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Growing from Seed

Purple Coneflower. Help sowing seeds please.

9 years ago

Hi,

I have just sowed some Echinacea Purpurea seeds in my diy propagator. I know it's a bit early as some people say late summer to autumn is a good time to plant them.

However I couldn't wait and did it anyway to see how they would do!

My questions is about when they start to germinate. Obviously by the time they start to get a lot bigger, it will probably be turning autumn. So what would I do with the plant? Would I cut it back even though there might not be any flowers on it? Or do I leave it to continute growing in my mini plastic greenhouse outside over winter? Or do I keep them indoors? Bearing in mind they wouldn't get much light indoors?

I'm not too sure of what to do for the best. Any suggestions appreciated :)

Thanks

This post was edited by Craigh1983 on Tue, Jun 24, 14 at 7:18

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Comment (1)

morz8 - Washington Coast
9 years ago
Echinacea will normally take 10-20 days to germinate at 65-70F (18-21C) - cooler or warmer may take longer. I think your climate is approximately a Z8 and the plants may do better outside than inside over winter with low or inadequate light. You don't need to cut them back, let mother nature take care of the dormancy, give them some protection during a harsh winter storm if your pots would be in danger of freezing. I've moved very young plants in and out of my unheated garage when temperatures have been predicted to fall much below freezing.
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