Foxglove plugs

Hi. Foxglove plug plants just arrived in the post (3 varieties). There are not any specific instructions - just a general leaflet for all the plants they send.

I have just put them in shallow dishes of water on the windowsill to "help them recover from their journey".

The soil root area is about 4cm tall by 2cm across and the leaf area is about 7cm tall (so about 10-11cm in total. Photo attached with newer style 50p for more size clarity.

My question is. Can I plant these directly into the garden? As was my original intention.
I would prefer not to have to pot them all if possible (I have 15 in total).

I am a newbie gardener so have not done any planting before. Thanks.

 

I potted plugs like that in the garden back in January and they seem to have survived. However, I have lost some by weeding them in error! If you do plant them out plant them in a weed-free area and put name tags in to identify where each one is.
Now I have started potting small plug plants up and bringing them on a bit before planting out.

 

I think they are big enough to plant out but I would worry about slugs.
Being that small the could disappear overnight.

 

Urggghh! I forgot about that.

Do not want to use slug pellets either as we have a visiting hedgehog.

Though one problem is that I will not be here for a while over summer to water them if I leave them in the shed (hopeful scenario was plant now and when I am not here the rain will take care of the watering as there will no doubt be plenty of that considering I am in Northern England).

 

I use Strulch. It is a mineralised straw mulch. put that around the plants and it keeps the slugs at bay. It also keeps the moisture in the soil.
In fact, that is Strulch in the bottom of my cold frame.

 

Suggest you pot them up into 3", 4" or 5" pots and keep them somewhere semi shaded.

Put a ring of Copper Slug Tape around the outside of each pot and that should keep the slugs at bay, it works on our Hostas etc. but plenty of other non toxic methods around.

The import thing is to ensure that nothing can touch the plants in each pot and create a bridge for the slugs to crawl across.

As its summer now, not sure how big they will be when you go away or for how long, but the old trick of putting them in the bath still works.

 

Modern slug pellets, although blue like the old metaldehyde ones, are just ferric phosphate and safe for children, pets etc - in fact they are allowed for organic gardeners. Metaldehyde was bad for hedgehogs and birds - so I assume that's why it is no longer available (hasn't been for a couple of years). Unfortunately the material I have read suggests the ferric ones have to be sprinkled sparsely as otherwise they have a detrimental effect on worms. And as far as I can see, they don't have much of an effect on slugs.
However I have never found my slugs (and they are keen gourmands) interested in foxgloves - maybe because they are toxic plants?

 

I have not had a problem with slugs and foxgloves, and my common foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) self seed happily. Remember they are biennials and build up strength the first year before flowering early summer the next.
@Weedstoo I am assuming that's what your plugs are, although you can get some rather nice perennial foxgloves as well.
I would plant now, water on planting and leave them to it.

 

Interesting. I was recently looking this up . . .

Edit: Here is one of the links inc. some time lapse videos.

Does copper tape stop slugs and snails? Here’s the video evidence…

 

I was actually trying to find out if the leaves are toxic or just the flowers (or both). I could not find the info.

Anyway, I forgot about that when planting them yesterday and just handled them without gloves. I am still alive so far . . . . .

In the end I planted 8 directly and 7 in pots and put them out in different spots. Reflective guitar tape on the pots and dried fir tree prickles round the planted ones.

I can only go off what it said on the description but they said they were perennials (Digitalis in 3 colours - Dalmation Purple, Dalmation White and Apricot Beauty.

I also have a packet of "thousands" of seeds in the one you describe (I think) though it says perennial Digitalis PURPUREA so not sure what is going on with the whole biennial perennial thing.

I guess we will see what happens . . .

 

I would assume that all parts are not fit for consumption and that goes for all plants unless known to be/bought as edible.
Annuals flower the same year they are sown and that's it.
Biennials flower the year after eg wall flowers, sweet williams.
Perennials flower every year until you remove them or they die of old age, slugs etc.
Perennials can last for a few years or like geraniums decades.
Some biennials eg Digitalis purpurea if you dead them after flowering they can flower the next year

 

As well as putting copper tape around pots, with plants in the ground that sprout up each spring or young plants like yours, we make a ring of cooper tape and put it over the new shoots to keeep the slugs off.
While some folk say it does not work, it always has for us.

Have a look at these links which will enlighten you to the types of Foxgloves etc.

Foxglove

Perennial foxgloves

Biennial foxgloves

Digitalis purpurea | common foxglove Annual Biennial/RHS Gardening

 

Oh Oh! Just went to check on them. Something has been a nibbling at one of them that I direct planted. The poor plug is unlikely to survive much more of this, right?
Was wondering if I should dig up and plant - so far the guitar taped pot planted plugs have been uneaten.

 

Hard to be sure what has got to it, could be slugs or snails, but could also be birds etc.
What is your "reflective guitar tape" made of , copper ?

If so, make a ring of it and place on the soil around the neck of the plant.

Might be worth putting some netting over them as well to stop the birds.

You will always get some losses with new young plants, thats gardening natures way ...

 

Just double checked. Yep, its Copper Foil Tape (2 inches)