Itinerário técnico
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
Broadcast over worked soil cleared of weeds and rake lightly to cover the seed with half a centimetre to one centimetre of earth. Firm gently to ensure seed to soil contact and water with a fine spray. Because the mix brings together species with different seed sizes and germination speeds, emergence is staggered over two or three weeks: do not give up if the first seedlings look sparse.
It adapts to ordinary free draining soils at a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. Over rich soil favours the most vigorous species in the mix, which smother the rest and unbalance the whole: average soil gives a far more varied and longer lasting mixture.
The mix brings together species with similar requirements and grows well between 15 °C and 25 °C in full sun. In southern Europe an autumn sowing uses the rains and gives spring flowering; in France and Germany a spring sowing is the safer option. It adapts to most of western Europe. On the Portuguese coast and in southern Spain use spring and autumn and avoid the peak of summer. Inland in Iberia water more through the dry months. In France and Germany the natural season is spring and summer, sowing once the soil has warmed steadily. In Italy the same rule applies as in the rest of the Mediterranean: spring and autumn in the centre and south, spring and summer in the north.
It needs very little. Ordinary soil with some mature compost is enough, and excess nitrogen is counter productive because it gives plenty of leaf and few flowers. To push flowering, apply a potassium rich feed when the first buds appear.
Water lightly and often until germination is complete, which happens in stages, and moderately after that. Once established the mix is fairly self-sufficient and excess water only favours the most vigorous species.
Sown densely, the crop covers the soil itself and keeps weeds well in check. The work is concentrated in the first two or three weeks: hand weed or run a hoe very shallowly between the plants. Avoid disturbing the soil once the canopy closes, so you do not damage roots or bring fresh weed seed to the surface.
A well established mix attracts beneficial insects and largely regulates itself. Watch for slugs and snails on the seedlings, which is the vulnerable stage, and aphids on soft shoots. Avoid any spraying during flowering, because the whole point of the mix is to feed pollinators.
The diversity of the mix is itself a protection and disease rarely spreads as it would in a single crop. In very dense sowings powdery mildew and damping off can appear: keep to the recommended rate and do not overwater.
Cut flowers for the vase as they open, always in the morning. Leave part of the planting to set seed at the end of the season: it ensures natural self-sowing next year and feeds birds through the winter. If you prefer a tidy bed, deadhead regularly to extend flowering. The reference colour is multicoloured, and that is what tells you it is ready.
