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Ammi from seed

HoneyheartHoneyheart Posts: 40
in Problem solving
I sowed Ammi Majus for the first time this year. I sowed it in seed trays in Feb and kept it in an unheated greenhouse. It germinated well and I potted on to 8cm pots approx Mar/Apr time. We are now in mid June and it's just not done much. The seedlings are 3-4 inches tall, some with tiny, tiny flower buds visible, but the stems are barely a couple of millimetres wide. Everything I read say that Ammi will be flowering and 2-3 feet tall after 100 days. Is mine just stunted because it was started in the greenhouse and still in a cold frame (rather than direct sowing)? Will planting it in the border now, despite it being tiny, beef it up? Not sure where I am going wrong, so advice much appreciated. 

I dont temd to direct sow as I have quite heavy clay soil which can get a lot of rain. Also, I was growing the Ammi for a wildflower border which hadn't been created in February.

thank you.

Posts

  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066
    Sowed mine in seed trays early in the year and once germinated and first true leaves arrived transfered to 90cm pots.  They grew to about 6inches tall and then I transfered them into the garden at the end of May.  They are now flowering away merrily.  I doubt if the compost you planted them into in March will have any nutrition left in it.  I would either pot them on or transfer into the garden.  Mine romped away once they were in the  garden.  Have aways grown them this way and they have usually done well.
    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • HoneyheartHoneyheart Posts: 40
    Thanks, I do give them a seaweed feed every week but maybe I'll plant them out and see what happens.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited June 2018
    Yvie, I did pretty much the same, but mine are fairly small - having been in the ground for about a month now. They are in quite rich soil and have been watered regularly and I am surprised they are not doing better. They are now just over 50cm tall. I was expecting over a metre. Sarah Raven says to always plant in August for big and robust plants. November is too late. She says spring planted ammi will always be measly. I'm kind of sad about that.

    My angelica got totally demolished by slugs and couldn't make it off the ground. My milk parsley stalled for a while after I planted it out, but looks like it's going to be big. They are all watch-pots this year. I am like a soccer mum shouting at them impatiently from the side lines.
  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066
    I've never sown Ammi in the Autumn, always do it early Spring for flowering the same year.  They are about 2-3ft tall now and flowering well.
    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    Honeyheart, at this time of year, you really need to be planting them out into the ground. I planted mine outside by mid April in prepared larger containers.  The lower leaves got damaged, but then again, many will be like that if grown out in the first few weeks. They soon recover. Just prepare your soil in the area you want them to grow well in, they should be fine. I have already started cutting for flower arranging this week.
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