Growing Purple Coneflower From Seed: Cold Stratification vs. Direct Sowing 🌱

[@PorchGardeningWithPassion]

I subscribed to stay tuned for the results. Great job!

[@BrightLaneGardens]

They’ll be coming in a week or so! My cold stratification period is just about over, then I’ll get them into the soil. So far about 40% of my non-cold stratified seeds have sprouted, and much faster than I originally anticipated. I’ll post a short tonight showing some of my newest sprouts!

[@PorchGardeningWithPassion]

@@BrightLaneGardensI am looking forward to it!

[@exploringgames948]

I was just wondering this week when you were going to post again! This reminds me I gotta get started with some of my seeds for the year. I've been trying to find some black 5 gallon+ pails to use in my grow tent (gonna try cross breeding my own peppers) but they are crazy overpriced where i live with shipping comes out to $40-$50 for 2 :o As usual fantastic video with lots of information, love your videos! Hope your year is off to a good start momma ❤

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Haha I’ve felt a little uninspired with the weather lately, but now that it’s seed starting season I’ll have much more to talk about :) thanks so much for watching! Just a few more months until spring!

[@exploringgames948]

@BrightLaneGardens yeah I feel that, I have seasonal depression so winter sucks most of the time... Glad to see you're still making videos, looking forward to this year's content!

[@davidwagner5118]

Thanks

[@perkyplantparent]

I love how you thoroughly explained everything, thank you! I can’t wait to see the progress!

[@danielz4111]

My dad gets square heavy duty black pails from Ace hardware; the leftover containers they sell chain in.

[@SoloSOLIVING]

Love the experiment of stratified vs. not… Subscribing to follow their progress :)

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Can't wait to share the results! It will be a few more weeks, I'm just about to plant my cold batch. I already have lots of sprouts from the batch I planted for this video - stay tuned!

[@SomeoneCommenting]

For the fridge trick what I do is to use just the paper towel, only moist enough to feel wet but not damp, put the seeds on top, and carefully use a spatula or something to put the seeds inside the bag so that they are resting flat on the paper. I will be able to see through the bag if any seeds start to germinate. In that way I don't have to be constantly opening the bag or guessing. Just be careful to put them in some fridge drawer or somewhere where they can remain flat and with east access to check. You don't want to be disturbing the bag when you move items from or into the fridge.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

That's a great idea, I do feel like I disturb the seeds when I need to check for germination. I'll try this out next time!

[@billw7894]

Cone flowers do well here in Missouri hot, humid, summers

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Purple coneflower is native to more than half of the US - as far east as the Atlantic coast, as far south as Louisiana & Georgia, and as far east as Nebraska & Colorado! Here in Michigan we get plenty of rain on average, but have been going through some dry spells in recent summers. The Coneflowers have tolerated both the droughts and the wet seasons very well - gotta love a hardy plant like that!

[@kendo2377]

Info I didn't know. Thanks.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Thank you for watching!

[@DeanSmith3935]

Great video! Got my coneflower seeds sown, Rudbeckia next.. yes, and don't forget the label 🤔 🇬🇧

[@BrightLaneGardens]

I’ve got rudbeckia coming up too! Hope all your seed starting goes well this season. Thanks for watching!

[@charlesbale8376]

Appreciated the information.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Thanks for watching!

[@williamsakran1782]

Hey Anna. I followed your method and cold stratified my Purple Coneflower seeds for 14 days. After starting them inside, 52 out of 60 germinated, which is about 87%. Pretty great. Thanks!

[@BrightLaneGardens]

That's a great germ rate!! Congrats on your success! Hope they do great in their final home, cheers!

[@area51z63]

Did you have another group where you did not do that to see if it was better or worse?

[@juju0725]

Thank you for the awesome tutorial, do you pot up your coneflowers before transplanting outside?

