Alliums from seed?

I have five large Alliums (the large round purple ones) grown from bulbs. Now the flowers are over there are, of course, a zillion seeds. Is it worth keeping them and growing from seed next year? If so, how best to store them, anything special needs doing to them and when to sow next year. Advice gratefully received.

 

Some will germinate really easily in situ but it will be a few years before they flower, could be 4 or 5 years for some. It really depends on how long you want to wait.

 

Sow the seed fresh. It germinates better straight from the plant rather than being dried off.

Cover lightly with grit, gravel or whatever rather than compost.

Sow in a deep pot rather than a seed tray (reasons later).

Leave exposed to weather. They need a period of cold followed by warmth to initiate germination.

When (if?) they germinate do not be in a hurry to p rick them out. This is the reason for deep pot rather than seed tray. They have only one root to begin with and if it is damaged, it dies and a new one has to be produced from the base of the seedling. usually they die.

Feed the seed pot with dilute Baby Bio type stuff, until the leaves go yellow then allow the pot to dry off.

Repotting may be done when they are dormant. Some types never really go dormant so be careful.

I often do not repot until they have had another seasons growth. Remember many of them actually grow in late winter/early spring.

Cannot think of anything else for the moment.

Not as hard as it seems.

 

Thank you both, I'll think about it! Never been very good at long term garden projects.