Mastering Nasturtiums: A Gardener's Ultimate Guide
Your Complete Guide to Thriving Blooms
How to Grow Nasturtiums
Nasturtiums thrive best in full sunlight at cooler temperatures and prefer rich but well-draining soil, though overwatering could result in an abundance of foliage but few flowers.
Some varieties of nasturtiums, like Alaska Variegated and Empress of India, feature variegated foliage and multiple flower colors. Cutaway faded and dead blooms to extend the blooming time and enjoy them in salads or as garnish.
Soil
Nasturtiums are low-maintenance flowers that will add vibrant pops of color and charm wherever they bloom. Their versatile form means they can climb, trail or sprawl across flower beds, borders, and rock gardens to bring delight. Plus, they make excellent weed barriers in poor soil areas and bright foliage for pots and window boxes.
Though these hardy blooms tolerate most conditions, including light frost, well enough, heavy or wet soil can damage them, as can weather conditions too hot or dry, causing bacterial leaf spots - both key ingredients for success if desired!
Growing nasturtiums from seeds is an inexpensive and straightforward way to add colorful blooms to the garden. Select an area in full sunlight, and plant seed starter pots filled with seed substrate or peat pots filled with peat for planting closer together or singly; once your seeds sprout, you can transplant them once frost has passed in your climate.
Large, round seeds feature thick hulls that slow germination. To accelerate this process, try scarifying or soaking seeds before planting; make a small cut into each seed hull without damaging its embryo inside, and soak for two or four hours in warm water before sowing.
Nasturtiums should blossom within several weeks. If they do not, you may need to transplant them, alter soil conditions or provide more light for them. Plants with abundant foliage but no flowers often indicate rich or overfertilized soil - liquid fertilizers high in phosphorous such as bone meal or rock phosphate, may help boost blooming rates and prompt more flowers.
Some nasturtium varieties, like Peach Melba and Salmon Baby, feature orange-red centers that make delicious additions to salads. Others are more orange-pink in hue, adding vibrant splashes of color to vegetable gardens and containers and window boxes alike. Either variety provides contrast among greenery while drawing attention away from bare spots in your garden.
Water
Nasturtiums are hardy annual flowers that flourish in diverse landscape settings. Although ideal conditions would include full sunlight where their vibrant blooms can thrive. Nasturtiums also tolerate partial shade environments as long as sufficient water is provided throughout their soil evenly moistened - avoid giving too much water when planting in the ground as this could cause it to rot!
Regular deadheading promotes more flowering while keeping nasturtium plants looking tidy; applying high potash liquid plant food every couple of weeks also extends their flowering time!
Plant nasturtium seeds in your garden as soon as the ground has warmed sufficiently. Soaking seeds overnight before sowing will increase the chances of successful germination and spreading evenly in 12 inches (30 cm). A light application of balanced organic fertilizer mixed into the soil before sowing may further enhance germination and growth.
Nasturtiums grow quickly to fill empty spaces once planted and make excellent companion plants in vegetable gardens as they can deter pests like aphids, cucumber beetles, and cabbage butterflies from ruining crops like broccoli and cauliflower.
Their blooms act as an attractant for cabbage moths that otherwise damage brassica crops like broccoli and cauliflower; simply picking off these moths can prevent damage to them!
Nasturtiums make excellent climbing vines for trellises or fences, while bushy varieties make great ground covers or accent colors in flower borders. Furthermore, these beautiful blooms thrive in containers.
Growing nasturtiums from seed is simple and rewarding. Replanting them year after year as long as the seeds do not freeze or get exposed to too much frost is simple and rewarding. Making nasturtiums an appealing garden staple with minimal upkeep requirements and their ability to self-seed themselves.
Gardeners love these brightly-colored beauties that bloom throughout summer without much attention from gardeners or maintenance. Nasturtiums make excellent pollinator habitats, providing homes for many species of bees and hummingbirds!