[@BrightLaneGardens]

it depends on the temp outside! if we're still consistently under 40 degrees at night I'll usually pot them up for a couple weeks until we start to see those routinely warm temps. We do pot up the ones that we sell at our nursery :) I haven't noticed a huge difference between those that are potted up first vs those that are planted right in the ground as long as temps are appropriate!

[@DarlaWard-ig6mj]

Excellent video. How are you watering from top or bottom! Also does the dome come off after a certain amount of seedlings have germinated?

[@BrightLaneGardens]

I water from the top until my seed has sprouted and has its first few leaves. Then I’ll start to water from the bottom to encourage the roots to go deeper in search of the water. This helps the plant develop a deeper taproot which will make it more drought tolerant in the summer months. I usually remove the dome around the same time, unless I’ll be gone for a day or won’t be able to water on my usual schedule - if that’s the case I’ll put it back on because it does give you some extra flexibility to stretch out the time between waterings. But if I’m able to water on my usual schedule I like to leave it off once the first few leaves have grown because airflow is good for the plants!

[@donnaguyton153]

Very informative. 👍🤗

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Thank you for watching!

[@teej5633]

After you have planted the seeds in the tray, what kind of light would you want to put them in? Just planted some purple conflower seeds today and trying to figure out the light needs. Thanks!

[@BrightLaneGardens]

You don’t have to worry about the light too much until they actually start to sprout! After that I use an LED panel - I’ll post a link of the one I use!

[@larry1466]

I don't stratify my seeds but I do have low germination rates but that's ok because 1 plant turns into five or more by division .

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Division is a really great way to propagate new plants once you have mature plants to work with! It also helps prevent your current ones from getting overcrowded. Since we're a plant nursery we need as many seedlings as we can get, so the high germ rate of my stratified seeds is what we're after! Any method that ends with more native plants growing in the ground is a winner in my book!

[@moomoo3031]

One thing I had a problem witth - love and use those trays and 6-packs. But its hard to get too much water out of the traay. They make a slotted tray which fits in the no holes try so you can take them out in the slotted tray, and drain the no holes one. I tend to over water and almost drowned my cosmos! I am starting my first cone flowers this winter, you have good advise, thanks

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Yes! it' a love hate relationship with the solid trays, i'll swap them out for the slotted trays depending on the time of year and how consistent I'm able to water. I have to admit the solid trays have saved me a few times if I wont' be home for a few days or just don't have a lot of time to water.

[@MaryMargaretSinapoglou]

Thanks for the video! Where did you purchase your coneflower seeds?

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Thank you for watching! We collect a lot of our seeds, but when we're doing mass plantings we'll purchase from Prairie Moon Nursery. (They sell in smaller portions too). We've had really good success with their seeds!

[@carolrodock5417]

Curious, you stated a mixture of 25% garden soil and the rest sand and peat. But, you put a large bag of garden soil into your mixture. Are the percentages by weight and NOT by volume? you may have said this...

[@BrightLaneGardens]

You are observant!! I did a bit of editing in there, just a few unflattering angles on my end :) the mixture does end up being only about 25% garden soil. I used 4 bags of the peat moss and 2 bags of sand. It's important to mix it well each time you use the mixture because the sand does like to sink to the bottom. But this mix has done well for my native seeds over the years. Once I start to get seedlings (usually 2-3 sets of leaves) I'll top dress with some worm castings as well.

[@carolrodock5417]

Thank you for your quick reply! I’d like to make my own mix soon so appreciate this info!

[@RomanticFlor]

Hello, thanks for the video I didn’t do the stratification method and I only got 30 to germinate at of a McKenzie pack. Next time cold time for them. I have a question please: Now that I got the seeds to germinate, I have them in clear plastic container sealed, should I removed the lid and keep in a room with indirect sunlight until they form their set of leaves? Please let me know.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Hi there, yes once your seeds have germinated and have those first sets of leaves up, you can remove the plastic container. For the most part this is just a humidity dome and typically isn't needed once your plant has established its first few roots. Keep soil moist but you want nice airflow for the new seedlings.

