I'd think it could grow in pots... why not? I don't know about splitting them, never tried. It's interesting, I googled flax and have become interested in growing it for fibers! Very interesting! Glad you posted!

I tried growing flax for fibers last year since my girlfriend has an old flax spinning wheel given to her by her grandmother but I finally wimped out. It was a really fun experiment in that the plants grew great and the flowers are really beautiful but wow is it a lot of work by hand to get it from plant to thread! I ended up stopping with the smell from the retting process just got too bad to bear. Maybe if you can get your hands on some of the new enzymes that they're trying that would make it much easier.

I've tried pots but agree that they should grow fine. I don't know how close looks too crowded - at 1 inch spacing, they nicely supported each other since the plants were a bit floppy. Never tried to split them though.

Oh thanks makalu... I was thinking of trying it... it smells that bad? Okay... I googled, I think that you can buy spinnable flax....:o)

Thanks heathen1 and makalu. I tried taking a few seedlings out of the pot to move them but it is next to impossible. They have VERY long tap roots and to try to pull them apart is too damaging. So I will just direct sow some seeds in the ground where I want them. It's amazing how fast they germinate...within 48 hours!

heathen1 - think of a room full of rotting grass! Spinnable flax sounds exactly like the way to go. Gardeniarose, they really do sprout and grow fast when it's warm and the roots are great to break up tough soils ... although you're probably on sand.

...in case you didn't find out. If this is the flax seed type you sprinkle on food in use in baking; these are Linum usitatissimum, hardy to zone 4. Where I am from (North dakota zone 3-4) it is grown as an annual crop for Linseed oil.
They hardy look any different than linum lewisii or linum perenne lewisii. They are also reported to be less likely to self-sow as much as L. lewisii.

Vera

Thanks, Vera. No, I did not know that. In fact, I was pretty confused with all the different Linum species out there. And yes, these are the flax seeds from the grocery store that you use in foods and breads. I didn't really think they'd even sprout when I planted them. I think I bought these seeds at least 4 years ago!

Okay... you got me going... now I am planting cotton too! What fun! Experimenting is fun.