Growing Dicentra from seed

Hi all,

I have some dicentra seeds (Dicentra formosa, and Dicentra macrocapnos) but i vaguely recollect something about putting them in the fridge before planting but can't remember - i was going to just chuck them in some soil in a pot on the window sill like i do with everything else! (probably explains my limited success rate :o)

Any ideas of what's best to do with these seeds ?

Many thanks
Alistair

 

I have just had a look in my RHS germination guide. It says :-

10C - 16C, up to a year. cold stratify for 6 weeks, lightly cover seeds, chilling may improve germination.

The cold stratification is the fridge job, but mix with a little moist soil. However why not split your seed into more than one lot. It may be worth, with one part, just sowing them as normal. Sometimes seeds ignore the instructions and germinate under normal conditions.

There is another method that works well for things like Allium that need similar conditions, cold and a long period. That is to sow them in a pot in say November and cover with a sheet of glass. Then put the pot outside and just let nature take its course. In March you could have plenty of seedlings.

It is the wrong time of year for that, but still might be worth a go. If they don't germinate over the next few weeks, they may well germinate next spring. 18 months ago in November I did this with some Allium seed that I couldn't get to germinate inside. By March there were plenty of seedlings. I had put them in a deep pot so that I didn't have to disturb them. The original seedlings were still in the pot 12 months later, but then this March a whole load more came up. I knew they had germinated this year as the sprouts were smaller than the previous years plants, and the young sprouts still had the empty seed cases attached to the top of the leaf.

 

I agree with Peter ,try some now ,and then sow again and leave them outside till spring, either way they seem to be eratic at best