Growing Meconopsis 'Lingholm' (Fertile Blue Group)

[Cgull49]

I successfully germinated some Meconopsis 'Lingholm' a couple of weeks ago and after losing my M. betonicifolia seedlings to damping off.  I applied some liquid fungicide to my M. 'Lingholm' before they germinated.  I'm still getting some seedlings dying but most of the seedlings seem to be growing well although I'm trying take whatever action is required to avoid losing the rest.

I've read that a solution of Chamomile tea will prevent damping off but couldn't find any scientific research to verify this claim and in doing a search of the Forum I found a post written by Susan Band which stated that she grows her Meconopsis at around 5C-6C.  My question is although I can achieve similar temperatures at this time of year in my garage - I'd have to install a grow light to provide the necessary 'sunshine' - is this temperature optimum or would a range of 15C - 20C be acceptable?

[Susan Band]

Hi Rob,
A bit of coincidence, I  just started pricking out my Lingholme today (well not me personally as I reckon there will be about 6000 plugs when finished) These were sown in the middle of January and were kept frost free ( quite a feat this year) on heated cables in a poly tunnel. They are now in another poly tunnel but as frost is predicted for tonight as well as the normal fleece I have put light polystyrene sheets over them. Usually by now it is damp and mild. The seed mix is bought in multipurpose compost with perlite added , the plugs are jiffy pellets (peat cylinders which swell when water is added) I reckon the key to preventing damping off is never to let them wilt through lack of water or frost. This is a new tunnel I am using this year and I am a bit worried it will heat up too much, I might cover it with shade net. Keeping them cool but frost free is the way to grow them. 15C-20C might be okay as long as they were shaded and well watered, I don't really know as that is our normal summer temp 
Hope this helps.
Susan

[David Sellars]

Thanks Susan for the insights.  I have never had trouble with damping off with M. betonicifolia and never understood why.  I think it was just lucky that I am an obsessive waterer and the temperature conditions in our greenhouse happen to be close to your recommended values.  This year I have germinated M. nepaulensis and M. Lingholm as well.  Do you have any advice on growing on M. nepaulensis?

[Susan Band]

 David,
The Mec nepalensis and horridula types are really susceptible to mildew if they overheat especially when they are about 3-5cm across. I have lost many plants this way. Again cool shady conditions are the only things I can suggest. Mecs don't like getting sprayed with anything, even water if it is hot and sunny, water always when it is dull or at night. My theory is that water droplets act as lenses when it is sunny and the leaves are damaged letting in the mildew.
Susan

[iann]

Nothing I did would prevent damping off until I just stuck the seedlings outside.  Warm days seem to be acceptable but cool nights are essential.  Even freshly germinated seedlings are frost-hardy but they grow best if they stay above freezing at night.  I find if I sow in late August then the seedlings develop in September and October, and they grow to a good size for overwintering in a cold frame or other place where they won't get waterlogged.

[Cgull49]

I moved my Meconopsis 'Lingholm' out into the garage a couple of weeks ago and installed a spare double bulb flourescent unit to give them light - 16 hrs per day.  I've had temperatures to a maximum of about 17C and lows to about 4C and my seedlings are doing very well.  Most of them have at least two real leaves and some now have three.  I'll have to transplant them shortly into individual pots and place them outside in the shade of the house.  However, the temperature is expected to drop to about -11C later this week, so I'll wait until it warms up a bit next weekend before I transplant them.  In the meantime I'm quite excited with the progress my seedlings have made in their new home.

[iann]

My seedlings sown at the end of last summer spent the winter outside.  Temperatures dropped to about -15C where they were and some may have died but there are plenty of survivors.  They also spent a considerable time buried under a few inches of snow.  It was a tough winter here!

[gote]

I noticed this thread today.
Why keep Meconopsis lingholm under cover at all?
They are perfectly hardy here in mid Sweden (also small seedlings)  but are killed by high temperatures in the greenhouse. It looks like damping off but is really heat stroke.
Cheers
Göte

[Cgull49]

Gote - that's an interesting suggestion. Do you move the seedlings outside after they have germinated or do you let them germinate outside?  What degrees of frost do you get after they germinate?

As I germinated mine indoors they germinated way ahead of when they would have if I had left them outdoors and when I moved them out into the garage there was continuous threat of below freezing temperatures. (One night it went down to -11C outside but just a free degrees above freezing in my garage.)

It sometimes gets very warm quickly here in the spring going from winter like conditions to near summer conditions in a matter of days. This hasn't been the case this spring although we got snow yesterday - it was the first snow since before the beginning of March.  By starting them early inside I was trying to give them enough time to get established before hitting our sometimes very warm summer days, even in the shade. ---- Rob

[gote]

When I sow them I sow them in late winter and keep them in the (unheated) greenhouse for practical reasons until they germinate. They then go outside to an area of open shade. This happens when they have two true leaves or if the weather turns warm. However, they seed thmselves with no problem in the garden so obviously even very small seedlings survive well outside. I should think that I get the occasional couple of degrees of frost after germination. Generally speaking I think that it is easier to kill them by heat than by cold.
I do not have very high summer temperatures but even I occasionally get "burnt" edges on petals if the temperatures are very high. The tall blues can grow reasonably well even i places where there is no sun at all so I would put them in open shade under threes or on the north side of a building or a siomilar place if I were in a warm climate and of course make sure they do not dry out in hot spells.
Hope this is helpful.
Göte 

[Lars S]

I agree, Meconopsis seem to be very cold hardy. Last year I sowed SRGC-seeds of Meconopsis grandis much to late in spring and the seedlings were very small when I planted them in the garden. This winter they were buried under more than half a meter of snow but they have still emerged fom the the snow and seem to be unharmed. Likewise, the rest of my various Meconopsis plants have started to grow during the last weeks. Maybe this winters good snow cover has helped many plants. To my great surprise and joy my single plant of Cardiocrinum giganteum have survived this long and cold winter and without any protection  .
I bought it from Clunyhouse gardens during my visit to Scotland last spring.

[Lars S]

By the way, I sowed seeds of Meconopsis quintuplinervia (thank you Björnar !) last autumn and they started germinating more than a month ago and have been exposed to  several centigrades below freezing without suffering

[gote]

A warning:
The big monocarpic ones napaulensis, regia etc do not survive my winters at all. The hardiness is very different.
Göte

[Lars S]

Yes, thats´s also my experience, so far. The leaf rosettes seem to rot away during winter. I don´t know if it´s because of the cold or just the damp conditions. And the snails seem to love meconopsis ...

[arisaema]

...and mine. I think it's a combination of frosts and winter wet, they tend to stay alive the first winter only to die in their second when the rosette has become larger (and tighter).