When do i plant lupin seeds

You can use any general compost and begin sowing in middle to late February depending on the weather. Sow in a greenhouse or on a window sill if sowing in early spring. If sowing later in the year you can try sowing directly to ground although I have never used this method. One easy way of sowing lupins is to sow direct to the soil in the autumn or winter for growth next year. Lupins are self-seeders so this is essentially mimicking their natural cycle and they normally do quite well when grown like this.

When the seedlings have begun to establish themselves you can start to think about planting them out. Established can mean different things though depending on your location, the weather and also pest level in your garden. Slugs in particular love munching on lupin seedlings, you can plant out a full border of young lupins and find them gone by the next morning.

If slugs are a particular problem in your garden I would advise potting the young lupins on and keeping them in a greenhouse until they are more established.

This is when they grow tall and dangly due to over optimum conditions within the greenhouse. Leave them out of the greenhouse during the day bringing them in at night to avoid this. There is a good reason l upins are now considered an invasive species in New Zealand! There are a few simple steps to take however to achieve the best display for the entire summer.

Deadheading lupins is essential to getting flowers for the entire summer. When autumn comes around and your lupins have finished their annual display it is time to cut them back. While this may seem like a drastic step, particularly the first time around, they will come back stronger and thank you for this display of tough love. You can cut them right back to the base in autumn, they will store their energy in the roots and come back bigger than ever next spring.

Lupins are a great plant to divide up. This can be done after a few years, it both gives you new plants and helps extend the life of the original plant. Hey, I'm Daniel. Having worked as a professional gardener for years as well as keeping a private allotment I decided to create this website to help spread my knowledge.

I love gardening and hope to show you just how rewarding it can be! Brilliant Daniel. Thank you very much for the thorough season to season instructions. Keep em coming! The information and advice you give here is brilliant. It is exactly what I wanted to know and more besides. Clearly written in an engaging, personal style too. Yes, I thought this was very useful. Thank you. Lupins seem to do well this year. Cold winter? Slow start for slugs and snails? When they do emerge, keep the plants in a cool, light position.

A windowsill will be fine but not one in direct sunlight. In the last week of April harden off the plants over a week or two, at this point they will be ready to plant outside. Our recommended supplier is Crocus who sell a large range of lupins in 9cm pots or the much larger 2 litre pots.

They offer a five year plant guarantee, top quality plants and excellent service. Click here to see and buy from their extensive range.

Planting lupins is simple, dig the area well where they are to be planted and sprinkle on some blood, fish and bone working it into the soil. Dig a hole for each plant and plant to the same depth as it was in the pot. Lupins grow from crowns and if these are planted too deep they will rot, if planted too shallow they may fail to establish well. Water well. The planting distance between each lupin should be 30cm to 45cm 12in to 18in.

Don't feed lupins after their initial feed at planting time, nitrogen based fertilisers will encourage lush green growth which make them more prone to aphid attack.

The flowers will die from the base of the flower head upwards, the time to dead head them is when two thirds of the flower has died. New, smaller flowers will soon appear extending the flowering season. The foliage will slowly die back and does no damage. In early spring when new shoots appear, clear away any remaining dead foliage to allow good ventilation at ground level. Lupins will live for 10 years or more but much depends on the the conditions they are grown in. Generally they will produce a good display of flowers for five years and then begin to become woody and unproductive.

It is well worth digging them up at this stage, dividing them and replanting. Even though their long tap root will be damaged they may well recover and produce a decent display of flowers for another four or five years. Spray lupins with a systemic insecticide at the very first signs of aphids which is generally May time. Then re-spray the plant two weeks later.

Spraying with insecticidal soap and all the other organic solutions will have almost zero effect when aphids attack your lupins, we have tried them all! This cold hardy perennial is native to western North America, and east to Quebec. Continue reading below for tips on how to grow lupins from seed. Lupins are highly attractive to bees and they fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. Timing Sow indoors weeks before last frost. If starting indoors, use peat or coir pots to minimize root disturbance.

Lupins work equally well direct sown in early spring when some risk of frost is still possible.