Winged tobacco: growing from seeds, varieties, types. fragrant tobacco

fragrant tobacco — perennial Solanaceae family, grown as an annual.

Fragrant tobacco has an upright branching stem from 80 to 100 cm tall. The leaves are elongated, oblong, covered with glandular hairs that secrete a sticky substance, below, at the base of the stem, fragrant tobacco leaves are large, collected in a basal rosette, the leaves are smaller on the stem.

For reference: We are all used to what we call fragrant tobacco. However, his correct name- winged or decorative tobacco (Nicotiana alata). Among flower growers, the large-flowered variety of decorative tobacco (Nicotiana alata var. grandiflora) is also popular.

The flowers of fragrant tobacco of various colors are pink, red, purple, greenish, white, funnel-shaped, up to 7-8 cm in length, very fragrant, collected in a large, loose, paniculate inflorescence. The flowers open only after sunset, at dusk and then are most fragrant, and close again in the morning. It is believed that the most fragrant forms of tobacco with white flowers.

Fragrant tobacco, although it prefers a sunny place, a lot of moisture, heat, loves moist loam, however, it grows and blooms beautifully in partial shade and with relative drought.

Fragrant tobacco is propagated sowing seeds for permanent place in open ground or through seedlings.

Tobacco seeds are sown for seedlings in March - April, without covering them with soil, as they are very small, like those of petunias. For even distribution, tobacco seeds are mixed with sand. Seedlings appear 10-12 days after sowing. For better growth seedlings of fragrant tobacco seedlings dive twice.

Seedlings of fragrant tobacco are planted in open ground in late May - early June, after spring frosts and cooling, maintaining between plants 20 - 30 cm. Tobacco tolerates transplantation well even in a flowering state.

In summer, fragrant tobacco needs to be fed 3-4 times with complex mineral fertilizer, and faded flowers should be removed. Tobacco blooms for a long time - until the frost. In August, you can collect seeds from winged tobacco, but you can also save root system by transplanting the plant into a pot.

In autumn, transfer the pot of fragrant tobacco to bright window, cut off all flower stalks. All pruned shoots of fragrant tobacco also root well in water. In January - February, the plant will bloom again.

Fragrant tobacco is planted next to the house, along paths, arbors, in prefabricated discounts or mixborders, looks good in group plantings with aquilegia, nemophila, verbena, evening primrose. Single curtains of fragrant tobacco are used as an accent on the background

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Winged tobacco - a beautiful ornamental plant

Winged tobacco, or fragrant, is a variety of decorative flowering from the nightshade family. A native of the South Central America. Considered a perennial, but more often bred as an annual.

Description of winged tobacco, photo

Bush up to 150 cm high, strongly branched. The leaves are long, elongated, with hairs and gluten on the surface. The bottom ones are larger than the top ones. Winged tobacco flowers have a tubular structure, up to 6 cm in diameter. Collected in lush inflorescences. Meet different colors: pink, lilac, red, whitish, light green.

Source: Depositphotos

Winged tobacco is notable for star-shaped flowers

In the open state, flowers appear only in the evening and in cloudy weather. They exude a pleasant aroma. Types of white color are more fragrant than the rest. They are open and in the daytime.

For indoor cultivation, varieties "Aalon", "Domino", "Roll", "Niki" are suitable. The following representatives have taken root in horticulture:

• "evening breeze";
• "red devil";
• "white hips";
• "crimson rock;"
• "green light";
• "night fire"

The height of all representatives does not exceed 60 cm.

Growing winged tobacco from seeds

Winged tobacco is propagated from seeds. They are laid in separate pots in April, without digging into the ground. The first shoots appear after 7-14 days. Because of the powerful root system, large containers are selected.

Prefers a warm and humid climate. Can withstand cold weather. He loves sunny places, but does not suffer from partial shade. The soil should be fertile, loose.

Seedlings are grown in greenhouse conditions. Until sprouts appear, spray every other day. Add once every two weeks a complex fertilizer with nitrogen, phosphorus. Humidification is carried out as the soil dries.

Transplant transfers without problems. Planted at a distance of 20-30 cm between them. Winged tobacco care is unremarkable: loosening, weeding, regular watering.

