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Primula japonica help please

Lerch19Lerch19 Posts: 4
in Plants
Morning all,

I bought a Primula Japonica from GWL but I can see the flowers have now all passed their best and it's pretty much done. I was just wondering whether I should cut the flower stem down to the base or just below the flowering whorls? OR do i leave it until a later date to do this bit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I've got some seeds to try and grow some of my own in spring 2019 so trying to learn as much as I can about these.

Cheers

Posts

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Hello Lerch. I just leave mine to set seed and once that has happened I cut the stems back down to the base.
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    Seeds are best sown fresh from the plant too, by the way.
  • Lerch19Lerch19 Posts: 4
    Thanks both!

    I'm only just at the stage with my garden where I can look to collect seed's from established plants so I may try this :smiley:
  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    I leave mine to set seed too 😊. Cut the dried stems off at the base when the seed pods are empty.
  • Lerch19Lerch19 Posts: 4
    Kitty 2 said:
    I leave mine to set seed too 😊. Cut the dried stems off at the base when the seed pods are empty.
    How easy is it to collect the seeds from these? I'd like to move my current plant and the additional grown ones to a more suitable spot. I'd like to collect the seed, germinate indoors in the spring and then re-locate them to a specific spot in spring
  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    I let my primula seed where they land but imagine it's the same as collecting any garden seeds. With most plants I wait for the seed head to dry, I sometimes give them a light tap to hear if it's 'rattling' with ripe seed inside. 

    The trick is catching them at the right time, so checking every day is good. You can snip off the whole seed head and pop it in a paper bag or envelope if you want to store them. Or alternatively simply shake them out where you want them to grow (my preferred method).
    Happy growing 🌱😊.
  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Lerch, as Berghill rightly said, primula seed is best sown straight away whilst it is fresh and not kept until Spring. A cold Winter snap promotes germination. Collect your ripe seed, move your parent plant and then sow the seeds immediately where you would like them to grow as Kitty says. Don't wait for Spring.This is how I do it also
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Ladybirds correct, take them off the plant green, open them and lay them in a seed tray of compost, without peat,, just press them in, put outside somewhere cool and shady, keep watered. Don’t wait till spring and don’t grow them indoors.
    i never move my main plants though.  Is there a reason why you do that Ladybird? 

    There may be something in this site about it, Monty did it like that a couple of years ago. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    I don't move mine Lyn but the OP wants to move his so thats why I advised him to do it after the seeds had been formed.
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
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