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Growing Thistels from seeds
On Wed, 27 Nov 2002 18:27:05 +0000, HaaRoy wrote:
I have some seeds from globe thistles and a few others and was wondering when i need to get them under way, what type of soil and temperatures. anyone know? I won't hit it with you right away but I have, at the bottom of this message, given you a list of 37 plants which have the word "thistle" in their common name. Not only that, although most of them are from the family Compositae, a couple of them are even from different families (Labiatae and Chenopodiaceae). Does it make a difference? Well you are talking to a newbie seed sower here who has just taken delivery of a clutch of packets from Chiltern Seeds. A select few of these packets had very specific instructions stuck to them. It seems that the seeds of certain plants will not germinate unless their biological processes are activated with moisture and moderate warmth and then they are banished into near freezing temperatures for a goodly while. This period of cold is apparently essential to their metabolism and it is only after they have endured this that they can gird their loins for their final Oom Pah Pah in conditions resembling the coming of Spring with its warmth. Looking it up, I can deduce that Echinops ritro (Globe thistle - the one you identified) is one such plant and should be sown in a cold frame. Whether or not it first of all needs a wake up call with the damp and not quite so cold (Lets pretend it's Autumn?) I have no idea. I have a little text file which I transcribed from the label on Chilterns seeds which I have dubbed "Chiltern's cold seeds" I think if you want to start them off immediately I would recommend you follow it. Chiltern cold seeds: 1. 64 - 72 F 2/4 wks 17 - 22 C 2. 25 - 40 F 4/6 wks -4 - 4 C 3. Return to to more than 65 F 19 C Indeed, if the seeds don't sprout the first season you are strongly advised to leave them to experience the full cycle of temperature environments and expect them to emerge the following year. To avoid stress for myself and thereby probably the plants too, each of my 3.5" pots is enclosed in its little greenhouse consisting of a clear polythene sandwich bag tied tight closed with a wire tie (often supplied with the bags) but leaving a fair amount of air inside the bubble. In this way I can be sure that they will never (or scarcely ever) need watering. However, because this is an ideal environment for fungii and other pathogens I also intend giving them a treatment of Cheshunts Compound as recommended. Which medium to use seems controversial. Chiltern seeds say that the success rate with Levington's Peat based compost far exceeds John Innes loam based. Maybe the objection to Levington's is based on environmental principles (the ransacking of peat bogs). My kitchen table seems to have been transformed to a potting bench! As for the "few other thistles" - well maybe one of them is the Scotch Thistle (Onopordum acanthium) (which, in cultivation, I would regard as more exotic than the Echinops). It seems that can be sown in Spring and do without the near freeze. Please remember that I said I'm a newbie and you should take the advice of any of the seasoned gardeners who respond to you if their advice is contrary to that I have given you. Respect Hussein - the list follows! Carduus crispus Welted thistle Carduus nutans Musk thistle Carlina acaulis Stemless carline thistle Carlina vulgaris Carline thistle Carthamnus lanatus Distaff thistle Centaurea calcitrapa Common star thistle Centaurea iberica Iberian star thistle Centaurea melitensis Maltese star thistle Centaurea solstitialis St. Barnaby's/Yellow Star thistle Cicerbita alpina Blue sow thistle Cirsium acaulon Stemless thistle Cirsium arvense Creeping thistle Cirsium brevistylum Indian thistle Cirsium eatoni Eaton's thistle Cirsium edule Edible thistle Cirsium eriophorum Wooly thistle Cirsium hookerianum White thistle Cirsium occidentale Cobwebby thistle Cirsium ochrocentrum Yellow spined thistle Cirsium oleraceum Cabbage thistle Cirsium pallidum Pale thistle Cirsium palustre Marsh thistle Cirsium tuberosum Tuberous thistle Cirsium undulatum Wavy-leaved thistle Cirsium vulgare Common thistle Cnicus benedictus Blessed thistle Echinops ritro Globe thistle Onopordum acanthium Scotch thistle Onopordum illyricum Cotton thistle Salsola kali ruthenica Prickly Russian thistle Salvia carduacea Thistle sage Scolymus maculatus Spotted golden thistle Silybum marianum Milk thistle Sonchus arvensis Field milk thistle Sonchus asper Prickly sow thistle Sonchus oleraceus Sow thistle |
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