Do you love your ornamental onion, even adore it? But you want to try something different than always propagating it with its bulbs!? How about sowing its seeds?
How to grow ornamental garlic from seeds?
Growing ornamental onions from seeds is possible, but unusual. Start in late summer to fall or spring. Cold germs first need heat and then cold. Sow directly outdoors or at home in sowing soil after exposure to cold. Expect a longer germination time and 3 years until the first flower.
Sowing is rather unusual
Basically, sowing ornamental garlic is rather unusual. There are several reasons for this:
- Germination time is long
- more complex than onion propagation
- Prospects of success mediocre
- different properties than the mother plant
- Seeds rarely available in stores
- takes 3 years until the first flowering
When should you start?
Ideally, you should start when you have freshly harvested the seeds. Then their germination capacity is best. You shouldn't store the seeds for too long. If you do want to store them, place the seeds in a container in a dark and dry place.
The seeds can be sown in late summer. Sowing outdoors is possible until autumn. If you forget this, you can still sow the seeds in spring. It is important that cool temperatures can still affect the seeds at the time of sowing. In spring the period between March and April is perfect.
Sowing the seeds at home
The seeds of the ornamental garlic are so-called cold germinators. You should definitely keep this in mind if you want to grow the seeds at home! If they are not exposed to cool temperatures, they will not germinate.
How to proceed:
- Wrap the seeds in a damp cloth or kitchen paper
- keep moist and warm for several weeks
- then place the seeds in the refrigerator or on the balcony (cold exposure)
- Finally, the seeds are sown after about 8 weeks in sowing soil (€6.00 on Amazon)
Sow directly outdoors – less effort
In a sunny to semi-shady location you can also sow the ornamental garlic directly outdoors. The best time for sowing is in September.
- Prepare the soil (loose up, enrich with compost)
- Cover seeds 1 cm thick with soil
- slurry
- Germination time: 3 months and more
Tip
It is not absolutely necessary to grow the ornamental garlic from seeds with a lot of effort. If given the opportunity, it also likes to reproduce on its own via self-sowing.