Growing Soldanella montana

[Cgull49]

I received a packet of Soldanella montana from this year's seed exchange and have managed to get a reasonable number of the seeds to germinate.  I've sown the seeds in a peat / perlite mix and covered the seeds with about 5 mm of sharp sand.  I've got the seeds underneath a set of flourescent "gro-lites" which is between 10 - 15 cm above the seedlings.  The temperature fluctuates between about 20C during the day and 16C at night.  Can you recommend a better setup for growing these seedlings to the point where I can move them outside to my coldframe by the end of April?  Do they need cooler temperatures to grow well?  Are they fast or slow growing? They are growing in a slight acidic mix is this ok?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Susan Band]

Rob,

I usually prick them out into jiffy plugs (3cm cylinders of a peat based compost) after they have a couple of true leaves. I suggest you keep them frost free but gradually harden them of until you can get them outside. They grow remarkably fast, the ones I sowed last year are about 5 cm across and have loads of flowers just waiting to open. They have been planted out in my field (where everything else I grow is) and I am hoping this spell of hard frost hasn't killed of the flower buds. When they are open I will post a picture.
Susan

[Cgull49]

Susan,

That sounds like something I should be able to do. Thanks for the advice.  I look forward to seeing your photos of your Soldanella when in bloom.

Rob

[Cephalotus]

I will also like to ask Susan, haven't you stratified  your seeds? I haven't got any S. montana seeds yet, but S. carpatica seem to grow near by in the nature. When I have sown mine S. carpatica in the autumn I have let them lay for the winter in the ground. They germinated like mad in the spring. The species I could not stratify and I know they need that, I use GA3 and it does the work. But from your answer I can conclude, that S. montana seeds does not need stratification at all. I am surprised, that S. montana grows so fast. I would never thought that after my experience with the other species.

Susan, I really do not think, there is a frost, that can kill the flower buds. Mine have survived -15*C and still waiting for them to open.

The only think I can suggest you Rob about this species is that unlike S. carpatica, it does not like to have high humidity of the soil, just a little bit, and never let it dry. It also like having much lighter exposition, maybe a bit of sun too, but not the south exposition. In the nature I have found it in full, west sun and they had a bit yellowish leaves. I have also found that they like to have light soil, maybe with some small bark, peat and sand. The pH do not matter, they can grow from acidic to alkaline soil. Hope to help.

I wish you great results with germinating.

[Cgull49]

Chris, Susan

I just this past week transplanted both my Soldanella montana and my S.alpina.  What's interesting is that the S. montana did not require any cold period but the S. alpina did.  I ended germinating about 5 plants each from the seed I obtained.  Unfortunately I've lost 2 of the 5 S. montana to too much moisture.  When I transplanted them it was into a mix of about 40% peat mix, 55% course sand and 5% perlite.  They had been growing in a mix of about 90% peat mix and 10% perlite.

I've since lost one of the S. montana, which was showing some signs of wilting before I transplanted it, however the other plants seem to be doing ok so far.  I've grown them all on the window sill of my north facing kitchen window since they germinated. Since I've transplanted they I have them under my grow-lights in the basement, hopefully only until they got over the shock from transplanting. I don't intend on keeping them inside over winter, but from what you've indicated I should probably make sure they are kept in my covered cold-frame.  In a typical winter it can get down to -25C to -30C on quite a few days.  My cold frame is next to the house so it does pick up a bit of warmth escaping through the basement walls and I do cover them with extra snow or as I did last year with batts of lightweight fibreglass insulation.

Hopefully when they do bloom I'll have more than one of each plant type still living.

Rob

[johanneshoeller]

I use acid soil (peat with sand) for germination of Sondanella montana and alpina (which grows on limestone). Both germinate very easy when I sow in autumn and have the pots outdoors (-25°C). But alpina is very difficult to grow, montana is a strong grower! I do not pad the seedlings and so I do not have any problems.

[Cgull49]

Hans,

I'm not sure what you mean by "pad the seedlings".  Unfortunately, after I transplanted the seedlings to individual pots all the S. montana rotted, however, I only lost one S. alpina and so have two plants left.  They are doing fine and showing new growth.  I'll have to try the S. montana again.  Maybe then I'll put a bit more perlite into the mix to make it looser and seed them individually so that I won't need to disturb the roots when I need to transplant them.

Rob

[Cephalotus]

Hi Rob,
I do not know anything about growing conditions of Soldanella alpina. But I know about Soldanella montana. I know one thing for sure, that this species like to have less humid sol than Soldanella carpatica. Also it like to grow in much lighter conditions, even in a bit of sun. In full sun it is growing poorly, but it can survive, when S. carpatica would die for sure.

I am sowing my seeds when they are still fresh. I do not collect them, but you probably do not have leaving plants. When they germinate in a month or so the same year. Some will germinate after the winter. I know that seedlings must grow in the same conditions as the adult plants. That is why I sow seeds around the adult plants. If you are sowing seeds in a pot, I recommend a bigger one and to let seedlings grow there are year or even more. They are very slowly growing from the seeds.

Nest year I can send you some seeds of S. carpatica and S. montana if you will remind me. The seeds should be ready around May or so. I might even have some plants. I have made cuttings from my S. montana. If you want any more information I will be glad to help. I am fully successful with those two species. For example I have very much problem with growing S. pumila. If anyone could write how to grow it well. I am sure that it do not like growing in wet or shaded conditions. Maybe more sun, or drainage?

Cheers,
Chris

[Cgull49]

Chris,

Thanks for your observations.  When I decided to transplant the S. montana it was primarily that I noticed that one of the seedlings was showing signs of rotting off at the ground and I thought that by including more sand that I would be providing a drier environment for them.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case and they rotted.  If you can send me some seeds when they mature I would really be thankful.  Just send me a private message when they are ready and I'll send you my address.  I'm enjoying the discussion.

Rob