Since the wool flower or mullein (Verbascum) is a plant family with annual, biennial and perennial subspecies, sowing the seeds is a common method of breeding and propagating them. The inflorescences, which are covered with many individual flowers, can sometimes ripen up to several thousand seeds.

In the case of hybrid plants, the seeds can be collected after flowering

The simplest propagation method for the mullein is self-seeding

Since the mullein gets along well with poor soil, it also multiplies relatively quickly in locations such as gravel pits and railway embankments if it is not overly harassed by competition from other plant species. Unless the mulleins planted in your garden are specially bred hybrid varieties, you can let nature multiply them. However, you must not cut off the inflorescences immediately after the flowering period and have to accept that the plants, which often only flower in their second year, sometimes choose very unconventional growth locations.

Targeted harvesting and sowing of the seeds

If you leave the mullein inflorescences long enough after they have withered and they are not hybrid varieties, you can harvest the mullein seeds as soon as the seed pods burst open. You will get the best results if you sow the freshest possible seeds in autumn in suitable, full sun locations and keep the seeds evenly moist. Since mulleins belong to the light germs, the seeds should only be raked in lightly. A more controlled germination of the seeds is possible on the windowsill, but the temperature here should not exceed 18 degrees Celsius. From April onwards, young plants with at least four pairs of leaves can be planted outdoors at a distance of at least 50 centimeters.

Alternatives to sowing when propagating mullein

There can be various reasons why alternative propagation methods are preferred to sowing mullein seeds in cotton flower:

  • the desire for varietal offshoots
  • willingness to experiment
  • the propagation of hybrid varieties

With the mullein, it is possible to obtain so-called root cuttings for propagation. To do this, cut off pieces about 10 to 15 centimeters long from the roots of a strong plant in autumn. The root pieces, cut straight at the top and diagonally at the bottom, are overwintered in slightly damp substrate in an unheated cold frame or in a bright basement room and planted out in the following summer as soon as the first pairs of leaves have formed.

tips and tricks

You have the least effort with the offspring of mullein if you distribute the large amounts of seeds evenly in different sunny locations in the field and simply cut out surplus specimens in the following spring.

Category:

Herbs