Content
- Schachblume
- Plant chess flower properly
- care Tips
- Which location is suitable?
- The right planting distance
- Which soil does the plant need?
- What is the best planting time?
- When is flowering time?
- Cut the chess flower correctly
- Pour chess flower
- Feed chess flower properly
- pests
- overwinter
- Chess flower multiply
- Chess flower in the pot
- Is chess flower poisonous?
- Trivia
- Beautiful varieties
The checkerboard flower often thrives wildly on rivers
Schachblume
With delicate nodding bellflowers, the chess flower decorates near-natural wet meadows, the stream and pond edge in spring. In the wild, the onion flower with the purple-white checkerboard pattern is rarely to be discovered. Reason enough to locate the beautiful beauty in the garden. Still open questions about cultivation are summed up here.
Plant chess flower properly
In order to stage its artfully drawn bell blossoms, the chess flower requires a sunny to partially shaded location with fresh, moist to swampy soil and slightly acidic pH. Here you prepare the plaice fine-grained and make small planting holes at a distance of 15-20 cm. At the sole, a thin layer of sand prevents harmful onion blight. Plant the onions with the top turned up. The planting depth corresponds to a maximum of three times the onion height. After solidifying the soil with your hands, pour in soft water.
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care Tips
A constantly moist soil is considered the highest premise for the professional care of a chess flower. An organic fertilizer in the form of compost, guano, bark humus or vegetable manure gratefully takes the Kiebitzei every 4 weeks in the period from March to May. If you wish to self-sow, wait for seed formation and its natural distribution. To save a checkerboard this feat, cut off the withered flowers in a timely manner. The leaves dwell on the plant until it is completely absorbed. The onion takes some time to assimilate and store the remaining nutrients. Adult Fritillaria meleagris are completely hardy. To be on the safe side, a slight winter cover in the form of foliage and brushwood comes into consideration. Even more important is a continuous water supply in frosty-dry winter weather.
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Which location is suitable?
In sunny to partially shaded light conditions, the chess flower runs to full beauty. Of the highest relevance for healthy growth and lush flowering is a fresh-moist to swampy soil.Among the main causes of their retreat from the outdoors is the ruthless draining of wetlands and swamps.
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The right planting distance
The optimal planting distance for the chess flower is constituted by one value within the group and another value as a distance to neighboring beetles. Since a single Fritillaria meleagris hardly catches the eye, arrange the flower ideally in small tuffs with 5 to 10 copies. These are placed at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. Since a kiebitzei is not liked to be pressed, the distance to the plants of other genera should be at least 30 cm.
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Which soil does the plant need?
The chess flower favors a place in swampy to fresh-moist soil. If the soil is free of lime and has a slightly acidic pH, the Kiebitzei feels in good hands. Plenty of humus should be present, while the nitrogen content is at best at a low level. From a location in sandy-dry soil, you thus better distance. Corresponding to this, in the pot and balcony box we recommend potting compost on the substrate, ideally enriched with a handful of rhododendron earth as an acid component.
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What is the best planting time?
Best season for bulb flowers of all kinds are the months of August and September. In this regard, the chess flower is no exception. Until the first frost, the plant has become well established. A layer of foliage helps the Kiebitzei to survive the first winter well and expel vital at the end of March.
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When is flowering time?
The central flowering period extends from April to May. A mild weather motivates the distinctive flower to a previous shootout from March. At the latest in mid-May, the curtain will fall on the garden stage for the chess flower, ensuring a seamless transition to the summer flowers. These cover with their leaves and flower dress the gaps due to the retracted Fritillaria meleagris decorative.
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Cut the chess flower correctly
Under the loving gardening hand, the chess flower reaches a proud age of up to 80 years, especially when it is left as quiet as possible. Nevertheless, a cut is required at least once per season. When a Fritillaria meleagris finishes its spring-fresh flower festival, the hour of seedling beats. Give the plant time to sprout in the garden if propagation is desired. Do not trim the withered flowers and turn yellow leaves too early. The onion takes some time to recover all the residual nutrients it contains as a valuable reserve for the next season.
