The Cut Flower Podcast

The Power of Propagation with Roz part 2

• Roz Chandler • Season 1 • Episode 135

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Text Agony Aunt Roz with your Cutflower Questions.

In this episode of the Cut Flower Podcast, Roz delves into the world of seed propagation, sharing her insights on the importance of choosing the right seeds, planning your growing space, and understanding the germination process. She emphasizes the profitability of growing from seeds for flower farmers and provides practical tips to avoid common mistakes. Roz also discusses future learning opportunities for listeners interested in expanding their gardening skills.


Takeaways

  • Seeds are affordable and can unlock an entire season of flowers.
  • Choosing the right seeds is crucial for success in flower farming.
  • Planning your growing space can significantly impact your yield.
  • Investing in good compost is essential for seed germination.
  • Common mistakes include sowing seeds too thickly and not labeling properly.
  • Understanding your market helps in selecting the right flower varieties.
  • Timing is key when it comes to planting seeds.
  • Patience is important; some seeds take weeks to germinate.
  • Flower farmers can achieve high returns by growing from seed.
  • Propagation skills are valuable year-round.

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Roz (00:00)
Hello again my lovely flower friends and welcome back to the Cut Flower Podcast. I'm Roz, your resident plant enthusiast, your cheerleader for small growers and the occasional victim of seed package ⁓ over enthusiasm. In fact, not occasional all the time. I'm calling myself a seedaholic and you may be a seedaholic too. And today we're in part two of our propagation mini series and it's all about seeds today. Those tiny little magical pieces.

packages in a package of possibility of things to come. I always think of them as nature's version of a treasure chest and I always, like I say, buy too many. But hey, I don't buy lots of shoes so maybe I'm not a shoeaholic, I'm definitely a seedaholic. So why are seeds so special? Here's the thing. They're affordable, they're portable and they can unlock an entire season of flowers.

For flower farmers, they're the most profitable ways to fill your beds. A packet that costs a few pounds can turn into hundreds of stems worth selling. And that's before you even think about saving seeds for next year. But they can also be highly frustrating. And we see this in a number of our memberships or courses. Maybe people will put images up, you know, that the seeds have been watered too much, not enough water, too much heat, especially at the UK at the moment in the summer, not enough light.

and suddenly you've got a tray of sulky seedlings that refuse to grow. And I always say, please have another go. Sometimes the seeds are just not viable. And for some reason you've purchased them and maybe they were kept in the heat and not a cool environment and they're just not viable and it's nothing that you've done. So put it to one side and start again. So the first step in seed propagation.

is before you even get to open that packet, I know you're really thinking about that, but it's choosing the right seeds. It's thinking about your plot or your flower farm. Now, if you're a flower farmer, obviously you're doing it for profitability. So you will be looking for seeds that give you a high productivity level that at the moment in the UK are quite drought resistant. It's something we're going to have to think about for resilience and also the costs. So

If you're a flower farmer, would say to you that you should probably grow 65 % perennials, probably 20 % annuals and 15 % foliage, something around there. We've always never got enough foliage, so do as much as you can. With your annuals, of course you're going to be replanting every year, but you can also collect and save the seeds. And perennials are more resilient and better in drought conditions.

and obviously will keep going year on year. And of course then there's the biennials. And the biennials are the things that fill what we have in the UK as the June gap, which is a gap between all our bulbs and our tulips and our narcissus, and then our annuals coming in ⁓ probably in June, late June, early July. So you've got a gap of flowers. So what you want at that stage is biennials. So what I would say is map out your whole year and now is a perfect time to do it.

because if you are going to overwinter anything over the winter, hardy annuals, overwintered in a greenhouse or in a zippy tunnel or on your window ledge or something where you're going to overwinter them, you probably need to start to think about buying them now. So you have a choice of annuals. Obviously they're quick to grow, they flower in the first year and they give you a really quick return. And also there are a lot of annuals that you can't actually,

If you were buying from a wholesaler, instance, a Dutch hold is you can't actually buy. So things that are lovely are things like cosmos, zinnias, cornflowers, sweet peas. Think about your annuals. Perennials, now obviously they take longer to establish, but they are there year on year. So things like echinacea, rubeckia, achillia, fantastic perennials. Think about your perennials and what you want going forward.

Biennials, obviously, it's the middle child of the sea world. So they grow leaves in their first year, they flower in their second year, and then they often die back. But remember, in nature, they will drop their seeds. So some biennials are actually acting as short-lived perennials. So things like fox gloves, for example, are a classic example of a biennial. And then please, please don't forget your foliage. If you've listened to me before, you've heard me talk about foliage a lot.

