Detailed Explanation of Key Cultivation and Propagation Techniques for Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan, Black-eyed Susan cultivation methods, Black-eyed Susan care knowledge

Today, TheNaturePlanet shares an article about black-eyed Susan, black-eyed Susan cultivation methods, and black-eyed Susan care knowledge. Let's take a look.

Introduction to Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan, Asteraceae, Rudbeckia genus, biennial or annual herbaceous plant. The flower center is raised, purple-brown, and the surrounding petal-like florets are golden yellow. The flowering period is from early summer to frost. Cultivated varieties have border flowers in copper-brown and chestnut-brown, with double-flowered and semi-double types. The flower center has an olive-green "Irish Eyes," and tetraploids with flower heads up to 15 cm in diameter. Besides yellow, flower colors include red flowers of various seasons and bicolors. Native to the eastern United States. Cold hardiness is not strong; in central China it can still be sown in autumn and overwinter in the open field. It can also be used as a cut flower.

Morphological Characteristics of Black-Eyed Susan

Stem
Black-eyed Susan belongs to the Asteraceae family, Rudbeckia genus, biennial or annual, plant height 60-100 cm, stems relatively stout, covered with soft hairs, slightly branched, with wings.
Leaves
The basal leaves of black-eyed Susan are near the root; upper leaves are alternate, spoon-shaped and broadly lanceolate, with coarse teeth on the leaf margins. Flower heads. Alternate leaves are rough, long elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, 10-15 cm long, leaf base extending down to the stem in a wing-like manner, pinnately lobed, 5-7 lobes; stem leaves 3-5 lobed, with sparse serrations on the margins.
Flowers
Black-eyed Susan has flower heads 8-9 cm, about 2.5-5 cm in diameter, borne in corymbs, with short pedicels; double flowers, ray florets yellow, sometimes with brown-yellow bands, tubular florets dark brown. Flower heads, ray florets neutral, 1.5-2 cm long, yellow, brown-purple, or with bicolor stripes; tubular florets brown to purple, densely clustered into a spherical shape;
Black-eyed Susan flowering period is June to October.

Ecological Habits of Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan has strong adaptability in the open field, is relatively cold-tolerant, very drought-tolerant, not particular about soil, and extremely easy to cultivate. It should be planted in well-drained sandy loam soil in a sunny location, and prefers a sunny and well-ventilated environment.
Black-eyed Susan is mainly native to North America, a perennial herbaceous plant, generally grown as a 1-2 year old plant. Branches and leaves are rough, the whole plant is covered with hairs, leaves emerge near the root, upper leaves are alternate, leaves spoon-shaped and broadly lanceolate, flower heads hemispherical. Strong adaptability, cold-tolerant, drought-tolerant, prefers a sunny and well-ventilated environment, can be cultivated in general soil, flowering period May to September.

Cultivation Techniques of Black-Eyed Susan

Seedling Raising
In production, division and tissue culture are mostly used to propagate seedlings.
① Division: usually divided once every 3 years, generally in April-May, the old plants from greenhouse forcing cultivation are dug out and cut apart, each with 4-5 leaves, and replanted separately.
② Tissue culture is a method of rapidly propagating seedlings using biotechnology. General growers do not have the conditions for tissue propagation and can directly purchase tissue-cultured commercial seedlings for planting. However, because these tissue-cultured seedlings are often small, they need to be grown into large seedlings before being planted out in the greenhouse.
Preparation Before Planting Out
① Land preparation: Deep plowing is required during land preparation, with a depth of more than 25 cm. Combined with land preparation, apply sufficient base fertilizer. The fertilization rate is preferably 200 kg of barnyard manure or 100 kg of oil residue plus 10 kg of superphosphate and 100 kg of plant ash per 100 sq m.
② Soil: Loose, well-aerated sandy loam is best, with a pH of about 6.5. If too alkaline, it should be adjusted appropriately, otherwise the leaves will turn yellow and growth will be weak.
③ Ridging: Ridging is best for greenhouse planting. The planting bed is made in the form of one ridge and one furrow, generally with a ridge width of 40 cm and a furrow width of 30 cm.

