Alpine Campanula seed - spring or autumn sowing?

[Tristan_He]

Any thoughts or advice? I have some seed from several Campanulas collected on my travels, and am wondering whether to sow now or wait until spring.

On the whole I prefer to sow as fresh as possible, but Campanula seed is small and there won't be much time for any seedlings to reach a reasonable size by winter, when they will be vulnerable to wet and slugs. So perhaps better to wait until spring?

Any advice appreciated.

Tristan

[Matt T]

I sowed C.barbata last autumn, which promptly germinated so then I had exactly the problem you identify of bringing tiny seedlings through the long winter. Seed of C.versicolor collected from the wild last November I saved until the beginning of March when it was sown and germinated well. There may be some species that need winter chilling, but based on my experience with these two species I'd be inclined to wait until the spring. Of course, if you have enough seed you could sow a pinch now and the rest in the spring?

[Tristan_He]

Thanks Matt. I think I will save most of it for the spring then. I've already sown a bit of C. barbata which I had quite a bit of.

[astragalus]

Matt, how and where do you save your seed when you want to delay for spring sowing?

[Matt T]

Hi Anne,
All my seed is kept in glassine packets at cool room temperature. Our house is relatively cool compared to most, around 15^oC year round. This means that any seed that needs to continue to develop in 'warmth' can do so. I suppose there is some seed that might be better kept in a fridge, but hope that our relatively cool house will keep them ticking over. Still learning though from my own successes and failures.

[astragalus]

Thanks, Matt.  Aren't we all in the 'learning stage'?  I'm still in the process of learning how little I know - that's gardening.  And that's one of the reasons you get up in the morning - to learn something new.

[Gabriela]

Any thoughts or advice? I have some seed from several Campanulas collected on my travels, and am wondering whether to sow now or wait until spring.

On the whole I prefer to sow as fresh as possible, but Campanula seed is small and there won't be much time for any seedlings to reach a reasonable size by winter, when they will be vulnerable to wet and slugs. So perhaps better to wait until spring?

Any advice appreciated.

Tristan

I sowed one year Campanula alpina in late February (under lights) and it germinated very well. The seeds were fresh collected by me in late summer, and I kept them in glassine envelopes in the fridge. I usually keep freshly collected seeds at room temperature for about 2 weeks and then packed and place them in the fridge in the crisper sector with the humidity set on low (except the ones that require a warm period for maturation). The glassine envelopes are also enclosed in a big Ziploc bag. Many alpines keep very well this way.
Gabriela
http://botanicallyinclined.org