Temperature
Nasturtiums thrive in warm conditions and are generally resistant to frost, although they require additional protection during cooler weather. Seedlings fare best when planted outdoors after all danger of frost has passed; alternatively, they can also be started indoors before transplanted out later.
When sowing seeds directly in the garden, plant one inch deep and space them 10 inches apart - usually they should sprout within one or two weeks, depending on climate conditions; if your garden soil lacks nutrients then consider mixing in compost or aged manure as these will enrich it further for their benefit!
Nasturtiums require regular and deep irrigation when their soil dries out to maintain healthy roots that don't become damaged from shallow soil conditions. When planting seedlings firmly into the ground and press down with your hand firmly to make contact between roots and soil. To do so successfully.
Nasturtiums thrive in sunny spots, providing an ideal environment for other vegetables to flourish. Nasturtiums can especially aid in suppressing weeds while simultaneously providing shelter from other vegetables prone to aphid infestations; beans, squash, and sweet corn especially benefit from companion planting with these vibrant flowers - not forgetting tomatoes as nasturtiums naturally repel pests!
Nasturtiums are edible from their leaves to their flowers and vines - offering a peppery bite in salads and other dishes. Their vines can be trained up trellises or used to cover garden walls while climbing varieties of twine around fences, obelisks, and other structures. Nasturtiums come in an assortment of colors and growth habits from bushy dwarf varieties up to 15-foot vining climbers!
These flowers can be grown successfully in flower borders and beds, cottage gardens and courtyards, vegetable and herb gardens, and urban/city spaces. Seeds sown indoors early and transplanted later or young plants purchased at garden centers/nurseries are effective methods of production that can quickly become part of outdoor gardens.
Nasturtiums can be started from seed in early spring and transferred to your garden once all risk of frost has passed. Cuttings also make propagating these hardy flowers easy! To propagate nasturtium cuttings, gather garden sheers, a pot with drainage holes, potting soil, and rooting hormone powder (if applicable).
Cut a 4-inch piece from an established plant while leaving at least three intact leaves intact on the lower stem section; trim any diseased or wilted leaves off this portion and fill your pot with potting soil before planting your cutting.
Light
Nasturtiums are one of the quickest and easiest annual flowers to cultivate, producing masses of brilliantly colored blooms from midsummer through frost. A range of colors from yellow, orange, and red through cream, salmon pink, and burgundy (and often combinations thereof) can be found both as bush and vining varieties; many cultivars feature marbled leaves while others can form compact mounding plants perfect for borders or groundcover in gardens or containers.
Nasturtium plants, with their peppery leaves and flowers as well as their undeveloped seed pods serve as a substitute for capers in salad dressing and cold soup recipes like vichyssoise. Nasturtium seeds can also be used to flavor steamed vegetables, fresh salads, and meat dishes such as fish or chicken dishes.
Young nasturtium leaves and flowers have an aromatic, spicy-peppery flavor that pairs beautifully with many dishes. Both their flowers and seed pods can be preserved by placing them in a heatproof jar and pouring hot vinegar over them to preserve both aspects of these delicate blooms.
They make an excellent companion plant for vegetables such as beans, carrots, squash, and tomato plants to repel common pests which threaten these crops from damage similarly, they're great companions for herbs like basil as well as fruit trees which tend to attract pests like cucumbers eggplants and tomatoes which tend to aphid infestations from cucumbers to tomato plants!
Nasturtiums can add vibrancy and ease to any garden, not only by being colorful and easy to grow but also because they attract beneficial insects that act as pollinators - pollinators that help manage populations of many different pests, including cabbage worm, carrot fly, squash beetle, and whitefly.
Planting nasturtium seeds from seeds is easy, and can be done either indoors in early spring or outdoors once frost risk has passed and soil temperatures have warmed up. When sowing outdoors, be sure to allow ample room as nasturtiums can quickly spread up to three feet wide; when planting containers or window boxes select pots that are at least 9 inches deep with drainage holes; water regularly but avoid overwatering as nasturtiums dislike wet soil conditions.