Nasturtium is a delicate herbaceous plant from the Nasturtium family. His homeland is Latin America. Flexible shoots, like a vine, spread along the ground or branch, forming a bush. In domestic gardening, nasturtium was fond of large bright flowers and ease of care. And the fact that it is edible and has medicinal properties makes the plant simply irreplaceable. In addition to the scientific name, the flower can be found under the name "capuchin".
Plant description
Nasturtium is a flowering annual or perennial. The latter hardly tolerate even small frosts, therefore, in central Russia, all nasturtiums in open ground are grown as annuals. The fibrous rhizome is located at the very surface of the soil. Long, flexible stems can grow up to 2-3.5 m. The shoot forms lateral processes.
All vegetation is covered with the next petiolate leaves of a lobed, thyroid or palmate-divided form. The edge of the leaf is solid, slightly wavy. Lighter veins diverge from the center of the sheet plate to the edges, like rays. Smooth leaves are light green.
In early summer, nasturtium blooms large, gramophone-like flowers. They grow individually on long pedicels, in the axils of the leaves. The calyx consists of five petals, the same number of stamens and ovary. Bisexual flowers exude an intense pleasant, albeit somewhat harsh, aroma. Petals can have yellow, orange, pink, raspberry, scarlet color. Changing each other, the buds delight the eye until the beginning of autumn.
Pollination is carried out by various insects, and in the wild also hummingbirds. After it, a fruit is fastened - an achene. Ripening, it opens and is divided into 3 separate seeds. Rounded seeds with longitudinal grooves from a distance resemble small helmets.
Types of Nasturtium
In the genus of nasturtium, more than 80 plant species can be counted. Thanks to breeders, many decorative varieties have appeared.
Tuberous nasturtium. The herbaceous annual forms creeping, branched shoots that are tangled, gaining a dense ball up to a height of 50 cm. Underground stems (stolons) build up elongated relief tubers of ivory color with purple eyes. On the ground processes are five-lobed bluish-green leaves. At the end of June, buds on long peduncles grow in the axils of the leaves. A cup of five petals with a spur is painted in a gradient red-yellow hue.
Foreign nasturtium. A long flexible vine (up to 3.5 m) winds well along the support, therefore it is used for vertical gardening. Light green corymbal leaves of almost round shape form a continuous green cover. In July, funnel-shaped flowers with a diameter of about 2 cm appear. They are painted in bright yellow.
Nasturtium is big. A plant with a bare, brittle stem grows up to 2.5 m. Some varieties take the form of a bush up to 70 cm high. Rounded dark green leaves grow on long petioles. In June, bright flowers bloom with a diameter of 5-6 cm. They have a simple or terry shape. Varieties:
- Alaska - a shrub 25-30 cm high densely covered with large marble leaves and large yellow or pink flowers;
- Vesuvius - undersized shrub with pink flowers, covered with burgundy spots;
- Peach melba - delicate flowers of a peach shade with a red spot at the base of the petal;
- King Theodore - bright red simple flowers;
- Salmon baby - liana with semi-double salmon flowers.
Nasturtium climbing. An annual creeper with side shoots that quickly braids large areas. It is used for landscaping verandas, gazebos, balconies, fences.
Nasturtium is small. Grassy shoots form a dense shrub up to 35 cm in height. Small petiolate thyroid leaves grow on it. In June-October, the plant is covered with fawn yellow flowers with a diameter of up to 3 cm. Varieties:
- Black velvet - a shrub up to 30 cm high blooms large (6 cm in diameter) black-burgundy flowers;
- Cherry rose - a spherical bush with a height of not more than 30 cm blooms with scarlet terry buds.
Breeding methods
The most convenient way to propagate nasturtium is to sow seeds. They can be sown immediately in the open ground after the frost leaves in late May. To do this, prepare grooves with a depth of 1.5-2 cm with a distance of 25-30 cm. It is not difficult to arrange large seeds evenly. It is better to put 2-4 seeds together to form a lush rosette. They are covered with a small layer of earth, and with a strong cooling - film. Shoots become noticeable after 10-15 days. Seedlings will bloom in 1-1.5 months.