Planting Out Method
Seedlings are planted on the ridge, in double rows staggered, with a plant spacing of 25 cm. When planting, it is better to plant shallowly rather than deeply, with the root crown exposed at the soil surface as the standard. Planting too deeply can easily cause root crown rot. After planting out, water only in the furrows.
Field Management After Planting Out
① Temperature and light management: Black-eyed Susan prefers a warm, sunny, and well-ventilated cultivation environment. The optimum temperature during the plant growth period is 20-25°C, not exceeding 26°C during the day, and above 10-15°C at night. Under suitable temperatures, the plant can continue to grow and flower without dormancy. In winter, due to insufficient light, lighting should be enhanced; in summer, due to excessive light, appropriate shading should be provided, and cooling through shading should prevent dormancy caused by high temperatures.
② Water and fertilizer management: Newly planted seedlings should have water appropriately controlled to promote root development. After the seedling stage, sufficient water supply should promote growth; during the flowering period, when watering, do not let water drill into the center of the leaf cluster, which can cause flower bud rot. Black-eyed Susan has large flowers and many leaves, and consumes a lot of nutrients during the growth period, so top dressing should be applied in time to supplement. The required ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is about 15:8:25. Especially during the flowering period, the application rate of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be increased: apply 0.4 kg of potassium nitrate, 0.2 kg of ammonium nitrate, or 0.2 kg of ammonium phosphate per 100 sq m each time, once every 10 days.
③ Removing old leaves: When the leaves are too dense, the outer old leaves and diseased leaves of the plant should be removed in time to improve light and ventilation conditions, reduce pests and diseases, and help the development and growth of new leaves and flower buds, increasing yield.
④ Harvesting: The best harvest period is when the outermost ray florets of the flower head are perpendicular to the flower stem. The method is to pull the base where the flower stem connects to the leaf cluster sideways by hand, place it in clean water, and bag it to facilitate transportation.

Cultivation Points
Optimum germination temperature: 21°C-30°C
Optimum growth temperature: 10°C-30°C Sowing period: spring to autumn
Flowering period: summer to autumn
Planting: Can be sown in spring, summer, and autumn when the temperature is 21°C-30°C. The soil should be well-drained. Germination takes about 15 days. Fertile loam soil, sufficient sunlight; it can also grow normally in half sun. Transplant when there are 8 leaves. After survival, apply fertilizer appropriately, water, and during the flowering period, appropriate shading should be provided in hot summer to help maintain bright flowers. After flowering, cut off the residual branches and leaves to promote regeneration. Be careful to prevent poor drainage, which can cause root rot.

Seed Harvesting
The harvest part is the flower head of black-eyed Susan. Usually from August to September each year, select flower heads with most achenes mature and cut them off, dry them in the sun, then place them in a dry and cool place, remove impurities in a centralized manner, and select out the seeds.
Grading: The harvested seeds should be graded on the premise of ensuring the purity of this species, normal moisture content, and no foreign matter contamination: germination rate of grade 1 seeds ≥98%; germination rate of grade 2 seeds ≥95%; germination rate of grade 3 seeds ≥92%. When used, the germination rate of seeds of each grade is allowed to be 5% lower than the corresponding standard.
Packaging: Black-eyed Susan seeds are relatively small, with a thousand-grain weight of 0.37 grams. Moisture-proof paper bags are mostly used as inner packaging; paper bags printed with instructions are used as outer packaging. Be careful not to mix with seeds of other grades during operation. Wholesale packaging: contains 500-1000 grams of seeds; retail packaging: contains 0.1-0.2 grams of seeds.
Fresh-keeping management: The seeds can be stored in a dry, dark, well-ventilated place with an ambient temperature of 5-10°C.
Storage period: Treated according to the above method, black-eyed Susan seeds can usually be stored for 1 year without affecting seedling raising.

Propagation Methods of Black-Eyed Susan

Seed Propagation
Black-eyed Susan is generally sown in spring and autumn. March in spring and September in autumn are the best sowing times for natural growth. The sowing time is closely related to its natural flowering period. Sowing in March in spring results in flowering from June to July; sowing in September in autumn, planting out and potting up in November, results in flowering the following spring (May to June). To ensure robust plants with large, brightly colored flowers, transplanting should be done once when 4 to 5 leaves have grown after sowing. Plant out in November. It can overwinter in the open field.
Division Propagation
Black-eyed Susan division propagation can be carried out in both spring and autumn, generally by dividing old perennial plants.
Cutting Propagation
Black-eyed Susan generally selects new shoots sprouting from the roots as cuttings, and can be carried out in spring or autumn. In spring, it should be carried out when the sprouts have grown to about 15 cm; in autumn, after flowering and after root sprouting.

