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Produce => Non Edible Plants => Topic started by: Shirley on December 07, 2006, 13:07:49

Title: Pennisetum
Post by: Shirley on December 07, 2006, 13:07:49
Browsing through seed catalogues planning for next year, (it's a horrid wet afternoon) I looked up pennisetum as I wanted to try and grow this from seed, and came across the following instruction

"Sow in pots or trays of moist seed compost and cover with a fine sprinkling of compost or vermiculite 6 to 8 weeks before last frost" ???

Title: Re: Pennisetum
Post by: Palustris on December 07, 2006, 14:42:58
So now you need to be a Weather prophet too!
Title: Re: Pennisetum
Post by: laurieuk on December 07, 2006, 14:52:51
The RHS say that this plant is not completely hardy and in some areas might need protection in pots during severe winter, so it would seem the idea is to get the seed growing ready to plant after the frost finish but a while longer inside makimg good plants cannot hurt.
Title: Re: Pennisetum
Post by: Shirley on December 07, 2006, 15:46:57
Yeah, I could see what they were getting at, I just thought it was a strange way of wording it.  Just my weird sense of humour - if we next frost 10 weeks after sowing I wont mentioned it to be plant ;D
Title: Re: Pennisetum
Post by: montanum on December 11, 2006, 19:59:15
if we next frost 10 weeks after sowing I wont mentioned it to be plant

Is this some sort of code?
Title: Re: Pennisetum
Post by: wahaj on December 11, 2006, 22:22:59
i think they're talking about places that have very predictable frost patterns, year in year out. whereas the UK is very unpredictable weather wise.

this year frosts didn't end till april. so i'm assuming around mid february?
Title: Re: Pennisetum
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on December 11, 2006, 22:33:41
But then last year we had frost in mid-June. And some years we only get a couple of frosts all winter here. I'd plant mid-February and be prepared to keep it in a cold frame if necessary. If there's a frost forecast after it's been planted out, fleece or a cloche should protect it.