Distinctive features of yaskolka, agricultural techniques for growing, advice on choosing soil, transplanting, reproduction, difficulties in cultivation, interesting facts, species. Chickweed (Cerastium) is a genus of herbaceous plants that are part of the Caryophyllaceae family. This family unites free-flowing plants, which are annuals and perennials, grasses and dwarf shrubs. About 200 more species of flora have also been introduced there. Usually they like to settle in those regions of the northern hemisphere of the planet where an undividedly temperate climate prevails. You can also find this delicate flower in groves and shrubs, in dry meadows and in floodplains, near roads or human habitation, it can easily grow on sands and pebbles next to rivers, damp and swampy forests are not alien to it, it can fill cereals forb meadows. Its lush thickets begin to take possession of disturbed places, clearings and burnt-out areas, and in rocky massifs it even reaches the upper mountain belt.
Yaskolka takes its Latin name from the fusion of two Greek words "cerativos", which translates "horned" as it comes from the initial "ceras" - "horn" and means "horned plant" or "hornfel". This was facilitated by the appearance of the fruit in the chickweed, but more often you can hear what it is called in the Latin interpretation "tsirastium" or in the common people "mouse-ear" or "grain of sand".
Yaskolka is either an annual or a perennial herbaceous plant. The core roots of the bush are slender, if the species is a perennial, then it has rhizomes rooted in the nodes. Its stems can grow straight, be raised or take on a creeping shape with a height of 8-30 cm, they have pubescence. Leaf plates are measured in length up to 3 cm, width 3–6 mm. They are distinguished by oblong or oblong-lanceolate outlines, and also take on an elliptical, broad-ovate shape. There are usually 1–5 veins on the surface of the leaf plate. The leaves, which are located at the bottom of the shoots, have short petioles, but at the tops the leaves practically sit on the twigs and are pubescent with hairs.
From the flowers, inflorescences are collected in the form of forked half-umbels. The buds are located on pedicels, which elongate after the buds have faded. Bracts along the edges have films and a general herbaceous appearance. Sepals up to 5–6 mm long, pointed at the apex with membranous edges, covered with hairs on the dorsum. The petals can be either equal in length to the sepals or shorter than them. Up to a third of the length have a slit. The flowers on the plant are female and male. The color of the petals is usually white, at the base, the tone is greenish or with yellowness.
After flowering, the fruit ripens in the shape of a box, which is twice as long as the calyx. Its color is orange-brownish, it contains brown seeds.
Yaskolka is very loved by landscape designers who use it as a ground cover crop in the design of alpine slides, rock gardens and rockeries; these structures are varieties of stone gardens, where various stones and plants are skillfully combined.
But in some places the chickweed is considered a weed, since it conquers territories very quickly, growing at a very high speed.
Creation of conditions for growing chickweed, planting and care
- Lighting and location. The plant is very thermophilic and it is worth choosing a planting in a garden in a well-lit place. Can be planted in boxes of balconies or terraces where there is enough light for it to bloom. She can easily survive a short-term drought and is completely undemanding to the soil, you can choose a place between rocky surfaces. If the plant is grown indoors, then an additional source of lighting will be required - special phytolamps or fluorescent lamps.
- Temperature. Many varieties of this plant perfectly tolerate wintering without the necessary shelter, but the heat does not affect the plant too destructively.
- Humidity and watering. The plant does not like stagnation of melt water in spring, but otherwise the chickweed can survive a short-term lack of soil moisture. If after each pruning of faded stems you slightly moisten the soil, then the "mouse-ear" will actively grow and bloom profusely. In the spring-summer period, it is still worth moistening the soil periodically once a week. It is recommended to slightly reduce the watering of the soil before flowering.
- Fertilizers. To make the plant feel good, apply any complex mineral fertilizers. Since in natural nature the chickweed lives on depleted soils, any top dressing will suit her. You can add organic compounds (for example, mullein solution). But do not get too carried away with the addition of dressings, as this will lead to the rapid growth of the plantings.
- Transplant and general care. In one place, the shingle can grow successfully for no more than 5 years. It is better to transplant in June, after the cessation of flowering. It will be necessary to plant the bushes of the plant at a distance of 30 cm from each other.
