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Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) from seed

16 years ago

I saved seeds from last year and germinated them this year. I got a late start, but there are tiny seedlings over the whole tray. Trouble is, these guys are about the size of the head of a pin and have been that way for several weeks!

Is this plant that slow to grow? What could I do to encourage them to grow more/faster?

Comments (2)

davidl_ny5
16 years ago
You started a little late, I think. All you can do is keep 'em moist and every couple of weeks give them light fertilizer. I did this several years ago, with germination late March or early April, and, if I remember correctly, got plants big enough to set out by midsummer, about four months later. Your problem is that this would bring you to October or November, and you're in Minnesota.

What you need to do is figure out how to winter them over. I've never been any good at this, but Bill Cullina in his Wildflower book for the New England Wild Flower Society says he puts flats, or potted up plants, in a cold frame covered with a sheet of insulation for the winter. I'd put the frame in a sheltered place and pray; snow would be good. You might check out Cullina's book, available on the web, I think, from www.newfs.org.

Maybe others have more experience or better ideas.
knottyceltic
16 years ago
All my winter sowing was stunted this year and I wasn't able to use hardly any of it. I don't know what the trouble was and it wasn't late start b/c I put mine out the first of February. The beebalm and other perennials I started by wintersowing are still only 1 and a half inches in height. I'm going to just put them in a protected area for over the fall and winter and see if any return next spring. This was my final year for winter sowing. I've never had a good return and this year I did both winter sowing and then also did seed-starts inside the house and the indoor seed-starts were 5x+ larger than the winter sown stuff after only a month.

I sowed Bottle Gentian right into the ground but that was this spring so most of the seed will likely lay dormant until next spring because it hasn't been cold stratified yet.

I would take a spatula and put your little seedlings right into the ground now and see how much they can get established before winter sets in. Using a spatula and taking up large pieces of your flat of gentian will be the least stressful to the already stressed plants. Really loosen up the soil where you are going to lay the plants and then give the soil a good watering before you lay down the spatulas of seedlings/soil. Wait a day and then water them lightly as needed.
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I didn't know what species 'Bottle Gentian' was, so I Googled. Instructions for propagation are at the link. If your winters are 40 degrees or less for 3 months this sounds like a prime subject for winter sowing. There's a Forum here on GW for that technique. Here is a link that might be useful: Gentiana andrewsii
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The first Google reference I pulled up was to Prairie Nursery, which I linked below. I can't speak to the company or its quality, but there are several other sources on the first page of Google search results -- perhaps you'll recognize one you're already comfortable with. Here is a link that might be useful: Prairie Nursery
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I went on a walk last Sept. at Nachusa Grasslands. There were a lot of bottle gentians blooming at the time of the walk. In really wet areas. I remember the couple who were leading this particular walk, telling us all that Nachusa has mesic soil. With the exception of this one pretty big area we had to walk through that was extremely wet. Standing water in some areas. This is full sun as you'd expect a prairie to be. Rue anemone can't take full sun, nor can it take such wet conditions. This is the only time I've ever seen bottle gentian in the wild. I've seen plenty of rue anemone, always in the timber though. My thought is that's your problem, not enough sun. Enough moisture, not enough sun. I know nothing of soil ph. I'll leave that to the others...lol... :p here's a link to bottle gentian at the IL wildflower site. You can, at the bottom, click on return and then find rue anemone on the list. It's a nice site if you don't have it bookmarked already. Here is a link that might be useful: Illinois wildflower site
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G. andrewsii & G. clausa are so close they are almost interchangeable. They are both native to NY state. They are both commonly called closed gentian. The key for my state's flora says: Corolla lobes shorter than the plaits = G. andrewsii Corolla lobes longer than the plaits = G. clausa If you like gentian the real show starts next month when Fringed Gentian blooms. The cobalt blue flowers open up and are exquisite but the plant dies after flowering. Sam
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