How to Grow Foxglove from Seed Indoors

 

Foxglove plants can be easily grown from seed sown early indoors and then transplanted outside after frost has passed. Also they can be sown directly in the garden in summer or planted as a potted plant.

 

When to Sow Foxglove Seeds Indoors

-         You can sow the seeds indoors in eight to ten weeks before the last frost.

-         Only just cover with seed-starting formula.

-         Keep the soil moist at sixty to sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit.

-         The foxglove seedlings will emerge in fourteen to twenty-one days.

-         Keep the soil evenly moist.

-         Immediately the foxglove seedlings emerge, you need to provide plenty of light on a sunny windowsill or grow the seedlings three to four inches beneath fluorescent plant lights turned on sixteen hours per day, off for eight hours at night. You can raise the lights as the Foxglove plants grow taller. Incandescent bulbs will not actually work for this process because they will get too hot. Most Foxglove plants require a dark period to grow, don’t leave the lights on for twenty-four hours. 

-         The foxglove seedlings don’t need much fertilizer, you can feed them when they are about three to four weeks old using a starter solution (half strength of a complete indoor houseplant food). Make sure is according to manufacturer’s directions.

-         If you are growing the plant in small cells, you may need to transplant the foxglove seedlings to three or four inch pots when the seedlings have at least two pairs of true leaves before transplanting to the garden so they have enough room to develop strong roots.

-         Before you plant them in the garden, the foxglove seedlings plants need to be “hardened off”. Accustom young foxglove plants to outdoor conditions by moving the plant to a sheltered place outside for a week. Make sure you protect them from wind and hot sun at first. If frost actually threatens at night, you can cover or bring the containers indoors, and then take them out again in the morning. This hardening off process actually toughens the plant’s cell structure and also reduces transplant shock and scalding.

 

How to Grow Foxgloves

-         Choose a good location in full sun to part shade with moist, organic soil.

-         Prepare the bed by turning the soil under to a depth of about six to twelve inches, remove any debris and also level the ground by raking.

-         Actually the addition of organic matter (compost, leaf mold, well-rotted manure) really benefits all gardens and is vital in recently constructed neighborhoods.

-         Make sure you plant on a cloudy day or in late afternoon to reduce transplant shock.

-         You need to dig a hole for each of the plant, approximately eighteen inches apart large enough to amply accommodate the plant root ball.

-         Carefully unpot the plant, and also gently loosen the plant root ball with your hands to encourage good root growth.

-         You have to place the top of the root ball even with the level of the surrounding soil, and then fill with soil to the top of the root ball. Press the soil down firmly with your hand.

-         Apply water and also apply a light mulch layer on top of the soil (one to two inches) in other to conserve water and reduce weeds.

 

How to Sow Directly in the Garden

-         Sow directly in rich, moist soil in part shade to full sun after danger of frost.

-         You need to remove weeds and work organic matter into the top six to eight inches of the soil, and then level and smooth.

-         Sow the foxglove seeds evenly and thinly and barely cover them with fine soil.

-         Make sure you keep them evenly moist.

-         Foxglove seedlings will emerge in fourteen to twenty-one days depending on the soil and weather conditions.

-         You can thin them to stand about eighteen inches apart when they are large enough to handle.