It is not afraid of pests and can grow on home balconies.

No flower bed is colorful enough without fragrant tobacco with its large, bright and fragrant flowers.

In 1497, the first information about tobacco appeared in Europe as medicinal plant from America. Later, in 1560, the French physician Jean Nicot, after whom the genus of plants (Nicotiana) and the nicotine contained in them, was later named, brought tobacco seeds and leaves to Europe for the first time.

From the leaves of some species, chewing, snuffing and smoking tobacco were made, from others it was possible to obtain modern varieties of fragrant tobacco with fragrant flowers of bright color.

At home in South America, tobacco grows as a perennial. Unfortunately, in our climate, this very heat-loving plant can withstand only one summer season. But it generously gives its beauty, starting flowering from June to the first frost in September.

In wild-growing types of fragrant tobacco and many of its previously bred varieties, flowers open only in the evening hours. Modern varieties and during the day they do not hide their charming multicolor in branched stems.

Difference spots sparkle on flowerbeds with annuals and perennials fragrant tobacco: neutral white, soft pink, bright crimson and alarming red. blue inflorescences delphinium, yellow and orange gelenium enrich the palette of colors.	forest tobacco over a meter tall is designed for large flower beds. Its white flowers create a great contrast with the red dahlia.
The variety "Lime Green" is distinguished by an unusual color. fragrant winged tobacco. His lemon yellow color harmonizes with any shades of others flowering plants on the flower bed.	In flower pots and boxes on the balcony or terrace undersized varieties fragrant tobacco feel no worse than in the garden. Here the composition is added lobelia, petunia and kufei.

The variety "Lime Green" looks great with flowers of a juicy yellow-green tone. As the sun goes down, light daytime fragrant tobacco aroma becomes richer and more invitingly sweet, and there is nothing more pleasant than these evening hours in the garden.

As a focal (dominant) plant for a mixed bed or in a bright single landing looks the most impressive alpine forest tobacco(Nicotiana sylvestris). It reaches a height of one and a half meters, and its white, tubular-shaped flowers with a strong smell do not close even during the day. However, not only flowers, but also tobacco leaves, catchy, large, will also decorate a flower bed.

Different varieties fragrant tobacco vary in height from 25 cm to one and a half meters. Tall varieties such as winged tobacco(Nicotiana alata) "Lime Green" about 90 cm high, suitable for cutting.

From undersized hybrid varieties(30-40 cm) "Havana" or "Nicki" make an excellent border for flower beds. These varieties are also planted in flower pots and balcony boxes.

Flowers sparkle with white stars fragrant tobacco sander(Nicotiana sanderae) "Nico Weiss" in a motley carpet of annuals and perennials. This dense and bushy early-flowering variety reaches a height of 30 cm.	A variety competes with apple blossom fragrant tobacco "Havana Appleblossom" with large, slightly touched pink flowers. It is a compact plant only 30 cm tall. There are "Havana" hybrid varieties in white, pink, red and lemon yellow.
Charming reddish-pink flowers tobacco "Rosa Gnom" they look most expressive in pots or balcony boxes, because their height does not exceed 25 cm. In composition with other flowers pastel colors they will be even more expressive.	fiery red color scented tobacco "Nicki Red" can be muffled hybrid varieties with white, light and dense pink or lemon-greenish flowers. The plant grows luxuriantly, reaches a height of 30-40 cm.

Fragrant tobacco is best planted in small groups among other annuals, the main thing is that the place is sunny and protected from the wind, with loose and nutrient soil. In dry times, you should not save on watering, but in order to prolong flowering, faded shoots need to be cut off.

Growing seedlings of fragrant tobacco

Seedlings of fragrant tobacco can be grown by yourself.

seeds fragrant tobacco is sown in a flat form with a glass cover in late February - early March. It is not necessary to cover them with earth, the seeds germinate in the light.

At a temperature of 18-22 ° C, sprouts will appear in ten days. After picking, the seedlings are placed in a bright, well-ventilated place with a temperature of 14-16 ° C. The earth should be moderately moist.

From the end of May, seedlings can be planted in the ground.

