Flower Profile: Tang calamus, alias calamus, sword orchid, flat bamboo lotus, thirteen Taibao, calamus, ten kinds of brocade, is a perennial herb of the genus Tang calamus in the family Iris.
Tang Calamus Flower Language: festive, auspicious, attentive, stretching, step by step.
Growing place: The Cape of Good Hope in Africa, the Mediterranean coast and The West Asian region, China's Tang calamus cultivation is mainly distributed in Jilin, Liaoning, Gansu, Wuhan, Baotou and other places.
Raising flowers is beneficial: the use of Tang calamus can monitor fluoride, as long as there is a billionth of harmful gas in the air, this plant will appear leaf dryness; Tang calamus flower stem is straight and slender, with many flowers, gorgeous flowers, is one of the famous cut flower materials, known as "the king of cut flowers". Can be used as a bouquet, flower basket, but also can decorate the doorway; its bulb has a heat and detoxification, blood dispersion, swelling and pain relief effect, fresh bulbs can be pounded into juice can be applied externally to treat carbuncles, mumps.
Flower appearance and leaf appearance: plant height 90 ~ 150 cm, stem thick and upright, rarely branched; leaves are sword-shaped, hard, with significant parallel veins; flower stems are higher than the leaves, spike-like inflorescences with flowers in two columns of 12 to 24 flowers, sideways to one side, the corolla tube is expanded funnel-shaped, slightly curved upwards.
Variety selection: The main cultivars are sapphire, mascaini, blue bone red, European dream, flower rose, Saxony, supreme rose, nova, Priscilla, loyalty and so on.
Plant selection: Small bulbs in a flat spherical shape with no disease, no spots, no germination and no damage to the rooting site are generally selected. Generally, high-quality seed balls, the proportion of thickness and diameter is larger, the seed balls are precipitated, the hand touch is very hard, not soft; and the surface of the seed ball is flat and smooth, there is no large depression in the middle; the bud point is protruding and full.
Choice of pots: mud pots.
Preparation of cultivated soil: Tang calamus does not have high soil requirements, and it is best to choose loose and fertile, humus-rich, permeable slightly acidic sandy soil, and the pH should be between 5.6 and 6.5.
Preparation method 1: Cooked soil, saprophyll soil according to 4:1 preparation, and then add two spoonfuls of compound fertilizer mixed.
Preparation method 2: Loam soil, humus soil according to 2:1 preparation, and then add cow manure and other base fertilizer mix.
Flower cultivation: The general planting time is in April, first block the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with tiles, and then put some coarse-grained culture soil into the bottom of the pot, and then put in a finer culture soil, put the bulbs upright in the center, and then compact the surrounding area with culture soil, so as not to make its balls improper, grow plants are not decent, affect the beauty, and finally the dome should be slightly exposed to the soil surface. It should be noted here that the roots of Tang calamus do not grow straight down, but often root in a plane, so when potting, the bulbs should be placed deeper, and the depth is about 12 cm, so as to avoid lodging after the plant grows.
After planting, water thoroughly, after which the pot soil is kept moist, but do not let the pot appear waterlogged, place in a ventilated sunny place, after about 8 weeks, the bulbs will sprout. When the buds turn green, they can be exposed to sunlight. Wait until the flower stem is withdrawn, you can spray water on the leaves, keep the pot soil moist, and apply thin liquid fertilizer, fertilization must be uniform, too much fertilizer will make the plant lodging, generally fertilize once when the plant grows two leaves, fertilize once in the gestational bud stage, fertilize once after flowering.
About a month after flowering, after the leaves turn yellow, you can dig out the bulbs, cut off the upper dead leaves, separate the new balls from the sub-balls, dry them in the sun and store them in a ventilated and dry place at 5 ° C ~ 10 ° C, and wait until the next year to plant.
Fertilization: When planting, in order to ensure that the growth and development of the plant has enough nutrients, it is best to apply sufficient base fertilizer and apply decomposing organic fertilizer.
However, Tang calamus does not like large fertilizers, and belongs to shallow root plants, so fertilizer should be applied shallowly and thinly.
Fertilizer should be applied 3 times during its growth. After the first spread of 2 leaves, the fertilizer should be applied to a thin liquid fertilizer with more nitrogen fertilizer, such as decomposed organic fertilizer. Because at this time the flower buds begin to differentiate, if the fertilizer is missing, the number of flowers will be reduced.
The second time after the 4th leaf extraction is applied, when the plant is in the gestational bud stage, a thin liquid fertilizer based on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be applied, which can promote the thick branches and large flowers. In order to make the flowers bright, combine watering with calcium superphosphate and bone meal. After the flower leaf grows, the aerial part can be sprayed with 1% calcium superphosphate solution.