The shingle is not at all demanding on the composition of the soil, because in its natural environment it can grow even on rocks. However, the plant will not tolerate highly moistened and swampy soil. The soil should be well drained, lightweight with sufficient air and water permeability. If the planting takes place in rocky or sandy soil, then crushed peat soil, chopped sphagnum moss are added to the substrate so that moisture lingers a little at the root system of the bush, but the soil does not compact.
Avoid planting chickweed next to delicate and fragile plants, as thickets of this herb can quickly swallow up a less persistent neighbor. Planting next to small-flowered petunias, lobelia, ground cover phlox or lobelia is suitable.
Tips for self-breeding chickweed
You can get a new young bush by dividing the bush, cutting, planting seed. Seeds are not planted in open ground, as this will not guarantee germination. Seeds are harvested from flowers that are fully ripe and sown in greenhouse conditions or indoors at the very beginning of spring. When the temperature is maintained at 18-22 degrees, the seedlings will appear in a couple of weeks. Seeds are planted in a substrate that is well warmed up and slightly moistened; they try to keep the distance between plants at 5 cm. In the middle of summer, grown plants can be planted in open ground at a distance of 20–25 cm from each other. If it is decided to plant it in the garden on a flower bed, then you can plant it in September or in the middle of spring, but in this case, the shrub will bloom only in the third year.
Plant cuttings are cut in March or better immediately after flowering (June). The cut branches are planted in the ground in a shaded place or kept under a hood. You can plant in a planting container with any loose substrate. Then they are sprayed and covered with plastic wrap (you can use plastic cups). Daily ventilation is required. After 14 days, the branches should take root, and when they grow, they need to be pinned so that the stem begins to branch.
It is necessary to divide the chick bush in early spring or autumn. Before dividing, heavily overgrown thickets are trimmed to make it easier to work. The plant is allowed to start growing and then divided into compact parts. Division must be carried out every 3-4 years, otherwise the plant will lose its decorative effect.
Since the plant grows strongly and its cover becomes very dense, the stems begin to turn yellow, in order to avoid this it is recommended to thin out the plantings and often weed. If the shoots have faded, then in order to maintain the aesthetics of the bush, they will need to be removed, they weaken the chrysalis. If this condition is violated, the stems will begin to stretch, and the lower leaf blades wither, dry up and fly around. The green "rug" will look loose and not pretty.
Diseases and pests that affect cerastium
The plant is quite resistant to disease and harmful insects. However, the flower may undergo fungal infections or suffer from garden pests. An example would be a moth, a moth whose caterpillars spoil leaves and stems. To combat it, the drug "Proteus" is used. For fungi, fungicide treatment is applied. If you do not care for the plantings of the chickweed, do not prune, or plant the plant in a very humid place, damp and cold, without sufficient lighting, then it will eventually die.
Interesting facts about yaskolka
Since the shingle is a resident of rocky areas, its numbers at one time even flocked under threat, and the plant settled in rocky breaks or crevices and more inaccessible places. This was due to the growth of areas of summer mountain pastures - yayla.
Jascol is often used in folk medicine. On the basis of its roots, stems, leaves and flowers, which are harvested during the flowering of the herb, numerous decoctions and tinctures are produced. The parts of the plant contain carbohydrates, saponins, a large amount of phenolcarboxylic acids, coumarins and flavonoids.
These remedies are used against scurvy, as well as tinctures used internally for hemorrhoids, against skin rashes, with vitamin deficiency and conjunctivitis. Among the local peoples of North America, it was customary to give a decoction of the roots to patients who had malignant tumors.
Types of chippings
- Felt chickweed (Cerastium tomentosum). In height, this plant can reach 15–20 cm with a diameter of more than half a meter. Compact herbaceous thickets are formed from it. It is a perennial. The stems are erect, creeping with strong branching. The leaf plates are colored in a silvery-green shade with small sizes and a linear-lanceolate shape. They are covered with small hairs. Throughout May-June, it is covered with a "cap" of multiple small flowers, which reach 1–2 cm in diameter. They are painted in white color, and racemose inflorescences are collected from them. It is often used to decorate rock gardens in the form of a fluffy rug. It does not require shelter for the winter, but it can be significantly affected by the stagnation of spring thawed waters.
