China aster "Bouquet Powderpuffs" AGRONOM, 0.4 g

• Species: Callistephus chinensis — China aster
• Variety: “Bouquet Powderpuffs” — bicolour mix
• Producer: AGRONOM
• Packet: 0.4 g (about 160 seeds)
• Height: 70 cm
• Flowering: July to September, until frost
• Bloom: dense globe, 6–8 cm across
• Sow indoors: April, 0.5 cm deep
• Sow outdoors: May, up to 0.8 cm deep
• Germination: 7–14 days at 15–20 °C
• Spacing: 30–35 cm
• Position: full sun
• Uses: cut flower, border, large container

Sowing. For earlier flowers sow indoors in April, 0.5 cm deep at 15–20 °C. Outdoor sowing works from May. Seedlings take light frost, but plant out once hard frosts have passed.

Site and soil. Full sun and loose, free-draining soil. No fresh manure: it brings on wilt in asters. Use compost or well-rotted manure instead.

Rotation. The key rule: do not grow asters in the same spot year after year. Fusarium lives in the soil and kills plants mid-flowering — leave at least four years between crops and avoid beds after tomatoes or potatoes.

Care. Water at the root, not over the leaves. Feed with phosphorus and potassium before the buds open; too much nitrogen gives leaves and smaller flowers. Remove spent blooms.

As a cut flower. Cut in the morning when the bloom is two-thirds open — it lasts 10–14 days in a vase. Change the water every other day and strip the leaves below the waterline.

Problems. Damping off in seedlings (sow thinly, ventilate), aphids and red spider mite in summer. A wet summer may bring powdery mildew — keep air moving between plants.