How to Grow a Vinca minor From Seed

Fill a seed-starting tray with damp, soilless seed-starting mix, leaving 3/4 inch between the mix and the lip of the tray. Commercially available seed-starting mixes are light and sterile, important elements when germinating seeds. Garden soil and nonsterile potting soil may contain pathogens that cause the seeds to rot. In addition, regular potting soil and garden soils are too heavy for effective seed germination.

Place the Vinca minor seeds onto the seed-starting media about 1/4 inch apart. Cover the seeds with an additional 1/4 inch of the damp seed-starting media.

Cover the Vinca minor seeds with black plastic, or keep them in a dark room. Vinca minor seeds require an environment without light to germinate effectively. Keep the seeds at 77 degrees Fahrenheit during germination.

Lift the black plastic, and mist the mix with water when it feels slightly dry to the touch. Use a fine mist sprayer to avoid disrupting the germinating Vinca minor seeds. Look for shoots in one to two weeks.

Leave the black plastic off the seed-starting tray when you see the first signs of the seedlings emerging from the soil. Move the tray into an area that gets bright, filtered light. Mist the seedlings with water when the top of the seed-starting media starts to feel dry.

Apply the first fertilizer application two weeks after you first notice the seedlings. Use a water-soluble formula. Keep Vinca minor seedlings between 70 and 80 F.

Thin out Vinca minor seedlings to a spacing of 2 inches two weeks after germination. Pull out the weakest seedlings, or pinch them off at the soil line.

At 3 to 4 inches tall, transplant Vinca minor seedlings into individual 2-inch pots. Slide your fingers under a section of seedlings, and lift them from the soil. Gently pull them apart and plant one in each pot. Add potting soil to fill in under and around the roots.

Transplant Vinca minor seedlings into the garden after the last frost date. Space Vinca minor seedlings 6 inches apart to create a thick ground cover. Plant in a spot that gets partial or full shade.