Morella cherry lupine

I am reading over some of the seed packets that I have just received and the directions are to lightly file one end of each seed and soak for 2 hr. in tepid water before sowing. They are considered a hardy perennial. How am I going to file one end without filing my own fingers? Why can't I put a piece of sandpaper inside a jar or some kind of container and put the seeds in there, closing the container and shaking the seeds around. Wouldn't this be the same concept and accomplish the same thing? I don't recall where I saw this idea but it had to be in one of my flower gardening books.

Maybe those that have grown this lupine can post their experiences. I am planning to wintersow these seeds.

Pippi -- I've only done the 'file thing' once before, and i'd say placing the emery on a flat surface would work too.

How are you going to sow these? indoors or WS?

I've only done Lupine once.. i think they were wild lupine if that makes a difference... and I just WS"ed them. nothing special. no nicking or soaking needed.

I'm going to wintersow outdoors..and I'm wondering if soaking the seeds won't be enough? One place I read if you wintersow outdoors, and soak the seeds so many hours before hand, no need for "nicking" the end of the seeds.

Pippi -- that was why i asked.

I have read, probably in the WSforum or on wintersown.org that if you are WS'ing, mother nature takes care of the 'knicking and soaking'

basically -- if you are going to indoor sow, then you have to 'soften' the seed a bit, give it a helping hand so it can germinate.

for what it's worth... one year i followed seed directions on nicking and soaking some seeds and every single one of them molded... and this was winter sowing. needless to say.. i dont do that anymore. the freeze/thaw process takes care of that.

BUT -- to make absolutely sure... ask this in the WS forum... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/coldsow/all/

but i'm prety sure you do not have to do that for winter sowing of those seeds.

HTH

Terese

If you're going to do the jar-shaking thing, put the seeds in the jar with coarse sand, not sand paper.

But yeah, if it were me I'd soak them and set them out in the cold cruel world...

I'm in zone 7..when would be a good time to WS them outdoors in milk jugs? Last possible frost date is April 30th.

Pippi -- it is 'written' that you can begin winter sowing any time after the start of winter solstice.... Dec 21st. but since most of us are pretty busy this week... many don't start until after the holidays.

With it being a short lived perennial - you can sow it when ever you do perennials....
I would sow it in my 'first wave' of sowing.... that way i make sure i wouldnt forget about it.

Found a neat website that might help people who are ADD who can't count backwards..check out easysurf.cc/ndate2.htm or just type in words Day calculator..how many days/weeks between one date and another. May help people who may be starting seeds indoors or outdoors.

very cool...thanks.

Pippi ~ Last year, I did "everything wrong", and still ended up with lupines. These were both 'Russell' and another variety called 'Tutti Fruitti'. First I overwet the peatpots that I intitially put them into. Then, after they started to germinate and mold, I took them out (carefully) and put them into fresh seed-starting mix in cell packs. Then one day, I put them onto the edge of the balcony to get some sunshine, as they got bright light, but no direct sun. (You guessed it!) I knocked them all over! YIKES! Then...I proceeded to search for them on the ground and repotted them into the cell packs. Quite a few of them broke as their roots are quite brittle, but I had about a dozen of them or more. Eventually they did get planted out, but were still a bit small, so I am hoping for them to grow this coming spring into the plants they should be. Oh, and the gopher or mole, got a few of them as well, but hopefully the remaining ones will make up for it. I will definetely save the seeds and start again, as well as I will sow the balance of what I have in the packets this winter. The experience was enough to make me want to try more of them. I did not nick or soak them, but I suppose they were soaked by default in the jiffy-pots. I will not use those again. I will put them in individual pots instead of cell packs, and then just transfer them gently into the garden, once they get up to size. I think I will use 3" pots. That is what Christopher Lloyd recommended.


Let us know what you are going to do and how well they turn out, OK?


~ Evelyn

evelyn, I love your story about your lupines. It really is amazing how resilient plants can be. Did any of your lupines survive?

I remember seeing Gardenweed's picture of her lupines that she planted in a pot after WS to let them get larger before planting out and she said until she decided where she was going to plant them. I did both..Planted two seedlings in the flowerbed by sunroom and two died immediately. I think maybe it was still a bit cold when I planted them out. But two more I planted in the flowerbed at a later date and they are still alive, plus the two I potted up into a larger nursery pot. I've been babying those plants. Some are the Cherry morello lupine, some are the Russell lupines.

Let us know how the Morella cherry lupines do. I am wondering if they bloom more than the regular kinds.

Yes, pgt! There are about 8 in the bed growing now, some larger than others. As soon as they get any blooms on them, I will take their pictures and post them....if all goes well. The gopher did not come along until late in the season. We have had rather erratic weather since it snowed again on the 15th! On the first week in May, I thought that summer was going to be here...we had late snow last year as well I think in the 11th or so. One can never predict the future when it comes to gardening....

I'm glad those lupines survived evelyn!

I suppose that is why Nature provides so many seeds...not only in the wild but our handling of them and the seedlings. LOL...!! (I started out with at least two dozen.)