To get earlier flowering, nasturtium is sown on seedlings in April. In peat pots with sandy peat soil, 2-3 seeds are distributed. They are buried by 2 cm. The containers are kept in a well-lit place with a temperature of + 20 ... + 22 ° C. It is important to monitor the lighting. With a lack of it, the plants are very long and sick.
To preserve varietal signs of highly decorative plants, nasturtium is propagated by cuttings. Most often, this method is practiced by breeders in greenhouse conditions. Adults, well-sprouted shoots with 3-4 leaves are cut. The bottom cut is treated with "Kornevin." Rooted cuttings in wet sand or in water. With the advent of roots, flowers are planted in prepared soil in containers or in open ground. Care must be taken not to damage the delicate root system during planting.
Outdoor planting and care
In the garden for nasturtium, you need to choose the most lighted place with well-drained, slightly acidic soils. The presence of lime is contraindicated in plants. They are planted in open ground in early June. In order not to damage a very delicate root system, planting is carried out together with peat pots. Land should be moderately fertile. With a large proportion of organic fertilizers, leaves and shoots grow better, but flowering becomes less lush. The proximity of groundwater is unacceptable, since the roots are vulnerable to rot.
When planting flowers, they maintain a distance of 20-40 cm. Immediately after the procedure, the soil is mulched, then weeds will not bother so much, and after watering, a dense crust will not form. It is necessary to water nasturtium often, but so that the water has time to leave. Large leaves evaporate a lot of moisture, and an underdeveloped rhizome cannot extract water from the depths. With the beginning of the flowering period, watering is somewhat reduced.
Liana is prone to build green mass, in order to achieve abundant flowering, mineral supplements with a high content of phosphorus and potassium are introduced. Seeds ripen quickly and independently scatter on the ground. This leads to uncontrolled self-seeding. To counter this phenomenon, fading flowers are immediately cut off.
In the fall, watering begins to be reduced, and when the ground processes dry out, nasturtium is destroyed, since it will not withstand wintering in open ground. The site is dug up and released for the flower garden next year.
All parts of the plant exude a specific, but not repulsive, odor for humans. At the same time, the aroma is unpleasant to insects, so nasturtium in itself is an insecticide and pests do not bother it. It is also not very sensitive to diseases, only in case of violation of agricultural technology can rust, gray rot, mosaic of leaves, ring blotch develop. Affected processes and foliage need to be cut and destroyed. The rest of the plant is treated with fungicide.
Potted nasturtium
Nasturtium can be used not only for landscaping the garden, but also for decorating a balcony or porch. For this, a plant with drooping shoots is planted in a pot. Caring for it is not much different. The container should be wide and not very deep.
Nasturtium is placed in a well-lit place or on an open balcony. Liana is either hung in a pot in the open air, or more often aerated room. The plant is regularly watered and fed twice a month with a composition for flowering.
In autumn, indoor nasturtium will delight longer with plentiful flowering. It can be grown as a perennial. In winter, plants are transferred to a cool room (+ 13 ... + 15 ° C) and moderately watered. By spring, the stems can stretch, so they practice radical pruning and cuttings.
Plant use
In landscape design, nasturtium is used for vertical and horizontal gardening. It forms a continuous green cover on the soil or trellis. Plants with bright fragrant flowers look good in mixborders, in the foreground of the flower garden and on the walls of arbors. They are effective in combination with bells, delphinium, ageratum.
Nasturtium flowers and foliage are used in cooking for the preparation and decoration of salads, sandwiches, soups. Leaflets are similar in taste to watercress leaves. They have a bitter, refreshing taste. Dried flowers have an intense aroma and are used in a tea bouquet. The fruits of the plant are pickled, they remind the taste of capers.
The healing properties of nasturtium are very great. It is a herbal antibiotic and contains a rich vitamin complex. They use decoctions and alcohol tinctures that they drink to strengthen the genitourinary system, fight colds and tonsillitis, and treat scurvy. Rinses the hair with broths to strengthen them and wipe the problematic skin of the face.
Contraindications to nasturtium are limited to limiting the intake of people prone to allergies. Also, excessive use irritates the digestive tract and mucous membranes.
