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Ornamental Grasses

Propagation by seed in greenhouse

16 years ago

Hello all! I'm a student in the Greenhouse/Nursery program at my local college and I'm in charge of growing the ornamental grasses (and natives) this year. I'm growing several types from seed I've collected and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for resources?

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Comments (3)

donn_
16 years ago
What sort of resources do you need? Many of us grow ornamental grasses from seed, but we'd need to have an idea what you're looking for; Seeds? Germination temperatures? Sowing depths? Stratification requirements? Medium suggestions?

Perhaps if you tell us more about your program, and the seeds you'll be using, we can give specific answers.
j_nail
Original Author
16 years ago
I apologize for being vague. I felt bad asking for specific answers (may be silly, but seemed to me a lot to ask) so I was mostly looking to see what resources (books, websites, etc) that people have found are reliable.

I've collected seed from:
Saccharum ravennae (definitely will be growing)
Miscanthus sinensis 'Purpurescens' and 'Cabaret'
and a couple others I need to get a positive ID on, then I will narrow down which I'm growing.

I will also be growing 4 that my instructor ordered in (coming in March) including:
Pennisetum glaucum 'Purple Majesty', (plug)
Acorus gramineus 'Ogon', (seed)
Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Overdam', (plug) and
Helictotrichon sempervirens (plug)
However I need to CONFIRM which will be seed or plugs.

What I'm looking to establish (in a nutshell) is a crop schedule, including when/where/how they will be sown/planted, transplant date, spacing, etc., in order to be ready for sale in 3.5" pots by the week before Mother's Day. All of the things you mentioned will be useful in establishing a schedule.

This is a fully operational greenhouse set-up with 3 single frame houses and a cold frame. There is a portion of the cold frame that has been reserved for me to use. Other than that I'm not really sure how things will work because a lot of details have not been covered in class yet. We're pretty wrapped up in Poinsettia trials making it hard to find time to discuss things with my instructor outside of class. As far as I know I'm the only student that actually needs to start my project this quarter (where everyone else starts late winter/early spring) so I'm in somewhat of a unique situation. I've included a link to my instructor's website in case there's any useful information there. Hopefully there will be more clarity by the end of the week.

Thanks very much for anything and everything, including the time to even read this and put up with me!

Here is a link that might be useful: SCC Greenhouse/Nursery Program Website
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donn_
16 years ago
No apology needed. It's just easier to answer specific questions than general ones.

I have to take a shower, and then watch an important baseball game, so I'll just shoot off some quick thoughts, and respond more fully in the morning, when I'm rested and on my big 'puter.

The two Miscanthus sinensis varieties you collected may not (probably won't) come true from seed. If they germinate at all, they'll probably yield species Miscanthus sinensis. 'Cabaret' may germinate if you harvested them late last fall. Their seeds wouldn't be ripe yet in my zone, much less in yours. M. purpurescens may or may not produce viable seed.

The warm season grasses you have seed for do not require any cold stratification. If the seeds are viable, they'll germinate after a week or two on the surface of moist medium at temps in the mid-60's F. They would be best sown in groups of 10-20 seeds to a small cell (1.5" square). This way you'll have a better shot at a saleable clump by May. I'd guess you'd need at least 12 weeks from germination, to grow them to 3.5" pot size in greenhouse conditions. A caution would be moving them out of the greenhouse (selling them) in May in your zone. That's pretty early in their growing season up there.

Acorus...my only experience is from plugs, and it's really a slow grower. I don't have a greenhouse, so all their growing has been outdoors. 2.5" cells are just getting to 4" pot size after a year.

H. sempervirens is a terrific cool season grower. I'd expect plugs in March to be ready for at least 3.5" pots by May. A lot depends on how big the plugs are. As you probably know, they range widely in size. It's going to want a cold frame, or at least the coolest spot in your glass house. Same with 'Overdam.' They'll do best in cool bright situations.

'Purple Majesty' is a whole 'nother thing. It's an annual for you (and me), and it doesn't start to grow quickly until temps and day-lengths are early summer-ish.

Last thought...for May sales in your zone, look at more cool season grasses. You can force warm season plugs in the greenhouse, but you may have unhappy customers who take them home and plant them in May.

Gotta run now, but let us know as many details as you can, as you get them, and I'm sure we can help a bit.

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