific method is as follows: At the end of November or early December, remove the faded flowers from New York aster and repot with fresh soil. When the outdoor temperature drops to about 5°C, move the pots into a low-temperature greenhouse. They must not be placed in a medium- or high-temperature room, lest they sprout and elongate, making the chrysanthemum seedlings weak and unable to withstand wind. After the beginning of spring the following year, move the potted chrysanthemums to a wind-sheltered place outdoors, and around Qingming apply an appropriate amount of thin fertilizer water such as human manure. From the end of April to the end of June, dig up yellow wormwood seedlings from the wild and plant them in clay pots with a diameter of 5 cun or 7 cun. In June and July, depending on the size of the yellow wormwood plants, transfer them to 8-10 cun clay pots, applying thin fertilizer water once every 5 days. When the yellow wormwood stem height reaches 15 cm, New York aster can be grafted using the cleft grafting method. After grafting, cover with a small plastic bag to retain moisture, and survival occurs in about 7 days. It should be noted that the height of the rootstock should preferably be about 15 cm. If it is more than 20 cm high, New York aster will later feel top-heavy and the stem will not stand stably. Second, if the inner core of the grafting interface of the yellow wormwood rootstock has already turned white and aged, it is not suitable for grafting. The reason is that survival after grafting is difficult, and even if it survives, the scion will become stagnant and not grow. After New York aster grafting survives, thin fertilizer water can be applied frequently, and management is the same as cultivating autumn chrysanthemums. Normally, New York aster can be pinched directionally into shapes such as spherical or flat bun-shaped forms, but the last pinching must be carried out simultaneously for each head. If flowering is desired for National Day, the last pinching can be done at Minor Heat (early July); if flowering is desired during the autumn chrysanthemum exhibition, the last pinching can be done in late July. After testing, the largest sphere formed by the flowers of a single grafted New York aster plant can reach about 35 cm in diameter, which is quite spectacular.
Variety Classification of New York Aster
New York aster is a perennial herb. The plant height is 50-100 cm, the leaves are elliptical, and the flower heads are solitary.
Common varieties include the blue 'Blue Robe', 'Blue Dream', 'Blue Night', 'Niritte', 'Chacha'; the light purple 'Violet Queen', 'Purple Lotus', 'Milka'; the pink 'Pink Baby', 'Pink Sparrow', 'Glori', 'Miss Painter'; the rose-red 'Elpe', 'Susan', 'Lisette'; and the white 'White Lady', 'Kais Blanc' etc.
It belongs to the plant kingdom, Asteraceae family, Aster genus.
Disease Control of New York Aster
Powdery mildew and brown spot commonly occur. They can be sprayed with 65% thiophanate wettable powder at 600 times dilution. When aphids cause damage, spray with 50% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution to kill them.
The main diseases of chicory include mosaic disease, yellowing disease, sclerotinia disease, powdery mildew, and rust, etc. Therefore, continuous cropping fields should be soil-sterilized before earth banking. The main pests harming chicory are underground pests and noctuid pests. During land preparation, use phoxim or carbosulfan, etc. to control underground pests. In late September, use Nongdile plus abamectin to control pests such as the tobacco cutworm. Powdery mildew and brown spot commonly occur. They can be sprayed with 65% thiophanate wettable powder at 600 times dilution. When aphids cause damage, spray with 50% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution to kill them.
Uses and Functions of New York Aster
New York aster is suitable for potted indoor ornamental display and for arranging flower beds and flower borders, etc. It is even more suitable as a matching flower for flower baskets and flower arrangements. If lilies are used as the main material, paired with New York aster, kalanchoe, Philodendron bipinnatifidum, and asparagus fern, the picture is very light and lively, and when placed on a coffee table or desk, it appears especially fresh and pleasing. If multicolored New York aster is used as the main flower for a vase arrangement, embellishing a dining table or windowsill, it appears very charming and can add a touch of romance. New York aster blooms profusely with vivid colors and has strong adaptability, especially the introduced new varieties of New York aster, which have relatively shorter plants.
New York Aster Pictures
Open-Field Cultivation Techniques of New York Aster
New York aster (Aster novi-belgii) is a perennial herbaceous plant with clustered stems and red, light blue to white flowers. It blooms profusely with vivid colors and has strong adaptability. It is native to North America and is widely used in China. New York aster was previously mostly cultivated as a potted flower. In recent years, the author has combined it with color-band plants in parks, used it in the foreground of flower borders, and planted it beside garden paths and at the outer edges of lawns as a supplement to floral displays during the National Day period, accumulating several points of experience in field planting.
Rapid Propagation Technique New York aster can be propagated by sowing, cuttings, or division. After sowing or cuttings survive, they either need thinning or transplanting, which is relatively labor-intensive. The author uses the division method, which can both renew the original patch of New York aster and allow newly planted seedlings to quickly form a display. The specific steps are as follows:
1. Land Preparation Apply organic fertilizer or compound fertilizer as base fertilizer, and rotary till to a depth of 20 cm to 30 cm.
2. Division and Planting In mid-April, when New York aster has grown about 10 cm above the ground, use a shovel to cut out the tillers with roots and divide them into individual plants for planting. Each plant must be ensured to have roots. The plant spacing and row spacing is 15 cm × 15 cm. After planting, water thoroughly. Planting in the afternoon is more conducive to seedling recovery. During the recovery period, keep the soil moist, following the principle of drying out between waterings. This method can propagate a large number of plants with an extremely high survival rate.
3. Daily Maintenance After the seedlings survive, pay attention to fertilizer and water management to avoid forming stunted old seedlings. At the end of May and beginning of June, carry out the first pinching, cutting off each tip to promote axillary bud germination and increase crown width, and then pinch about once a month thereafter. During the growing season, pruning is needed 3 to 4 times according to growth vigor, and topdressing 2 to 3 times. After the first pinching, wait until the soil dries, then apply urea as topdressing together with watering. After the last pinching, wait until flower buds grow, then apply urea and potassium dihydrogen phosphate as the final topdressing together with watering. The two topdressings must strictly control the amount of fertilizer used to ensure the safety of the flower seedlings, and note that water should not accumulate after rain. Powdery mildew is likely to occur during the growing period. After it occurs, use 20% triadimefon at 1500 times dilution for control.
Flowering Period Regulation Technique The natural flowering period of New York aster is from August to October, with the full-bloom period lasting 7 to 8 days. Mastering the timing of the last pruning is the key to controlling the full-bloom period. Based on repeated practice over several years, the author believes that the last pruning should be done around August 20. When pruning, pay attention to the consistency of the overall height. At the edges, the crown width of New York aster can reach 40 cm.
Field-planted New York aster in parks requires relatively extensive management, has low landscaping costs, and achieves good results, making it an incomparable advantage over potted display flowers. Planted in masses in park green spaces, whether in arc-shaped or semicircular formations, it has considerable visual impact.
(The author's affiliation is the Xincheng North District Park Management Center, Daxing District, Beijing)