Carnation

Cultivation: Carnations can be grown readily from the cuttings made of the sucker that forms around the base of the stem, the side branch of the flowering stem, or the new main branch before they show flower-buds. Most of the plants are taken from the cuttings from the base stem. The cuttings can be taken from a plant at any time through the fall or winter, rooted in sand and potted up. The base stem which is taken for a new plant must be kept in a pot until the planting time or the spring season which is normally April, or any other time when the plant gets the favorable situation to grow. The soil should be very soft and it should be a rich mixture of sand, clay and decaying organic materials.

Propagation: Carnations are grown from sowing seeds and also by stem cutting process. Sowing seeds is done by seeding them in an outdoor garden or can also be started indoor for transplanting after some time. As said before when the plantation is done outdoor certain conditions should be mandatory such as sowing the seeds in early spring, the soil condition must be loam and friable and the seed must be placed in such a way so as to give enough spacing to each plant. In case of perennials the propagation can be done in cutting or division method. Cutting may be developed either in sand boxes and propagating layers. The bottom of the propagating bed should be covered with a thin layer of wood or coal or charcoal fire and about three inches of clean, loam, sharp sand should then be put on. Temperature is another factor to be noticed in propagation of the plant. A temperature of 50-55 degrees should be maintained during the night time and the bottom heat must be 5-10 degrees which is obtained under normal conditions itself.

Varieties: Perpetually flowering carnations are Joker, Green Mis, Rons Joanne, Ambervale ,Helena Allwood, Jo Emma, George Allwood, Colins Shot Silk and Border Carnations are Allwoods Hardy Cottage Carnations including Rifleman and Red Braes. There are mainly three varieties of Carnation and they are large flowered Carnation, Short flowered carnation and Dwarf flowered Carnation. The large flowered Carnations are the one which has one large flower per stem, mini Carnation or the short flowered Carnation are the one with lots of smaller flowers and dwarf flowered are the one wit several flowers in single stem. There are some other varieties based in the number of petals in the flower. Dianthus caryophyllus are the one which has 5 petals where the Border Carnations has double flower with 40 petals.

Disease and Cure: The effects of diseases causes white tip, malnutrition, splitting of blossoms, cohesion of petals, stigmonose, rust, septoria leaf spots and so many in the Carnation plant. For many years we had no pests to fight the common enemies, the red spider and aphis. Their attack resulted in the greatest harm to the plants. They puncture the leaves, disrupt the cellular tissue and weaken the plant. Diseases are caused by bacteria’s, viruses, nematodes and fungal attacks. There are some methods to cure and prevent Carnation from these diseases. Tobacco smoke, burning tobacco dust and spraying diluted nicotine on the plants are all used to keep down the aphis. A stick coated with sulphur is tied to each house avoids the red spider and rust attacking the plant. Syringing is the best cure for red spiders, but it is difficult to remove. Sprays of various chemical forms of 2-aminobutane is an effective cure. These are some of the disease and cures in Carnation.

About Author: This article is donated by Sinti Thamizh V. Mail ID: sinti_cruise@yahoo.co.in, Mobile : 9843434626-INDIA

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