Late Winter Seeds

One of the tests I am doing right now is to see if late winter seeds that I collect March 1st still have the ability to germinate.

Echinacea pods with lots of seeds

80 seed pods collected March 1st.

Seeds and Fluff Extracted

I have now planted ten seeds inside under lights and the rest of the seeds were planted outside on March 1st.

March 10 – 3 inside seeds have germinated.

Echinacea collected and planted March 1st

June 2020 – Seeds are doing well.

Pro Mix plus Osmocote – the Winner!

I was so impressed with this test, here are the results.

I transplanted some small tropical milkweed seedlings on March 14th. I was testing using Miracle Gro versus Pro Mix BX and also testing putting Osmocote in the soil versus putting it on top of the soil. Here’s what the plants looked like on March 14th.

Below are what the plants look like on April 20th.

The plants on the left are the Pro Mix + 1/4 tsp Osmocote. It doesn’t seem to make much difference if the Osmocote is in the soil or on top of the soil – in the soil may be slightly better.

Pro Mix BX is hard to find, but I did find some at a local Home Depot.