The colorful freesias can usually be grown easily from seeds. Seeds for different species and hybrids are available commercially. Growing and caring for freesias is not easy and requires patience.
How to grow freesias from seeds?
Freesia seeds should be soaked in warm water for 24 hours, mixed with sand and sown evenly in seed containers. Cover the containers with foil and place them in the dark at 20°C for three weeks. They can then germinate brightly at 15-17 °C.
What do freesia seeds look like?
In a three-compartmental capsule fruit there are several tiny seeds per compartment, the capsules are irregularly spherical. The seeds of freesias are also spherical and wingless. The hard shell shines light to dark brown.
Are seeds of your own freesias suitable for sowing?
You can also use the seeds of your own freesias to grow new plants for the garden or as houseplants. However, the prerequisite is that they are capable of germinating, which is often not the case with hybrids. Freesias grown from seeds usually have a slightly delayed flowering period, but they also last longer.
Make sure to let the seeds that you want to use later for sowing mature on the plant. Only when the capsule fruit is completely dry do you harvest the seeds, which you then allow to air dry for about two days. Then the seeds can be stored and germinated for several years.
Sowing step by step
Before sowing, you should soak the relatively hard-shelled freesia seeds in warm water for about 24 hours, this makes germination easier. Mixed with a little sand, the seeds can be sown more evenly. Cover the seed containers with foil before placing them in a dark place. The temperature there should be around 20 °C to 22 °C.
The most important things in brief:
- Sowing of self-harvested seeds possible
- be sure to let it mature on the plant
- let it dry for 1 to 2 days after harvesting
- Stable for several years
- Seeds of hybrids are often sterile and not capable of germinating
- Soak in warm water for 24 hours before sowing
- Mix seeds with sand for easier sowing
- Cover sowing with foil
- Place in the dark for 3 weeks at 20 °C
- germinate brightly at 15 °C to 17 °C
Tip
To germinate, place your freesia seeds in a bright, slightly cooler place.
