Seed harvesting made easy
The harvest of the pea-sized seeds would be child's play if it weren't for the questionable toxicity. In autumn, please remove the ripe seeds from the withered remains of the flowers with protective gloves. In order for a Mirabilis jalapa to produce the hoped-for seed heads, leave some flowers from the second half of summer and do not clean them.
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Separate the seeds from the remains of the flowers with your fingers and keep them dry, dark and cool until the next spring.
Instructions for sowing
As of March, the lighting conditions on the windowsill have improved so much that you can start growing young miracle flowers. How to do it right:
- Roughen the seeds the day before with emery paper or a file and soak them in chamomile tea
- Fill small pots with seed soil and moisten with soft water
- Put 1-2 seeds per container 1 cm deep into the moist substrate
- Put a transparent plastic bag over each pot to generate a tropical microclimate
On the warm, partially shaded windowsill, you can look forward to the first germ leaflets within 1 to 2 weeks. The cover has thus fulfilled its duty and will be removed. Then keep the substrate constantly slightly moist. By mid-May, your pupils will have rudimentarily developed the bulbous perennial organ and can be planted in the sunny location.
Direct sowing is rarely crowned with success
Sowing the seeds directly in the bed rarely takes the hoped-for course. Since the soil temperatures do not provide the necessary warmth for germination before the end of May / beginning of June, the young plant only gets going late in the year, when the flowering period is already coming to an end.
Tips
In order for a seed to turn into a magnificent wonder flower, a poor substrate is required during cultivation. If the young roots have an ample nutrient buffet at their disposal, they see no reason to make special efforts in growth. You should therefore only supplement the care with regular fertilizing when a vital root system has developed on a strong tuber.
