Read about the types and varieties of nasturtium on the encyclopedia page Nasturtium.
You can sow nasturtium on the balcony, in patio boxes, decorate a pergola with it, or simply place it in a mixborder on a flower bed. The seeds ripen well, remain viable for up to 4 years.
Growing nasturtium requires fertile soil, good sunlight, and frost protection. So let's try to figure out how to implement these three factors.
The most dangerous thing in our conditions is the cold. Sowing nasturtium is possible only when the danger of seedlings getting under the May frost has passed. Plants, especially young ones, die even with a short drop in temperature to 0 degrees. To do this, sowing in the ground in conditions, for example, in the Moscow region, must be done no earlier than the last decade of May, or rather its end. Such plants will bloom only in the middle of summer. And so I want to see flowers early! In this case, when sowing in the ground, you need to shed the soil with hot water, sow seeds on a heated place and cover the crops with non-woven material, and at night you can also use a film on top. This will move the crops 2-3 weeks forward. Watering, of course, is only necessary with heated water, but in no case should it be poured, and it will be possible to finally open the plants only in the middle of the first decade of June. But by then they will be quite large. The plus of such crops is that the plants immediately grow in their permanent place and will not hurt, which often happens with seedlings, especially if a lump is destroyed during transshipment.
Growing seedlings also requires certain subtleties. Nasturtium has a relatively weak root system and a large leaf surface. Therefore, any trauma to the roots is painful. Therefore, it is better to grow seedlings in separate containers so that you do not have to transfer them into larger pots. When sowing in relatively small pots, I mix hydrogel into the soil. This prevents the clod from drying out, especially already at the final stage of cultivation in May, when the leaves evaporate rather quickly all the moisture received during watering. As a substrate, you can take a purchased mixture for flower seedlings, or you can mix peat, sand and leafy soil yourself. You can simply sow seeds into bio containers.
About preparing the soil for seedlings - in the article Sow me with love.
You need to place seedlings on the lightest windowsill or on a glazed loggia. If you grow seedlings in the country, then you can put the pots of nasturtium in the greenhouse. With a shortage, it stretches very much and after that, when planting, it gets sick and does not bloom for a long time.
About the conditions for growing seedlings of flower crops - in the article Modern approaches to the cultivation of high-quality seedlings.
Seedlings are planted after June 5-10, depending on the weather. The distance between plants is 20-25 cm, depending on the variety. Seeds are sown to a depth of 2-3 cm, 2 pieces at the same distance. If the nights are cold, then before the seedlings take root, you can cover the plants in the dark with agril or other covering material.
Care consists in weeding and feeding. For abundant flowering, superphosphate diluted in water should be periodically introduced. It dissolves, of course, rather poorly, but in such a liquid form it is more available for plants. 1-2 times a month, you can spray plants with a solution of urea at the rate of 1 matchbox per 10-liter bucket or use humates. Feeding with nitrogen will make the plants vigorous, the leaves large and accelerate growth.
Withered flowers and damaged or diseased plants are removed throughout the season.
You can plant nasturtium not only in flower beds, but also in garden beds. The smell of nasturtium leaves repels aphids and whiteflies. In addition, this plant, especially with abundant watering, is damaged by the caterpillars of the cabbage whitebird.English gardeners advise planting large nasturtium in the garden next to the cabbage. Then cabbage pests will first of all take up nasturtium, not paying attention to the heads of cabbage. At the same time, nasturtium, like marigolds, is a good nematicidal plant, that is, it expels nematodes from the soil. For the non-chernozem zone, this is not relevant, but for the south it is a very, very painful problem.
