Celosia has various descriptions, because it looks unusual and surprisingly beautiful. In Latin, the word kelos, from which the name Celosia derives, means "burning, glowing." It received the name for small flowers of the most different, but very bright shades: golden, scarlet, orange, red, pink, yellow. Its flowers are collected in the form of spikelets, scallops or give paniculate inflorescences, the leaves are pointed, lanceolate. All three groups of plants include at least 60 types of celosia. But in our area, gardeners grow only feathery and comb varieties. Spikelets take root worse.
Home plants are warm areas of America, Asia, Africa, where it grows as a perennial plant. But in cooler regions, like ours, it is grown as an annual, because it cannot survive the winter. How to grow celosity in my area, we will describe further in the material.
Planting Cellosia Seedlings
Propagate the plant seeds. Cellosia can also be propagated by cutting, but in this case it will lose its decorative effect. Since the plant is thermophilic, it germinates poorly in cold soil and does not tolerate frost, it is better to sow the seeds in advance in closed ground. Having grown and hardened seedlings, you can safely plant them in the garden. 
Seed preparation before planting
The planting material of celosia has a very dense shell, so the first stage of its growing from seeds requires them pre soaking. It is advisable to do this in a solution of "Zircon" and "Appin." To a glass of water, give one drop of each drug, immerse the seeds in the solution and leave them for 3-4 hours.
Important! Buying celosia seeds, make a mixture of several varieties. Then the plot where the plant is planted, will be bright and blooming until the autumn cold.
When and how to sow seeds
Planting material is sown at the end of March or at the beginning of April in a heated greenhouse. You can do without the greenhouse, growing seedlings on the loggias. In any case, the time when sowing cellosia on seedlings is calculated so that when it is planted in open ground the plant does not fall under frosts.
For sowing, prepare small bowls with light ground. For example, an equal combination of humus soil and vermiculite. The main thing is that the soil is loose and neutral. Seeds are sown sparsely. There is no need to sprinkle them with a layer of soil, just gently push them into it and spray it well with a spray bottle.
Germination conditions
Having understood how to sow celosia, take care of suitable conditions for its germination. To do this, the dish with the planted material sown is covered with glass or film and set in a bright place, but away from the direct rays of the sun. It is important that the air temperature at the same time kept at 23-25ºC. If the temperature is lower, seed germination will not be as amicable, and some will not even be able to shed the skin.
The first shoots should appear in about a week, but the final dates largely depend on the conditions of germination and the quality of the planting material.
Amaranth and beetroots are relatives of Cellosia from the Amaranth family.
Seedling care
The plant is very light-loving, so the seedlings need to provide additional illumination. If you grow it at home, you will need fluorescent lamps. For greenhouse cultivation, sodium or halogen is used. Additional lighting should be at least four hours. 
But even with the organization of additional light sprouts can to draw heavily. This happens due to too tight fit. The distance between the plants must be at least a centimeter, otherwise the seedlings may die from the disease of the black leg. To prevent this from happening, the seedlings must be thinned out, and the soil must be watered with a solution of Fitosporin.
Periodically it is necessary to clean the glass or film, removing condensation from them and from the bowl. This will prevent the occurrence of fungal diseases.
In order not to dive down the plants, they should be planted in separate pots in advance. But if you sowed the seeds with continuous sowing, when two or three leaves appear on the sprouts, they should be dived. To do this, they are transplanted into plates 5 cm deep into the ground with exactly the same composition of soil at a distance of 5 cm from each other.
After the plants take root, they are fed with a light solution of complex fertilizer for flowers.
The second picking of celosia is carried out when strong seedlings are formed. Then it, along with an earthen ball, is transplanted into peat-humus pots or other individual containers. And again, when the seedlings take root, it is watered with simultaneous feeding. 
Important! If you grew up seedlings at home, then before planting in open ground, it is desirable to withstand some time in the greenhouse, if there is such a possibility. Seedlings are brought there in mid-May. So you give the flower a chance to develop better.
It is important not to overfeed and pour seedlings, it does not tolerate such conditions. Just in case it is recommended to add vermiculite to the soil.
Planting celesia seedlings in open ground
After the seedlings are strong enough, you can plant it in open ground, forming future flower beds with a target.
The best time for planting seedlings
Planting celosia on a permanent place is carried out when the ground warms up sufficiently, it is not necessary to expect frost on it, the ambient temperature will be high enough. As a rule, such time comes in end of may. 
Site selection for planting
When choosing a place for a flower in your garden, remember that he likes abundant light and does not tolerate excess moisture. Therefore, a bright, illuminated place is suitable for it, where there will be no drafts and strong winds. The soil should be well drained and neutral. If it is too acidic, you must first add lime to it.
