Bluebonnet Seed Harvesting
olphart
17 years ago
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olphart
17 years agoRelated Discussions
seed harvesting or fresh seed?
Comments (8)You have three different questions. Some seed you can save for more than one season. Meaning you can buy thousands and it will germinate fine three or four years from now. Celosias, statice, sunflowers are just a few that have kept for me. Asters do not. Some plants you can collect your seed for next year from. celosias, non hybrid sunflowers, amaranthus, etc. Zinnias and some other flowers can be either transplanted or direct seeded. If transplanted, they should be spaced a foot or more apart and pinched as they are growing to produce more and longer stems...See Moreharvesting bluebonnet seed
Comments (3)I do not have any experience with Texas Bluebonnets, but in general any native plant's seeds can be harvested from the plant when they ripen and spread immediately in a suitable place for them to grow. I would watch the bluebonnets and you'll see seeds or seed pods develop in the places on the plant where flowers grew. These will probably be green at first, then slowly mature to brown and get sort of dried out. You can open a few along the way to check on the seeds. Normally seeds start out green or white and soft, then mature to brown or black and hard. When the seeds are dry and ripe, you can harvest them - usually they are ready to fall off of the plant when ripe. You can then simply spread them in the location where you want plants. The natural progression of the seasons will be enough to stratify the seed and it should sprout at the right time next year. I would expect a low percentage of the seed you collect to become plants, but since you should be able to collect a whole lot of seed pretty easily, that is OK. Like I said, these instructions are sort of general for all native plants, but I think they'll get you started growing bluebonnets. You definitely should not pull the plants, at least not until the seed is ripe. Once you pull the plants the seed will stop developing and unless it is almost fully grown, won't become viable seed. You shouldn't need to chemically scarify the seed - the ones that fall off the plant naturally sprout without any help. If you want to start plants indoors, then you might try to water sprouting method, but it sounds like you just want to sow seeds outside and hope for the best, so I wouldn't even bring the seed inside - I'd collect it and spread it at the same time....See MoreBluebonnet seed question
Comments (2)When I lived in Texas I had luck with growing bluebonnets from packaged seeds. Did you nick the seed first and soak it until it swells up? If not, that's usually the problem. Otherwise, if you have a friend with a patch of bluebonnets, a big shovelful of plants and surrounding dirt transplanted into your yard should give you a wonderful crop in a couple of years. Just don't try this on public land or private land without permission! Ginny...See MoreHAVE: Bluebonnet seeds harvested this May
Comments (4)I have freshly harvested Morning Glory: Heavenly Blue Lablab Purpurea (Hyacinth Bean vine) Lantana (an anonymous thornless golden-orange variegated shrubby form that blooms forever) would you be interested in a trade for any of those?...See Morebonediggers
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