Not all flowers in the garden are valued for their external beauty. Many cultures have gained the favor of gardeners, primarily due to the magnificent aroma that creates an indescribable atmosphere. This category of flowers includes not only roses, but also fragrant tobacco imported from America. In the wild, it is a perennial plant, but in the domestic climate it does not tolerate winter well, and therefore is more often grown as an annual flower.

Undoubted advantage fragrant tobacco is its ability during the flowering period to scare off harmful and blood-sucking insects. So, if you plant it by the bedroom window, during the summer you will not have problems with annoying mosquitoes.

However, the flowers themselves should not be underestimated either, because its inflorescences, like petunias, can be various shades- from white and soft pink, and ending with red and purple. This allows you to create interesting flower arrangements with minimal maintenance. By the way, growing tobacco at home really does not cause difficulties and even a novice florist will be able to do it. At the same time, it can be grown directly in the garden, and on apartment balconies and window sills as home flowers.

Growing tobacco at home

Fragrant tobacco is propagated using seeds, which can be easily purchased at flower shops. If you plan to plant outdoors, it is best to choose a well-lit, sunny location. According to the type of soil, this plant prefers light soils with good drainage properties. Therefore, if you have personal plot loams predominate, it is imperative to prepare the soil in advance, fertilizing it with humus and river sand.

For colors like tobacco, growing from seed is realized only through the receipt of seedlings, which are sown at the end of March. As an optimal container for planting seedlings, low boxes (about fifteen centimeters) or ordinary flower pots are suitable. A drainage layer of foam or sea pebbles is laid on the bottom of the container, and then the pots are filled with soil consisting of garden soil and river sand in equal proportions.

If possible, it is better to sow fragrant tobacco in the snow. To do this, lay a small layer of snow on top of the soil and then evenly distribute the prepared seeds. When the snow melts, sprinkle the seedlings with a small layer of soil and cover the pots with foil.

Germination of seedlings of fragrant tobacco, as a rule, lasts about three weeks. During this period, she should be in a warm (about twenty degrees Celsius) and well-lit place. Also, daily seedlings must be opened for ventilation and, if necessary, moisten the soil from the sprayer.

When the seedlings fully germinate, the film is removed and they continue to be watered regularly, until planting in open ground. The latter is carried out in early May or later if there is a possibility of frost.

Before being transferred to a permanent place of residence, fragrant tobacco seedlings are hardened for a week. To do this, every day a container with flowers is taken out into the street for a while, gradually increasing the interval of stay for outdoors.

In the flower bed, seedlings of fragrant tobacco are distributed at a distance of twenty centimeters from each other, which will allow the flowers to feel comfortable when the bushes grow.

Plant care during the summer

Under normal growth conditions, watering is carried out once a week, preferably in evening time. If the weather long time dry, watering is necessary twice a week. In addition, caring for a flower bed with fragrant tobacco, especially in the early years of growth, includes regular removal of weeds and pruning of faded inflorescences and dried shoots. This will maintain the high decorativeness of the flower bed throughout the season.

When grown in depleted soils, as with evening primrose, additional feeding may be required, which will improve growth activity and flowering abundance. Fertilizers are applied twice during the summer - before the formation of inflorescences and during the flowering period. Standard mineral complexes for garden flowers are suitable as fertilizers. Care should be taken with nitrogen fertilizers, which enhance the vegetation, but at the same time impair flowering.

If you want to keep the flowers next year , for example, because you liked the variety, at the beginning of autumn you can plant several bushes in flower pots. At first, keep them outdoors, periodically bringing them indoors to get rid of a sharp change in growth conditions. When the plant moves to permanent residence in a greenhouse or on a windowsill, the vegetative part is completely cut off. During dormancy, scented tobacco should be watered only when the soil is completely dry.

Grown as an annual and enjoy the beauty of flowering and the pleasant aroma of the flowers of this plant, but do not use for smoking.

Genus herbaceous plants Nicotiana is a member of the nightshade family, includes about 60 plant species native to Central and South America. The most famous species in the world are real tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and shag tobacco (N. rustica), these two species are used for smoking and grown in large quantities. Decorative types of tobacco were brought to Europe only at the end of the 18th century; gardeners immediately liked them with their discreet beauty and pleasant aroma of flowers filling the garden in the evening. It is because of the aroma that fragrant tobacco got its name from us and began to be included in the classic set of flowers for creating a fragrant flower garden in the garden.

