Planting and caring for juveniles in open ground, propagation and cultivation

Juvenile is an ideal plant for a sunny area with infertile soil. It has several popular names: stone rose, thunderberry, hare cabbage, tenacious, fatty. Planting and caring for juveniles in open ground is not difficult, since it is very unpretentious. This is an ideal plant for beginning gardeners.

General description of the bush

Juvenile is a perennial ground cover succulent. It has a rosette structure of fleshy leaves. Their diameter varies from 1 to 20 centimeters. The leaves are dense, bare or covered with glandular hairs. The fibrous rhizome is located in the top layer of soil.

The leaf plate, depending on the variety, is painted in different colors: green, silver, red-burgundy. Young flowers bloom in June-August and have a delicate aroma. Reproduction is carried out by children, which the plant is capable of throwing at a distance of about 1 meter.

Varieties and varieties of young

Basic species of youngexisting in nature:

1. Roofing. The shape of the plants is spherical or slightly flattened, the diameter of the rosettes is 4-15 centimeters. It begins to bloom from mid-July to the end of August.
2. Russian. The diameter of the plant is up to 6 centimeters. The inflorescences are yellow and grow up to 35 centimeters.
3. Cobwebby. This species of juvenile received its name for the glandular hairs that envelop a small (up to 4 centimeters in diameter) rosette.
4. Marble. The rosettes of the plant reach 10 centimeters. Young leaf blades have slight pubescence; the color at the base is green, gradually turning into red.
5. Ball-shaped. The leaf plates of the young are oblong-spatulate, collected in a rosette, the size of which is 5 centimeters.
6. Caucasian. The height of the leaves of the plant reaches 20 centimeters, the width of the rosette is 5 centimeters. The inflorescences have a lilac-violet color.

The most popular varieties of young:

1. Pharaoh. The height of the rosette is 10 centimeters, the leaf blades are purple in color, with small glimpses of green.
2. Princess. The plant has tightly closed leaves with dark brown tips.
3. Montana.The rosettes of the juveniles are large, their color is bright green.
4. Julia. At first, the leaf blades of the bushes have a marsh color, which changes to red by autumn.
5. Ed. The peculiarity of the planting is its small red rosettes.

Note! After the buds dry, the flower arrow must be removed, otherwise the rosette may die because of it.

Rules for growing crops

In order for plants to grow quickly and at the same time look decorative, you must initially choose the right place and soil for them, and care for the bushes throughout the season.

Selection and preparation of a landing site

Juvenile is a light-loving plant, so the planting site should be well lit. In the shade, leaf plates lose their brightness and attractiveness. It is planted on the site from March to October. The stone rose must have time to take root before the onset of frost. It takes root easily and quickly produces numerous offspring.

What soil is needed for a stone rose?

The root system of the plant is superficial, so the substrate selected is loose, with a predominance of sand. If the soil is too heavy and wet, the roots may rot. Juveniles will tolerate drought more easily than excessive moisture. For this reason, drainage consisting of broken shards, expanded clay, small pebbles, and sand is placed in the planting hole. If the bush is planted in a pot, then a substrate for cactus crops is purchased.

Planting process

The flower is planted in open ground as follows:

• a planting hole is dug;
• drainage is laid out at its bottom;
• loose soil is poured on top;
• The seedlings are placed in the middle of the hole and covered with the remaining soil.

If several bushes are planted, the distance between young specimens is maintained in the range of 5-7 centimeters, and between older ones - 10-12 centimeters.Plantings are watered immediately, then again after 3 days.

How to care for the young?

Caring for the plant does not cause much difficulty. It is quite unpretentious, but for its spectacular appearance it is necessary to fulfill the requirements. Rare watering, careful loosening, removal of weeds and faded buds - these procedures will benefit the planting.

Watering rules

The leaves were young and fat, storing moisture. For this reason, the plant does not require frequent and abundant watering. The rainfall that falls during the season is sufficient for him. With excessive watering, the planting can be affected by fungal diseases.

Advice! Stone rose does not require frequent watering, so it is recommended to grow it in garden plots that are rarely visited by summer residents, as well as in regions that belong to the risky farming zone.

