This is my first year growing Baptisia and now it has seed pods. When is the best time to harvest them (wait till they are brown or can I take them now) and what kind of seed starting information is there on when and how to plant them?
thanks for any assistance anyone is able to offer.
Janet
Baptisia Australis Seeds
A good indication the seed pods are dry enough is to shake one. You should be able to hear the seeds rattling inside the pod. The native Americans used to use the pods as rattles for their babies. I've never started an Indigo plant from seed, but the seeds probably need stratification for 6 weeks in the frig and before you plant them, a soaking in water to soften them up. Hopefully someone with more seed starting knowledge will be see your thread and reply. Let the pods dry on the plant. The pods on my plant turn black when the seeds are ready. Good luck.
ok then this most certainly is a good seed to do WS with.
Thanks so much for the info.
Janet
bump
to see if anyone else would share their experience with this plant.
Janet
Hi, I have successfully started this from seed. I did stratify for about 10 weeks - put in damp vermiculate in a container with a lid in the refrigerator (luckily I have an extra refrig in the garage, since I was stratifying a lot of seeds last winter). I opened the lid up if it looked like too much moisture was accumulating. I then planted in seed starting mix in the greenhouse, where the seeds germinated in about 2 weeks.
Good luck!
it sounds like from what you cally that I'm going to give this seed a try in the WS season that is coming up, a little too fast I might ad.
Thanks for your input and how you did it. Wonderful info.
Janet
An alternative to stratifying the seeds is simply to rub them between two pieces of coarse sandpaper. The seeds will then germinate within a couple of weeks or so after planting.