Magnolia flowers (90 photos) — planting and care in the garden + step-by-step instructions for beginners

Magnolia is called a real aristocrat among other plants. It has been established that the first such plants grew back in the era when dinosaurs lived on earth, which cannot but surprise! After all, the magnolia has not undergone almost any changes in its appearance, it is enough to compare the photos of the magnolia taken at different times.

Such a beautiful and fragrant flower that pleases with its stunning colors. I really want to grow it at home! The most interesting thing is that this plant belongs to indoor plants, although it is practically not grown at home.

Summary of the article:

It is considered a full-fledged shrub, but with free growth it looks more like a tree and reaches large sizes (there are species up to 30 meters high!). It has rather specific-looking leaves of dark green color having a cone-shaped shape and it seems as if they are covered with wax.

Magnolia, which is so loved by gardeners because of its flowers, which have a sweet and strong aroma - when opened, the flowers reach a size of about 15 centimeters! An amazing sight that distinguishes magnolia and its flowers from other flowering plants.

There are about 110 different species of this plant in total. It is more common in countries with warm and humid climates, although it can easily tolerate drought, which makes it extremely resistant to changes in natural precipitation. Therefore, it becomes clear how magnolia was able to survive to the present day and practically not change in any way.

Now the cultivation of magnolia at home has become so commonplace that it is quite often possible to meet this plant.

Features of magnolia care in the house

Usually, this plant is not kept at home for a long time – as soon as it becomes out of proportion to the room, it is transplanted and transferred to another place where the space is much larger. It can be a greenhouse or a garden, and if you still plan to grow magnolia indoors, you will need a large area.

By itself, germination is more favorable in the northern climate, since the plant is quite stable and behaves well at a low temperature.

There is no need to wrap it up specially or make the air in the room warmer – the plant will not freeze. But it is necessary to avoid drafts, otherwise the pet will wither.

The most important thing is to provide the roots of the plant with a lot of space by planting it in a large pot. The root system does not accept tightness, it definitely needs space. Magnolia is quite unpretentious and does not require much attention to itself.

What should be the lighting?

Due to its unpretentiousness, magnolia easily tolerates both partial shade and too dry air. But for good growth and flowering, the plant simply needs bright lighting. If the pot is located in the room, it must be placed by the window.

Even in the garden, the magnolia is planted away from large plants so that the maximum amount of light falls on it.

Features of the transplant

The root system reacts extremely negatively to all damage and therefore it is worth being especially careful (using the transshipment method). You do not need to shake the plant hard to brush away the remnants of the earth – it is important to gently and calmly knead the lumps with your hands.

It takes a lot of land for a magnolia, so you should choose the largest pots. The root system is well developed, which allows the plant to be resistant to natural droughts, since the roots provide the necessary substances from the soil.

Watering

In summer, you definitely need a plentiful amount of water. You should pay attention to the water itself – it should be soft, without admixture of lime. You can use a regular filter for drinking water.

At the same time, the earth is often compacted and it is important that it is loose, since the air supply to the root system, especially in summer, will ensure abundant growth and flowering of magnolias.

When the air temperature begins to drop, irrigation is gradually reduced and minimized – this is provided that the plant is in the garden. If it germinates at home, there is no need to reduce watering. Along with the irrigation features, it is important to feed the magnolia. During the growing season, this is of particular importance. It is enough to feed it twice a month and protect it from drafts in the winter months.

Reproduction at home

The plant is propagated in two ways: by seeds (sexual reproduction) and by cuttings, grafts and taps (vegetative or asexual reproduction). Living in a natural environment, reproduction occurs mainly with the help of seeds. Thus, several small plants grow around one large plant, forming a whole family.

It is this kind of reproduction that makes it possible to expand genetic diversity and obtain more resistant species to a specific habitat, because each such new plant acquires greater stability and the ability to survive.

In turn, vegetative reproduction only duplicates the main plant from which the process was taken. Most often gardeners prefer vegetative reproduction, but the method of breeding magnolias with seeds is also not bypassed.

How to perform seed propagation correctly

First you need to extract the seeds from the coplodia. They are cut off and the seeds are pulled out. After that, the seeds are soaked in ordinary water for three days and left at room temperature. Then the soaked seeds are rubbed through a sieve to remove the upper shell, which protects the seeds from rotting and drying out.

A soap layer remains on the seeds, which must be removed by washing them in water with a soap solution. Now you can take care of the storage. You can not leave the seeds of magnolias in a dry form, so they will no longer be able to ascend, and you will have to repeat the procedure with a new material.

Seeds can be stored for a long time if they are provided with the necessary nutrient medium and moisture. To do this, you can simply put them in a closed, sealed glass jar in the refrigerator. At the same time, it is necessary to disinfect the seeds in advance with a solution of a special antiseptic to prevent the appearance of fungus.

There is also another way to store seeds – it is enough to find sphagnum moss (in the proportion of 4 parts of moss and 1 part of seeds), rinse it and place the moist substrate in a plastic bag or jar and put it in the refrigerator on the middle shelf. Thus, the seeds will survive without problems until the magnolia is planted in the ground.

If the gardener does not want to do such things, then it is necessary to provide for the time of seed cleaning in advance and start doing this immediately before the start of the sowing season (mainly autumn time).

If during the storage of seeds their growth begins, the jar with the substrate should be placed on another shelf of the refrigerator, where the temperature is lower. If fungal diseases appear, you should open the jar and treat the seeds with a disinfectant.

Sowing is necessarily important to produce in a deep hole, up to 10 centimeters, sprinkling with earth no more than 4 centimeters. It is also important to produce mulching, the thickness of which should be at least 10 centimeters.

Observations have shown that without mulching the vegetation of seeds did not exceed 4%, and if the procedure has been performed, the chances of successful seed germination increased up to 40%.

Vegetative reproduction

The factor by which gardeners prefer this method of reproduction of magnolias is earlier flowering of plants than if it were seed propagation. Each region has its own varieties of magnolias, which more favorably tolerate the effects of the environment.

Such reproduction allows you to preserve and propagate a certain plant, which, for example, has acquired any properties characteristic of a particular region or soil.

The best way of vegetative reproduction is achieved by removing the ring of bark at the stem (about 2.5-3 centimeters). At the same time, they try not to damage the wood as much as possible. Further, it is treated with special active substances to speed up the process of root formation.

Then this part of the shoot is wrapped with wet material and covered with polyethylene to prevent the drying of this area. After 2-3 months, sufficient roots are formed so that the plant can be transplanted into a pot for further independent growth.