How to grow echinacea indoors

The delightful shades of Echinacea purpurea are ideal for a summer border. The cheerful flowers look great mixed in with other plants and bulbs, or can be planted en-masse for a bold splash of colour. They will even do well in pots – plant in a deep container and position where they will get plenty of sunlight.

While purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) are the most common, you’ll also find lots of new varieties of coneflowers in an array of happy colors, like pink, yellow, orange, red, and white. They don’t just delight for a season, either, as these are perennial flowers that will come back year after year.

When & Where to Plant Echinacea

The plants grow natively along the edges of woodlands, so they will thrive in spots with morning shade and afternoon sun or vice versa. Soil: Echinacea will tolerate poor rocky soil, but will not grow in wet, mucky soil.

Echinacea is easy to grow from nursery stock, seed or division. Sow outdoors 1/2 inch deep when a light frost is still possible. Seeds will germinate in 10-20 days. Flowers reliably bloom the first year from seed if sown early (see Summer Flowers for Color).

Answer: Coneflowers are generally easy to grow and free of pests, but there are some diseases that attack them when conditions are right. The symptoms you describe suggest sclerotinia stem and root rot, also sometimes called crown rot. It is caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum.

Echinacea purpurea will typically self–seed annually in the landscape; however, if growing plants from scratch, seeds can be started outdoors in the spring or summer, up to two months before frost. Keep in mind that plants started from seed can take two or more years to develop into a sizeable plant.

So when asked about deadheading Echinacea plants, I usually recommend only deadheading spent blooms through the blooming period to keep the plant looking beautiful, but leaving spent flowers in late summer-winter for the birds. You can also deadhead Echinacea to prevent it from reseeding itself all over the garden.

Coneflower seeds require sunlight to germinate. Seed Spacing: Thin or plant 12″ to 18″ apart. Days to Germination: 7 to 30; around 14 days under ideal conditions (65°F-70°F).

Some say refrigerate first, some say soak seeds for 24 hours, some say cover the seeds, some say do not cover the seeds. I‘ve grown a few from seed just soaking them for 24 hours and then sewing them uncovered with a sprinkling of vermiculite.

Soak the seeds for any longer and they might rot. The seeds swell as water penetrates the seed coat and the embryo inside begins to plump up. I presoak just about everything except for the tiniest seeds. But I‘m always careful not to presoak my seeds until the night before planting them in pots or in the garden.

When to Plant Coneflowers

Coneflowers can be started from seed in spring indoors (about a month before the last spring frost date) or outdoors (when the soil temperature has reached at least 65°F/18°C). Note: Coneflowers started from seed may take 2 to 3 years before producing blooms.

These plants are easy to grow although, as with many perennials, they usually take more than one growing season to truly begin to flower. Cut back stems as the blooms fade to encourage further flower production. Once they are established Echinacea will freely self seed if some deadheads are left intact.

With the right technique, coneflowers are easy to grow from seed. The first is to mix the seeds with some damp sand, put it into a plastic zipper-top bag, and then place the bag into the refrigerator for 8 to 10 weeks. Come spring, plant the seeds either directly into the garden or indoors under grow lights.

Echinacea does not always flower well in its first year, plant in September to October for the best chance of a good display the following year.

In the wild, a single plant can live up to 40 years. In the garden, they are best when divided every 4 years. Like all plants in the Asteraceae family, Echinacea flowers are actually inflorescences; a collection of 200-300 small fertile florets bunched together on the cone, known as disk florets.

Best planted in early spring (after the final frost), coneflowers will germinate in about three to four weeks and produce leaves in three months but can take up to two years to actually produce blooms. Purple coneflower, or Echinacea purpurea, is by far the most popular variety of coneflower.

Sow echinacea seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before outdoor planting date in spring using a seed starting kit. Cover the seeds lightly with 1/4 inch of seed starting mix. Keep the soil moist at 65-70 degrees F. Seedlings emerge in 10-20 days.

Coneflowers spread by self-seeding.

Each bloom produces many seeds, some of which inevitably fall to the ground. Goldfinches in particular will land on dried seed heads and pick out seeds. Volunteer seedlings under purple coneflower.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a popular perennial in Zones 3-9.

All seeds need water, oxygen, and proper temperature in order to germinate. Some seeds require proper light also. Some germinate better in full light while others require darkness to germinate. When a seed is exposed to the proper conditions, water and oxygen are taken in through the seed coat.

Running out of time to plant? Try freezing seeds inside an ice cube for a fast stratification. Don’t freeze seed just in a package unless it has a thick coat or the moisture content is low, because water in the embryo cells can burst when frozen. But encasing it in ice protects the seed from freezing damage.

Stratification Steps:

Mix the Poppy Seeds into the dirt. Seal the bag, and place in the refrigerator for 14 days. Remove after 14 days, and leave out on a paper towel in a dry room temperature area for 7 days. Process can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 5 months depending on the Poppy Seeds.