Encelia Seedlings – Mother Nature vs. Us October 15th, 2009
Sorry for the delay in updates, but I have sad news to report on the seedling front.
Due to the heat wave that came through Riverside during the second week of the project, the seedlings that initally germinated were unable to survive. The trays that the seeds were planted in were not deep enough to hold water throughout the day, and therefore, the soil dried up.
This represents one of the biggest challenges in growing native plants for personal and professional use. Plants such as Encelia farinosa produce hundreds of seeds per plant which are spread across the landscape. Only a small percentage of each of these seeds is capable of producing a plant, and often conditions are not consistently good enough for the seedling to become a full plant.
I will continue to water the tray over the next few weeks in hope that some of the seeds will contnue to germinate in the cooler weather.
