sowing gentiana seed

[Tasmanian Taffy]

Hello,
Can anyone give me some advice on growing Gentiana from seed,I have a few different varieties to try.
It is very early Autumn Here still very hot,should I sow now or would Spring be a better time to sow.
Also should I cover the seed with compost or grit once sown.
Thanks John.     

[Gene Mirro]

Gentians made easy  :  http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=1232.0 

Also, http://www.gentians.be/index.php?page=articles&art=3  but there may be a problem with this link.

Actually, Gentians are not easy to grow.  Even if you get them to germinate, they grow slowly, and do not like temperatures over about 12C during the seedling phase.  Some of the European alpine Gentians like it even colder.  If they are too warm, the seedlings will just sit there and do nothing, and eventually fall over and rot.  I have also found that they like a lot of fertilizer, and grow very poorly without it.  They can be successfully transplanted, but they do not like it at all.  Never leave the roots uncovered.  Always cover with moist potting mix, even during transplanting.  Never let the pots dry out.  Even with all of these precautions, some of the transplants will rot at the soil surface soon after transplanting.

My Gentian growing methods have gotten to the point where I can keep about 75% of the seedlings alive to bloom size, and also get bloom-size plants in a year or two.  So I think I am pretty close to getting it right, but maybe there is a way to simplify the process.  But I am still not very good with the European alpine Gentians.  Maybe it's a little too warm under the fluorescent lights.  Although G. dinarica does well.

If you can grow Gentians, you may want to try Gentianopsis and Gentianella.  The fringed Gentians are stunning.  Here is an article I wrote for the NARGS a few years ago:  http://nargs.org/nargswiki/tiki-index.php?page=Gentianopsis&highlight=gentianopsis  But be warned that these plants are slow, weak growers, and I have sometimes experienced 100% losses for no apparent reason.  Most of my tips in this article apply also to Gentians, except you really need to grow the seedlings cool (60F or lower), and the Gentians don't need as much lime as the Gentianopsis. 

[Tasmanian Taffy]

Thank's Gene,
for your advise and related link's.

[Lesley Cox]

I find that they germinate well from garden seed, less so from exchange or purchased seed but there's usually something. I sow over grit as I do for everything, and don't add more grit on top. I mean that my seed mix is covered with grit, about .5 of a centimetre, then the seed sprinkled into that, watered in then put outside to face whatever the weather happens to be but I wouldn't sow anything in the heat of summer. Autumn is best for me or spring. I don't find gentians any more difficult from seed than say, primulas, lewisias et al but expect to wait months rather than weeks for germination of most. Most of my problems are with porophyllum saxifrages.

[Diane Whitehead]

I grew lots of different gentians from exchange seeds once.  I gave Joyce Carruthers and
Zdenek Zvolanek small seedlings of each species which they planted in a crevice garden in Joyce's
garden in Victoria.  I kept mine in pots.

Mine gradually disappeared, and I never had a flower.   Joyce's thrived and flowered.

[Tasmanian Taffy]

Thanks Leslie,
I will try your method and see how it goes,and by the way the Clematis seed that you so kindly sent me has all
germinated and hopefully next year I will see some flowers.
best wishes John.

[Lesley Cox]

Was that Clematis napaulensis John? I'm pleased yours has done well. Mine germinated too but I lost the lot when I potted them up and when we came to move nearly 6 weeks ago, I couldn't find a strand of the plant that was moveable. It only had a couple of flowers this last spring and I couldn't find any seed, so sometime if yours seeds, can I have a little back please? I really like it and am currently without it. I did a number of cuttings over the summer but none rooted.

I might start a new thread about Clematis as a few things are occurring to me at present. I don't recall a Clematis thread so far.