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Lobelia cardinalis seedling care

12 years ago

I got some L. cardinalis seeds from ionxchange and it sprouted.

I now have a couple flats with thousands if itty bitty teeny tiny seedlings.

The flats are outside but in clear covers. Since they sprouted, I take the covers off during the day so they get some air.

Anyone have tips on care?

I heard you shouldn't thin but since the seed was so tiny, I just spread it out and I have some spots with maybe 50 seedlings in the size of a quarter.

I'm not sure how much to cover or leave open. I always would like to leave on the deck in partial sun. We may be past last frost here but if there's a chance of one, I'll bring them in at night.

I'm not sure how long to leave them in the flats before planting.

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Comments (3)

Lynda Waldrep
12 years ago
The winter sowing people plant "hunk of seedlings" and let them fight it out, i.e., they don't thin, as a rule. Besides the cold of a late spring, be careful with the wind. That can destroy tiny seedlings.

If you are going to pot them up, I would allow them to adjust to outside light and temperatures first. I do winter sowing mostly, so when my seedlings are big enough, I can plant out in the woodlands or try to pot up. I have more trouble potting up...lose more that way...than I do when I plant out the "hunks."
terrene
12 years ago
Congrats on all your seedlings. Since you have so many, you can experiment a little - you could pot some, plant out some singly, or in hunks. I wouldn't worry about frost at this point, even if you have a cold night these seedlings are pretty hardy. The first year, they will make a little rosette of leaves. The 2nd year, you will have nice blooms.

I winter-sowed Lobelia cardinalis a few years back, and have never had to sow them again. They sow themselves out in the garden and sometimes I find little seedlings in odd places. I love to discover them though. Sometimes they self-sow in clumps, sometimes singly. They are easy to transplant. I move them around where I want them, and now have 4 patches of it.

Not only is it gorgeous, the hummers absolutely LOVE this plant!
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learn2turn
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to experiment a bit.

I have flat with 72 cells and many cells have 25-50 tiny seedlings. So on the really dense ones, I'm pulling out micro-hunks of a few seedlings with a pea-sized lump of soil and pressing that into some 1.25'" pots. If it works, great. If not, well I don't see why a hunk with 18 seedlings instead of 24 will have any less of a chance for survival.

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