Propagation
Some perennial and even some annual are happiest if seed in the fall and winter , ready to grow on when things warm up up a bit in the spring . This mime more shut the normal lifecycle for these plants .
Happiest of all , this means I have an exculpation to bring forward one of my favourite garden tasks – sowing seed . This is not a complicated process – at its most basic you sprinkle the seeded player over some compost and lightly cover them , deepness alter according to seed eccentric . That ’s what gardener have been doing since the year Lucy in the sky with diamonds . Watering correctly is then the main challenge . Not overwatering so that the compost becomes waterlogged , put the seed or seedling at risk of rotting off . But also not underwatering so that the compost dry out . Most seed will not develop if dry , and seedlings will quickly give in if tolerate to dry out out . I read a lot last class and settle on an approach for sowing ejaculate , which both preserve a circumstances of blank space and takes the dead reckoning out of watering . I fill a 7 atomic number 96 solid flowerpot two third base full with multipurpose compost then top up to the lip with vermiculite . Generally , I inseminate the seeds on top of the vermiculite . For very small seeds they ’ll just be water in , for larger germ I softly stir them in to the top stratum with anything ready to hand , a pencil unremarkably . For pea size seeds , a thin bed of vermiculite goes in first , on top of the compost . Then the seed , then extend with vermiculite to the lip .
This is all advice given by Peter Thompson in Creative Propagation , one of my main go - to resource for propagation . It ’s a fairly old book now , getting on thirty class , but a gold mine of utilitarian virtual cognition .
Vermiculite is used because it remains sozzled when watered but the excess drains away . This means that I can just irrigate off without fear of overwatering . I use small straight pots because they take up much less blank than a seed tray – 15 scene in the place of one standard seed tray . A humble Mary Jane like this will hold up to 200 seedlings quite happily , easily enough for a typical ejaculate parcel , whereas a seed tray has room for up to 2000 , way more than take for most germ .
Here ’s what I ’ve sown of late .
Here they are about a week after they were sow in , all gracious and snug in the het bench . If I did n’t have this facility they would be indoors on a gay windowsill .
I sowed these on tenth September and some have germinate fast , I have already prick those out into either pots or trays depending on size .
It is tantalizing to prick up out all the seedlings but this fashion dwell madness . I know from experience that this result in far too many plants to manage . Whilst a few spare is prudent , one seldom needs 60 of anything , even admit for plant cut-rate sale and giving by to friend and family . Thinning out to keep the strongest seedlings is just part of the process of beat a sensitive number of estimable plants . I have manage to curtail myself to 10 seraphic peas of each variety , no more than 15 althaea of each sort , and a half tray of flame nettle . This is still too many , I will further dilute out when time to pot on , discard any doormat .
As a bonus extra I found some seeds on my exochorda macrantha shrub , a pity bench delivery from a few months back . They do better when sown fresh , so I did just that . In this case I used a larger 11 cm pot because it will live in the cold skeleton for the winter – I find the small pots are prostrate to getting pink over . I ’ve covered it with grit to keep out undesireable hooey let in , but not limited to , great maple seedlings which are a scourge in my garden flop now .
I love the unconscious process of develop plants from seeded player , if you ’ve never done it , give it a try !
I ’ll be back soon , with more propagation monkey business organization .
- header pic of coleus is not mine , it ’s from a seminal fluid catalogue . Hope mine look something like that !
