When to plant Digitalis

Sounds right to me. It's like if you and your partner have different colour eyes - the children could have either colour. And some colours are dominant e.g. if one parent is brown eyed then most of the children will be.

 

Got it! Thanks.

I have to say I was a pyhsics man at school and an engineer at university. Biology always used to blow my mind and still does. It’s amazing. The fact that some plants are perennials and others annuals and in this case biennials.

 

Here's Google's take on it -

Foxglove plants don't always produce offspring of the same color as their parents due to genetic variation and pollination. While some foxglove varieties, especially those bred for specific colors, tend to "come true" from seed, others, like the common purple foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), can produce a range of colors due to the mixing of genes from different parent plants.

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Genetic Variation:
  Foxgloves, like most plants, inherit traits from both parents. This means that a purple-flowered parent might carry recessive genes for other colors like pink or white. When this plant is pollinated by another foxglove with different color genes, the offspring can inherit a mix of these genes, resulting in a different flower color.
• Pollination:
  Foxgloves are often pollinated by insects or wind, which can carry pollen from different plants, even those with different flower colors. This cross-pollination increases the chances of offspring inheriting a mix of genes and displaying a color different from the parent plant.
• Dominant and Recessive Genes:
  In foxgloves, the gene for purple pigment (M allele) is dominant over the gene for white (m allele). This means that a plant with one or two copies of the M allele will be purple, while only plants with two copies of the m allele will be white. Additionally, there are genes that affect the intensity of the purple pigment, leading to variations in shades of pink and purple.
• Cultivated vs. Wild Varieties:
  Highly cultivated foxglove varieties are more likely to produce offspring with a range of colors, as they may have been bred from multiple parent plants with different genetic backgrounds. Wild varieties, closer to the original species, tend to "come true" from seed more reliably.

 

If my observations are correct, coloured varieties can seed and those revert to, primarily purple in subsequent generations

 

I grow a number of different perennial foxgloves, often last about 5 years flowers are smaller, but still intriguing.

 

Well I have sewed the Purpurea so fingers crossed. Just waiting for the Suttons Apricot to arrive

 

Hope they work for you @machtucker . It can be quite hit and miss, especially if you direct sow, as it depends on the site and conditions.

 

Afternoon everyone!

An update....we have germination.....

I planted the purple digitalis on 21 July then went off to Phoenix for 5 days and when I got back they had germinated. I've just planted up the Suttons Apricot that have arrived (not many in the pack) and also some white ones which @CarolineL sent me. Many thanks Caroline. Fingers crossed they germinate too.

 

Hello again. So the seedlings are growing and I have removed the propagation lid which I read to do. Do I let them grow inside or is it best to put them outside now? They still very very small

 

Personally l would keep them indoors for a little while, as long as they're out of direct sunlight they should be fine.

In my experience they seem to stay tiny for ages and then shoot up overnight into seedlings that are big enough to handle.
The general advice is to prick them out when the first "true" leaves appear.

You might find this useful .

 

When we grow them "en masse" for the woodland where I volunteer, we let them get to the stage where they are crowding each other before separating them into little clumps to grow on in pots. Not recommended for expensive seed! But they can be quite fiddly to handle if you do them when the true leaves are still small.

 

I'd agree - don't be in too much of a hurry to stick them outside. Let them get big enough to handle being pricked out. You can then do a small clump into a pot, as well as single small plants, and then get them out and see how they do.
Some may not thrive but plenty of them should.

 

Update….

So I think it’s time to prick out and plant some of the seedlings. Do I try and get individual plants into pots or take small clump?

What size pot do you recommend?

many thanks,


Ed

 

Yes re-pot soon as you can - they're very crowded in there.
I pot them in 3" pots and just 1 plant per pot - they grow fast.

 

Planted about 30 plants up this afternoon. Fingers crossed. Should I keep them inside or leave them outside?