Variety Classification of Black-Eyed Susan

Maya series: plant height 45-50 cm, the world's first dwarf double compact black-eyed Susan. The fully double flowers enrich the summer and autumn display. Stems are strong, flower diameter 9-12 cm, bright yellow large flowers open upright. Mass planting of Maya is like a tennis court with bright colors. Its excellent outdoor performance earned it a gold award. In garden applications, Maya can also be arranged as a large potted plant or as the main flower in mixed plantings.
Toto series: plant height 30-38 cm, extremely compact plant type, many branches, early flowering, extremely suitable for 10-12 cm pots. Toto Gold, Toto Lemon Yellow, and Toto Dark Red all won All-Europe awards for their beautiful appearance and abundant long-lasting summer and autumn flowering. The beautiful round flowers of 5-7 cm perform excellently wherever planted. The three separate colors are relatively evenly distributed in the Toto mixture. In garden applications, Toto is an excellent choice for regional planting, combination pots, and courtyard planting.
Sonata series: plant height 45-50 cm, unique flower color, with a huge maroon-red ring on bright golden-yellow petals. The flower type is huge, with a flower diameter of 12-15 cm. Because of its unique flower color, Sonata has become an influential line in the retail market and quickly becomes a winner in garden planting.
Cordo series: plant height 45-50 cm, branches extremely well like the Toto series. Beautiful flower color, with a red ring on golden-yellow petals. Because of its good branching habit and floriferousness, it is very attractive in garden planting.
Gold Sun series: plant height 70-80 cm, huge flower type, with pale yellow petal tips on golden-yellow petals, green flower center. The unique flower color and robust growth habit perform excellently in any park planting;
Autumn Colors series: plant height 50-60 cm, flower diameter 12 cm. It has vivid autumn flower colors: copper petals, red ring, rust-red flower center, etc., forming an extremely attractive contrast with other yellow black-eyed Susan lines. Very suitable for classic flower beds. In garden applications, it can be mixed with other flower bed plants or decorate lawns;
Dessert series: plant height 60-70 cm, flower diameter 10 cm, dark flower center, golden-orange petals. Planted in any environment, it makes people feel very warm.
Goldilocks series: plant height 60-70 cm, orange flowers, flower diameter 10 cm, fully double.
Daisy series: plant height 75 cm, flower diameter 12-15 cm, fully double golden-yellow flowers, flower shape resembling a daisy.

Distribution Area of Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan is native to the eastern United States, and is now also distributed in northeast, north, and east China.

Landscape Uses of Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan has abundant flowers and is suitable for courtyard arrangements, flower border materials, or arranged along lawn edges in naturalistic plantings.
New black-eyed Susan lines are award-winning varieties in Europe, having won AAS Winner and Fleuroselect Awards. These lines can provide variety diversity and offer customers a variety of excellent choices. They can be used as windowsill plants, park potted plants, regional plantings, or background plants, and can also be grown as main flowers or in large concentrated cultivation. They have the following outstanding advantages:
1. They have bright colors, greatly improving visual appeal.
2. The continuous flowering time is very long, increasing sales opportunities.
3. They are award-winning varieties in European gardens, and their excellent characteristics have been recognized.
4. There is a wide choice of growth habits and flower forms, giving broad possibilities for use.
5. Heat-resistant and long-lasting, increasing consumer satisfaction.

Flower Language of Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan represents fairness and justice!

Complete Collection of Black-Eyed Susan Varieties: How to Grow Black-Eyed Susan

Black-Eyed Susan Planting Methods: Potted Black-Eyed Susan Planting Methods

Black-eyed Susan belongs to the Rudbeckia genus, a biennial or annual herbaceous plant. The flower center is raised, purple-brown, and the surrounding petal-like florets are golden yellow. It prefers a sunny and well-ventilated environment. Today, the editor shares with everyone the planting methods of black-eyed Susan, potted black-eyed Susan planting methods, and related knowledge.

Introduction to Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan, Asteraceae, Rudbeckia genus, biennial or annual herbaceous plant. The flower center is raised, purple-brown, and the surrounding petal-like florets are golden yellow. The flowering period is from early summer to frost. Cultivated varieties have border flowers in copper-brown and chestnut-brown, with double-flowered and semi-double types. The flower center has an olive-green “Irish Eyes,” and tetraploids with flower heads up to 15 cm in diameter. Besides yellow, flower colors include red flowers of various seasons and bicolors. Native to the eastern United States. Cold hardiness is not strong; in central China it can still be sown in autumn and overwinter in the open field. It can also be used as a cut flower.

I. Morphological Characteristics

Stem: Black-eyed Susan belongs to the Asteraceae family, Rudbeckia genus, biennial or annual, plant height 60-100 cm, stems relatively stout, covered with soft hairs, slightly branched, with wings.

Leaves: The basal leaves of black-eyed Susan are near the root; upper leaves are alternate, spoon-shaped and broadly lanceolate, with coarse teeth on the leaf margins. Flower heads. Alternate leaves are rough, long elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, 10-15 cm long, leaf base extending down to the stem in a wing-like manner, pinnately lobed, 5-7 lobes; stem leaves 3-5 lobed, with sparse serrations on the margins.

