Your Guide to Grow Vinca from Seeds
Vinca is known by many names in various parts of the world, including the rose periwinkle or Madagascar periwinkle. You can find this adorable plant in a variety of blooms like red, rose, salmon, or purple. While this is a very versatile plant and can be found easily in anyone’s garden, it can be quite tricky to grow from the seeds. You can collect vinca seeds from a mature plant or can buy vinca seeds for sale online. By following a few steps diligently, you can grow your vinca plant from the seeds.
Here are the steps one can follow to grow vinca from seeds:
Seed collection
If you are buying vinca seeds, then you don’t need this step, but if you bought a grown vinca plant and now have mature seeds, then you should know the procedure to collect them to sow them properly. When collecting vinca seeds, you should look for long, narrow, green seed pods growing on the stem just beneath the blooming flowers. You can either snip or pinch the pods when the pods start to turn yellow or brown. Observe the plant, if you wait too long, the seed pod will open, and you will lose the seeds.
Once the pods are completely dry, you can collect the tiny black seeds. For storage, use a paper envelope and place them in a cool and dry space.
Planting vinca seeds
The ideal time to plant vinca seeds is 3-4 months before the last frost of the season. You can start them indoors in a pot. Cover the vinca seeds lightly with soil and lay a damp newspaper over the pot or the tray because vinca seeds need complete darkness for germination. The ideal temperature to grow vinca seeds would be around 27 degrees Celsius.
Keep the tray under observation. You can remove the newspaper when the seedlings start to emerge. It can take anywhere between 2 to 9 days. Once the seedlings emerge, you can move the plant to bright sunlight.
Transfer
Once the plant grows up to 5-6 inches, it is ready for transplant to a bigger pot. Remember, vinca does not like its feet wet, so prepare soil moisture that can hold moisture but drains easily. Place the plant in the bigger pot and pour in the soil mixture, then water it thoroughly. Now, keep the plant in a spot where it is exposed to bright sun.
Final words
Vinca is a reliable annual plant that is primarily grown in beds or borders in the garden where it can get full or partial sunlight. Once they start to grow, they give beautiful blooms throughout the year. Make sure to water them in just the right quantity. Water them well during the hot season and skip watering them for a couple of days during cold weather. This plant is heat and drought resistant once established, so you don’t have to worry about it dying that easily.
