Pulsatilla aurea

[Leena]

I sowed Pulsatilla aurea last autumn, and they have now germinated well. I read from here, that yellow Pulsatillas can be tricky to grow, and I was wondering now if I should prick them out in pots or straight to open ground? Any tips?

[Steve Garvie]

I have a very different climate from you Leena but I found the seedlings to be very sensitive to pricking out and I lost my first lot after doing this. Second time round I sowed the seed in four pots (rather than one) then kept them in the seed pots until the End of the second year. I then planted the pots in-situ and they settled in fine. This way you only get a small number of plants -but at least they survive. Hopefully I will get flowers next year.

[Leena]

Thank you Steve, that is very valuable experience. My seed pot is quite full of seedlings, too full, so I have to do something.   Maybe instead of actually pricking out I should try to divide the clump carefully into smaller clumps and plant them into bigger pots where I can keep them this and next summer. In the process I may lose some seedlings but hopefully in the middle of the clump some survive, and I don't need so many plants.

[Lesley Cox]

I've found with many "special" plants and especially those with very fine roots, that the  "divide and conquer" method works very well. That is, when seed has been sown too thickly, it's worth while to divide the potful into smaller groups then pot each group individually and repot with a further division later when they are bigger and easier to handle. It has worked well for my precious Shortia soldanelloides and for numerous rhododendrons. In fact with some of the shortias I repotted into smaller groups three times then to single plants. This was because the roots, with more space to develop do so quite quickly and become entangled. Frequent dividing means they don't become impossible to separate. I find the best way to separate the roots is to hold the little group by its foliage then to wiggle the roots about in slightly warm water to remove loose compost then lay them out on paper towels to drain, then place in the new pot.

Very best wishes for your Pulsatilla aurea seedlings Leena.

[Leena]

Thank you Lesley. Using water to help separate roots sounds like a very good idea.