Salvia Patens sowing from seed any tips please

Hi Every one

I have arriving very soon Salvia Patens seeds bought from ebay UK seller .. meant to be really blue .... as below photo

any secrets to growing from seed would be useful

Spruce

 

I used to grow them from seed and if I remember correctly they are pretty easy, just follow usual half hardy practice.
I used to also dig the tubers up like dahlias at the end of the season.

 

Not difficult but make sure compost, like all Salvia composts, is well drained. Seeds are big enough to space out on the surface. Size of container depends on how many you get. I tend to use 9cm pt or a quarter sized seed tray. I cover with little same compost. I press down compost before and after sowing and soak in a tray til wet on surface then place in propagator at 15-20. Patens produces good strong seedlings usually. Prick out, with a little Rootgrow in the planting hole, in the fore mentioned well drained compost. I add good potting grit or the white material (sorry my memory is failing me these days!)
I plant first into 9cm pots and harden them off. I used to plant out three to a pot for the first year and bring them in for Winter. I do this with ALL my 1st year salvias. Patens is perfectly hardy with us (West Midlands) So from second year they are planted out in an old rockery or somewhere with lots of small stones/coarse gravel in the bottom of the planting hole. I use high potash liquid feed (tomato feed) and also a sprinkle of bone meal as they are a fecund plant and need to replace foliage after the winter. We cut them down to just above the ground in Spring when they show signs of growth.
Try growing Cambridge Blue, a different blue. Remember to collect seed from your plants and store them in dry envelopes before collecting the seed and storing in small envelopes.

 

90% of the seed germinated , so well pleased in the greenhouse for now until bigger and when it warms up

thanks for the wonderful reply

Spruce

 

all 16 inches or 44cm ish tall now

 

and in flower I hope.

 

no

 

No?

 

its been cold they have just stopped I thought they flower more in late August ?

 

I cant remember when they flower now
No buds showing?
Yeah the weather will not be helping.

 

no buds ... I am not feeding

 

I'm sure they will flower this year, they did when I grew them, I do remember that much.

 

Patens is slow to flower but like many plants will just grow (foliage, stems and leaves) FIRST and then, as the light decreases, it will flower. My Patens are just starting now. My Beyond Blue have almost finished and I think they are derived from Patens.
I've been collecting salvia seed for about 6 weeks and will be planting as soon as I've finished pricking out my foxgloves (probably planted too many varieties, though they've been very small, don't know why?)