Dark spur can be propagated quite easily using seeds - which you can also collect yourself. If you don't want to do much work, just wait until the plant has sown itself.
How to collect and use delphinium seeds?
To collect delphinium seeds, leave the spent stems and harvest the ripe, brown follicles. Dry seeds, store airtight and stratify before sowing by storing them at 0-5°C for a few days and then watering them for 24 hours.
Collecting delphinium seeds
It is usually advised to cut off the spent stems of the delphinium in summer so that a second flower can develop in autumn. Instead, you can simply leave them standing and wait until the narrow follicles are ready to harvest. In these - each flower usually forms up to three of these seed pods - the narrow, winged seeds are also located. Harvesting can take place as soon as the fruits are brown but have not yet opened.
Store self-collected seeds
So collect the fruits that have not yet burst open from the plant and open them on your work table at home. Ideally, catch the seeds on a cloth or piece of kitchen paper, which you can use to clean them thoroughly. Allow the seeds to air dry in a dark, cool place for a day or two and then place them in an airtight container. They can stay there until next spring. However, remember that the older seeds are, the less likely they are to germinate.
Dark spur is a cold germinator
Dark spur is not only a light germinator, but also a cold germinator. This means that self-collected seeds should be stratified before sowing to improve the germination rate. Although this measure is not absolutely necessary, it increases breeding success. Commercially purchased seeds, on the other hand, are usually pre-treated so that stratification is not necessary.
How to properly stratify delphinium seeds
Prepare Delphinium for sowing by storing the seeds in a cool place for a few days, with temperatures between 0 and 5°C being optimal. However, you should definitely avoid frost. From March onwards, stratification can be done outdoors or in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. Then soak the seeds in lukewarm water for 24 hours and then sow them.
Tips & Tricks
You can choose to grow the plants as early as March or sow them directly between May and September. Do not cover the seeds with soil, or only cover them very thinly, and you should also protect them from birds with the help of a net or something similar. The sowing site must be kept continuously moist.
