We deal with Phlox before winter correctly. 5 common mistakes that will kill a plant

When late autumn comes, adorable phloxes need the special care of a grower. And it is extremely important not to make mistakes that can simply destroy the plants!

And they, unfortunately, are "popular", which I have seen from my own experience and now I can share what you should definitely not do with phlox!

Improper watering

Before wintering, phloxes accumulate not only nutrients, but also store moisture. For 1 square meter you need 2 buckets of water and in the fall before frost, phloxes are watered more than once - they love water!

Which, by the way, prevents the rapid freezing of the soil. The mistake is that it is poured cold. After all, autumn has come, the weather has changed.

But the water must still be warm, otherwise, the phlox root system will experience a shock and the plant will weaken.

No mulching

It may seem that phloxes can be simply hidden under spruce branches or non-woven material, and then a snowy "blanket" will cover them. Everything would be true if phloxes did not differ in their superficial root system.

To prevent their underground parts from freezing, the soil with phloxes must be mulched with peat, dry compost or manure.

Application of nitrogen fertilizers

It is difficult to say where this myth came from - supposedly phloxes will bloom better next year if they are fed with nitrogen in the fall.

In fact, if it is not too cold yet, this can lead to only one thing - the growth of new shoots, which will not only take away vital energy from plants, but also freeze in winter and drop them immunity.

Not timely pruning

When phloxes have completed their growing cycle and have faded, nutrients from the green aboveground part begin to sink to the roots.

It is contraindicated to cut phloxes too early, otherwise, they will not have enough strength for the winter. And you need to decide when to cut by varieties - the early ones are cut in September, the later ones - in October.

Weed conservation

It may seem that harmful plants are harmless in winter - after all, they, too, end their growing cycle.

But firstly, they are able to "steal" nutrients from the ground that phloxes could stock up on, and secondly, in early spring they can serve as a breeding ground for insect pests and sprout, which, of course, will "drown out" phlox.

That is why it is imperative to perform high-quality weeding before sheltering these flowers.