When and How to Grow Cornflowers In Pots or Containers

Cornflower in pots is one of the easiest-growing plants that bloom annually. These wildflowers prefer summer when they bring plenty of blossoms and foliage to their weary stems. Cornflower plants were native to the Mediterranean region. It was introduced to the English weather thousands of years ago and has now become naturalised in this weather.

In the wilderness of the arable fields, cornflowers are often a common sight. These weeds of the cornfields keep the fields covered with corn poppy, corncockle and corn marigold plants. However, they also increase the beauty of your garden landscape if you want. Another interesting fact about the cornflowers is that their blooms are edibles, and the petals make amazing salad garnishings.

The cornflowers are mostly found in different colours, like maroon, pink, and white. However, the most common variety is the blue flowers. They grow from 30 to 120 cm in favourable conditions.

Ideal Conditions for Growing Cornflowers in Pots

There are a few tips that you need to know when you are trying to grow cornflowers in pots. Here is everything you need to remember before planting the first plants in your pot garden.

• To grow these cornflower plants the best, you need to place them in full sun.
• You need to give these seeds at least 85 to 95 days before reaching flowering maturity. So, plant them at least three months before spring to see flowers from the first season.
• Cornflower plants are amazing drought-tolerant plants. Therefore, they can survive in lighter frost seasons.
• Allow the soil to dry slowly. However, make sure they are not too dried up. This might make the plants flop over.
• Use a balanced flower fertiliser once a month to feed these plants growing in your pot garden, especially for the summer and spring months. However, make sure you never over-fertilise the soil.

These are some crucial tips to remember when you are trying to grow cornflowers in pots. Growing cornflowers in containers will be harder than growing them in your garden. You need to groom them properly before placing them in your pot garden.

Tips to Remember when Growing Cornflowers in Containers

Garden enthusiasts know that cornflower meadows look best in your cottage gardens and wildflower meadows. However, having a cottage garden nowadays is very difficult. But if you live in a high-rise apartment, these plants can improve the look of your balcony garden.

Here we have some tips you need to remember if you want to colour your balconies with these blue flowers as well.

1. Select a Non-Synthetic Container

You need to avoid synthetic containers when trying to grow cornflowers in pots. To grow cornflowers in containers, you need to have great drainage holes in the container. Placing these plants in a synthetic container might compromise the drainage of the container. You can opt for clay or terracotta to plant cornflowers.

While sowing the cornflower seeds in the pots, you should also have to choose the right container of the right size. There is a limit to how many plants can be planted in one pot to ensure all those plants grow and thrive. You need to remember that while planting cornflowers.

For the different species of plants, there are different dimensions. You need to choose the right ones as per your needs.

2. Use Sandy Loams

Choosing the right soil is also very important, especially when you are trying to grow in your pot garden. The cornflower plants really like the sandy loams. Therefore, you need to use plenty of sand-based loams with organic composts to make the perfect soil for these plants.

Providing the right environment is very important when you are planting cornflowers in pots. You need to use properly draining soils. Make sure to use different layers of gravel or pebbles, upon which you should lay another layer of grit to create the perfect soil mixture for these plants.

3. Sow Before the Final Frost

This is another crucial tip to remember while preparing the perfect soil for the cornflower plants in pots. If you want to give it an early start, you should sow the soil at least two to three weeks before the winter arrives. Place the containers in a sunny spot inside your home for at least a month to let the seedlings emerge.

However, you should also give the pots enough shade, as the seeds of cornflowers will need that to germinate properly. However, if you are planning to plant these seeds outdoors, you can place the seeds in the soil within a week after the winter departs. You can sow at least two to three seeds in each of these pots, as this number will be narrowed down to one in about three weeks after the germination. You should maintain moisture in the medium before placing the seeds. After that, you can gently toss them in the soil and cover them with a thin layer of soil.

4.  Try to Avoid Plotting up Or Transplanting

Cornflowers are vigorous, unfussy plants. However, one thing about these plants is that these plants cannot be transplanted. Plants of this species usually grow very fast. Therefore, transplanting these plants is not a great idea.

If you are planning to grow these fast-growing plants in pots, you need to keep the plants indoors for as long as the season does not permit. Therefore, transplanting these plants can be a bad idea, especially for beginners with less experience and knowledge. Therefore, experts advise not to opt for such practices while trying to grow these plants in pots.

5. Limited Plants per Pot for the Best Effects

You should always maintain a guideline while growing cornflowers in containers. You need to ensure that you don’t make the containers congested with a lot of these plants growing in one container. Experts suggest going for a single plant per pot. One plant per pot is the best way to grow cornflowers in pots. These plants often grow up to 30 cm. Therefore, these plants will look the best on their own when placed and grown in pots.

However, if you have a wide container, you can always plant as many as four plants in one container. If you are going for the decorations, you can line up six clay pots with blue cornflower plants in each and place them in front of a vibrant-coloured wall or on a porch.

6. Keep the Containers Exposed to the Sun

You should always keep these plants under full sun. This is a problem with a lot of beginners. Once they place these plants in a container or a clay pot, they think that it has become an indoor plant. However, despite being small plants that will look great hanging on your porch or placed on your patio, these plants need full sunlight to grow properly.

Even though the afternoon sun is also enough to let these plants grow, if you cannot even manage that much, cornflower plants are not for you. These plants are huge worshippers of the sun, and without that, they will struggle to thrive in your pot garden.

However, if we talk about watering these plants, that is not a big concern. These cornflower plants are drought resistant, and therefore, keeping the soil moist will be perfect for these plants. Make sure the soil in the pot drains properly. You should also have to keep the soil medium moist at all times to give these plants a sustainable growth environment. Watering these plants at least two times a week will be enough. However, you can water these plants more frequently when the weather is hot and dry.

Now that we have discussed all the best tips to help you grow cornflowers in pots, here is how to take care of them. Because just planting these plants in pots is never enough.

How to Take Care of Cornflowers in Pots

If you want to take the best care of cornflowers in pots, you need to remove the faded flower heads from the plants. This will encourage the plant to form more blooms. As the tree is completely covered by flowers, rest assured the plant will become a self-sustaining being in the ecosystem of your garden. These plants then will self-seed and will also become a regular source of food for the goldfinches around.

How to Propagate Cornflowers

Cornflowers are amazing plants that can self-seed, and because of the rapid growth of these plants, you can find a lot of cornflower seeds around the pots. However, if you want to save the seeds, you can collect the faded flowers you are pruning. You can also store these seeds in an envelope and sow them from early spring to early summer.

However, if your garden conditions or the weather do not permit you to do outdoor sowing, you can always move indoors. You can always opt for the modular trays, as those are amazing alternatives when placed in an unheated greenhouse. You can also use a polythene tunnel for that.

Conclusion

If you are a garden enthusiast and want to see cornflowers grow in your garden, this article provides all the crucial information that you need to know, from sowing the soil before planting the plants to taking the best care of these plants. However, even if you are a garden enthusiast and despite having less space in the high-rises of a metro city and yet want to grow a few plants in your home, cornflowers in pots can be a great option for you.

With the amazing descriptions, this article provides all the information regarding planting, growing, and taking care of these cornflower plants in pots. It will be helpful for people with less space as well.