The third time after flowering, in order to promote the development of new bulbs, more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be applied, and less nitrogen fertilizers should be applied.
Excessive nitrogen fertilizer can cause the bulbs to rot.
[Warm tips: If you find that the leaves of Tang Calamus are thin, the leaf sheath is burnt yellow and white spots, this indicates that it has been lacking in fertilizer, and it is necessary to replenish fertilizer in time.] ]
Watering: Tang calamus is a flower that needs more water, and timely watering and keeping the soil moist is an important measure to promote its more flowering.
Generally, water every 2 to 3 days after emergence, and every 1 to 2 days in summer. After the flower buds are withdrawn from the flower leaves, it is necessary to water frequently to ensure sufficient water, you can water once a day, and slightly shade, and drain the water in time in the rainy season.
When there is a lot of rain in the spring, the humidity is high, before the plant grows 3 leaves, it is necessary to properly control the watering, see dry and then water, which can promote root growth.
If you encounter hot and high temperature, you should spray humidification in time to reduce the temperature.
Watering should be stopped from October onwards.
Pruning: Tang calamus usually does not need to be trimmed, but it should be lifted up in time when it falls in the rain after growing the flower leaf, otherwise it will bend to the ground to grow, and once it bends and grows, it cannot return to its original state.
Light and temperature management: Tang calamus is not shade tolerant, is a light-loving, long-day plant, not less than 12 hours a day, with 16 hours of light is often the most suitable.
Long sunshine and strong light are conducive to flower bud development, if it grows to 4 to 5 leaves, if the light time is reduced, the light intensity is reduced, and the flowering rate will be significantly reduced.
And if the sunshine time is too short, it is easy to cause Tang Calamus to suffer from blight.
In the case of short daylight or low light in winter, artificial light sources need to be supplemented. The light hours per day should not be less than 12 hours, with 16 hours preferably. Cut flower varieties are greatly affected by light, and when the sunshine is sufficient, they grow strongly, are resistant to stress, and the flower color is bright and long-lasting. However, in the hot summer, it is also necessary to avoid strong direct sunlight.
The suitable growth temperature is 20 °C ~ 25 ° C during the day and 10 ° C ~ 15 ° C at night. The temperature is higher than 27 °C, the plant growth is hindered, the petals are easily burned, the temperature is lower than 10 °C, the plant grows slowly, the minimum growth temperature is 5 °C, the growth is stopped below 3 °C, if the temperature is low to 0 °C, the plant will be frozen to death.
Flowering and fruit period management: The natural flowering period of Tang calamus is in spring or summer. Generally, appropriately increasing the light in the winter will be conducive to flowering and improving the quality of the flowers; in the summer, the flowers are properly shaded and the temperature is reduced, which can improve the quality of the flowers. Generally, the density of plants is thin and the temperature is high, and the plants will flower early, and vice versa, they will delay flowering. When fertilizing during the growth period, pay attention to applying more nitrogen fertilizer in the early stage and more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer in the later stage, which can make the plant thick and dense, and have more buds, and improve the quality of the flowers.
If you want the flowers to bloom as scheduled, you can also adjust the flowering period as appropriate according to the characteristics of different varieties, and we will introduce several methods below.
Method 1: Sow in batches. The sowing time can be adjusted by selecting the appropriate variety to allow it to open at the specified time. For example, if you want the plant to open on the National Day, you can plant tang calamus in July, and if you want the plant to flower on New Year's Day or the Spring Festival, you must choose a low-temperature resistant variety to plant in September, keep the room temperature above 15 ° C, and meditate on maintenance, which can bloom in the middle of winter. If a new bulb is planted in December and the room temperature is above 15°C, it can flower around the next year's Qingming or May Day.
Method 2: Regulate flowering period by adjusting bulb sleep. Break the dormancy of the plant for hypnotization. Tang calamus has a period of dormancy, and the dormant bulbs dormant even if they are in a suitable environment for growth. If you want to break its dormancy and let it enter the growth state as soon as possible, you can refrigerate it, put it in a temperature environment of 0 ° C ~ 4 ° C, refrigerate it for 30 to 50 days after taking it out, you can also use the soaking method, you can put the bulbs into warm water at 30 ° C for half a month, these two methods can break its dormancy, plant it, and soon germinate and enter the growth period.
Treated at low temperatures to delay the flowering of the plants. Put the bulb in a place where the temperature is relatively dry and the environment is dry, the bulb will always remain dormant, will not germinate, wait until the need, and then increase the temperature, end its dormancy, promote its germination, so that it can delay the flowering period and let it flower within the prescribed time.
