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Growing peonies from seeds is not a very popular method, but some gardeners use seed propagation. For the procedure to be successful, you need to carefully study its features and rules.
What do peony seeds look like?
Peony seeds are quite large, their average size is from 5 to 10 mm. The color depends on the peony variety and can be light brown, dark brown, beige. Seeds have a glossy sheen, they are round in shape, smooth to the touch, slightly elastic and not hard.
Fresh peony seeds should be smooth and glossy.
Is it possible to grow peonies from seeds
Growing peonies from seeds at home is associated with certain difficulties. It is quite possible to get flowers in this way, but they rarely resort to seeds for breeding peonies. The procedure has more disadvantages than advantages.
Pros and cons of propagating peonies with seeds
Growing peonies from seeds has only 2 advantages:
- Seed propagation does not preserve varietal characteristics. Theoretically, as an experiment, you can grow a completely new variety, which in appearance will differ from the usual varietal peony.
- Peonies grown from seeds usually adapt better to climatic conditions and show high hardiness.
But the disadvantages of the seed method are quite a lot. These include:
- low decorativeness, since seedlings do not retain the characteristics of the variety, most often adult flowers do not have special value and beauty;
- very slow growth, the first flowers appear only 5-7 years after planting the seeds;
- a complex growing procedure, in order for the planting material to sprout, the seeds must be stratified, and then special attention should be paid to their germination;
- high risk of death of seedlings at a young age, even if the seeds sprout, not all of them will be able to get stronger.
For all these reasons, usually peonies are preferred to be bred by vegetative methods.
Seed propagation brings results very slowly, so it is rarely used.
What peonies can be grown from seeds
Not all varieties of peonies are, in principle, suitable for seed propagation. Usually, the following varieties are sown with seeds in the ground – black and wild peonies, evasive peony Maryin root, thin-leaved and milky-flowered peonies. A tree-like variety also propagates by seeds, but its seeds are covered with a dense shell and germinate very slowly.
Terms of reproduction of peony seeds
Plants bred by seed grow slowly – only a few centimeters per year. Even when using fresh seeds, the first sprouts may appear only after a few months. It is possible to wait for flowers at all only after 4-7 years, depending on the variety, the density of the seed shell and growing conditions.
The first sprouts during seed planting may appear not only after six months, but also after 1-2 years
How to grow peonies from seeds
Since it is especially difficult to grow peonies from seeds, it is important to follow all the rules in the process. Neglecting the growing algorithm will reduce the chances that the seeds will germinate at all.
Selection of containers and soil preparation
You can germinate seeds at home in almost any container. Shallow wooden pallets, tin cans without a bottom, or ordinary low cups are best suited for this purpose. You can also plant seeds in special peat pots. Pallets and cups are sterilized before planting peonies to eliminate the negative influence of microorganisms.
Flowers are not too picky about the soil, but prefer loose neutral or calcareous soils. Optimal for peonies will be a mixture of fertile soil, sand and peat with the addition of lime.
What to do with peony seeds before sowing
The shell of peony seeds is very dense, therefore, without special preparation, seedlings can germinate up to 2 years. To speed up the process before sowing, the following processing is carried out:
- the seeds are very carefully filed or slightly scratched with sandpaper, the shell loses its strength, and the sprouts break through faster;
- the seeds are soaked for a day in water with the addition of a growth stimulator, you can also take the usual dark purple solution of potassium permanganate.
If the preparation is carried out correctly, then it will take much less to wait for the appearance of the first shoots.
Before planting, the seeds must be properly soaked to soften the shell.
How to germinate peony seeds
After preparation, the seeds need germination, it can be accelerated if the planting material is provided with sufficiently high temperatures.
Wet sand is poured into a shallow but wide bowl, seeds are sown in it and lightly sprinkled with sand on top. After that, the bowl is placed on a warm surface – on a radiator or electric heating pad. For 6 hours, the seeds are provided with a stable temperature of at least 30 ° C, after which it is reduced to 4 ° C for 18 hours.
In this mode, the bowl with seeds must be kept for about 2 months. All this time, the sand is regularly moistened so that the seeds do not dry out – when the sand is compressed in the hand, drops of moisture should appear.
How to sow peony seeds
If germination in warmth was carried out correctly, then after 2 months the seeds will give the first roots. After that, they will need to be carefully removed from the sand bowl, lightly pinch the root at the tip and sown in a previously prepared container with a mixture of peat and sand. Seeds do not need to be buried too deep, the soil layer above them should be only 5 mm.
Further, the seeds must be kept in a well-lit place at a temperature of about 10 ° C and at low humidity, not more than 10%. The cold stage continues until the first green leaves appear, which can take about a couple more months.
How to grow peonies from seeds
In late spring, after the soil has finally warmed up, young peonies are planted in a garden plot. A place for them is selected half-shaded, the earth should be nutritious and fairly loose, neutral or alkaline. The sprouts are buried by 4 cm, not forgetting to leave a distance of about 5 cm between them, watered and mulched.
Flowers are transplanted into the soil for growing only after the final warming up of the soil.
