Hi gurus, one and all. With spring not too far away, I thought I would chuck some seeds of these in to give a bit more colour, once things warm up. However, that leaves me with a question - how to sow directly in the ground. The packet states to sow in trays and prick on, before going out. One site I checked said to sow on the surface as the seeds need light to germinate, another, to sow at a depth of 0.5cm, while a third said to sow at a depth of 2.5cm. I cannot believe that they require 2.5cm, but as for the other two, I think either would be good. Any suggestions or comments? TIA Fof
I've grown them in the past and usually sow in cell trays in late April on the surface. I have sown direct but not until early June, they only really do well in bright sunny conditions and do stop flowering if you don't do at least some dead heading. The seedlings are tiny and if sown in damp places the slugs get them before you even notice them.
I always do messys(I'll still call them mesembryanthemum, can't be doing with all these name changes!) in trays on the surface, or lightly cover with silver sand and prick out individually when big enough to handle. Sowing half hardy annuals directly in the soil never works for me. If you sow seeds an inch deep(2.5cm) they will not germinate...even 2.5mm is pushing it. Here's two bits of info from the internet that contradict each other Germinates in 10 to 20 days at an optimum soil temperature of 65 degrees F. Seeds are very fine and germinate best in darkness. They need light to germinate, so don't cover the seed and keep the compost moist at 18-20ºC They do germinate better with light, they got the temperature right
Thanks, guys Confusion reigns. In my own head, I tend to use mesembryanthemum, but can never remember how to spell it, so I used the packet name. I'm in far west Cornwall, and am constantly trying new plants, to see how they go. Eg. I put in 3 Prostanthera cuneata and 3 Prostanthera ovalifolia ‘Variegata’ a couple of years ago. The P. cuneata are doing great, and have had flowers every day of the year (2 open today), while P. ovalifolia ‘Variegata’ are just not quite hardy enough, so will replace with something different once the weather warms up