Method 3: Induce flowers with drugs. After planting the bulb, pour it with 800 mg/kg of chlorsol aqueous solution, wait until 4 weeks after planting, and then water the bulb with this drug, wait until the plant is budding, about 25 days before flowering, and then water the bulb once, which can make the flowering period 5 to 8 days earlier, and the flowers bloom large, many and colorful.
Method 3: Cut off the flowers and extend the flowering time. In order to make its flowering time longer, you can cut the flowers at the right time, you can cut the flower spikes in the morning, and it is advisable when the flowers at the bottom of the flower branches have not yet opened.
Then put it into a vase containing water similar to room temperature, and then put 0.1% salt and sugar in the water of the vase, you can extend the viewing time, you can also put a small amount of aspirin in the water, generally 500 ml of water plus 1 piece, which can extend the opening time of the flowers.
Method 4: Calamus tang is a long-day plant, so it can be shortened or prolonged by shortening the light time or extending the light time to promote the delay or early flowering of the plant.
Changing pots: Tang calamus is generally planted in the first year, and after the second year of flowering, the seed ball is taken out and stored, and then planted in the next year, so it does not need to change the pot.
Breeding: Tang calamus propagation is mainly through ball propagation, but also can be propagated by cutting balls and sowing seeds.
Split-ball propagation The bulb of Tang Calamus gradually forms a new ball during the process of leaf extraction and flowering that year, and after the new ball is formed, the mother plant will gradually dry out and die, and at the bottom of the new ball, a sub-ball will be born, and the new ball and the sub-ball can be removed and planted separately. In general, the new bulb can flower the second year after planting, and the spheroid needs to be cultivated for another year to flower.
The operation method is that when the plant begins to wilt after flowering, when it enters dormancy, the bulb is dug out of the ground, and then the mother ball, the new ball, and the daughter ball are separated one by one, which can be planted immediately, or the sub-ball and the new ball can be put into a bag and placed in the ventilation place for shade and storage.
If the number of bulbs formed in that year is small, and you want to reproduce more, you can use the cut ball propagation method.
Generally, the biennial bulbs have 4 to 6 bud eyes, and when cutting the bulbs with a knife, each part should have a bud eye and a rooting part, so that the cut part can survive and grow new plants.
Sowing and propagation Sowing and propagation are mostly used when cultivating new varieties, with picking and sowing, before sowing, it is best to put the seeds into warm water to soak for 5 to 6 hours, so that the seeds are easy to germinate.
When the seeds are sown that year, they can grow small bulbs, dig out the shade after autumn to preserve, and then flower after planting in the second year. Wait until after flowering to select the good varieties to retain, and remove the bad varieties.
Overwintering: The bulbs should be dug out after the early frost, go to the soil, dry for a day or two, and then store in the room. Tang calamus is dormant in winter, the dormancy period is generally 30 to 90 days, and the wintering temperature should not be lower than 5 ° C.
Pest control: The common pests and diseases of Tang calamus are mainly bulb rot, leaf blight, thrips, slugs and so on.
Bulb rot Disease Infected bulbs with yellow-brown and downwardly sunken spots on the surface of the bulbs, surrounded by black ulcers, if the cold air is encountered at this time, the spots will rapidly expand and grow a layer of turquoise mold, and finally the bulb will shrink dry and hard. This disease mostly occurs during the storage period of the bulbs.
To prevent the occurrence of this disease, it is necessary to be careful when just digging the bulb to avoid traumating the bulb. The excavated bulbs are soaked in cold water, then disinfected with alcohol, and then stored in a ventilated, dry storage room, and the temperature of the storage room is maintained at 4 ° C ~ 5 ° C.
Leaf blight The macular surface of the infected plant will appear at the tip of the leaves, and finally a dark brown mold layer will appear at the diseased spot. It is most susceptible to outbreaks from July to September of each year.
To prevent the occurrence of this disease, it is necessary to deal with it carefully before planting. Before planting, the dried scales of the bulbs can be peeled off, and then the bulbs can be soaked in 0.5% potassium permanganate solution for about 15 minutes, disinfected, and then planted.
If the plant has been infected, it can be sprayed with 1% equal amount of Bordeaux liquid or 50% zinc powder 1000 times liquid in the early stage, usually once every 8 to 10 days.
Thrips This pest hides between the leaf axils during the day, endangers the leaf stem, and will crawl out to harm the leaf surface on cloudy days or at night, and will also climb to the flowers, feeding on the flowers, and the petals will gradually curl.
This pest was found to be sprayed with 400 times liquid of 2.5% cypermethrin emulsion.
Slugs, also known as slugs, are pests that mainly eat the young shoots and leaves of plants, leaving silvery-white marks where they pass.
This pest is found and can be sprayed with 3% lime water or 100 times liquid ammonia.
Optimal placement: Suitable for placed on sunny window sills.