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With its flowers, the columbine reliably ensures a colorful garden. The more plants are together, the more impressive the play of colors will be. The cheapest way to get there: multiply columbine by seeds yourself! instructions with all information.
In a nutshell
- Harvest seeds yourself from August or buy them in stores in spring
- Sow indoors in potting soil at the end of February/beginning of March
- Direct sowing between April and the end of May
- Sowing depth is 3-5 mm
- Germination time is 5-6 weeks
Harvest or buy seeds
The columbine flowers in July and August. When the withered petals fall to the ground, a green pod becomes visible. The seeds ripen there within a few weeks. When the capsule turns a light brown color and opens at the top, the seeds are ripe and ready to be harvested. All you then have to do is hold a small bowl underneath and bend the capsule down. The seeds trickle out by themselves. They are small, oval, smooth, almost black and very numerous.
Source: H. Zell, Aquilegia vulgaris 004, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
If you have no way of harvesting seeds yourself, you can buy them in gardening shops, hardware stores or online.
Notice: If many different columbines are blooming in a garden bed, you have to expect them to cross each other. The collected seed material often does not germinate pure specimens that flower like the mother plant.
The ideal time for sowing
The ideal time depends on whether you decide to direct sow or prefer to propagate the columbine indoors.
- Direct sowing is possible from April to the end of May
- occasionally even in June if it's not too hot
- sow indoors from the end of February
- by the beginning of March at the latest
Source: Salicyna, Aquilegia 2022-05-12 3202, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Tip: The young plants of the perennial columbine react sensitively to severe frosts. When sowing directly, you have to remain flexible in terms of time and pay attention to the weather forecast.
Instructions for sowing indoors
In order to be able to multiply the columbine successfully in the house, you need a very bright place. The window sill is ideal, but should not get direct sun. The germination time is about 5-6 weeks. Proceed as follows:
- Fill a large pot or seed tray with potting soil. If you sow different varieties, many small pots are more advantageous to tell the seedlings apart.
- Scatter the seeds evenly or place two seeds in the middle of each pot.
- The columbine is a dark germ. Cover the seed with soil, but with a layer only 3-5 mm thick.
- Dampen the soil with a spray bottle.
- Put the pot/pots in their bright place. The ideal germination temperature is 17 to 20 °C
- Keep the soil constantly moist.
- Plant out the young plants as soon as it is no longer freezing outside. If necessary, you must separate them in the meantime.
Tip: Clarify in good time whether the seeds of the selected variety have germination inhibition and need to be stratified in the refrigerator for several weeks before sowing.
This is how direct sowing takes place
For outdoor propagation, choose a sunny or partially shaded flower bed. In shady locations, columbines remain smaller and flower more modestly. That would be too bad.
- Deeply loosen the soil
- Remove stones, weeds and root remains
- Enrich soil with compost
- loosen compacted soil with sand, if necessary create a drainage layer
- Mix seeds with sand
- Spread seed mixture evenly
- only superficially rake in with a rake
- Moisten the soil carefully (use the spray attachment on the garden hose)
Let the sprouted columbines continue to grow in place. Thin out plants that are too dense in good time. From a height of 5 cm, you can also transplant the plants if necessary.
Self-sowing - the easy way
You do not need instructions for this propagation option. The mother plant does all the work on her own. Just leave a few faded blossoms. The mature seed pods will burst open enough for their seeds to fall out with wind movement or on their own. The following spring, many of them will germinate. Leave the strongest seedlings or transplant them as you like.
Tip: If you do not want the columbine to multiply by itself and you want to extend the flowering period, cut off faded flowers promptly, even before the seeds have a chance to ripen.
frequently asked Questions
What distance should I leave when pricking?Columbines can develop ideally when there is a distance of about 25 cm between them.
The propagated columbines look splendid, but do not bloom. Why?If you only multiplied the plants in the current year, everything is fine with them. Columbines are perennial plants that only bloom in their second year.
The flowers on my plants keep breaking off, what can I do?Your columbines have probably sown or planted in a very windy location. Since a support stick does not look good on this filigree plant and it also shoots out many flower stalks, this problem can only be solved in the future with a new, wind-protected location.