Kochia: cultivation and care

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The growing popularity of culture as an element of garden design is due to several reasons. Firstly, this is the undemanding and ease of reproduction of kohias, the cultivation and care of which are very simple and easy. Secondly, the decorativeness of the plant, which quickly increases the vegetative mass, turning into a lush, neat bush, and, finally, the ability to tolerate a haircut, rare for annuals. Thanks to the latest quality, the cultivation of kochia allows even an inexperienced grower to try his hand at creating various garden figures, without being afraid to spoil the appearance of his garden for a long time, as could happen when shearing perennials.

Perhaps the only drawback can be considered the instability of the plant to low temperatures. Even small frosts inevitably lead to the death of plantings, and this should be especially taken into account in autumn in order to be able to admire the bright color of the foliage at the end of the season.

Below are some care tips that will allow the culture to reach its full potential, as well as information on how to cut kochia and how to propagate it.

Recommendations for Growing Cochia from Seeds

When choosing a place for planting, you need to keep in mind that in nature the plant grows in steppes and semi-deserts, so open sunny areas will be most suitable for it. The flower tolerates light shading, however, with a significant lack of illumination, the bushes loosen and lose their decorative effect.

Cochia are unpretentious to soils, put up with any cultivated soils, they do not tolerate only acidic and waterlogged lands. They thrive best in loose, well-drained, nutrient-rich areas, and grow and bush well under such conditions.

The peculiarities of culture include its love for free space. The distance between individual specimens must be at least 30 cm, otherwise they stop growing early, without having time to form a beautiful lush bush, and immediately proceed to flowering. This property limits the use of cochia in indoor floriculture, since it also blooms in a cramped pot without having time to build up a vegetative mass.

Kochia care

Otherwise, the care of kochia does not have any features. It consists in regular weeding, loosening and watering, the need for which is especially great in the first weeks after planting kokhiya. In the future, they easily tolerate a lack of moisture and require watering only during a period of prolonged drought, since under these conditions they can bloom early and lose their decorative effect.

Like any decorative leafy crop, kochia is responsive to fertilization. She is fed the first time 7-10 days after planting, then 30 days later, and each time after shearing. Nitrogen is used as a fertilizer, preferably in liquid form.

The bushes have strong trunks and do not need a garter. They are practically not affected by diseases and pests, which is one of the undoubted advantages of the culture. In rare cases, a spider mite may appear on the plant, which is destroyed with appropriate preparations (for example, neoron) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In wet, flooded areas, they can be affected by rot.

Kochia haircut with photo examples of formation

As mentioned above, the plant perfectly tolerates a haircut, maintaining a given crown shape for a long time. With the help of garden pruners, bushes create neat borders and hedges, in addition, they tolerate topiary haircut well. Kochia can be formed in the form of a ball or nesting doll, an oval or a cone, and various garden figures and compositions can be created from it.

Among experts, there are two points of view on how to cut kochia correctly, getting the greatest decorative effect. Some practitioners believe that the plant can be shaped at any time while it is growing, repeating pruning every two weeks. Only bushes with seeds beginning to ripen are unsuitable for cutting kochia; in such specimens, the foliage does not grow and does not cover the places where large branches are cut, which spoils the appearance of the crown.

Other gardeners prefer to start pruning when the plant is almost at its maximum development in order to give it its final form that will last until the end of the season.

It must be remembered that after cutting the bushes must be fed, as they spend a lot of energy on the resumption of growth of young shoots and foliage. Below are examples of designing flower beds using garden forms resulting from cutting kochia from a photo.

Reproduction and cultivation of cochia from seeds

Cochia is propagated by growing from seeds that are sown directly in open ground or, for seedlings, in greenhouses. A small number of seedlings can be grown in separate containers at room conditions. Seed germination is very high, practically reaches 100%, but only if they are freshly harvested, or the shelf life does not exceed one, maximum two years.

This is one of the problems of propagating the crop, especially when using ready-made seeds, which you need to buy from reputable manufacturers, be sure to check the packaging date and expiration date.

Cochia is sown in open ground from early May to mid-summer. For better germination, the seeds need sunlight, so they are not sprinkled with earth, but slightly pressed into moist soil and covered with white covering material, which is removed after about 7-10 days, when shoots appear. Young plants tolerate spring frosts well, but for reliability, the shelter can be left on until stable heat sets in. The grown seedlings are thinned out, leaving a distance between individual seedlings of at least 10 cm, upon reaching a height of 15 cm, the bushes are seated in a permanent place.

Podzimny sowing is also possible, for which several plants are placed in a greenhouse or greenhouse until the seeds are fully ripe, which, having crumbled, will provide numerous seedlings next year in the spring. You can also collect mature seeds and sow them in open ground when the soil temperature becomes steadily low. After the onset of frost, the seeds are laid out in pre-made furrows and covered with a thin layer of pre-harvested soil.

In conclusion, we will tell you how to grow kochia through seedlings. Seeds are planted in March-April in greenhouses or containers filled with a loose, moisture-permeable substrate, slightly pressed into pre-moistened soil and placed in a bright place, previously covered with white spunbond.

They germinate at 18 – 20 C, after the emergence of seedlings, the temperature is lowered to 10-15 C. In the presence of a second or third true leaf, the seedlings dive in 1-3 pieces. in separate pots up to 10 cm in diameter. Seedling care consists of moderate watering, weekly top dressing with liquid mineral fertilizers, loosening and weeding.

Young plants are planted in the ground at the onset of stable heat, usually at the end of May, observing an interval of 40-50 cm for group planting, 20 cm for growing in a border or hedge.

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