Easy to
grow and care for, annual bedding plants can be grown in hanging baskets and
pots or borders. Change your displays every year, and use our guide for getting
the best results.
About bedding plants
Packs of
ready-grown bedding plants can be bought from garden centres. Look out for
ready-made combinations, or buy trays of one colour to plant together and make
a big impact.
Buying bedding plants
Seedlings
If you
have a big bedding scheme you can buy tiny seedlings from mail-order companies.
Between 100 and 400 seeds are sown in trays filled with compost and because
they're so crammed in, the baby plants need to be potted into little pots or
spaced out in separate seed trays to give them space to grow.
Plugs
Plug
plants are bigger than seedlings and are grown in trays containing lots of
v-shaped cells. They're available in many sizes, including mini-plugs, which
will need to be potted into bigger containers before planting outside or more
expensive jumbo plugs, which can be planted directly into containers or the
soil. Good quality plugs should arrive damp, have green, healthy leaves and
roots that are just appearing through the bottom of each cell.
Pots and trays
The most
common way of buying bedding plants from a garden centre is in individual pots,
trays or in tear-apart packs. Buying in pots is expensive, while trays containing
lots of plants is cheap. However, as these plants are growing together in the
same compost, roots can be damaged when separating to put into individual pots.
With bedding grown in packs each plant has its own growing cell, and this makes
them easy to plant without damage to the roots.
Growing bedding plants from seed
If you
have time, most bedding plants are easy to grow from seed. All you need to do
is fill a 7.5cm (3in) pot with cuttings compost, firm and follow the sowing
instructions for the variety you're growing - some plants will need covering
with compost, while others are left on the surface.
To
germinate, put in a heated propagator or cover with a clear plastic bag held in
place with an elastic band. Place on a windowsill and seedlings will quickly
appear.
Some
smaller seeds, such as begonia, are trickier to grow from seed and are better
bought as young plants.
Planting out
Most
bedding plants, whether bought or homegrown, will have been started in warm
conditions and like to be acclimatised before being planted outside.
To do
this, put plants in a cold frame or unheated porch for a few weeks before
planting out.
Dig out
a hole in a container or in the soil that's large enough for the rootball to
fit comfortably.
Separate
out plants, gently removing individual rootballs. Place in hole, so the compost
is just beneath the level of the surface of the soil and fill in the gaps
around the plant with soil. Firm and water.
Aftercare
Water
plants daily in the summer - plants in containers and hanging baskets may need
watering twice a day during dry weather.
Add
liquid feed in your watering can and apply once a week.
Remove
dead flowers from winter and summer bedding plants as they fade to keep them
tidy and encourage new blooms.
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