Hussar buttons are quite easy to propagate yourself. All you need are seeds, growing pots and a suitable space. And of course you have to be patient until you discover the first flowers.
How can you propagate hussar buttons?
To propagate hussar buttons, collect seeds from faded flowers in autumn, sow them thinly in potting soil in spring and keep them moist. Prick out after germination and plant outdoors after the ice saints.
Sowing Hussar Buttons every year
Hussar buttons are annual summer flowers that are not hardy.
They cannot be overwintered indoors, but have to be sown again every spring. Propagation is done using self-collected or purchased seeds.
If you lack a “green thumb”, you can get pre-grown young plants of the richly flowering hussar heads from the relevant garden shops.
Collecting seeds in autumn
You can easily collect seeds for propagation yourself. Do not cut off the last flowers before autumn, but let them wither so that seeds can form in them.
Carefully pick off the flower heads and tap them out. Since the seed is very fine, you should collect it straight away in a parchment paper bag.
How to sow Hussar Head
- Prepare seed trays
- Spread seeds thinly
- cover very lightly
- Keep substrate moist
- place in a warm, bright place
- prick
- plant after the Ice Saints
Use special growing soil as a substrate for the growing trays. Make sure that the soil never dries out, but that it never gets too wet.
Since the seed is very small, mix it with some fine sand. Then pricking will be a little easier later.
The ideal location for the seed tray is a warm, bright window. Germination temperatures of 18 degrees are optimal. After about two weeks the hussar button germinated.
Put outdoors from the end of May
As soon as the hussar heads are two to three centimeters tall, they must be pricked. It is recommended to use a pricking stick (€3.00 on Amazon) from the garden center for this purpose.
The hussar button is planted in individual pots or in balcony boxes at a distance of 20 centimeters and maintained there until it is planted out.
Hussar Buttons are only allowed outside after the Ice Saints, as they cannot tolerate any frost.
Tip
Hussar button is not only popular because of its beautiful yellow flowers. The plant requires virtually no care and blooms continuously from June until the first frost. Not even pests bother the little hussar head.
