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Echinacea Pallida - what next?

LatimerLatimer Posts: 1,068
in Plants
Hi all,

I sowed these Echinacea seeds last year, I think towards the end of the summer. They were sown in modules, 2" square.

I allowed them to reappear this year after they died back over winter but even by the end of April they were still pretty small so I potted them on into these 9cm pots. All through last year and into spring they were outside, sheltered against a wall but put them into a plastic growhouse after potting them on.

Is this how they should look? Or should they be bushier? I'm not sure whether to plant them out



Thanks
I’ve no idea what I’m doing. 

Posts

  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    I planted my this years' seedlings out smaller than those.  I think they are very slow growing.  I'll see how they fare and whether they reappear next year.  So I would get them in the ground if I were you and let them put down some proper roots.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • LatimerLatimer Posts: 1,068
    Yeah, I was tempted to do just that, thanks.

    Should I plant them a little deep? They seem very leggy!
    I’ve no idea what I’m doing. 
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    I planted mine up to the first leaves.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    They look a little small to me to be planting out, have the roots fully filled the pot? I’ve had no success planting out from 9cm pots, they just disappeared. Personally, I would grow them on more first, potting up to next size pot if necessary and plant them out in autumn, or even next spring. They like to be dryish over winter, so good drainage is key, their biggest enemy is winter wet. If you pinch out any flower buds this year it will divert the energy into bushing out and developing a good root system before being introduced to the hurly burly of the border. I haven’t tried E. Pallida though, maybe others have had better luck.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I certainly wouldn’t plant those out in my garden, I would want echinacea in large pots, big bushy plants before I’d put them out,., the slugs love them, they’d be gone by next morning. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I planted mine out much earlier this season, at a similar size. They have grown... a bit! It is a bit of a pain though, they will quickly disappear if other plants crowd them, so you have to keep them free of encroachment. They seem slower to bulk up than other Echniacea (it makes you wonder how they manage to survive in their natural habitat!!)

    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
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