Phacelia

[Robm 1959]

Has anyone left phacelia to reseed the following year? Have about 5 acres in various plots that I would like to see if I can keep going. Wondering if I should just leave it, top it, or maybe even run a tined cultivator through it before the winter, to try and get some regeneration. Anyone any experience in this ??

 

[robbie]

I put phacelia in with some perennial chicory last year for game cover. The phacelia flowered about july time and then shed its seeds,regrew twice as thick and was about to flower again just before winter, the slightest cold weather knocks it. To my suprise some seed made it through the winter and I had a lovely show again this spring.

I'm not sure how many years itll last for but it seems to re seed itself ok at the moment.

 

[Try to succeed]

Reseeding itself in two year plots of bird seed here. Fantastic plant

 

[Simon Chiles]

Has anyone left phacelia to reseed the following year? Have about 5 acres in various plots that I would like to see if I can keep going. Wondering if I should just leave it, top it, or maybe even run a tined cultivator through it before the winter, to try and get some regeneration. Anyone any experience in this ??

You’ll be lucky if it lasts until next year, it’s very intolerant of a frost. I grew it for seed many years ago. As the seed is so small I had some losses ( even with a slow fan kit ) so decided to shallow cultivate to get some regrowth. It tolerated a few frosts but the third one, only a -2, killed it completely.

 

[snarling bee]

IME it will keep coming back year on year if it is just left.

 

[Robm 1959]

Think I’ll just leave it be then, and see what happens

 

[chipchap]

You’ll be lucky if it lasts until next year, it’s very intolerant of a frost. I grew it for seed many years ago. As the seed is so small I had some losses ( even with a slow fan kit ) so decided to shallow cultivate to get some regrowth. It tolerated a few frosts but the third one, only a -2, killed it completely.

The point may well be that a small proportion of the shed seed does not germinate until the following spring, perhaps?

 

[Simon Chiles]

The point may well be that a small proportion of the shed seed does not germinate until the following spring, perhaps?

Phacelia is photo dormant, ie it needs to be buried to germinate. Running a cultivator through it will fairly certainly bury most seeds and obviously help germination but unfortunately as it isn’t frost tolerant you’ll have to count on a frost free winter. If you don’t cultivate it you’ve got to rely on seeds falling on the ground, being washed down a crack and soil being washed over it to cover it enough to be in darkness for it to germinate. If this happens before a frost you’re back into the same scenario as running a cultivator through the soil. For it to successfully re seed you’ll need it to sit on the soil surface and not be washed into the soil until next spring, or at least until it’s cold enough for it not to germinate until the spring. Even then it needs not to get a late frost as that too can nail it. Undoubtedly a small proportion of your shed seed will grow again the next year if all the conditions work out ok but it is at best a very inefficient process. Possibly the most efficient way to get it to regrow is to do a shallow cultivation late next spring.

 

[Joe Boy]

This all self seeded from last years bird food mix, sown spring 19. This pic was 18th May this year.

I sprayed the area off in Oct 19 and the plot hasn’t been cultivated for 8 years.