Fertilizer and feeding

Fertilizer rejuvenated is not a mandatory procedure. You can feed only mature plants - once per season, in the spring. To do this, use fertilizer for succulents in a dose that is half as much as for other plantings. Overly fed bushes may not survive a frosty winter.

How does the crop winter?

Juveniles are able to withstand severe frosts without loss. The danger of overwintering juveniles in the garden arises only due to moisture getting between the leaf plates. With frequent thaws, the snow will melt, leaving droplets of water in the stomata. Because of this, the plant may be affected by rot, due to which the leaf rosettes will die. To prevent this, when winter comes, the young are covered.

Large plastic bottles are used as shelter. They are cut off and the rosettes are covered with young ones.To prevent the covering material from being blown away by the wind, it is secured with metal pins. So that young plants can winter successfully, they are covered with spruce branches.

Diseases and pests

The young can get sick due to improper care, namely, too frequent watering. The plant begins to rot, infecting nearby bushes. To avoid this, the affected plants are removed from the flower bed. The soil on which the diseased young grew must be sprayed with a fungicide.

Birds can damage plantings. They peck out young, weakly holding bushes and scatter them around the area. In addition to birds, cockchafer larvae also damage plantings. Pests are removed from the flower bed manually, and the plants are re-rooted.

Also, a stone rose can be surrounded by colonies of aphids, which will suck the juice from the plant. The young will gradually begin to wither away for a long time. Mealybugs act in a similar way. To get rid of pests, bushes are sprayed with insecticide.

Reproduction technology

Juveniles can be propagated by seeds, cuttings and offspring.

Seeds

You need to sow the seeds immediately after collecting them on your site or purchasing them at a flower shop. The fresher they are, the faster they sprout and take root. Preparation and breeding of juveniles with seeds is carried out as follows:

1. Drainage is laid out at the bottom of the planting box.
2. The soil for succulents wakes up from above.
3. Seeds are sown in rows, at a distance of 4 centimeters from one another. There is no need to cover them with soil.
4. The seed material is sprayed from a spray bottle.
5. The box is covered with film to create greenhouse conditions.

After about 10 days, the first shoots will appear. After this, the film is removed and the seedlings are provided with constant care.If necessary, they are thinned out to ensure sufficient feeding area. When the bushes grow, they can be planted in open ground or a pot.

Cuttings

In this case, cuttings are leaf plates that are separated from the rosette, and after planting they grow roots, turning into independent plants. The propagation procedure by cuttings is as follows:

1. The leaf plates are cut off with a sharp, disinfected knife.
2. The sections are dusted with charcoal. This procedure will prevent them from rotting.
3. The cuttings are placed in a dry place to dry for 2 weeks.
4. Each leaf is planted in a box with wet sand and covered with film.

The seedlings are ventilated every day and watered as necessary. It is necessary to ensure that the sand is not constantly wet. When roots and young rosettes are formed, the plants are planted in a permanent place.

Important! After cutting, cuttings are not planted immediately, but are left for 2 weeks in a dry place to dry..

Children and mustaches

The young plant forms young plants around itself, which are called babies. For propagation, they are separated with a sharp knife along with the root, which is dusted with a growth stimulator before planting. Place the children in a place well lit by the sun.

Instead of children, some varieties of rock rose form stems with a vegetative bud at the end, which are called mustaches. So that they can take root faster, they are pressed to the ground, pinned, a substrate is sprinkled around them, and watered. Soon the mustache will form roots, after which it is separated and transplanted to a permanent place.

Young: combination with other plants

The stone rose is loved by landscape designers for its beauty, unpretentiousness, and drought resistance.It can be planted on an alpine hill, in a rock garden, along a garden path. Juvenile is used as a carpet, planting several varieties of plants of different colors nearby.

In addition, the bushes are combined with other drought-resistant plants: sedum, saxifrage, duchesne, arabis, purslane. Some gardeners plant it as a roof covering on a doghouse or gazebo, having previously installed a special garden net on the roof. They are also used to create mini-gardens on driftwood and plant them in pots and flowerpots.