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Cornflowers
JB8
Posts: 6
Cornflowers sewn last Autumn. The stems are quite long and 'floppy' from soil to first leaves. When pricking out do you bury them up to the first leaves or keep the plant to the same level they have grown at?
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JB I have only sown them in the Spring so haven't had that problem. I would bury the leggy stems but please see what others think
Yes bury them up to the first leaves and make sure they get plenty of light to stop them getting leggy again.
Also sow some more in Spring, the ones you sowed in the Autumn should have been sown in the open ground, they would then come up very tough, doing their natural thing
Thank you for your advice. my experience of planting in the open in Autumn has not been positive - whatever netting I construct the pigeons bounce on until it collapses and what the pigeons don't devour the slugs and snails finish off.
Anyway, my first post and delighted to get these responses. With such advice I might yet make a gardener!
You absolutely will be an expert gardener, we all had to start, you will learn what works and what doesnt.
Personally, I dont bother to sow annuals in the Autumn anymore, they dont get much light, risk getting eaten, as you say, and the Spring sown ones catch up just the same.
You worry about them and I have found its just not worth the hassle. You still cant plant them out until you harden them off, by then, your Spring sown ones are much the same.
Cornflowers are easy to grow and if you sow some mid March, they will be just right for planting out in May/June time.
The seeds I do sow in the summer to Autumn are perennials, foxgloves, delphiniums etc, and take cuttings then of plants I already have.