Growing Morning Glory Seed...

ok my fellow Seed Junkies, I need your advice.

1) I have a pack of MG seed "choice mixed colors'. some of the seeds are very dark, some are very light. since I have no idea what colors these MGs are, they are mixed, does the seed color give any indication of the color possibilities?

2), I know they will need a trellis or support of some sort... what about and upside down tomato cage? will this work? how tall do the supports need to be?

Hi Cue - I have grown a few morning glories in my time, but probably not qualified as an expert. Your "choice mixed colors" could mean just about anything. They come in all shades of blue, red, pink, white, and many others including several bicolors and crosses. I seriously doubt if you could easily determine the color solely by looking at the seeds. Several commercial varieties are available, my personal favorite is the generic "Heavenly Blue".

The MGs I've seen are tall, viney plants up to 10 - 12' height. They can be a quite large plant grown on a trellis or sun porch. A typical tomato cage won't likely do it for you. Please also be aware that some MGs are invasive self-seeders, and can become weedy if not kept under control. A landscape advantage is that they can used to easily cover up an ugly wall or fenceline.

Starting seeds is easy, just soak in warm water overnight and toss them in the ground in the morning. Soaking will expand and crack the tough outer shell to aid germination. They can also be grown in small pots and transplanted later outside where you want.

Al

I live in an area that has alot of undeveloped land... my back yard backs to a wooded area on my lot. Could I plant them there and they grow up the overgrown vegetation at the treeline?

Cue, They'll climb just about anything that's vertical, including trees and brush. About the only thing that will slow them down is winter weather, then again be aware that they will reseed and spread in the Spring.

Al

Oh, Yeah, they will grow anywhere. I have morning glory coming yp in my garden and they
are beautiful but I didn't plant them there. I guess the birds did. They wil reseed.

awesome... would be nice to see some color there at the treeline.. and if it reseeds there, it wont be a big deal, as anything growing it of its 'home' will likely be run over with the lawn mower...LOL

I have some passion vine seed pods, do you have any of them? I bet they would haul butt down there.
Got to wait for them to dry but You can have some if you wish. Let me know. You may have to remind me I am
forgetful, at times.

passion vine is actually very invasive here...LOL.. the joke here is dont plant them, they'll show up eventually on their own. they are crawling all over the empty wooded lots here.. so all I need do is go dig one up and plant it. LOL. but thank you for your offer.

I was wondering about that. Sorry didn't mean to add any problems/ I have Clematis that has a white blom, smells cinnamony but it comes up everywhere, you got that too? It is only clematis I have that is almost a pest. Bees love it and it looks so pretty on the fence.

No problem :) what is one mans flower is another mans weed..ROTFL.. Im actually surprised at the number of plants grown up north that we consider a weed here and yank out of our yards! Periwinkles being another one they grow like dandelions here, we are constantly pulling them up, but then I hear people up north grow them in pots...LOL.. go figure...

ok, currently have MG seed soaking will plant tomorrow, but here is what i did for the trellis...

took the 6ft copper pole i had saved from my failed attempt at a tipsy pot display... to that I added a 4 ft bamboo stake... took a terracotta pot and turned it upside down, inserted the pole thru the opening int he bottom of the pot and into the soil. the pot will help stabilize the pole. then, took bird netting ina loooooong strip and tied it off at the top and loosely wound it around pole all the way down and around base of pot so the MGs have something to grasp as they climb. now.. tomorrow will plant seeds around base of pot.

Sound like a perfect trellis for them, cue. They will climb up anything . . .

about how fast do MG grow? Does anyone know?

Planted mine in mid-May, just starting to blossom now. About 6' tall on my steel arch trellis. Right now, about three months, but it's been a cool Spring here.

Al

Cue, they should grow like gangbusters for you there.

If you plant 3 or 4 seeds in a 6" pot and place near a sunny window, the vines will soon encircle your entire window area. I tried this as a school project once, it was amazing how fast they grow in climate controled conditions. Vines were impressive, but they flower better outdoors.

Al

ok, soaked my MG seeds over night, was surprised to find quite a few of them had actually sprouted int he water this morning. I had about 30 seed in the water bowl, planted 8 (thinking not all will germinate) around the trellis i constructed.. planted the rest at the tree line, hoping at least a few will take off and grow up the overgrowth.

someone was kind enough to send me a dmail to warn me that it may be too late to plant them, but i figure since our winters are mild and we dont really see the really cold temps until February.. i should be ok.. what do you think? if not.. I got tons more seed should these not make it...lol

Good Luck Cue - hope they grow well for you!

Al

thanks. If all goes well and they do grow, I will try and remember to take pics. I out to be the envy of my neighborhood...LOL

cue, this picture is what my MGs look like with 2 vines!

be careful what you wish for....

wow.. gorgeous! somwhere i read an arbor can be made simply by bending chicken wire or attaching bird netting from the side of a build to the ground and letting the MG's grow up this.. is this true? wouldnt the weightt of the MG's pull it down, or are they not very heavy?

and i love the Xmas lights!!!!! *thinks about somehow borrowing this idea, minus the pergola.. hehe*

I can't not remember the thread but I did read one where someone wrapped chicken wire or bird netting around their pole or their tree and then in the winter, they would just take the whole thing down. You may not need to in your area if you don't have frost. Just plant a few seeds and see how it will grow. If you have a chain link fence, it will be perfect to cover the chain link fence.

The vines are not heavy so it won't drag anything down. In the back of the pergola, I use a tomato stick in the flower pot and tie a vine to go up the pergola and back down and it holds the vine just fine.

The other thing you can do that is kind of cool is to make a teepee out of them. If you have open fields and no fence, you can use 3 tall sticks - I would do 6 or 7 ft sticks. 3 of them and put them together on top - like a teepee and then plant 2 or 3 seeds per sticks and let them climb up and down the sticks. You can see my small teepee in the back where I have hummingbird and coral vines growing up it.

I had this color blooming today, Cue. How do you like it?

It only took about 3 months to get all these blooms up the 4 corner posts of my pond.

That is drop-dead gorgeous. It is so dark a blue.
Thanks for shareing.

I love that one Mekos!

Here are a couple different colors.

Here are some pinks. (I think I have about every color there is.)

This is cute, I was looking for some with stripes in them.

This is cute, I was looking for some with stripes in them.The japanese ones. I have them in pink stripe and blue stripe, if I could find pictures.

Those are gorgeous Mekos! I love the "Heavenly Blues", so easy to grow. One of my all time favorites.

Al

Thanks Al. I love them all. I have some real tiny ones that I need to take pictures of next time they bloom.

That is similiar ro me orange one only cuter. How neat.