A few precautions for peony potting transplanting in autumn
Text: Mr. Hanaki
"Moving Peony Planting"
[Tang] Bai Juyi
Money buys peonies,
Where to say goodbye to the Lord?
Hongfang can not pity and hate,
A hundred moves will open a hundred places.
Peony is one of the top ten traditional flowers native to China, the earliest pre-Qin literature "Book of Poetry" has been recorded, the ancient called "peony medicine", for woody plants. Peony has a long history of cultivation in China, according to the Tang Dynasty Wei Xuan's "Liu Guest Jia Quotes" recorded: "Northern Qi Yang Zihua has painted peony very clearly. Zihua North Qi people, then know peony for a long time. "It can be seen that at the latest in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, peonies were cultivated as ornamental flowers.
The wind of ornamental cultivation of peonies reached its climax in the Sui and Tang dynasties, when everyone from the emperor's heavy subjects to the common people competed to plant peonies first, so that the price of famous peonies was high, and many people were crazy and even ruined. For example, the poems of "Peony" by Liu Hun, the poet of the Middle And Tang Dynasties, are: "Recently, I have no choice but to pay for peony He, and tens of thousands of dollars to buy a peony", And Wang Jian's "Gossip" has more: "The parrot in Qinlong Prefecture is expensive, and the prince's family is poor for peony", etc., all of which show the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty's transplanting and ornamental peony customs.
In the Tang Dynasty, a peony reached tens of thousands of dollars, which is equivalent to a plant of about tens of thousands of yuan according to the current purchasing power conversion (about 1 text ≈2 yuan in the Tang Dynasty)! Even in the Song Dynasty, it was still high, and Ouyang Xiu recorded in the "Luoyang Peony Record of Customs" that the peony variety at that time was "Yao Huang a joint, straight money five thousand", which was converted into about 5,000 yuan today (the Song Dynasty was roughly 1 text ≈ 1 yuan).
Why were peonies so expensive in the Tang and Song dynasties? One is that the atmosphere leads to the fact that "there is something good on the top, and the bottom must be very good"; then there are rare products, and the rarity is precious; the third is that peony transplanting is exquisite, and many people do not understand the method of transplanting, making it difficult for peony to blossom alive; this makes the price of peony high. However, according to bai Juyi's poem "Moving Peony Planting" at the beginning of the article, there is "a hundred places to move will be opened in a hundred places", which seems to show that transplanting is very easy, so is it very contradictory?
In fact, Bai Juyi's poem is only a satirical word, satirizing those villains who flatter the new lord, so there is a previous sentence "Hongfang can be regretted and hated." So, is peony good or not transplanted into a living? Not to mention the Ancients of the Tang and Song Dynasties, even if the horticultural technology of today's information society is developed, there are many flower lovers who do not plant peonies well, either it is difficult to survive, or it is not flowering or the flowers are few and weak, which is mainly caused by not understanding the habits of peonies. In order to help flower lovers, the following is a brief discussion of a few precautions for peony transplanting in autumn.
First, the survival rate of autumn planted peonies is high
In fact, transplanting peonies in autumn is not the experience of today's people, but it has been recorded in many horticultural texts as early as the Tang and Song dynasties. For example, Ouyang Xiu's "Luoyang Peony Record" has: "When you pick up the time, you must use the post-Shehou Chongyang front, and it is unbearable to pass this"; the Northern Song Dynasty Zhou Shihou's "Luoyang Flower and Wood Record" has "Peony and peony medicine in the August Festival", "Divide peony medicine, when the summer is up, August is the middle time, and September is the lower time"; the Ming Dynasty Wang Xiangjin's "Erruting Qunfang Spectrum Peony" has: "After the autumn equinox, if the weather is still hot, or in the rain, September can also be." Xue Fengxiang's "History of Peony in Bozhou" has: "Peony is divided, planted, picked up, and planted in autumn, but autumn is also spring" and so on.
It can be seen that the ancients have long mastered the experience of transplanting the best season of peony and peony medicine, but it is not well known because the ancient information is not developed. To use today's scientific principles to explain, that is, to conform to the growth habits of peonies, reasonable transplanting and planting survival rate is high. The specific reason is that the author has a detailed discussion in the previous article "Peony national color Tianxiang, spring transplanting but low survival rate, not recommended to buy", here will not be repeated, simply put, autumn transplanting peony is the best.
However, autumn should also pay attention to the season, planting early, easy to cause winter buds to germinate and withdraw new branches (autumn hair), not only consume nutrients, but also reduce the ability to resist cold and drought, the next spring growth and flowering are very unfavorable. Planting is late, the root wounds are not fully healed, new roots form very little, and it takes 2 to 3 years or even longer to recover to produce plump flowers. It can not only avoid too much damage to the roots, but also make the peony survive smoothly, accumulate nutrients, and overwinter safely, so as to flower in the second year. In general, the plants are divided from late September to early to mid-October.
Second, the autumn transplant peony varieties selection
Autumn transplant peony, first of all to choose varieties, now peony varieties are numerous, according to the latest research report of the International Peony Flower Association, peony varieties have 1024 species, which have drought resistance, hardiness, heat resistance, moisture resistance and other characteristics, can be planted in temperate zone, cold and heat and subtropical areas of the variety of more than 300, different regions are suitable for different varieties, but peony as a whole is suitable for northern cultivation, the south is relatively difficult to flower (because of the need for low temperature vernalization).
【Habit selection】: For example, in the northeast region, more hardy varieties should be selected, such as purple peony; sun-resistant varieties include Luoyang red, fengdan, fragrant jade and so on.
【Plant shape selection】: Peony can be divided into upright type, semi-expanded type and unfolded type according to the plant shape; according to the method of branching, it can be divided into single branch type and bush type. The shape of the ground plant does not have to be picky, and the potted plant generally chooses a short and strong leaf type.
【Flower color petal type selection】 Peony color system is complete, can be dividend, yellow, green, black, white, purple, blue, pink, complex color nine color system, according to the number of petal levels, divided into single petal (layer) class, heavy petal (layer) class, thousand petals (layer) class, flower friends can choose their favorite flower color and variety.
Second, peony plant selection
Peonies are perennial deciduous shrubs or small trees that can live for more than 100 years. However, in general, the prime-age peony flowers are large and colorful, and it is the best time to see. The Ming Dynasty Xue Fengxiang's "History of Peony in Bozhou" summarizes: "Peony is young in the second year of the living, weak in the fourth year, strong in the sixth year, strong in the eighth year, weak in the autumn, weak in the spring of the autumn, strong in the valley rain, and strong in the third year." Birth and succession cannot be without distinction, one year is weak, two years is strong, three years is strong, eight years is Ai, twelve years is old; fifteen years is old, the old is decaying, and the old is defeated. "It has implications for the present.
Generally speaking, peony plants are selected, solid seedlings are selected for plants that are more than six years old, and grafted seedlings are selected for plants with more than three years, which is conducive to survival. Regarding the age of the peony tree, the scales can be observed, because after the peony bud germinates, the scales begin to fall off and leave the scale bud marks, so the size of the peony plant age can be identified according to the scale bud marks.
Another worth mentioning is that peony transplanting, now online purchase, many merchants in order to save freight, often bare root delivery, so the root system is inevitably damaged. Therefore, if you buy more expensive varieties and peony plants with a larger tree age, it is best to bring the original soil ball, which can protect the roots from injury and improve the survival rate.
Third, peony transplanting pot selection
The root system of peony is a deep root fleshy root, and it does not matter if it is planted on the ground, but potted peony should choose a medium and deep type pot, which can make the peony root system strong, leafy and lush. Regarding the pot quality, the author believes that the clay pot with good air permeability is better, the quality is good and cheap, and it is very suitable for the growth of peony; secondly, the clay pot (black pottery or red clay pot) or the plastic pot is not recommended to use glazed ceramic pots, which are poor in air permeability and are easy to accumulate water and rot roots.
As for the purple sand pot, a good purple sand pot is naturally beautiful and generous, and it is very practical, but because most of the purple sand pots are designed for bonsai or planted orchids, the pot body is too much for the rectangular shallow pot or the slender high sign pot, which is not suitable for peony growth, plus now many so-called purple sand pots are of poor quality and not breathable, so it is not recommended to use.
