I have tried it unsuccessfully under grow lights inside, got leggy and died as soon as I planted it outside. I will be spring sowing my remaining seeds (3 years old but can't just throw them away), probably one of the last seeds I sow this season. I, too would be interested in hearing any success stories and/or tips for success! They are beatiful flowers....
I have had success germinating lisianthus via wintersowing ... but not so much success *growing* it! It just needs too much darn time to really grow and bloom for my zone, in my experience. It seems to grow VERY slowly, and just starts blooming in October - or it may have even been November!
I meant to try plugs or starts a few years and never thought about it early enough. I may try that method still - they are indeed gorgeous flowers, and well worth the wait, if you can get them to bloom before frost!
There have been several discussions about them on the Cutting Garden forum, and while it's not necessarily in regard to wintersowing, I posted a link to a forum search below. Note the first three or four threads, I think it was. Maybe this will be of some help.
Good luck, and let us know your results, if you try! Dee
I fall-sowed lisianthus some years ago - inside - and put the one lone survivor out in June. The plant produced a few buds and flowers - just beautiful; by the end of the summer, the plant was dead as a doornail. Wish I knew what happened. This is a gorgeous plant, flower and foliage.
It probably is one you have to start inside. The instructions on Swallowtail Seeds' site say it germinates between 70 and 80 degrees, so if it's a slow grower I'd have to start it inside here or it wouldn't germinate till June via wintersowing, and by then the seeds could have rotted.
Thank you for all your responses. It definitely sounds like a difficult one to grow from seed. I have purchased plants in the past. They are beautiful and last quite long in bouquets. They bloom profusely and long, however they are an expensive annual. I decided to try them in the house under lights. If successful with germination I will harden them off as early as possible, get them into the ground as soon as feasible, and nurture them carefully. I'll let you know the results.
latebloomer, I think you may do okay starting them inside. I don't believe they are *difficult to start from seed*. In my experience, germination is easy enough. The difficulty comes in needing a long season for their slow growth. I would think if you start them early enough and can get germination (which I think you will) then you will hopefully have time to get them to bloom and to enjoy them, even if it is later in the season.
Good luck! Yes, please do let us know your results! Dee
P.S. I thought I would give more concrete info, so I just went back to my records, and I see that one year I sowed 30 seeds on March 22nd, and had germination on May 1st. I also had 26 seedlings, so germination rate was fairly good. The following year, because of my success, I sowed a few more varieties, all on March 25th, with germination of one jug on April 25th and two jugs on May 10th. Again, good germination rates
Again, for me at least, it was their slow growth that resulted in late (October? perhaps even November?) bloom, and a short bloom period because of the time of year. I was probably lucky that it was a warm autumn that year or I wouldn't have gotten that late bloom! I believe the second year I brought most of them inside in fall (due to the late bloom the previous year, I had the foresight to plant in containers in case of a colder autumn!) and while they bloomed, plants that cross the threshold of my house just don't do all that well, lol.
So yes, please do let us know how you do. All this talk of this gorgeous flower has me (who has not sown a single seed indoors in ten years since discovering WSing) thinking about sowing a few lisianthus indoors...
lizbest1
diggerdee zone 6 CT
Related Professionals
New Bedford Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Chattanooga Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Lake Oswego Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Otsego Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Edmond Landscape Contractors · Chattanooga Landscape Contractors · College Park Landscape Contractors · Dixon Landscape Contractors · Fair Lawn Landscape Contractors · North Chicago Landscape Contractors · Parker Landscape Contractors · Pompton Lakes Landscape Contractors · St. Louis Landscape Contractors · The Villages Landscape Contractors · Tustin Landscape Contractorsladyrose65
PVick
ladyrose65
caryltoo Z7/SE PA
latebloomerz6Original Author
diggerdee zone 6 CT