Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Cultivation => Cultivation Problems => Topic started by: ian mcenery on December 08, 2008, 01:32:47 PM
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I have just acquired some juno seeds. Could someone help with some advice please?
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Ian I sow mine over a very gritty compost - half quantity nowadays - then cover them with nearly 1cm of grit. They're put outside in a cool place with all my seeds and left to stew, watered with all the other seeds. Some come up very quickly and others take years, both in the same pot, if you see what I mean. One's own seed, sown fresh germinates well and quickly.
I encourage them to grow on as long as possible and they are OK with plenty water SO LONG AS THEY ARE STILL GREEN. Then I dry them off, but not ARID dry for seedlings, just refrain from watering. I also now cover them (and all bulb seedlings which have died down) with a piece of shade cloth which keeps them cool. Seedlings don't like to be "baked" or too much dry while very tiny. I lost a lot of things before I learned that. I let them stay in their seed pot for at least 1 more year(with liquid fertilizer and fungicide when they're in growth) then repot them. After another year hopefully they're big enough to plant out or pot for display that way. Drainage is vital at all times and for junos I use deep pots with a third drainage material (usually gravel) in the bottom.
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Lesley thank you I will try that. Your suggestions are along the lines of what I had thought but never having grown these before from seed I wondered whether I was missing a trick. For example the other day you mentioned that Celmisia seed should be planted head first in the compost. I had not heard this before and it may be a reason why I never managed to raise seed from my own plants. What a great learning place this forum is 8)