Growing Purple Coneflower From Seed: Cold Stratification vs. Direct Sowing 🌱
Vložit
- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- Quick Update - At the time this video was made, I was not aware of the environmental impacts of harvesting Peat Moss. Since learning about this, I have done a deeper dive into eco-friendly alternatives and have since started using coco coir in place of peat in any of my soil mixes. Coco coir can replace peat moss in a 1:1 ratio, and I have adjusted my product recommendations below accordingly.
Products used in this video:
6-cell Germination Trays: amzn.to/3HXvcex
Solid Seedling Trays: amzn.to/48838Qj
Heated Seedling Mat: amzn.to/49o4xU4
Spray Bottle: amzn.to/3SOTLk7
COCO COIR * Eco-Friendly alternative to Peat: amzn.to/3uYJxVl
Espoma Organic Soil Mix: amzn.to/42yarjp
Fine Sand: amzn.to/488OnN6
*we earn a small commission from purchases made through these links, thank you for your support!
Welcome to our gardening channel! In this video, we'll guide you through two methods of planting purple coneflower seeds: cold stratification and direct sowing into soil. Purple coneflowers, also known as Echinacea purpurea, are stunning perennials that attract pollinators and add vibrant color to any garden.
First, we'll demonstrate the cold stratification method, which mimics the natural conditions seeds experience in the wild during winter. ❄️ Cold stratification helps break seed dormancy, promoting germination once spring arrives. We'll show you how to prepare and store your seeds in a cold environment for the required period, ensuring successful germination when planted.
Next, we'll show you how to directly sow purple coneflower seeds into the soil. This method skips the cold stratification process and involves planting seeds directly into prepared garden beds or containers. We'll provide tips on soil preparation, spacing, and watering to optimize seed germination and growth.
Whether you choose cold stratification or direct sowing, both methods have their advantages, and we'll discuss the pros and cons of each to help you decide which is best for your garden. 🌞
Join us as we explore these planting techniques and set you on the path to growing beautiful purple coneflowers in your own backyard oasis. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more gardening tips and tutorials. Happy gardening! 🌼🌿
00:00 Intro
00:36 Seed Starting Basics
01:55 Cold Stratification (Optional)
06:44 Soil Recipe
09:20 Seedling Trays
10:46 Filling Your Container
11:29 Planting The Seeds
13:56 Initial Watering
14:06 Label!!
14:34 Humidity Dome Precautions
14:50 Germination Rates
For the fridge trick what I do is to use just the paper towel, only moist enough to feel wet but not damp, put the seeds on top, and carefully use a spatula or something to put the seeds inside the bag so that they are resting flat on the paper. I will be able to see through the bag if any seeds start to germinate. In that way I don't have to be constantly opening the bag or guessing. Just be careful to put them in some fridge drawer or somewhere where they can remain flat and with east access to check. You don't want to be disturbing the bag when you move items from or into the fridge.
That's a great idea, I do feel like I disturb the seeds when I need to check for germination. I'll try this out next time!
Hey Anna. I followed your method and cold stratified my Purple Coneflower seeds for 14 days. After starting them inside, 52 out of 60 germinated, which is about 87%. Pretty great. Thanks!
That's a great germ rate!! Congrats on your success! Hope they do great in their final home, cheers!
Did you have another group where you did not do that to see if it was better or worse?
Appreciated the information.
Thanks for watching!
I subscribed to stay tuned for the results. Great job!
They’ll be coming in a week or so! My cold stratification period is just about over, then I’ll get them into the soil. So far about 40% of my non-cold stratified seeds have sprouted, and much faster than I originally anticipated. I’ll post a short tonight showing some of my newest sprouts!
@@BrightLaneGardensI am looking forward to it!
Info I didn't know. Thanks.
Thank you for watching!
I was just wondering this week when you were going to post again! This reminds me I gotta get started with some of my seeds for the year.
I've been trying to find some black 5 gallon+ pails to use in my grow tent (gonna try cross breeding my own peppers) but they are crazy overpriced where i live with shipping comes out to $40-$50 for 2 :o
As usual fantastic video with lots of information, love your videos!
Hope your year is off to a good start momma ❤
Haha I’ve felt a little uninspired with the weather lately, but now that it’s seed starting season I’ll have much more to talk about :) thanks so much for watching! Just a few more months until spring!
@BrightLaneGardens yeah I feel that, I have seasonal depression so winter sucks most of the time...
Glad to see you're still making videos, looking forward to this year's content!
Thanks
I love how you thoroughly explained everything, thank you! I can’t wait to see the progress!
My dad gets square heavy duty black pails from Ace hardware; the leftover containers they sell chain in.
Love the experiment of stratified vs. not… Subscribing to follow their progress :)
Can't wait to share the results! It will be a few more weeks, I'm just about to plant my cold batch. I already have lots of sprouts from the batch I planted for this video - stay tuned!
