Aquilegia

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CrowCtg Maidstone, United Kingdom Jul 22, 2017

What time of the year can I expect aquilegia seedlings to grow. Mine seem to be at a standstill.

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VooDooU Yankton, SD Jul 22, 2017

How did you start them? Columbine are pretty particular is sown indoors and outdoors I fear birds :( Here are some important tips for growing columbine from seed.

1. They do best when damp stratified for 2-4 weeks
2. I have heard the best "soil" is non soil organic seed starter, so peat discs or I bought a brick of the coconut shell stuff that expands.
3. They prefer steady temp no higher than 80 degrees.
4. They need light to germinate which means just lay them on the surface which means it will be more difficult to keep them damp. Indirect light is fine so even if you have them on a shelf in a lighted room you are fine.
5 Try to keep them moist for about 30 days... yes you heard me correctly 30!! days!! They take forever and a day to germinate.

I have had luck with my outdoor ones reseeding well but most of this info Im just putting to the test. I ordered some fancy seeds from a seed vendor I trust and spoke with their head person. They test seeds there and thats basically what they did and got an 85-90% germination rate on their Beidermeier mix. If you want to take a look over there is https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/ they were very helpful and guarantee their seeds... even if you mess up like I did =P

Columbine are my favorite flower(my avater is one of my dwarf varieties) but in the past I only ever got 3 seeds to germinate but I know why now. I hope all this helps and you see some sprouts in a month or two =P They told me if you get them into the ground before winter they should be fine but I think you are having your winter now? Im trying to remember the seasons difference... If you are they should be ready for spring. Oh and one last bit of advice, they have a decent taproot on them and thats pretty much the only way I have been able to kill mine once they are started, unless they are fading as they dont last that many years unless you deadhead like mad to keep them thriving longer.

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CrowCtg Maidstone, United Kingdom Jul 23, 2017

Thank you VooDooU

I'm in the UK btw, so a little past mid summer

I actually have the aquilegia past the germination stage, they are seedlings. But are just growing at a snails pace.

You seem surprised at 30 days to germinate, many plants take longer. Some Galeopsis take up to 700 days. Some plants take 3 years or more

AFR

Post #10312014
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VooDooU Yankton, SD Jul 23, 2017

Quote from CrowCtg :
Thank you VooDooU

I'm in the UK btw, so a little past mid summer

I actually have the aquilegia past the germination stage, they are seedlings. But are just growing at a snails pace.

You seem surprised at 30 days to germinate, many plants take longer. Some Galeopsis take up to 700 days. Some plants take 3 years or more

AFR


I am, with indoor greenhousing and such Its the only plant I have tried to take so long. Mine took a long time at that stage of growth as well. The one in my avatar didnt get a lot of growth until its second year which might be something with the dwarf variety, I dont know. How much sun are yours getting? I had some Aquilegia canadensis that came with the house and some were in a mostly shady spot but all the rest seem to really dislike shade. I dont know how old those Aquilegia canadensis were but all seemed to have lived their lifespan this year which might be because of the shade, or they were older plants.

Post #10312031
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CrowCtg Maidstone, United Kingdom Jul 24, 2017

I know the Aquilegia species range over many habitats, I guess the garden plants might like varying conditions
I wonder YooDooU, you seem to nave an inquiring mind, you might like to see this about germination
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/Germination.htm

AFR

Post #10312224
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VooDooU Yankton, SD Jul 24, 2017

Quote from CrowCtg :
I know the Aquilegia species range over many habitats, I guess the garden plants might like varying conditions
I wonder YooDooU, you seem to nave an inquiring mind, you might like to see this about germination
http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/Germination.htm

AFR



Thanks! Will def. take a look.

Post #10312232
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