Thoughts on Growing Primrose from Seed

15 years ago

Am I crazy or what?!!!

First, these are the tiniest seeds imaginable; they are so delicate that I practically had to hold my breath while setting them on top of the soil (as per the instructions), because, like my cats, they don't like to be covered. heh. Unfortunately, there are only 21 of them, so I needed to make sure to get each one situated perfectly in its new home. I hope they appreciate the love because...basically, I'm rearranging my whole life to make this happen...only 21-30 days till germination!

Anyhow, since I want the best chance for success, I decided to grow them indoors, and have them set in an ice chest in leftover 6-pack mini-containers, slightly elevated from the ice that I'm periodically tossing in to keep the temp at a steady 60-65F! I've got a thermometer taped to the inside so I can adjust the temp/ice level, and then a small fluorescent lamp taped to the open lid, since they supposedly need a certain # of hours of light to germinate(10-12 hrs per day). The fluorescent light is attached to a timer, so I can make it a little easier.Anyhow, I hope my neighbors won't notice my fluorescent light because what if they think I'm trying to grow my own 'medical' marijuana? And then I'm wrapping the cells in plastic to keep them nice and moist. Fussy little seeds!

So, after all this, I notice they are selling a bunch of primroses at Bakers for $1.50. Heh! Oh well, this is my science project and I'm sticking with it. Feel free to share your labor of love stories if you have any; I could use a bit of inspiration!

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Comments (3)

agility_mom
15 years ago
You are one dedicated person. My gosh, I never knew that Primrose seeds were so fussy!
I thought that I was doing more than normal to try to grow tropical fruiting plants here but you make me feel like a slacker :)
The best of luck!
xica_da_silva
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, agility mom. I will be totally thrilled if I can just get the little seedlings to pop up. I've definitely kept the conditions right, as far as I know. But if I don't succeed, then I guess I'll just stick with easier stuff from now on!
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xica_da_silva
Original Author
15 years ago
Just wanted to give an update, in case anyone else ever tries growing these from seed...

The good news is, both some primrose and commelina seedlings have hatched, and are growing steadily. Yay!

The primrose, though, could've had a much better success rate. Out of the 21 seeds I planted, only 4 have sprouted, and out of the 4, one of them sprouted with just one leaf! I'm wondering if that means it will have problems, but it actually looks pretty healthy otherwise and continues to grow. Something kind of weird: it looks as if many of the seedlings tried to come up but are defective (perhaps from mold?). For example, many failed-attempt ones have what appears to be an upward growing green stem with no leaves, but instead a little blackish bud at the place where the leaves would be. I'm not sure if I should keep hoping these produce leaves or are they beyond help? Anyhow, the tallest one is still only about 3/4 of an inch, so there's time to figure it out!

As for the commelina, they're fast growers and look very much like a thick, single blade of grass so far. Almost makes me wonder if the seed company accidentally gave me the wrong seed! The largest one is a little over 2 inches...I may need to transplant him to a larger container soon. I had 8 out of about 12 seeds germinate, so I think that's pretty good for a beginner like me.
Considering I didn't sterilize anything, I guess I'm lucky anything grew! Now, let's see if I can keep them alive... :-)