At first sight fragrant tobacco does not differ in a bright and catchy look. Stems 40-100 cm high, depending on the variety, rise from a lush rosette of soft oval leaves. Loose paniculate inflorescences with long tubular flowers form on their tops. The flowers of fragrant tobacco have wide limbs in the form of stars up to 6 cm in diameter. The flowers fully open in the evening and at the same time fill the air with a pleasant fragrance.

Fragrant tobacco varieties differ in plant height and flower color, they are white, yellowish, greenish, different shades pink to burgundy.

A hybrid of fragrant tobacco and Forget tobacco (N. forgetiana), named after the creator, began to gain great popularity. sander tobacco. This variety of decorative tobacco is outwardly identical to fragrant tobacco, but the flowers of the hybrid remain open during the day and have large gamut shades and saturated colors but unfortunately they don't smell. Despite the absence of a pleasant smell, Sander's tobacco is used to decorate flower beds, flower beds, mixborders, and undersized varieties are great for growing in containers, balcony boxes and pots. Varieties of sander tobacco are distinguished by bright and long flowering.

Rarely grown in forest tobacco gardens (N.sylvestris), since this plant reaches a height of 80-150 cm and practically does not branch. At the top of the shoots, a large paniculate inflorescence is formed with numerous very long tubular flowers. This type of ornamental tobacco is best suited to fill the background of flower beds, it is planted next to a fence or building to cover ugly places, forest tobacco will look next to shrubs or a group in a clearing.

Even less known, but very interesting Langsdorf tobacco (N. langsdorfii). This is a tall plant up to 1-1.5 m, on numerous thin branches of which small flowers-bells with a diameter of 1 cm of yellow-green color are revealed. This type of tobacco is most decorative in August-September.

Fragrant tobacco - cultivation and care.

Fragrant tobacco and others decorative types grown as annual flowers. To get earlier and longer flowering from mid-June to September, fragrant tobacco is grown through seedlings.

Fragrant tobacco is not a particularly capricious plant; it grows well and blooms on sunny place, as well as in partial shade. Although native to warm South America, young seedlings can tolerate light frosts in the spring. Place to grow high grades fragrant tobacco must be protected from the wind so that the tall stems do not fall. Tobacco will grow in conditions of lack of light, moisture and in a cool place, but its flowering will be weak. At favorable conditions tobacco blooms profusely and luxuriantly all summer until autumn.

Fragrant tobacco is propagated by sowing seeds. Sowing seeds for seedlings is carried out in March. Tobacco seeds are small, they can be mixed with the ground and spread over the surface of the ground in a small box without sprinkling on top. Watering crops should be done very carefully from a spray bottle. sown seedling boxes cover with glass or transparent film to retain moisture. In order for tobacco seeds to germinate well, it is necessary to constantly maintain the soil surface moderately moist, the temperature should be around +20 0 C. Seedlings appear in 10-12 days. After germination, tobacco seedlings are watered moderately, since from excess moisture seedlings may die. When the seedlings form 2-3 leaves, they are planted in separate pots one at a time.

Seedlings of fragrant tobacco are planted in the ground in mid - late May. Plants are placed at a distance of 20-25 cm.

Sowing fragrant tobacco immediately into the ground is carried out in mid - late April. When the senets grow up, they are thinned out, leaving a distance of 20-25 cm between plants.

Tobacco grows well on fertilized moderately moist soils. Before disembarkation flower seedling or by sowing seeds, the earth is dug up, humus or compost is added 2-3 kg per 1 sq.m. and mineral fertilizer- nitrophoska 1-2 tbsp. spoons.

Caring for fragrant tobacco consists in regular watering in hot, dry weather; the plant does not like long-term drying of the soil. Feed tobacco before flowering and once during any complex fertilizer for flowers.

Remove wilted flowers regularly to keep blooming. If after the first wave flowering stops, then cut the stems at a height of 10-15 cm, new shoots will soon grow and flowering will continue until mid-autumn.