Lobelia Cardinalis

Hi Folks

I'm growing some Cardinals from seed. Sown end of January in a warm greenhouse and they germinated about 2 weeks later. Even though I keep them at about 20c they are making little progress and they are still too small to prick out of the seed tray.
Are they slow to start or do I need just need to be patient?

Thanks in advance.

Rob

 

Rob. First rule of gardening, be patient. The plant knows what its doing better than you, me, or anyone else on this knowledgeable site.

 

Haha thanks, Having never grown them before and reading that they're 'easy to grow' made me think.

No wonder they're so expensive from garden centres!

 

I would agree with daitheplant - they are probably doing fine. Remember everything needs heat and light to grow, and until very recently there has not been much of either.

As regards their cost, they are great for splitting. I have only ever bought one plant, but by dividing it every year and quite often twice a year, one plant soon grew to be 60.

 

Is it too late to divide it now? It has a cushion of low leaves forming. It didn't occur to me to divide it snd rejouvenate!

 

Hi Victoria - I think now would be a great time to divide it.

I grow 'Queen Victoria' and Lobelia vadrariensis 'Tanya'. Although they are technically different species they are so similar - except for the colour. I lift mine each autumn and overwinter them in a coldframe. 'Queen Victoria' is said to be a bit borderline hardy - but I left some in the ground as well and they survived this winter. I lift them in autumn and put them into 4" square pots. Anything (and thats a lot of them) that is too big for the pot gets split into two or even three. Then about now I take them out of the coldframe and about half of them I can split into two again.

 

Thanks Peter that's brilliant!

My cardinalis has now done two winters, and the cushion of new growth is about the size of the circumference of a football now, so I reckon I could halve it.

 

Victoria - it sounds as if you can get more pieces than that. What I do is keep them as fairly small pieces. The reason is that they must fit into smallish pots for the winter - though perhaps I shouldn't bother they seem to be hardy enough. As small pieces they seem to grow pretty rapidly in size. Then I plant them very close together. As you know the plant grows vertically with very little foliage going sideways.

 

Hmmm.... that's food for thought. Maybe I'll go quarters, or more!

Just a straight chop with a spade?

 

Forgive my lack of knowledge, but are we talking about lobelias (the tall upright kind, not the small trailing kind) in general?

I really like these, but have only ever grown one plant at a time, from garden centre stock, then they die over winter despite being listed as perennial.

If we're talking about the same thing, then I think I'm going to have to give them another go, using the tricks talked about here. Or are we on about something else entirely?

 

We are indeed! The ones which are about 1.5 to 2 feet high.

(Do you keep losing yours? Make sure the police don't accuse you of beating up your plants! )

 

If I knew how to get all the smilies on the new forum, I'd post a 'roll about the floor laughing' one. You've obviously seen my 'coppers' thread

But yes, excellent, in view of what I've learnt here I think I'm going to get some more lobelias for my new garden. They are a stunning flower. Lift, protect, divide. That's going to be my new trick.

 

I left mine in the pond for the winter ... will see soon if that was a good idea or not!

 

I couldn't resist!!