Thanks very much. Slugs ate the first 3-4 trays of seedlings I tried to harden off over the years. I think those were "bad slug years" but they sure mowed every seedling off at ground level overnight. This was my only survivor plant that made it past 6". Then it lasted for around 3 years as a GIANT ... then nothing came up the next year.
Now I try to get seedlings larger before putting outside, sprinkle fast-acting bait, deploy beer saucers, and still expect to lose 80-90% of seedlings. Once the plants are 6" tall, the damge is much less. Once it is 12" tall, slugs seem to leave it alone. ??
I hear many people say that delphs won't grow for them at all. I think it must be climate, because my thumb isn't green unless I'm spray-painting without gloves.
The spot where i grew it was pretty clayey, though amended. It was also fairly shallow soil over a wet spot (high water table 8 months per year, then fairly dry in the summer.
I don't think seed collecting could ever be easier. The husks held the seeds in place long after they were mature and dry ... you could shake the plant and hear them rattle. Then I bent the spikes over a big cardboard box and just poured the seeds out. The only cleaning was to blow a little chaff away.
But that was some years ago and I don't know how long delphinium seed lasts, and I did give most of it away. There would have been little genetic variety: all the seeds (and I think all the pollen) came from just one plant.