- Bieberstein's louse (Cerastium biebersteinii). Perennial herbaceous growth, quite winter-hardy, does not require shelter for the winter. When it grows, it forms beautiful dense pillow-like thickets with a diameter of almost 60–70 cm and a height of 20–25 cm. It has creeping stems, with dense pubescence. The leaves of the plant are small with a linear-lanceolate or elongated-linear shape, which grow on shoots opposite each other (opposite), practically sessile on the stem. They are covered with a white felt-like fluff. On flowering stems whitish flowers grow, which reach 15–25 mm in diameter. The petal on the upper part has a cut, and two blades are obtained. Loose semi-umbellate inflorescences are collected from the buds. The flowering process occurs between May and June.
- Alpine lizard (Cerastium alpinum). Homeland of growing mountainous areas of Europe or North America. It can reach 10–15 cm in height. It forms compact thickets from its stems. Strongly branching and creeping shoots. The leaf blades have a strong pubescence of gray-green felt. The outlines of the leaf are ovoid, the size is small. Flowering begins in May and may end in early June (only 20-30 days in time). Whitish flowers, reaching 2 cm in diameter, are collected in 4-5 units in inflorescences in the form of a shield. Does not tolerate overheating of the substrate and stagnant melt water. If the winter is snowless, then this threatens the plant with freezing.
- Purple chrysalis (Cerastium purpuracens). In its natural environment, it grows in the mountains of the Caucasus, northwestern Iran or on the rocks of Turkey. In height, the stems are close to 25 cm. The shape of the leaf plate is lanceolate or elongated-oblong, the size is small. From white buds, inflorescences are collected in the form of an umbrella. Flowering occurs in June.
- Large-flowered chickweed (Cerastium grandiflorum). The plant is a perennial. With a height of up to 20 cm. Flowers reach 3 cm in diameter. The flowering process occurs in the months of July-August.
- Field shingle (Cerastium arvensis). It is an annual herbaceous growth. The rhizome is thin and densely branched. Constantly flowering sterile flowering stems originate from it. They take a creeping form, can be ascending or erect. The entire surface of the stems is covered with whitish pubescence, the closer to the flower it becomes glandular (trichomes in the form of glands). Leaves are sessile on the stem, have a linear-lanceolate shape. Sterile stems originate from the axils of the leaves and are collected there in bunches. The inflorescences are forked. In flowers, the pedicels have different sizes, they are slightly drooping and straighten only before the fruit ripens. A cup with a spear shape completely covers the fluffy hairs, they can even be in the form of hairs, with visible glands, there is a filminess along the edge. The petals, growing together at the base, form a funnel-like corolla, which reaches 2 cm in diameter.
- Dahurian lamb (Cerastium davuricum). The plant has a winding rhizome, knotty. At the roots, the outlines are thickened fusiform. The stems are extended to a height of 50 cm to a meter. From the lower part, the shoot is covered with sparse long hairs, and the upper part is painted in a gray tint, smooth or with weak pubescence. Leaf plates measure 3–9 cm in length with a width of 1, 5–4 cm, differ in an oblong or ovoid shape. Their surface is bare, but young leaves sometimes cover simple hairs with a bluish color, semi-embracing. The apex has a short sharpening or is blunt. The inflorescence is a multi-flowered semi-umbel (dichasium). Pedicels are 2-7 cm long, they bend down when the buds fade. The bracts are large, leaf-shaped, the length of the sepals reaches 0.8–1 cm with a width of 3.5–5 mm, they are distinguished by a bare surface, glossy, oblong. The flower petals are 12-14 mm long and one and a half to two times longer than the calyx. At the top there is an incision for a third or a quarter of the entire surface, the base is covered with cilia. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule one and a half centimeter long, with teeth curling outward.
- Yascolka is white. Perennial, from which ground cover beams or rugs are formed. Stems are upright, strong, their length ranges from 10-50 cm, usually have dense pubescence. The leaf blade is usually lanceolate, sessile, measured along a length of 0.7–5 cm with a width of 3–15 mm. The top of the leaf is usually sharp, densely covered with cilia. Inflorescences are loose, consist of 2-10 buds, with compact outlines. Sepals have a rounded base and narrow lanceolate shape, reach a centimeter in length, a pointed apex. The petals of the flower are white, yellow at the base; the top of the petal is divided into two lobes. The fruit is slightly conical or in the form of a cylinder, reaching 10–22 mm in length.
More information on growing chickens in this video:
