The presence of a powerful storage rhizome makes the peony suitable for winter and spring forcing. However, before you start forcing, you need to understand whether you can provide intensively growing plants with everything you need. The most important are two factors - the availability of significant space for large bushes and the possibility of organizing additional lighting to compensate for the lack of natural light in winter. Ideally, forcing works best in a greenhouse or conservatory, where plants can be placed in the ground rather than in pots. Both varietal and specific herbaceous peonies, as well as tree peonies, are suitable for forcing. Usually old French varieties of peonies, terry and fragrant, are kicked out.
- By the New Year, the varieties of Festival Maxima, Rosea Elegance, Francois Ortega are well distilled.
- By the end of February, you can add the varieties Edulis Superba, Felix Cruz, François Ortega, President Taft, Madame Leone Calo to them.
- And by March 8 - varieties Albert Cruz, Linney.
If there is a desire to experiment, the choice should be stopped at low, aromatic early flowering varieties with strong stems.
They begin to prepare peonies for distillation long before planting. Plants of 4-5 years of age, which are grown in a high agricultural background, are subjected to forcing in order to form large buds of renewal. Starting from the very early spring, it is necessary to apply top dressing, loosen the soil, remove weeds and carry out prophylaxis against diseases. With the beginning of flowering, it is advisable to leave no more than three buds, and remove the rest.
In the second half of July, the bushes are dug in, slightly tugged, watered and left in the ground until early October. This causes secondary root growth and the formation of more buds. In early October, bushes with a lump are dug up and planted in spacious containers. If forcing in the greenhouse soil is planned, they are placed in a pit to a depth of 30 cm, covered with dry sawdust and covered with a piece of roofing material. In winter, 2 months before the planned flowering, they are taken out and planted in the soil of the greenhouse.
However, you can do without cutting the rhizomes. In early October, the peonies are cut off, the bushes are dug up and planted with a lump in pots. When transplanting, the powerful rhizomes of the peony are inevitably damaged. Before planting, the broken off rhizomes are evenly pruned and the cuts are sprinkled with crushed charcoal.
The substrate is taken loose, rich, humus, containing 2 parts of good garden soil, 2 parts of humus and 1 part of sand. After planting and watering, the buds of renewal should be at a depth of 1.5-2 cm. Pots with peonies are placed in a basement with a temperature of + 20C and keep the soil moist throughout the entire storage period (as a rule, the need for watering occurs 1 or 2 times).
Installation in a greenhouse or indoor conditions begins 2 months before the intended flowering. Plants intended for distillation are first placed in a cool place for 3 days so that the root ball warms up gradually. Peonies are planted in a greenhouse in ridges or on racks with a substrate thickness of at least 45 cm. Planting density is 4-5 bushes per 1 sq. m.
Conditions for distillation: temperature + 20 ... + 220C, additional lighting from the moment the sprouts move out with 100 W phytolamps per 1 sq. m for 10 hours a day. For tree peonies, the lighting intensity should be increased to 150 W per 1 sq. m. Peony evading, or Maryin's root, can be driven out on a light windowsill without additional lighting. Lamps are suspended at a height of 50-70 cm from the plant. In the absence of additional lighting, the shoots will grow weak, and the flowers will not be densely doubled. The expelled peonies do not need feeding.
If it is not possible to arrange additional lighting, it can be replaced by exposure to gibberellin. With the appearance of sprouts, plants are treated with a 0.1% gibberellin solution, spraying 50 ml per bush. After a week, spraying is repeated.However, this stimulant not only accelerates flowering, but also causes stem elongation at the same time. Therefore, supplementary lighting seems to be more preferable.
Peonies bloom, depending on the variety and temperature conditions, can occur in 40-50 days. If this happens earlier than planned, flowering can be slowed down by lowering the air temperature with the beginning of bud blooming to + 12 ... + 150C, and prolonged by about 3 weeks.
Peonies intended for bouquets are cut half-open in the morning. If there is a basement or a refrigerator free from food with a temperature not higher than + 4 ... + 50C, they can be stored wrapped in thick paper and hanging flowers downward for up to 1 month.
After forcing, the peony bushes are fed with a complex fertilizer for flowering plants and left in the same conditions until spring with regular watering. These plants are not suitable for re-forcing. In the spring, they are planted in the ground and used for forcing again no earlier than 2 years later.
