Carnations brighten up patios and balconies, but they also look pretty in gardens when planted in groups. The care that must be given to them is simple: as long as they do not lack light or water, we may have to remove some aphids in summer, but nothing more. In fact, these are herbaceous plants that resist (almost) everything.
Now, there are those who wonder how to plant carnations. A very common doubt that arises when the decision is made to buy some specimens, and it is not clear whether to plant them in larger pots or in the ground, or how.
A small aside: planting is not the same as sowing
I make this small paragraph because it is important: We speak of planting when we say that we are going to take a plant that has already germinated, and we are going to move it to another placesuch as a larger pot or in the garden. We can also say “I am going to plant cuttings”, when our intention is to cut a piece of branch and put it in a container to take root.
On the contrary, sowing is taking seeds and placing them in a pot, for example, taking care of them and making them sprout. In summary: we will plant grown plants or cuttings; but we will sow seeds. In this article, we will talk about how carnations are planted, that is, what are the steps that we have to follow so that a plant that is in a pot, is in another or in the garden.
Related article:
Sowing or planting: are they the same?
When to plant carnations?
Normally, the plants that we buy in nurseries and markets have roots that protrude through the holes in the pots, and/or they barely have enough soil to continue growing. This means that they need more space, so if we have just acquired a carnation, we recommend transplanting it as soon as possible. But there are cases in which you will have to wait a bit, such as in these circumstances:
- if thermometers tend to plummet in spring,
- if you have many open flowers,
- or if it is a plant that looks bad, with yellow or brown leaves, or with pests.
Of course, neither should a seedling that is still very small be handled (in other words, that it measures less than ten centimeters), and whose roots do not yet appear through the holes of said seedbed.
What are the steps to follow to plant carnations?
Related article:
Carnation (Dianthus)
They are small plants that, although they are not very delicate, it is important that they be handled with care. Therefore, we recommend that you follow the steps that we will tell you below:
Steps to repot carnations
- Take a pot whose diameter and height measure about 5 centimeters more than the one you have at the moment.
- Add universal soil for flowers, like thisfilling it a few centimeters keeping in mind the height of the old pot so that the plant is neither too tall nor too short.
- Take the plant out of the container, holding it with one hand by the base of the stem, and with the other holding the pot and pulling to the side.
- Put it in the new pot and pour soil on it. It is important not to bury any leaves, since all of them -if they are healthy- are useful for making the photosynthesis and grow.
- Water, and put them in the sun.
And then you just have to put them where you want: on the balcony, on the terrace, on the roof… wherever you prefer! But remember: you can’t shade thembecause in those conditions they will not bloom.
Steps to plant carnations in the garden
- As they need direct sunlight, the first thing is choose a sunny area where to plant carnations
- Next, we’ll prepare the ground: removing weeds, removing rocks, and leveling the ground if necessary.
- Then, we will make a planting hole that measures about 20 x 20 centimeters.
- Now we take the carnation and, without taking it out of the pot, we introduce it in the hole. This way we can calculate more or less how much soil we have to add so that the plant fits us well.
- The next step is to take the carnation out of the hole, add a little soil and, now, take the plant out of the pot to plant it in the garden.
To finish, we will water. If the plant has a stem that seems to hang down, we can put a stake on it and tie it to it.. In this way, it will grow well and, sooner than we imagine, it will become stronger.
Post-transplant care
All plants need time to recover from the transplant: some may take several weeks, such as palm trees, for example, but there are others such as carnations that begin to grow in their new location in a matter of a few days. Nevertheless, we have to be a little aware of themjust in case.
It is important that we water them every two-three days in summerbecause it is when it is very hot and, consequently, when the earth takes almost no time to dry. The rest of the time, we have to see: if there is a forecast of rain, we will not irrigate; If the soil is very dry and/or even cracked, we will add plenty of water.
But we do not recommend paying them until a month has passed. When the time comes, we will use a fertilizer that is indicated for flowering plants, if possible liquid, such as this.
Planting carnations is quite simple. You just have to put on some gloves, decide where you are going to have them, and proceed to put them in their new location.
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