Starting Perennial Seeds Indoors
Soils and Containers
Use an artificial soil based on peat moss for this task. Do not use garden soil or potting soil as you'll find they will compact too much for the small seedling roots.
Containers For Starting Perennial Seeds
Containers can be anything that will hold adequate amounts of soil (like a four-inch pot) and not dry out too much between waterings. If you use small containers – like egg cartons often recommended by home gardeners – you'll have to be be very careful not to let the soil dry out too much between waterings.
Temperatures
You'll often read about freezing seed to induce a wakeup call for your perennials seeds and break their dormancy. For the majority of seeds, if you put them into a freezer while they are dry, you'll simply kill them. Do not freeze your seed.
Research has shown the optimum temperature for breaking dormancy is 40F and the length of time the average seed requires at this temperature is 90 days.
Once the seed has broken dormancy, the optimum temperature for germination is 70F. And the timing for that is 90 days as well.
A Seed Germination System
Many advanced perennial gardeners make use of the above temperatures and lengths of time to germinate most perennial seed and they do it by following a particular system.
Take a baggie. Put a handfull of barely-damp vermiculite into it. Put in the seeds you want to germinate. Label it with a plastic label using waterproof ink. Put the label in the baggie – seal the baggie and put it into the crisper of the frig. Let it sit there for 90 days.
Wait 90 Days
After 90 days, take the baggie out and sow the seed into a pot of artificial soil and keep it warm on a soil heating mat. The seed will germinate within 90 days.
If it doesn't germinate within 90 days, put the entire pot into the crisper of the frig (wrap it in plastic so it won't spill). Leave for 90 days. Pull out and keep warm. If the seeds don't germinate now, toss them because they are likely dead.
When the seedlings get to the 4 leaf stage (4 true leaves not seedling leaves) then transplant to their own individual pots and grow until they are large enough to go into the garden.
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