Important! The plant does not make fresh organics. If you want to saturate with it the soil on which it is planned to plant celosia, this should be done under the previous plant.
How to plant seedlings
When planting seedlings in open ground, remember that the plant is very fragile. Therefore, it is transplanted to a permanent place by the method of transshipment - together with the earthy clod they are immersed in a well prepared in advance. If peat-humus pots were used for a dive, you can reload with them.
Landing scheme celosia depends on its height. When planting tall specimens should maintain a distance between the seedlings at 25-30 cm from each other. For stunted enough 15-20 cm. The first flowers should appear at the end of May, and flowering usually continues until the ambient temperature drops to 1 ° C. 
How to care for coercia
Despite the demands on the place of growth, celosia does not cause much difficulty in growing and caring for it. It is only important to remember that it does not withstand too wet soil and even light frost. At temperatures below 10 ° C, it develops poorly and blooms poorly. The ideal temperature for it is 23-25 ° C.
Other annual flowers, such as dahlias, zinnias, and asters, will help to decorate the site with various bright colors and shapes.
Watering, loosening and weeding the soil
Organizing watering the plant, we must remember that it can easily tolerate drought, but can die when there is an excess of moisture. Therefore, it is better to forget to water it, rather than add water once again. Even if the leaves of a flower are wilted by lack of moisture, it will quickly come to life after the first watering. But with a lack of water flowering stops.
It is recommended to water the flower only in the early morning and with warm water. Evening watering on it is bad. With strong heat, gardeners recommend spraying the plant.
Weeding is carried out during the entire growing season as needed. More attention should be paid to loosening the soil, as the flower does not like the increased humidity. The procedure is carried out every time after rain or watering, going deeper into the ground by no more than 5 cm. 
Fertilization
The first fertilization is carried out already at the stage of transplanting plants into open ground. To do this, water for irrigation add complex fertilizers. Use this dressing no more than twice a month. Do not overdo it with nitrogen fertilizers, otherwise with lush greenery you will not get the expected flowers for which celosia is grown.
Did you know? Celosia is used as a dried flower. To do this, during flowering shoots are cut, leaves are removed from them, tied in bunches and dried in a dark, well-ventilated dry room. In the light, they will lose their bright shades.
Pests and diseases of celosia, how to deal with them
The plant is subject to many typical diseases. At the seedling stage, a black leg can overtake it - blackening at the base of the stem, due to which the sprout falls and dies. The causative agent of this disease can be in any soil mixture, so before planting it is desirable to disinfect it, for example, with a solution of potassium permanganate or boiling water. It also appears in too dense and acidic soil, with insufficient ventilation. 
If a disease is detected, the affected sprouts are removed, the soil is sprinkled with a thin layer of tree bark, and watering is stopped for some time. The danger of fungal diseases is that they clog up the vessels of the plant, preventing the normal circulation of nutrients. As a result, the leaves of the plant sag, the root system dries out and it dies.
Sometimes a flower is affected by chlorosis, when chlorophyll production is disturbed in a plant, photosynthesis is reduced, leaves turn yellow and fall off. If the disease is not caused by microorganisms, then you can cope with it by enriching the soil with iron preparations.
Often the plant is attacked by aphid, which can be controlled with insecticides or home remedies. For the preparation of the last two glasses of water you need to take a glass of vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons of liquid soap. Spray celosia with this solution in the evening several times at intervals of a couple of days. Other insects have little interest in the flower.
When to harvest and how to store celosia seeds
At the end of flowering a seed-box remains on the plant. But for the collection of seeds is not recommended to wait for its full maturation in the open air. 
To collect the seeds of the plant for planting next year, it is necessary to cut off withering inflorescences and leave them indoors before drying. You can cut long stalks, clean them from leaves and put them in a vase. So as the flower dries, it will delight you with bright flowers.
When they are completely dry, shake the seed boxes above a piece of paper. All that remains on it, it is necessary to sift, blow, the seeds folded in a box and stored in a dry dark place until it is time to plant. Stems with flowers can be returned to the vase and left there for the whole winter.
Celosia is an amazing flower that will delight you with bright colors all year round. In warm weather, flowers will decorate your garden, and in winter, dried stems with flowers will stand in a vase for a long time.
Growing it is easy if you remember that a plant loves a lot of light and does not tolerate an excess of moisture. It is propagated by seeds, as it loses its decorativeness when grafting. The abundance of varieties and varieties, both in shape and color of the flower, will help to revive the garden with bright and vivid flowers.