About the diameter of the pot, mainly depends on the root size of the purchased peony plant, the general diameter of the pot is a few centimeters larger than the diameter of the root system, and the market sales volume is mostly 6 to 10 branches of peony, and the pot is generally 30 cm in diameter and 25 cm deep.
Fourth, the soil substrate preparation of planting peonies
Peony varieties are different, the suitable soil matrix is slightly different, in general, the northwest peony group prefers loess alluvial soil or loess texture developed in the gray calcium soil, black moor, etc., the soil pH is alkaline, ph is 8.0 ~ 8.9; the Central Plains peony group prefers neutral and weak alkaline sand loam soil, ph7.0 ~ 8.3; Jiangnan peony group and southwest peony group prefer neutral or weak acidic sand loam soil, ph5.6 ~ 7.8 or so. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate different substrates according to the variety.
In general, the culture soil should be loose, fertile, high humus content, long-lasting fertilizer and easy to drain. The ideal cultivation soil formula is to mix the humus soil, garden soil, slag each evenly, but appropriately add a small amount of decomposed animal hoof pieces or sauce residue as the base fertilizer, some flower friends use cooked animal manure, if the experience is of course very good, if the experience is poor or not recommended to use, avoid burning roots.
Fifth, peony potted points on the pot
After purchasing the peony plant, the peony should be pruned before planting, the upper dead branches and the lower part of the diseased dead root and the long root system should be cut off, and the roots should be disinfected for 5-10 minutes with a healing agent or with 1% copper sulfate solution, and then dried the wound slightly, and then potted.
It is not easy to make peony bonsai, because the peony branches are woody, easy to break, and not easy to shape, so it is recommended to focus on natural forms. Moreover, peonies are mainly based on flower viewing, do not need to care too much about the shape of the plant, can only choose the old plant with simple shape and tall strength to make bonsai, and some can also choose strange shapes of strange stones as attached stone bonsai.
When potting, now the bottom water hole pad puts a water filter, and then use pottery particles to lay a layer to facilitate drainage, and then, put the peony into the center, (some old piles will be fixed with aluminum wire and basin body from the bottom for modeling), left hand pile, and then fill the soil one after another, while filling the soil while slapping the pot, slightly lift the root system upwards, slightly press the edge soil, so that the root system and soil are tightly combined, which is conducive to root expansion. Fill the soil until 3-5 cm from the top of the pot when no longer fill the soil, is conducive to watering without splashing out of the pot.
Sixth, the conservation and management of peonies after potting
Immediately after transplanting, the peony is watered with root water so that the root system and soil remain close to each other and impermeable. Then placed in the shade, because the temperature drops in autumn, the peony is about to go dormant, so the soil should remain dry. Generally speaking, after watering the fixed root water, no watering is given about half a month, and then "see dry and wet, water thoroughly", placed in a cool place with sunlight to manage.
However, it should be noted that the peony should not be placed in a warmer place, and the soil should be kept too moist, which can easily make the peony "autumn hair", and the result will not bloom in the second year. The best way is that flower lovers with yards, as long as the outdoor temperature is not too cold (mainly depending on the variety, some can tolerate low temperatures of minus ten degrees), you can maintain in the courtyard. Flower friends with heating should also find a low temperature place, such as a cold balcony, keep it between 0 ° C and 10 ° C, so that the peony can naturally sleep in winter, after 60 to 90 days of vernalization stage, so that the peony can bloom normally and the flowers are colorful.
VII. Conclusion
The above is a few points of attention to the peony flower in the autumn transplanting maintenance to share, thanks to the experience of the ancients to summarize the accumulation, as well as personal experience, I hope to help the flower friends who love peony to take fewer detours, if there is no place or mistakes, please teachers and flower friends criticism and correction, thank you! Finally, I wish you all the peony flowers under your care in the coming year that they will be fragrant and bloom rich!
(Some of the pictures originate from the Internet, if there is infringement contact to delete)
2021/11/6 Easy to flower wood