You need to get it in. You can't really cut it until year two or three. You need to plan your foliage really, really well. Things like eucalyptus are not a summer cutting plant. They are too tender at the tips. They are a winter. They're an October to March. So you need to plan your foliage for the year. So if you want foliage all year round, you want to in the UK be growing something like for verburnum tinnus, which is an evergreen, and it's there the whole time and changes actually colour throughout the whole season.

So one of the easiest mistakes to make, and I make every year, is buying seeds because they're pretty in the catalogue and not realising they don't suit your market if you're a flower farmer, or your climate, or your growing style. You know, seeds that you've bought, and I'm not going to mention the ones I've bought historically, they might be gorgeous in theory, but they might need 30 degree heat for the three months straight. It's probably not going to love life here in Milton Keynes.

So be really careful. I tend to do it as a holiday job. I tend to take away a few catalogs. I take away my spreadsheets from the year before. I pour over the catalogs and think what the trends are for the next year. This year was all about peach. I could have sold peach flowers 10 times over. Next year, I think it will still be peach. You've got to think about if you're a flower farmer, what your markets are. Now our markets are weddings and funerals.

And then also we're running workshops here on the farm. So our market's quite mixed ⁓ and we therefore need a mixed supply. You know, our weddings are still pastels and peaches and some will go bold and then there are green and whites, but you need to plan your plot out and therefore your seed buying along with what you're going. The worst mistake you can make is to go off into your seed supply.

and start to buy them and then not have planned what you're going to do. And if you're a member of our Best Bunch membership, which is our online membership, which has lots of discounts for all members, as well as weekly Q &As, as well as guest speakers, as well as a Facebook community. If you're a member of the Best Bunch, then ⁓ there are discounts on seed supplies. So you can pop over and don't ever forget those. ⁓

discounts that definitely they're up to 50 % so they're definitely worth having so if you're more interested if you're interested in joining 250 members that are already in the best bunch then pop over to the cut flower collective website and there is a link there to the best bunch or you can always DM me of course so so before you do hit the checkout point on your seed answer on your seed order

Ask yourself, I sometimes put it in the basket and then I go away and think about it. Ask yourself, will I actually use it? Does it fit my color palettes and what I'm trying to do? Will it flower when I need it, which is the interesting thing. And be honest, if you're a flower farmer, will it sell? I have grown, and I'm sure this was a mistake, yellow croissants before. There is not a market for me for yellow croissants. There might be for somebody, it's not a market for me. So because my ground here is an asset,

I have to take it out and start again. So don't do that. Don't waste the time with something that actually you're not either going to sell or you're not going to fall in love with. So do set yourself up for success. So once you've chosen your seeds and you've done your spreadsheets and you've worked out what you're doing, it's time to set up your growing space. This is the fun bit. Doesn't have to be fancy. You can spend hundreds on heated propagation, grow lights, thermostatic mats, but you can also start with a sunny windowsill.

few trays and some really good compost. The compost is the most important thing. So a good seed compost, peat free, fine textures, light and free draining. Now there's been lots and lots of comments about peat free compost over the years and not being that good and yes sometimes it does need sieving but we use a silver grow multi compost for our seeds. It's a good compost ⁓ but always invest in a good compost.

⁓ it's sort of not great to buy a cheap compost ⁓ because actually that is the foundation of your seeds. You will need clean trays or modules and I mean really clean hygiene really matters here. Last year's leftovers piled up outside the greenhouse will harbour diseases so you need to give them a good wash and we go back to labels which I mentioned in episode one of this propagation mini series labels and a permanent marker

because I can tell you and we do it every year, we have a mystery mix or the lost part or I don't know what that is in the tunnels ⁓ because either it's washed off or we didn't use the right pen but honestly label and check them every so often. Some sort of cover you're going to need, a clear lid or plastic dome to keep the moisture in during germination. So most seeds need three things to germinate, warmth, moisture,

and sometimes light. Too much water and they rot, too little and they dry out before they sprout, too hot and they can get leggy in a flash, too cold and they just soak and soak. Some seeds like larkspur actually prefer a bit of cold first to get them going, others so you need to put them in your fridge but don't forget I now have in my fridge four packets of larkspur

So if one of my team is listening to this, the four packets of Lark's spur we're missing are in the fridge and they've been there all summer and unlikely to use them now until for at least another month but we forgot that they were in there. do make a note on your phone that you've put them in there. Some seeds like Lark spur need a bit of cold, others like basil want consistent warmth. I've never been very successful with basil so if you have, please reach out to me.

