Peonies are highly valued by gardeners for their decorative properties. Bright and lush flowers can decorate any area of the garden from May to mid-July.
Peony seedling flowers can be reproduced independently and they are not cheap. Peonies begin to bloom in spring, although we might say this is determined by temperature.
Peony is a perennial herb that basically belongs to the monotypic genus. There are about forty varieties of plants in nature. The herbaceous peony has bright, fragrant flowers that bloom in May and bloom for six weeks.
It is advisable to separate peony bush every 4-5 years, as the old roots of the undivided bush are intertwined and tightly connected to the fabric, which will make it difficult to dig out their roots.
Dig a small trench around the bush, then, shake the bush until it comes out of the ground. Bushes require adequate separation with a stake.
Read also: Seed harvesting, Processing, And Storage
HOW TO HARVEST SEEDS FROM PEONIES
Peonies are flowers that take time to germinate. Peonies are of several types, hybrids, cultivars, and species.
The seed parts are very large. They take a couple of months to fully ripe. The shapes are unique, and you will be able to see them right away from the pod. Harvesting seeds from peonies is really very easy if you are aware of the seeds themselves.
Initially, they are green, but as it is ripe, they get browner and browner, and at some point, they crack open; during that period, the best time to collect seed is just before cracks open.
If you are new to peonies seeds, it’s not wrong to wait until they finally open up. The seeds don’t fall off very quickly, and most peonies might stay in the pod for weeks, then, you will be able to collect them easily when they are open to avoid losing any seed.
The first set in harvesting peonies seed is to pick the pods when they go brown; the ripe seed has a dark blue, brown, or black color. The unripe seed is easy to identify; they are yellowish. After picking, break them right at the top quickly and bag them.
A more straightforward way to get the harvesting process done is to collect the ripe pods that look brownish, dark blue, or black break them open. Separate the seed from the pods; they are big round seeds. Clean them all up. Then bag them all up.
Read also: How To Harvest Seeds From Petunias
HOW TO CARE FOR PEONIES
Peonies like very sunny places, although depending on the region, they can also be planted in partial shade. It is important to till the soil before planting, possibly mix it with sand and peat and enrich it with organic fertilizers.
It is important to avoid direct contact of the roots with fertilizers. It should be remembered that peonies are not acidophilic plants, so specific fertilizers for these plants should be avoided. It is necessary to avoid water stagnation as much as possible, for this purpose, in particularly humid soils,
It is useful to place a 5-10 cm layer of gravel or other coarse material on the bottom of the planting hole. All peonies need space and shouldn’t be too close to the roots of other plants; planting them near very vigorous trees or plants is very necessary.
And adequate attention must be paid to making good fertilization of the plant and then to providing regular fertilizer supplies.
Related: How To Get Seeds From Bolted Lettuce Step By Step
IN CONCLUSION
It is important to note that the Peonies seeds after collection, need to be soaked before you start the germination process. They may be hard but soaking them helps a lot to quicken its process and ready for germination. Naturally, it takes so much time to grow.