Flowers: Black-eyed Susan has flower heads 8-9 cm, about 2.5-5 cm in diameter, borne in corymbs, with short pedicels; double flowers, ray florets yellow, sometimes with brown-yellow bands, tubular florets dark brown. Flower heads, ray florets neutral, 1.5-2 cm long, yellow, brown-purple, or with bicolor stripes; tubular florets brown to purple, densely clustered into a spherical shape; black-eyed Susan flowering period is June to October.

II. Ecological Habits

Black-eyed Susan has strong adaptability in the open field, is relatively cold-tolerant, very drought-tolerant, not particular about soil, and extremely easy to cultivate. It should be planted in well-drained sandy loam soil in a sunny location, and prefers a sunny and well-ventilated environment.

Black-eyed Susan is mainly native to North America, a perennial herbaceous plant, generally grown as a 1-2 year old plant. Branches and leaves are rough, the whole plant is covered with hairs, leaves emerge near the root, upper leaves are alternate, leaves spoon-shaped and broadly lanceolate, flower heads hemispherical. Strong adaptability, cold-tolerant, drought-tolerant, prefers a sunny and well-ventilated environment, can be cultivated in general soil, flowering period May to September.

Planting Methods of Black-Eyed Susan

I. Seedling Raising

In production, division and tissue culture are mostly used to propagate seedlings.

① Division: usually divided once every 3 years, generally in April-May, the old plants from greenhouse forcing cultivation are dug out and cut apart, each with 4-5 leaves, and replanted separately.

② Tissue culture is a method of rapidly propagating seedlings using biotechnology. General growers do not have the conditions for tissue propagation and can directly purchase tissue-cultured commercial seedlings for planting. However, because these tissue-cultured seedlings are often small, they need to be grown into large seedlings before being planted out in the greenhouse.

II. Preparation Before Planting Out

① Land preparation: Deep plowing is required during land preparation, with a depth of more than 25 cm. Combined with land preparation, apply sufficient base fertilizer. The fertilization rate is preferably 200 kg of barnyard manure or 100 kg of oil residue plus 10 kg of superphosphate and 100 kg of plant ash per 100 sq m.

② Soil: Loose, well-aerated sandy loam is best, with a pH of about 6.5. If too alkaline, it should be adjusted appropriately, otherwise the leaves will turn yellow and growth will be weak.

③ Ridging: Ridging is best for greenhouse planting. The planting bed is made in the form of one ridge and one furrow, generally with a ridge width of 40 cm and a furrow width of 30 cm.

III. Planting Out Method

Seedlings are planted on the ridge, in double rows staggered, with a plant spacing of 25 cm. When planting, it is better to plant shallowly rather than deeply, with the root crown exposed at the soil surface as the standard. Planting too deeply can easily cause root crown rot. After planting out, water only in the furrows.

IV. Field Management After Planting Out

① Temperature and light management: Black-eyed Susan prefers a warm, sunny, and well-ventilated cultivation environment. The optimum temperature during the plant growth period is 20-25°C, not exceeding 26°C during the day, and above 10-15°C at night. Under suitable temperatures, the plant can continue to grow and flower without dormancy. In winter, due to insufficient light, lighting should be enhanced; in summer, due to excessive light, appropriate shading should be provided, and cooling through shading should prevent dormancy caused by high temperatures.

② Water and fertilizer management: Newly planted seedlings should have water appropriately controlled to promote root development. After the seedling stage, sufficient water supply should promote growth; during the flowering period, when watering, do not let water drill into the center of the leaf cluster, which can cause flower bud rot. Black-eyed Susan has large flowers and many leaves, and consumes a lot of nutrients during the growth period, so top dressing should be applied in time to supplement. The required ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is about 15:8:25. Especially during the flowering period, the application rate of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be increased: apply 0.4 kg of potassium nitrate, 0.2 kg of ammonium nitrate, or 0.2 kg of ammonium phosphate per 100 sq m each time, once every 10 days.

③ Removing old leaves: When the leaves are too dense, the outer old leaves and diseased leaves of the plant should be removed in time to improve light and ventilation conditions, reduce pests and diseases, and help the development and growth of new leaves and flower buds, increasing yield.

④ Harvesting: The best harvest period is when the outermost ray florets of the flower head are perpendicular to the flower stem. The method is to pull the base where the flower stem connects to the leaf cluster sideways by hand, place it in clean water, and bag it to facilitate transportation.