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Pour chess flower
One of the mainstays of skilful care is a balanced water balance. Pour the chess flower as soon as the substrate surface has dried. Waterlogging is to be avoided at all costs, because otherwise rot could occur. It is beneficial to use mostly soft, lime-free water to meet the desire for a slightly acidic soil.
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Feed chess flower properly
One of the most uncomplicated nursing aspects of a chess flower is the nutrient supply. How to properly fertilize the spring flower:
A full load of nitrogen, like a complete fertilizer has in their luggage, does not tolerate a Fritillaria meleagris well. Unless compost is available, we recommend using a commercially available organic fertilizer such as guano or bark humus.
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pests
While the poison content and unpleasant smell of onion keeps vole at a distance, the chess flower is at the top of the menu for ravenous snails. So that these slimy pests do not attack the leaves and flowers, a barrier acts defensively. Surround the tuffs with a circle of sharp materials such as chippings or sawdust. Coffee extract proves to be extremely effective in the fight against snails. The caffeine contained therein has a toxic effect on the pests.
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overwinter
Given the filigree silhouette of a chess flower surprises the robust hardiness. Up to - 28 degrees Celsius, the flower bulbs endure without complaint, especially under a protective blanket of snow. Nevertheless, in the year of planting, we recommend a cover of leaves and brushwood, as the young plant has not yet fully established. The bigger threat comes from wintry drought stress. If the snow does not stay in the freezing cold, the roots will not reach a single drop of water. Pour a checkerboard flower on mild days on mildew.
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Chess flower multiply
For hobby gardeners easy to handle is the vegetative scale reproduction of a chess flower. As a lily plant, the onion is composed of several layers, which are ideal for offspring. In addition, well-established specimens develop onions that similarly proliferate. Once the foliage has been pulled in and cut off, follow these steps:
In partially shaded locations at 20-23 degrees Celsius keep the substrate constantly moist, while the onion scales or daughter bulbs develop their own root system. Throughout the winter, cover the future checkerboard flowers with ground so that only the top of the shed can be seen. At 5-8 degrees Celsius in the dark basement room you only pour so much that the earth does not dry out. From March, you will take care of the young plants in the bright window or balcony space, until they are mature in the autumn for planting in a bed or tub.
Propagation by sowing, on the other hand, is significantly more complex. Since the seeds are cold-germs, a stratification is required in advance to put the seeds in a good mood. In addition, a seedling-propagated chess flower takes 3-4 years to flower first.
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Chess flower in the pot
The cultivation of a chess flower is not limited to the bed or pond edge. In the pot, the kiebitzei elegantly rings in spring with its beautifully drawn bell blossoms on the sunny to partially shaded balcony. As substrate, we recommend a mix of potting soil, rhododendron earth and a handful of sand for best permeability. Above the water drain in the bottom of the pot, a drainage of potsherds prevents unwanted waterlogging. Plant the bulbs at a distance of 10-12 cm in small groups with the tip pointing upwards. The ideal planting depth corresponds to the triple onion height. How to properly maintain the chess flower in the pot:
The chess flower spends the winter in the dark, cool basement room. From time to time there is a sip of water, so that the substrate does not dry out. It is not fertilized during hibernation.
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Is chess flower poisonous?
With its poison content, the chess flower braces against predators and pests. The toxic alkaloids concentrate in the onion, making the flower dangerous to children and pets. In no time, a flower bulb has disappeared in the mouth and triggers significant symptoms of intoxication, such as vomiting, convulsions to circulatory collapse. For the family garden, the spring flower is therefore not the best choice.
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Trivia
The vernacular is called the chess flower like lapwing egg, based on the well-known tidelight bird, which as a ground breeder preferably places his spotted eggs in the high meadow grass. The title could not have been better chosen, because it is exactly this location where the checkerboard flowers feel very comfortable.
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