Red Hot Poker not germinating - why?

[Tatiana]

Hello!

I'm trying to grow flowers from seeds but I'm having trouble with two: red hot poker and Aconitum napellus (monkshood). Neither are germinating for me! I sowed other seeds at the same time - echinacea, rudbeckia etc - and no problem with those, they are all little seedlings already.

What am I doing wrong??
For red hot poker, thinking they might like a bit of warmth, I used gentle heat for half the pots (same as for my chilis and those came up a treat!). But nothing on either the heated and unheated pots.

For Aconitum, it said on the packet that they should be put in the fridge for a month before sowing, so i did that, but again, nada  ???

Help!

[Tatiana]

[Robert_Brenchley]

Try planting the aconitums in autumn and leaving them in a cold frame all winter. Nothing's infallible; I had quite a lot of seed rot last winter. But it often works. Meanwhile, put the pot out and forget it. They'll either germinate or they won't. I don't know what conditions RHP likes.

[Tatiana]

thanks Robert, I'll try that.

[Tatiana]

after a bit more googling and many sites telling me how easy they were to grow, I found a site telling me that for Red Hot Poker :

'The seeds need 6 weeks of moist chilling in the refrigerator, prior to planting. After sowing, keep them at 70-75 degrees F. Germination normally occurs in about 20 days, but may take up to 3 months for certain cultivars.'

so off to the fridge then and try again!
:)

[GrannieAnnie]

Years ago I started some RHP from seed outside. It took them FOREVER to come up. But still have them today and have even transplanted them which they supposedly don't like.

[Tatiana]

Ok, maybe I gave up on them too quickly! I'll keep one small pot inside and one out and see what happens after a few weeks  :)