Cone flowers do well here in Missouri hot, humid, summers
Purple coneflower is native to more than half of the US - as far east as the Atlantic coast, as far south as Louisiana & Georgia, and as far east as Nebraska & Colorado! Here in Michigan we get plenty of rain on average, but have been going through some dry spells in recent summers. The Coneflowers have tolerated both the droughts and the wet seasons very well - gotta love a hardy plant like that!
Great video!
Got my coneflower seeds sown, Rudbeckia next.. yes, and don't forget the label
🤔 🇬🇧
I’ve got rudbeckia coming up too! Hope all your seed starting goes well this season. Thanks for watching!
Ty🦋
Thank you for watching!
Hello, thanks for the video I didn’t do the stratification method and I only got 30 to germinate at of a McKenzie pack. Next time cold time for them.
I have a question please:
Now that I got the seeds to germinate, I have them in clear plastic container sealed, should I removed the lid and keep in a room with indirect sunlight until they form their set of leaves? Please let me know.
I was wondering if all variety of coneflowers do noe need to go through the stratification process? I am looking to start some Green Twister seeds and just found out about this type. TIA
I was able to get them to germinate with cold stratification and without. However my cold stratified batch germinated faster and more consistently, and I had more of my cold stratified seedlings survive! The cold strat period is short, can even be as little as 10-14 days. In my opinion, it's worth the extra step!
Excellent video. How are you watering from top or bottom!
Also does the dome come off after a certain amount of seedlings have germinated?
I water from the top until my seed has sprouted and has its first few leaves. Then I’ll start to water from the bottom to encourage the roots to go deeper in search of the water. This helps the plant develop a deeper taproot which will make it more drought tolerant in the summer months.
I usually remove the dome around the same time, unless I’ll be gone for a day or won’t be able to water on my usual schedule - if that’s the case I’ll put it back on because it does give you some extra flexibility to stretch out the time between waterings. But if I’m able to water on my usual schedule I like to leave it off once the first few leaves have grown because airflow is good for the plants!
After you have planted the seeds in the tray, what kind of light would you want to put them in? Just planted some purple conflower seeds today and trying to figure out the light needs. Thanks!
You don’t have to worry about the light too much until they actually start to sprout! After that I use an LED panel - I’ll post a link of the one I use!
Greetings from Zeeland Mi
Greetings! I was down in GR for several years, beautiful areas down there!
Thanks for the video! Where did you purchase your coneflower seeds?
Thank you for watching! We collect a lot of our seeds, but when we're doing mass plantings we'll purchase from Prairie Moon Nursery. (They sell in smaller portions too). We've had really good success with their seeds!
Top your seedlings with vermiculite to avoid fungus or damping off.
Great tip thank you! And thanks for watching :)
I have echinacea seeds from a few years ago. Is there a time limit as to when they are too old to grow? Thank you
This is a tough question to answer! It's very dependent on how the seeds were stored and the viability of the seeds to begin with. An initial test I would do is the pinch test - just take a seed and pinch it between your fingers. Old, unusable seeds will often just crush right between your fingers. Test this out with a few seeds - if most of them still feel relatively firm and hold together well, then it's worth tossing them in some soil to see what happens! Keep me posted :)
Curious, you stated a mixture of 25% garden soil and the rest sand and peat. But, you put a large bag of garden soil into your mixture. Are the percentages by weight and NOT by volume? you may have said this...
You are observant!! I did a bit of editing in there, just a few unflattering angles on my end :) the mixture does end up being only about 25% garden soil. I used 4 bags of the peat moss and 2 bags of sand. It's important to mix it well each time you use the mixture because the sand does like to sink to the bottom. But this mix has done well for my native seeds over the years. Once I start to get seedlings (usually 2-3 sets of leaves) I'll top dress with some worm castings as well.
Thank you for your quick reply! I’d like to make my own mix soon so appreciate this info!
From what I've seen, peat moss is sustainably harvested in North America, but was not in Europe.
Oh I haven't read that. For the most part I've never seen anything on packaging about where the peat moss was harvested or through which method. But we've had so much success with coco coir at this point (and I love the bricks, so much easier to store during off-season) that I haven't looked back at peat!
@@BrightLaneGardens Gardening in Canada channel did an interview of a representative of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA) a few years back and has compared and contrasted pm vs. cc.
Most of mine grow fine then when they get their first leaves they shrivel up and die.
I hear this a lot from people! Seedlings are often very light hungry, you’d be surprised at how strong of a light you need to sustain them. If you’re using an indoor grow light, try to put it closer to your seedlings. A lot of my light panels are less than 3” from the top of my seedlings. If you’re not using grow lights, try to get as much sunlight as possible, even if you have to move your seedlings outside during the day and bring them back in at night until you transplant.
Tiny seedlings are also very susceptible to drying out. A humidity dome can be a little more forgiving on this front, trapping in excess moisture so you don’t have to water them every few hours. I hope you have better luck this year!