Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Seedy Subjects! => Grow From Seed => Topic started by: iann on April 11, 2010, 11:15:37 PM
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Has anyone grown this from seed? The only reference I could find just said to sow at 70F and that would be it. Not!
Well after half a winter outside, some minuscule sprouts have appeared that all look the same and not like any common weeds. Does that sound about right?
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Probably not far off. They would be very tiny - even when fully grown it is a tiny plant - and as they grow even a little, they will be quite pale green as the leaves are farinose and so whitish-green rather than bright green. Be sure they stay damp. I plan to sow my next small batch of seed thinly over the whole surface of a 15cm pot, with grit and add a little chopped living sphagnum as they grow on, and let them stay there without disturbance. They are really very small to handle easily.
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Hi,
I got some of this from the SRGC surplus SeedEx, sown 23/1/2008, indoors for a couple of weeks then outside. In 2008 one or two germinated and then fizzled out. In 2009 (i.e. having gone through a Summer and Winter) loads germinated. It takes a while for them to attain a distinctive shape. They are tiny plants. Some are coming up to flower now. I'll post a picture later (and Lesley can tell me it is a different primula entirely...).
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Below is the picture - last year they were probably a quarter the size, white powder in evidence - farina. The plants in the photo are in 1" square plugs.
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I have been growing them reasonably successfully for years. The seed is sown on a peaty but well drained compost and then lightly covered with soil. It is then watered and put on an outside bench and left alone. The seed takes up to 2 years to germinate. All the attention I give it is to make sure it does not dry out. When the leaves reach thumbnail size, I pot them on individually or plant them in a trough. They are as hard as nails, but do not like high temperatures. I do not even bother to remove moss from the pot as they seem quite happy in this environment.
In the area where I have watched them growing for the past 40 years - Cape Wrath in NW Sutherland -, the plants mostly grow on short grass exposed to gales and downpours of rain.
My plants last about 3 years before they succumb to the more gentle southern climate. They do not stay in character for long but get larger and flower earlier than the wild plants farther North
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I can't imagine they would require a germination 70oF in nature, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't help. I have tried it an lost it several times, but usually buy the plants from nurseries.
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I think yours look pretty much spot on David, and in excellent health too. I think quite a lot of the seed in the SRGC seed list comes from John Hawgood in the Orkneys and I imagine its habitat there would be much like in the far NW of the mainland. It is a delightful little plant and although I sometimes lose it I would always want to have another go with it.
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Lesley - thanks.
I surface sowed my seed on B&Q (a large DIY chain) "cut n sow" peat based seedling compost, tied in a plastic bag for 12 months, then when they were big enough pricked out to the 1" plugs, I kept them through Summer 2009 in a propagator outside and out of the sun - with no air vents open, so they were cool, wet and in shade. Many things rot under those conditions but these did not.
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This seems to be one of those "reminds me of home" plants. I was begged for some by an immigrant Scottish minister at one of the local Presbytarian churches. For some time he had lived in the Orkney Islands and when someone told him I had P. scotica, he came knocking at our door. I did give him a little potful but he said he was no gardener, so I don't know how they fared.
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Now you're all scaring me! At least if this spring's spouts don't make it I'll keep the pot and see if more come up next year.
I can grow Meconopsis from seed so there's hope for me yet.
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The tiny leaves are now developing little white flecks. Three more have decided to sprout this week. They must like the warm weather ;D
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Good to hear progress is being made, Ian. Mind out that they don't overheat though.
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I'm bringing it indoors during the days of this little heatwave, but ultimately it will have to survive or not outside.
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They seem to be doing OK. Later germinations were weeds, although maybe some more Primulas will germinate next spring. They don't seem to mind the heat, although they are shaded in the afternoon and never dry out.
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Sweet ;D
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Well done Ian.
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Iann, yours look to be making better progress than mine did. Reading this thread, a picture of the flowers is missing, so this is one of my (above) plugs planted out. In a garden where only the big survive it was hard to find somewhere to put these tiny primulas.
I think some have set seed, so the madness (via the seedex) can begin again.
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In a garden where only the big survive it was hard to find somewhere to put these tiny primulas.
I think some have set seed, so the madness (via the seedex) can begin again.
This is where trough gardening comes into its own. :D
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Yes, a trough would be a nice idea, but would it be wet enough.
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I've toyed with the idea of an 'Orkney' trough in which i would grow Primula scotica, the tiny form of Scilla verna (which the Hawgoods also usually donate to the seed exchange) and , if I'm lucky, the Frog Orchid and Parnassia palustris. We saw them growing together at the classic P.scotica site in Orkney. I've got 3 of these four plants but have still not gotten round to it!
btw David - A deep fish-box trough would hopefully hold plenty of water and would be what I would try.
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In any case, a cool trough, such as one might use for tiny Asiatic primulas, a (very) dwarf rhodo and other very small shade lovers would be OK, and would, I expect have a well draining mixture in it. Of course the P. scotica doesn't want full shade but some would be all right. Or a sunny trough well watered.
Darren, I'm pleased to see you mention the Orkney form of Scilla verna as being tiny. I have a full pot of seedlings (3 years and there was a flower last spring! - past time I had them planted out) which came as seed from John Hawgood, so I expect they will be the same size. That pleases me very much. :D
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Hi Lesley,
Nice to know you are growing this too. The books are quite dismissive of Scilla verna which I think is a shame. The little forms such as found on Orkney are quite charming in a pot or trough and are valuable also for flowering quite late compared to most bulbs. I've had a pot from John Hawgood's seed for several years and also have now supplemented it with some I collected myself. As a cautionary note - this might not apply in New Zealand - but I find it is very prone to vine weevil.
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As a cautionary note - this might not apply in New Zealand - but I find it is very prone to vine weevil.
Mr and Mrs Weevil and their offspring ::) live here as well Darren ,although i've never found them to cause damage to Scilla verna. I grow a pink form as well as the blue one in a number of troughs where their small flowers can be appreciated up close --- these plants are small in stature ,however whether they are different from the Orkney form i'm unsure so if you or anyone else has a pic of that i'd love to see it.
Ta.
Cheers dave..
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Mr and Mrs Weevil and their offspring
It's Ms. Weevil and her offspring, Mr. Weevil dropped off the tree of life many millions of years ago.
With no sexual reproduction and thus not able to adapt to changes, they should be easy to get rid of.
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Umm - don't think I've got a photo Dave. Very remiss of me. Did notice ripe seed earlier in the week, must collect it.
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Yes, as Dave says, the vine weevil is alive and well and living in NZ as, no doubt, in most if not all temperate climates. I don't have a great problem, but get the occasional grubs in pots of Saxifraga, Primula or other Primulaceae. Heuchera also seems to be a favoured target.
My single bulb which flowered last year still in its seed pot (they're up again and STILL in the seed pot) was only about 2cms high but that could have been due to severe overcrowding. For a picture Dave, there was a fantastic one a short while ago of Scilla verna either in the Orneys or the Shetlands, with the blue of the Scilla travelling up hills and as far as the eye could see. I can't remember which thread. Maggi will be able to find it I'm sure.
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Reply 255 on page 18 of the northern Hemisphere thread :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5556.msg157670#msg157670
Lovely picture from my Aberdeenshire Group friends Rosemary and John Lupton.
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Oh yes Maggi, that's the wonderful one. Dave will enjoy that. He'll be thinking "Who needs Celmisias?" ;D
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Taken by flash in the gloom of another monsoon storm. The leaves are whiter when they are dry.
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Is that not one lovely little primula? Wonderful colour and such a cute size.