Primula vialii seed

[Len Rhind]

Hello all,
My vialii has done very well this year and set 3 flowers and looks to be going to seed. So I would appreciate some sound advice on what to do. How will I know when to collect it, how to save it and when and how to germinate it. Many thanks.
Len

[Lesley Cox]

Len, you'll be able to tell if there's seed from the little globular pods which will form where the flowers were. If they don't form rounded and crispy (when ripe), no seed. But there almost always is some.

Leave the stems until they are dry then trim the whole heads off and crumble them in your hands. You can take the seed while still green but it's harder to handle then and not worth the trouble as the dry seed germinates just as well if sown fresh. The seeds are very tiny and almost dust-like so put the crumblings through a fine kitchen sieve to separate the seeds from the rubbish.

Put some grit on top of a seed mix pot and sprinkle the seeds onto the grit. Sow thinly but even so, you'll get hundreds of seedlings probably. They shouldn't be covered but will filter down as they are watered or rained on. They will germinate quite soon (a month maybe?) and should be kept moist at all times. Leave the seedlings in their pot until after the first winter (they will die down anyway) then pot them or prick them out taking a "pinch" of seedlings at a time rather than trying to separate into single plants. You'll get better clumped plants for planting out and there will be less root damage. The roots are very fine. I hope this helps a little.

[Len Rhind]

Thanks for all of that advice, Lesley. One question more: will it be alright to leave the seed pots out in the weather over the winter, or should they be sheltered? Winter in Vancouver is generally wet, no sun, and January to April has a little snow, or a lot (you never know) and temperatures are from 5C to -5C generally. Thanks.
Len

[Lesley Cox]

I'd leave then out in all weathers Len. Your winter is not unlike mine here, with rain and a little snow and relatively mild (compared with say Ontario or Manitoba). The wet won't bother them so long as the pot is on something like gravel where the water can drain away and they are bone hardy so far as frost is concerned. Keep an eye that the seedlings aren't lifted though, by frost. They are sometimes, if recently potted or planted out. I have a pot of thoroughly dead-looking seedlings here at present and our frosts have been to -10 this winter, but no damage to P. vialii. They'll be greening up soon.

[Len Rhind]

That's encouraging to hear. Thanks very much. Cheers
Len