PERENNIALS > OSTEOSPERMUM > OVERWINTERING
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OSTEOSPERMUM GUIDES
Common ProblemsCuttings PropagationGrowing From SeedPruningVarietiesWinter Care
Osteospermums are vibrant and vivacious plant which will bring some much - need coloration to your seam and moulding throughout summer and into autumn .
Of of course , they ’re not known as the African daisy for no rationality , so many varieties will shinny to withstand the extremum of the British winter .
However , that does n’t intend that all is lost .
From taking cuttings and replant them the following yr to giving your survive specimens the best possible chance of make it through the cold season , there are several things you’re able to do to bring home the bacon winter care for osteospermum .
We ’ve outlined the primary ones below :
For those who ’d appreciate some further direction on overwintering their osteospermum plant , we ’ll take a penny-pinching look at each of those statement in more item .
1) Take Summer Cuttings
The most surefire way to guarantee you could enjoy osteospermum flush throughout the next year is to fit yourself with a storage of reserve plants .
you’re able to do this by taking softwood newspaper clipping during summer when the plant is in full increase .
Look for sizeable offshoots to clip off , then plant them in potting grease .
Osteospermum ascendent quite easily and grows exceedingly tight , so you should be able to see fledged growth within a topic of month .
“ Keep these immature plants under masking , before establish later in the next spring , ” order Peter Lickorish , a Horticultural Consultant .
2) Move Potted Plants Indoors
The next in effect affair you could do to protect your osteospermum plant after planning for liveliness without them is to move potted varieties indoors .
For best results , relocate your container osteospermum into a nursery , conservatory or other indoor scope and plow them as you would other house plants .
However , you have to be mindful that doing so may encourage the spread of disease , so stay on top of damaged or diseased leaf and remove any fallen leaf and flowers immediately .
3) Prune Back Prior To Winter
If your African daisies are found out of doors , they may have to take their chances in the British wintertime .
you’re able to give them the best dig of survival by pruning them back to remove congestion and amend ventilation among the leaves , as well as conserve their energies for the battle ahead .
“ Pruning before winter is speculative and should be done carefully to avoid having the diametrical effect , ” says Peter .
“ The aim should be to remove marvelous stems which may make the plant prone to damage and wind - rock and any weak ontogenesis which may decompose .
“ This is done whilst leave enough foliage to act as a cover . Some of this foliation will be sacrifice to the Robert Frost and may presently blacken or die , but it could still protect low shoot from frost or snow price .
“ You will therefore need to prune again in belated natural spring , to remove any discredited growth . ”
Always be certain to clean your pruning tools thoroughly before and after use , by scrubbing them with a material soaked in isopropyl alcohol .
This will pass the prospect of cross - contamination or disease infection .
4) Fertilise & Mulch
Other steps you could take to bolster their chances of coming back next spring include mete out a tedious - release plant food to the land surrounding the plant in autumn .
This will give the fertiliser tidy sum of fourth dimension to break down and countenance the roots to take in it bit by bit , fortifying the works for wintertime .
Placing a level oforganic mulchover the surface of the surface soil is also a unspoiled idea .
A thin level of barque will assist isolate the flora ’s origin and prevent the growth of weeds for the continuance of the cold months .
“ Feeding out front of winter is a delicate nontextual matter , ” Peter adds .
“ You do n’t want the plant to grow too tight towards the end of the season or diffuse new emergence will fall at the first hoarfrost . That harness out having too much nitrogen in the feed and using large measure of any fertiliser .
“ Potassium has been establish to improve dusty - hardiness in some plants , acting a petty like anti - halt .
“ For software , expect until the flowering has end up otherwise you could encourage a pot of flowering up until winter , which would exhaust the industrial plant ’s precious vim reserve . ”
Of course , it should be call up that even following all of these step can not ensure that your plant will come through a harsh British winter .
Osteospermums do not like temperature below -5 ° 100 , so the most reliable and urge way to bring them back the next year is to plow them like annuals and take cuttings for replant .
