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Eryngium seeds help please

*Astrantia**Astrantia* Posts: 307
in Plants
Last year I collected some eryngium seeds from a friend garden, I kept them dry in a paper envelope. I sowed them in an unheated greenhouse in a seed tray  a couple of months ago but nothing came up. Obviously it’s been guess work as they didn’t come in a packet with instructions!
i still have some left should I give it a go again or give up with those ones and buy some from the garden centre?
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  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    give it another try but don't store them, sow them. They are Umbellifers and many of that family need a cold period to germinate.Sow when the seed is ripe, it will then have some warmth, then some cold, and germinate in spring. Occasionally they germinate instantly  :) 
    Gritty compost outside somewhere sheltered and shady and forget about them til they germinate


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • *Astrantia**Astrantia* Posts: 307
    Ok thanks! I’ll give that a go!
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Some Eryngium hybrids are sterile, so will not grow from seeds.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • *Astrantia**Astrantia* Posts: 307
    Ahh ok that’s possible ok I’ll buy the next lot from the garden centre! Thank you!
    i just thought they’d be worth a try!
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I sowed Eryngium Giganteum in June last year - they finally started to germinate around March this year and I now have 8 seedlings about 2-3"
    At the same time I sowed E. Blue Lace - none have germinated

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • *Astrantia**Astrantia* Posts: 307
    Pete 8 were they collected or bought seeds?
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I bought the seed - I think from Chiltern Seeds.
    I sowed them in a mix of 50/50 mpc and perlite then covered the seed with grit and left them in a sheltered spot behind my greenhouse over winter.
    I moved them into a cold frame early this year and they finally appeared amongst the weeds around March/April this year and I transplanted them into 3" pots
    Good luck

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • *Astrantia**Astrantia* Posts: 307
    What’s mpc?! I don’t have a cold frame just a very small old greenhouse with several panes missing but I assume it’s better than nothing, and it stops the neighbours cats using my seed trays as litter trays 🙄
    ill try again though with new seeds thanks for your help!
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Some eryngium need stratification, so leave the pots/trays in a sheltered spot outside and see if anything comes up next spring.  I've had eryngium seed from the RHS members seed scheme and the germination guide says "Sow in Autumn, covering very lightly
    Requires a period of cold moist stratification. Germination can be slow and irregular, so pot on each seedling as emerges."

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    MPC - Multi Purpose Compost!
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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