V. Cultivation Points

Optimum germination temperature: 21°C-30°C

Optimum growth temperature: 10°C-30°C Sowing period: spring to autumn

Flowering period: summer to autumn

Planting: Can be sown in spring, summer, and autumn when the temperature is 21°C-30°C. The soil should be well-drained. Germination takes about 15 days. Fertile loam soil, sufficient sunlight; it can also grow normally in half sun. Transplant when there are 8 leaves. After survival, apply fertilizer appropriately, water, and during the flowering period, appropriate shading should be provided in hot summer to help maintain bright flowers. After flowering, cut off the residual branches and leaves to promote regeneration. Be careful to prevent poor drainage, which can cause root rot.

VI. Seed Harvesting

The harvest part is the flower head of black-eyed Susan. Usually from August to September each year, select flower heads with most achenes mature and cut them off, dry them in the sun, then place them in a dry and cool place, remove impurities in a centralized manner, and select out the seeds.

Grading: The harvested seeds should be graded on the premise of ensuring the purity of this species, normal moisture content, and no foreign matter contamination: germination rate of grade 1 seeds ≥98%; germination rate of grade 2 seeds ≥95%; germination rate of grade 3 seeds ≥92%. When used, the germination rate of seeds of each grade is allowed to be 5% lower than the corresponding standard.

Packaging: Black-eyed Susan seeds are relatively small, with a thousand-grain weight of 0.37 grams. Moisture-proof paper bags are mostly used as inner packaging; paper bags printed with instructions are used as outer packaging. Be careful not to mix with seeds of other grades during operation. Wholesale packaging: contains 500-1000 grams of seeds; retail packaging: contains 0.1-0.2 grams of seeds.

Fresh-keeping management: The seeds can be stored in a dry, dark, well-ventilated place with an ambient temperature of 5-10°C.

Storage period: Treated according to the above method, black-eyed Susan seeds can usually be stored for 1 year without affecting seedling raising.

Potted Black-Eyed Susan Planting Methods

1. Propagation methods:

Black-eyed Susan is commonly propagated by sowing, cuttings and division. Both sowing and division can be carried out in spring and autumn; March in spring and September in autumn are the best sowing times, and division is generally done on old perennial plants. Usually, if sown in March in spring, it blooms from June to July; if sown in September in autumn, it is planted out and potted up in November, and blooms in May and June of the following year.

2. Planting out and potting up:

To ensure that Black-eyed Susan grows vigorously and produces large, brightly colored flowers, transplanting should be done when 4—5 leaves have grown after sowing, and planting out in November allows it to overwinter in the open ground. For cuttings, new shoots sprouting from the roots are commonly used as cuttings, and this can be done in both spring and autumn. In spring, wait until the sprouts have grown to about 15cm; in autumn, do it after the root shoots emerge following flowering.

3. Care and management:

Choose a site with fertile soil, plenty of sunlight and good drainage for good growth; it also grows normally in partial sun. After it becomes established, water appropriately; during the flowering period and in hot weather, provide appropriate shade to keep the colors of Black-eyed Susan vivid. After flowering, cut off the remaining branches and leaves to encourage regrowth. Be careful to prevent poor drainage, which can cause root rot.

4. Notes on growing Black-eyed Susan

When the old leaves of Black-eyed Susan are too dense, promptly remove the old and diseased leaves on the outer layer of the plant to improve light and ventilation conditions, reduce pests and diseases, and help the development and growth of new leaves and flower buds, increasing yield. Usually, the best harvest time is when the outermost ray florets of the flower head are perpendicular to the flower stem; the method is to pull sideways with the hand from the base where the flower stem joins the leaf cluster, place in clean water, and bag it to facilitate transport.

Propagation methods of Black-eyed Susan

1. Propagation by sowing

Black-eyed Susan is generally sown in spring and autumn. March in spring and September in autumn are the best sowing times for natural growth. The sowing time is closely related to its natural flowering period: sown in March in spring, it blooms from June to July; sown in September in autumn, it is planted out and potted up in November, and blooms in the following spring (May to June). To ensure the plant is robust and the flowers are large and brightly colored, transplant once when 4 to 5 leaves have grown after sowing. Plant out in November. It can overwinter in the open ground.

2. Propagation by division

Black-eyed Susan can be propagated by division in both spring and autumn; division is generally done on old perennial plants.

3. Propagation by cuttings

For Black-eyed Susan, new shoots sprouting from the roots are generally chosen as cuttings, and this can be done in either spring or autumn. In spring, it should be done when the sprouts have grown to about 15cm; in autumn, do it after the root shoots emerge following flowering.