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Lobelia cardinalis seedling care

15 years ago

I got some L. cardinalis seeds from ionxchange and it sprouted.

I now have a couple flats with thousands if itty bitty teeny tiny seedlings.

The flats are outside but in clear covers. Since they sprouted, I take the covers off during the day so they get some air.

Anyone have tips on care?

I heard you shouldn't thin but since the seed was so tiny, I just spread it out and I have some spots with maybe 50 seedlings in the size of a quarter.

I'm not sure how much to cover or leave open. I always would like to leave on the deck in partial sun. We may be past last frost here but if there's a chance of one, I'll bring them in at night.

I'm not sure how long to leave them in the flats before planting.

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Comments (3)

Lynda Waldrep
15 years ago
The winter sowing people plant "hunk of seedlings" and let them fight it out, i.e., they don't thin, as a rule. Besides the cold of a late spring, be careful with the wind. That can destroy tiny seedlings.

If you are going to pot them up, I would allow them to adjust to outside light and temperatures first. I do winter sowing mostly, so when my seedlings are big enough, I can plant out in the woodlands or try to pot up. I have more trouble potting up...lose more that way...than I do when I plant out the "hunks."
terrene
15 years ago
Congrats on all your seedlings. Since you have so many, you can experiment a little - you could pot some, plant out some singly, or in hunks. I wouldn't worry about frost at this point, even if you have a cold night these seedlings are pretty hardy. The first year, they will make a little rosette of leaves. The 2nd year, you will have nice blooms.

I winter-sowed Lobelia cardinalis a few years back, and have never had to sow them again. They sow themselves out in the garden and sometimes I find little seedlings in odd places. I love to discover them though. Sometimes they self-sow in clumps, sometimes singly. They are easy to transplant. I move them around where I want them, and now have 4 patches of it.

Not only is it gorgeous, the hummers absolutely LOVE this plant!
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I have both Penstemon 'Husker Red' & 'Mystica' in my garden beds and love both, as do the bees. Both were grown from seed via winter sowing and have thrived since I planted them out (in 2010). I don't pinch or prune my plants--in my experience they're entirely care- and worry-free. I'm particularly impressed with the fact the foliage of P. 'Mystica' not only came through this horrid winter but did so with both its color and form undamaged. As for how to care for them, if you have healthy soil, they should prove virtually carefree. I've never done more than prune the seedheads in late fall & collect the seeds. If you're a stickler for appearances, the stems could be cut back I suppose. I just leave them standing through the cold months and cut them down during Spring clean-up. Where I am Lobelia cardinalis dies back completely in the fall and disappears until it shows itself again the following growing season. After several years in my garden beds, I can honestly report it has needed zero attention or care from me and has not been bothered by any predators, vermin or insects.
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learn2turn
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to experiment a bit.

I have flat with 72 cells and many cells have 25-50 tiny seedlings. So on the really dense ones, I'm pulling out micro-hunks of a few seedlings with a pea-sized lump of soil and pressing that into some 1.25'" pots. If it works, great. If not, well I don't see why a hunk with 18 seedlings instead of 24 will have any less of a chance for survival.

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