Check the label of the packet and if in doubt, do a quick search on the internet of germination temperatures for that specific plant One of the biggest rookie mistakes is sewing too thickly. Now we've all done this. I've been guilty of this myself. You tip out the seeds, think that doesn't look like much and add a few more. And then you end up with a forest in a tray that's impossible to separate without feeling like you're doing some sort of delicate heart surgery.

So what you really want to do is put them in your hand and then then actually make a fist, pull your fingers in a minute and just sprinkle them in really lightly. If they're bigger, it's not an issue. It's those really, really tiny pesky seeds. And then you're going to give yourself a big job of picking out. Better to sow them thinly if you want more plants. Do a second sowing a couple of weeks later. That way you can always spread your harvest. So my little seed survival plan.

is thin early as soon as the seedlings have their first two leaves thin them out so they're not competing for light and nutrients with each other they'll all be fighting in that tray prick out with care use a dibber a pencil or even the handle of a teaspoon to lift seedlings by the leaves don't don't don't don't don't touch the stem the third recommendation is harden off gradually a week or two before planting out

start planting your seedlings outside for a few hours each day, bringing them in at night and gradually increasing their exposure. We call it the okey-cokey, the in and out phase, where they're in the tunnel, out the tunnel, in the tunnel, out the tunnel, and it allows them to get used to the environment. So some common pitfalls and how to avoid them. Leggy seedlings, it's usually too little light or too much heat.

Give them bright light and cooler nights if possible. Then dampening off, a fungal disease that makes seedlings collapse at soil level. You'll see this. You can prevent it with good airflow and don't overwater. Impatience. my goodness, that's all of us, isn't it? Some seeds take weeks to germinate. Resist the urge to poke the soil. You'll just damage it. I know, I know, I know, but they will take several weeks.

From a purely business perspective, if you're growing as a flower farmer, growing from seed gives you one of the highest returns on your investment. Low input costs, high potential sales, and the ability to grow varieties you simply can't buy as plants. Plus you can grow to your market. If you know your brides love blush tones you can start a whole batch of pastel autumns. And by the way, I would recommend that. Probably something like an apricot cosmos or some...

Chinese asters in those kind of colours or some asters in those kind of colours. So a few years ago I had what called the sweet pea disaster. I sowed far too early in an unheated greenhouse. They sprouted beautifully but by February they were long and thin and frankly looking more like bean sprouts than sweet peas. Get your timings right. We grow our sweet peas in the autumn so they've got a chance to get going before it gets really cold and then again in the spring.

we avoid that bit in between. So what's your homework? I'd like to give you some homework. Pick one variety you want to grow from seed this season and set up everything you need for perfect sowing. Do it all first. Get your compost, get your trays clean, get your labels written before you even open that pack. You know, I'm that guilty one who opens the pack first. I mean, sometimes you want to see how many seeds are in it and whether there are loads of tiny ones. And remember thin seedlings.

patient watering and don't rush them into the big wide wide world there's still babies before they're ready that's the thing to remember is that you're nurturing these now if you're more interested in propagation and learning all about cuttings and hard work and dividing and so on then we are going to launch in the autumn a new course called roots to shoots we've ran this course before and it used to be called a cut above but it's now a new revised we're refilming everything really redoing it

and it's going to be launched in the autumn. So if you're interested in joining us, do pop over to the Cut Flower Collective website, it's thecutflowercollective.co.uk and join our wait list and we'll let you know as soon as it's released, likely to be the end of September, beginning of October. And we'll take you through the winter on a journey of propagation, which if you listen to propagation number one in the mini series, you would have realized that propagation is all year round.

it's about having skills for life. So next time we're going to get a bit snippy literally as we look at propagation through cuttings I'll walk you through how to take them, how to avoid the dreaded rot and how to set up your space you turn one plant into an army of plants and if you're listening and thinking Roz I really use someone to help me plan my growing then do get in touch pop over to the cut flower collective website and all of our we're going to run three autumn courses

will all be in there before we launch our growing course next February for the sixth year I think our seed to vase course but I'd love to hear from you do DM me join me on Instagram at fieldgateflowers tell me what you think of this podcast the thing with the podcast obviously you're broadcasting and not really getting lots of feedback in return so a lovely email every so often at roz roz@fieldgateflowers.co.uk would be fabulous

And if you'd love to feature on our podcast or you have something that you feel our audience would love to hear about, then do get in touch. I really, really think this is a two-way, I was going say two-way motorway, but there's no such thing, two-way street. So we'd love it if you could join us and ⁓ just email us and I'd love to hear more from you. Take care until next time.