When is the best time to plant freesia?

Freesia, also known as freesia, is a perennial bulbous herb that can bloom. The flowers are elegant, colorful, and have a special fragrance. Many people like to grow them at home. So when is the best time to plant freesia? Let’s take a look below.

1. When is the best time to plant freesia?

The best season for planting freesia is generally September and October in autumn, because it must be planted in cool weather, otherwise sowing will affect the germination rate. If sown in autumn, the germination rate will be higher and it will be easier to grow and bloom.

2. Freesia cultivation method

1. Preparation

Bulbs: Check whether they are healthy. If they are moldy or rotten, cut off the moldy part, soak them in carbendazim solution, and place them in a cool and ventilated place to dry.

Flower pots: Try to choose taller pots, about 17 cm in height, so that it is easier to fill the soil later to prevent lodging.

Soil: Make it as loose and breathable as possible. For potted plants , you can use leaf mold + garden soil + river sand + decomposed organic fertilizer . If planted in the ground, the soil must be deeply plowed and fertilized.

2. Planting in pots

Freesia can be planted in September and October when the temperature stabilizes at around 20℃. Of course, if your bulbs have already sprouted, you don’t have to wait, just bury them directly!

As for how many bulbs to plant in one pot, it depends on personal preference. If you want to see the flowers blooming all over the pot, plant them appropriately densely. If you want to grow more bulbs, plant them more sparsely. Usually, a flowerpot with a diameter of 18 cm can plant 6-10 bulbs.

Pay attention to the depth of soil covering here. Since freesia is prone to lodging in the later stage, it needs to be buried appropriately deep. However, be careful not to bury it too close to the bottom of the pot, otherwise the roots will become tangled and cause problems later. It is recommended to leave 6-8 cm of soil below the bulb, and cover the top with 3 cm of soil first, and then cover the soil below the mouth of the pot after it sprouts and grows leaves.

After the bulbs are buried, water them thoroughly once, and then do not water them too much to prevent the bulbs from rotting. Wait until the soil is almost dry before watering.

3. Adequate lighting

After the bulbs are planted, there is no requirement for light before leaves grow, just keep ventilation good. When the leaves grow out, it needs to be given sufficient light, and full sun is best. If there is insufficient light, the plants will easily grow too tall and lose their beauty.

4. Water and fertilizer management

Freesia likes moisture but cannot tolerate waterlogging. During the growing period, watering can follow the principle of watering when the soil is dry and then wetting it. If you are not sure, it is better to keep it dry than wet, especially in winter when the temperature is lower, you should reduce watering. If the plant appears to be growing too tall, you can water it less and keep the soil in the pot a little drier.

In the early stages of growth, it mainly relies on the sphere for nutrition and no additional fertilizer is needed. When it grows to 4 leaves, you can apply thin fertilizer, mainly phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, to promote root growth and increase the number of flowers. Do not apply too much nitrogen fertilizer as it will cause the plant to grow too tall.

5. Control height and prevent lodging

First of all, it is quite difficult to control the plant shape of freesia. After all, most horticultural varieties are bred for cut flowers, and the habit of "growing taller" is engraved in their genes, and acquired efforts can only improve it slightly. Mainly start from the following aspects:

(1) Deep burial of bulbs: When planting, bury the bulbs about 10 cm deep to make the plants grow tall and upright.

(2) Use chlormequat: When the plant grows to about 10 cm, spray or irrigate the roots with chlormequat, dilute with water at a ratio of 1:500, and use it once every 10-15 days. Three times will be enough.

(3) Light and water control: Providing sufficient light during the growing period will help control excessive growth, but appropriate shade should be provided during the flowering period. At the same time, control water and avoid rain. Excessive water will not only cause the plant to grow too tall but also cause the bulb to rot.

(4) Build a support: Freesia is not very upright and is prone to falling over. You can build a support to provide support.

If you feel that the plant is too tall and affects the aesthetics, you can also choose native species or shorter varieties, which have a more compact plant shape and a stronger fragrance.

6. Post-flowering management

Stop fertilizing after buds appear, and appropriate shade can prolong the flowering period. After the flowers wither, cut off the remaining flowers and place them in a place with scattered light, retaining the healthy leaves for photosynthesis to produce nutrients, and at the same time apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to promote the growth of bulbs.

After the leaves turn yellow and wither, clean up the remaining leaves, stop fertilizing and watering, and place it in a cool and ventilated place to let it dormant. Around mid-to-early June, the bulbs can be dug out, dried, and stored, or they can continue to be placed in the soil. Regardless of whether they bulb or not, they need to be kept dry.

Around October in autumn, the bulbs can be replanted. It is best to repot dormant bulbs in the original pot in autumn and replant them according to the size of the bulbs, because the small bulbs grown that year may not necessarily bloom.

That’s it