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Growing baptisia from seed

13 years ago

Anyone do this? I have a goodly amount of seed to sow. Here are my questions.

I have read about its long taproot and aversion to transplanting, so wonder if it would be best to sow it in situ. Pots better? (Deep pots?)

Should I sow/grow it in clumps or should I thin to just one seedling? Naturally, I want to encourage it to clump up as quickly as possible, but don't want multiple seedlings to choke themselves out, if that happens.

Does it need scarification? Would I do well to sow it now while it's cold or should I wait until it warms up in the spring?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

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Comments (5)

coolplantsguy
13 years ago
Here's what we do at the nursery with B. australis:

- sow 3 seeds per cell (June)
- scarification not required
- transplant into larger pots (August)

So, you should be able to sow now into pots if you'd like, and plant into your garden this spring. You'll likely have to pamper it this year.

Ultimately, it will take 2-3 years to mature, i.e. size and flower production. I've often described it as a very bush/shrub-like perennial in terms of its mature size and form. It is of course, still herbaceous. ;)
sharoncl
13 years ago
I recommend winter sowing them. It's quick and easy and requires very little care.

I don't think you need to worry about transplanting baptisia seedlings, as long as the plants are still small... I've moved lots of self-sown seedlings and they've all done fine.
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They are easy from fresh seed for me, and kind of a pain and unpredictable from purchased or stored seed. Problem with sowing it fresh is that even here, the seedlings might need some protection or a cold frame their first winter depending on how well developed they are going into cold weather. Tony Avent, Plant Delights "Fresh sown baptisia seed germinates quite easy and quite fast...usually in two weeks. Old stored seed, on the other hand is very difficult and slow to sprout. I recommend that all old baptisia seed be placed in a Styrofoam cup and doused in boiling water and allowed to cool prior to planting. This will begin to break down the seed coat and encourage germination." If you have one of the hybrids, they don't come true from seed - pods on my own are more black and dry than tan or brown when ripe.
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well for other baptisia sp. the book "growing and propogating wildflowers" by Harry Phillips... it states to harvest the pods when they are black or show signs of opening along the top suture. (i usually look for the pod to start to open) the book also states to comb the seeds from the pod, discarding the smaller shriveled ones. it also discusses removing insects from the seeds as is fairly common for these seeds to be eaten by insects while in the pod... he talks about a no pest strip and a sealed container - which i think might be a little overboard... i try to stay away from chemicals, but thats just me - i think if you get them out of the pod - let them air dry and then refrigerate that should be enough to get rid of the bugs before they eat too much... if you have lots of pods it might not be a bad idea to pick one now and look inside to see the seeds now and then compare them to what the seeds look like when they are mature ... just as a get to know your seed pod kind of a thing...
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Hi Carol, It is fine to collect them now. I recommend winter sowing them. If you do not know what that is, please check out the Winter Sowing forum here on GardenWeb. It is a method of sowing seeds in containers with a cover(that can let water in) so as to create a perfect environment for seed germination. It works great on hardy perennials. I personally like to use 2 liter pop bottles, but some prefer milk jugs or other containers. Anyway, check out the forum; lots of nice people hang out there. Remy Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Forum
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dicot
13 years ago
To soften that tough seed coat, I soak B. australis and similar CA native seeds in 3% peroxide for an hour or in warm water overnight. It makes them fragile to handle and the glutinous coating is sticky & hard to handle, but it does increase germination, imo. I use dull toothpicks to handle them. The transplant issue is small when they are young, but becomes more serious as that taproot lengthens and there's definitely something to be said for in situ germination.
terrene
13 years ago
I winter-sowed Baptisia australis and B. leucantha 3 years ago, and the seeds were from Prairie Moon nursery and they apparently pre-scarify the seeds and also provide an inoculum which is supposed to help germination. They were winter-sown in February and germinated well. They are now 3 years old in 1 gallon pots since I haven't been able to figure out where to plant them yet (hmmmm). They might have bloomed this year, if they were in the ground, but they haven't bloomed yet. Patience required with these guys!

Baptisia has thick tuberous roots, but in my experience actually does fine with transplanting and root disturbance. I've transplanted the seedlings up to bigger pots a couple times and they did okay. Also, I bought some pot-bound mature Baptisia plants several years ago in November, with thick circling roots. So I repotted and overwintered them in bigger pots, planted them in the Spring, and they've thrived.
Donna
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, y'all. This is exactly what I wanted to know. I may go ahead and start them in deep pots now, since spring is always so incredibly busy.

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