[@debtobin3275]

I was wondering if all variety of coneflowers do noe need to go through the stratification process? I am looking to start some Green Twister seeds and just found out about this type. TIA

[@BrightLaneGardens]

I was able to get them to germinate with cold stratification and without. However my cold stratified batch germinated faster and more consistently, and I had more of my cold stratified seedlings survive! The cold strat period is short, can even be as little as 10-14 days. In my opinion, it's worth the extra step!

[@heleneguertin8346]

Could you start the coneflower seeds in jiffy pods made from peetmoss? Then put the dome over it??

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Yes absolutely! I start seeds on a large scale so it's more cost effective for me to make my own seedling soil. The peat pods work just fine, but when you go to transplant I recommend removing any netting from the pods beforehand.

[@s.barlow7062]

Top your seedlings with vermiculite to avoid fungus or damping off.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Great tip thank you! And thanks for watching :)

[@suzanmiller558]

I have echinacea seeds from a few years ago. Is there a time limit as to when they are too old to grow? Thank you

[@BrightLaneGardens]

This is a tough question to answer! It's very dependent on how the seeds were stored and the viability of the seeds to begin with. An initial test I would do is the pinch test - just take a seed and pinch it between your fingers. Old, unusable seeds will often just crush right between your fingers. Test this out with a few seeds - if most of them still feel relatively firm and hold together well, then it's worth tossing them in some soil to see what happens! Keep me posted :)

[@DonnaChristineMatthews]

Yes; it is useful but I would like to see what the seedlings look like.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Hi Donna, I show both sets of seedlings (cold stratified and not) in this follow up video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIa9YniegsZoe9Esi=-4hRSCRUaDWn3Kwg

[@Wdr4276]

Ty

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Thank you for watching!

[@DarlaWard-ig6mj]

Ty🦋

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Thank you for watching!

[@SoCalLB_310]

Greetings from Zeeland Mi

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Greetings! I was down in GR for several years, beautiful areas down there!

[@joanfrellburg4901]

Most of mine grow fine then when they get their first leaves they shrivel up and die.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

I hear this a lot from people! Seedlings are often very light hungry, you’d be surprised at how strong of a light you need to sustain them. If you’re using an indoor grow light, try to put it closer to your seedlings. A lot of my light panels are less than 3” from the top of my seedlings. If you’re not using grow lights, try to get as much sunlight as possible, even if you have to move your seedlings outside during the day and bring them back in at night until you transplant. Tiny seedlings are also very susceptible to drying out. A humidity dome can be a little more forgiving on this front, trapping in excess moisture so you don’t have to water them every few hours. I hope you have better luck this year!

[@apextroll]

From what I've seen, peat moss is sustainably harvested in North America, but was not in Europe.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Oh I haven't read that. For the most part I've never seen anything on packaging about where the peat moss was harvested or through which method. But we've had so much success with coco coir at this point (and I love the bricks, so much easier to store during off-season) that I haven't looked back at peat!

[@apextroll]

@@BrightLaneGardens Gardening in Canada channel did an interview of a representative of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA) a few years back and has compared and contrasted pm vs. cc.

[@SMA550]

@apextroll, could you please explain about the contrast btw pm & cc? Thank you

[@apextroll]

@@SMA550 I've never used cc but according to user experience from other videos comparing the two, it is better draining and holds less moisture than pm. Me personally I buy cheap potting soil(lots of pm in it) and then mix in various quantities of cactus or succulent mix along with the type and size of pot to cater to each plant growing requirements.

[@Keyboardje]

Informative video. Too bad for the irritating vocal fry.

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Had to actually Google what that was. That's just how I talk I suppose :) perhaps muting and turning on captions might help your experience in the future!

[@utguy381]

Peat moss not environmentally friendly

[@BrightLaneGardens]

Agreed, check out the video description I did add an amendment after learning more about Peat Moss.