The bell morning glory is one of the climbing artists in our gardens. Within a few weeks, it reaches impressive growth heights of up to meters and enchants gardeners with its large bell-shaped flowers. Unfortunately, the plant only thrives once a year in our latitudes. However, it is quite easy to grow next year's offspring from the seeds themselves.
Bell vine seeds are dime-sized
seed procurement
You can obtain germinable seeds from any well-stocked gardening store. If you already have a bellflower growing in your garden, you don't need to buy the seeds. If you have not cleaned out everything that has bloomed in autumn, you can collect the seeds, which are almost one centimeter in size, when clearing the plants. Dry them for a few days and keep the seeds cool, dry and dark.
The propagation
Start sowing in good time so that the bell vines flower in the same year. The ideal time is February and March. Since the bell morning glory needs cold stimuli to germinate, you should store the seeds in a cool place for about two weeks. The refrigerator is ideal for this process, which is known in technical jargon as stratification, since the temperatures here are stable at around 5 degrees. Commercially purchased seeds are usually pre-treated so that cold storage is no longer necessary.
- Soak the large seeds in warm water overnight and let them soak. This facilitates germination.
- It is advisable to use a separate cultivation vessel for each bell vine, because then pricking out is not necessary.
- Fill the pot with nutrient-poor potting soil and press it down a little.
- Place the seeds and do not cover them with soil or only cover them very thinly (light germinators).
- Moisten well with a sprayer.
- Cover jars with a hood or translucent plastic bag to create a greenhouse climate.
- Air daily and keep well moist but not too wet.
Care of the seedlings
Even the young bell vines are reaching for the sky and quickly need a climbing aid. Kebab skewers, which you stick into the ground next to the plants, are well suited.
tips
The seedlings are only allowed to move outdoors when there is no more threat of night frost after the Ice Saints. It is advisable to carefully get the small plants used to the changed conditions. First place the youngsters in a sheltered place near the house for a few days and only then plant them in their final location in the flower bed.