In the first year, young peonies can be fed with urea at the rate of 50 g of fertilizer per bucket of water. With the onset of autumn, plantings are covered with fallen leaves, lutrasil or spruce branches.
In the second year, peonies are transplanted to a permanent place, it is best to do this in August. In a hole about 50 cm deep, the plant is immersed along with the former earthen clod; broken brick or crushed stone is preliminarily laid at the bottom of the hole as drainage. Also, when planting, top dressing is added – superphosphate, potassium sulfate and dolomite flour.
After planting, the plants are watered abundantly, and further care for peonies is reduced to standard measures. Flowers should be watered once a week or twice a month in rainy weather. They are fed three times a year with complex fertilizers – in spring, early summer, and autumn. For the winter, peonies are insulated with lutrasil or spruce branches.
Features of growing peonies from seeds from China
Since seed propagation is not popular, finding peony seeds for sale is not so easy. Most often, gardeners purchase planting material via the Internet from China, suppliers promise excellent germination rates and very decorative results.
Seeds from China look very attractive, but real reviews of gardeners claim that planting material has its drawbacks:
- Seeds from China are not very high germination, on average only 20-25% of the total number of seeds germinate.
- Adult peonies from seeds at home do not always look as attractive as in the picture on the package. In addition, when buying planting material from China, you cannot get firm guarantees that the package will contain seeds of exactly the variety indicated in the description.
- Gardeners note that Chinese seeds after germination often die 2-3 weeks after germination, despite the quality conditions.
Before planting the acquired seeds, you need to carefully examine their appearance. Good peony seeds should be smooth and glossy, not too hard to the touch. If the seeds are very dry and shriveled, then the chances of successful germination are low.
Peony seeds from China do not give one hundred percent germination, usually it does not exceed 25%
How to germinate peony seeds from China
The algorithm for growing Chinese seeds is practically the same as the standard one. The main difference is that the planting material needs more careful preparation:
- Since purchased seeds are often not very fresh and dried up, the first thing to do is to soak them in water for 2-3 days. The shell will soften a little from this, and the likelihood of seedlings will increase.
- It will not be superfluous to scarify the seeds, that is, scratch them with emery or cut them with a sharp blade.
- Germination of seeds from China is carried out by the warm method at the end of winter. Planting material is laid in a flat dish with moistened sand, after which it is heated to 30 ° C during the day and only up to 15 ° C at night.
If the seeds are of high quality, then after about 2 months they will give the first sprouts.
How to plant peony seeds from China
Germinated seeds are transferred to fertile soil, consisting of leafy soil and peat mixed with sand. It is not necessary to deepen the seeds strongly, it is enough to make holes for them about 5 mm deep and lightly sprinkle with soil. After that, a tray or a pot of seeds is placed in a well-lit place with a temperature not higher than 10-12 ° C and continues to be regularly moistened until germination.
Growing Chinese seeds is practically no different from the usual
How to grow peony seedlings from Chinese seeds
When the first green leaves appear in the pots, the seedlings will need to be kept indoors for a few more months. It is recommended to transfer peonies to the ground in mid-August. Until this point, the seedlings need to be watered, keeping the soil constantly moist, and keeping the room temperature around 18 ° C.
Open ground for peonies should be loose, mixed with peat and sand. When planting, it is recommended to feed the pion seedlings with complex fertilizers and maintain weekly watering until the onset of cold weather. Before winter, young peonies are sheltered from frost with spruce branches or lutrasil.
When and how to collect peony seeds
With seed propagation, the best results are shown by fresh peony seeds, which have not yet had time to dry and harden. Therefore, if there are fruit-bearing flowers in the garden, seed material can be collected from them; for this, the varieties Maryin Root, Michelangelo, Rafael, lactic-flowered peonies are suitable.
It is necessary to collect planting material in the process of maturation, before the opening of the carpels.
Seeds are harvested at the end of summer, between August 20 and September 15. You need to choose light brown shiny seeds with an elastic structure that have not yet opened the carpels.
Planting fresh seeds is considered optimal. But the process of seed propagation is usually started in the middle of winter, so autumn seeds are most often stored for storage. To do this, they must be dried – laid out on paper on a flat surface and left in a dry and ventilated place until completely dry. From time to time, the seeds are stirred so that they are fully dried on all sides and not moldy.
After drying, the seeds are threshed through a sieve to remove small debris, and placed in paper envelopes or bags, not forgetting to attach labels to them with the name of the flowers and the collection time. Planting material should be stored in dry conditions at a temperature not exceeding 12 ° C.
The germination of peony seeds lasts up to 2 years on average. But it is recommended to plant material during the first year, then it will be more difficult to germinate flowers.
Advice of specialists
For seed cultivation, professionals recommend taking small peony seeds – 3-5 mm. Large seeds germinate longer and more difficult, because their shell is denser.
For quick cultivation of seeds, it is worth using the method of home breeding. Some gardeners sow seeds immediately in open ground before winter for natural stratification, but in this case, sprouts may appear only after a year or two.
Small flower seeds germinate easier and faster
Conclusion
Growing peonies from seed is a challenging but rewarding endeavor. This method is usually chosen by gardeners who are prone to experimentation, and if all the rules are observed, they achieve a positive result.
