How to plant carnations: in a pot and in the garden

Carnations brighten patios and balconies, but they also look lovely in gardens when planted in groups. The care that must be given to them is simple: as long as they do not lack light or water, it may be necessary to remove a few aphids in summer, but nothing more. In fact, they are herbaceous plants that resist (almost) everything.

Now there are those who wonder how to plant carnations. A very common doubt that arises when the decision is made to buy certain specimens, and it is not clear whether or how to plant them in larger pots or in the ground.

A quick aside: planting is not the same as sowing

I make this small paragraph because it is important: We speak of planting when we say that we are going to take a plant that has already germinated, and that we are going to move it to another place., as a larger pot or in the garden. We can also say “I am going to plant cuttings”, when we intend to cut a piece of branch and put it in a container to take root.

On the contrary, to sow is to take seeds and place them in a pot, for example, to take care of them and make them germinate. In summary: we will plant cultivated plants or cuttings; but we will sow seeds. In this article we will talk about how carnations are planted, that is, what are the steps that we must follow so that a plant that is in one pot, either in another or in the garden.

Related article:

Sowing or planting: is it the same thing?

When to plant carnations?

Normally the plants we buy from nurseries and markets have roots sticking out through the holes in the pots, and/or they have barely enough soil to keep growing. This means they need more space, so if we have just acquired a carnation, we recommend transplanting it as soon as possible. But there are cases where you will have to wait a bit, such as in these circumstances:

• if the thermometers tend to drop in the spring,
• if you have a lot of open flowers,
• or if it is a plant that looks bad, with yellow or brown leaves, or with parasites.

Sure, you should not handle a seedling that is still very small either (i.e. it measures less than ten centimeters), and whose roots do not yet appear through the holes of said seedbed.

What are the steps for planting carnations?

Related article:

Carnation (Dianthus)

They are small plants which, although they are not very delicate, it is important to handle them with care. Therefore, we recommend that you follow the steps that we will explain to you below:

Steps to Repot Carnations

1. Take a pot that is about 5 centimeters larger in diameter and height than the one you have right now.
2. Add universal soil for flowers, such as isfilling it a few centimeters taking into account the height of the old pot so that the plant is neither too tall nor too short.
3. Take the plant out of the container by holding it with one hand by the base of the stem and with the other holding the pot and pulling on the side.
4. Put it in the new pot and pour soil on it. It is important not to bury the leaves, because all of them -if they are healthy- are useful for photosynthesis and growth.
5. Water and put them in the sun.

And then all you have to do is put them where you want: on the balcony, on the terrace, on the roof… wherever you prefer! But remember: you can’t shade thembecause under these conditions, they will not flower.

Steps for planting carnations in the garden

1. Since they need direct sunlight, the first thing is choose a sunny spot where to plant carnations
2. Then we will prepare the ground: remove weeds, remove stones and level the ground if necessary.
3. Then we will make a planting hole that measures approximately 20 x 20 centimeters.
4. Now, we take the carnation and, without taking it out of the pot, we introduce it into the hole. This way we can more or less calculate the amount of soil we need to add to make the plant suitable for us.
5. The next step is to take the carnation out of the hole, add some soil and now take the plant out of the pot to plant it in the garden.

Finally, we will water. If the plant has a stem that seems to be hanging down, you can put a stake on it and tie it to it.. In this way, he will grow well and, sooner than we imagine, he will become stronger.

Post-transplant care

All plants need time to recover from the transplant: some can take several weeks, like palms, for example, but there are others like carnations that start growing in their new location within days. However, we have to be a little aware of themin case.

It is important to water them every two to three days in summer., because it is when it is very hot and, therefore, the earth does not take long to dry out. The rest of the time, you have to see: if there is a forecast of rain, we won’t irrigate; If the ground is very dry and/or even cracked, we will pour a lot of water.

But, we do not recommend paying them until a month has passed. When the time comes, we will use a fertilizer indicated for flowering plants, if possible liquid, like this one.

Planting carnations is quite simple. All you need to do is put on some gloves, decide where you’re going to get them, and put them in their new location.