From seed question (as I'm confused!)

Hi,

I'm a first timer so go easy with me.

I've ordered the following seeds:

- HB Foxglove Primrose Caraousel.
- HP Foxglove Pams Choice.

I've also ordered a 20 cell Self Watering propagator.

Now, once sown, do I need to have the Proagator located inside or outside ?

And, how many seeds do you sow in each cell ?

Thanks.

 

Hi and welcome Conks.

Your seeds need warmth and light. A greenhouse would be fine, but it may be warmer on a windowsill in the house. It will be too cold outside of a greenhouse as there is still the danger of frosts and the propagator will give a little protection - but not much. If you grow them in the house, once the seeds have germinated, turn the propagator every day to counter the tendancy of the seedlings to grow towards the light.

In theory you plant one seed per cell. Or two to be on the safe side. But in practice you will have a lot of seeds left over. I have two small Self Watering propagators, that I used for things that should not be disturbed - Adenophora and Alstromeria. But I had so many seeds that I sowed a lot per cell. Now I have so many seedlings in a cell that I have had to prick them out into individual larger pots - which negates the objective of the exercise. :D

Follow the instructions and do not use the self watering feature until the seeds have germinated. The reason is that the compost will be to wet until the seedlings start to take up the water.

Do label them - with a sowing date, and I also like to record the germination date as well - just out of interest. Best of luck.

 

i m ready to sow foxglove too, but i was going to put them outside where they are to grow, only riddling the soil first, would this work, i have 200 seeds.

 

Lady Gardiner, I was hoping someone could answer you. I don't know. I only sowed seed directly outside once and almost nothing came up. As a result I like to sow everything inside in trays. I know it is a lot more work, but I feel that they have a better chance of survival - no slugs, birds, frost etc.

 

LG - yes it would especially if you leave til the end of May when they would normally be self seeding, bearing in mind they are biennial and don't really take off in growth til the autumn. Foxgloves don't tend to take kindly to moving I find having tried seed trays -so I find they do better directly sown.

 

I don't know if this applies to everyone and I guess it depends where you are .whatever months for sowing even in the greenhouse I forward on to the next month.. ie...if the month given is February I sow in March

. The delay makes A lot of difference in our area .