How to Germinate Echinacea Purpurea Seeds

Echinacea purpurea is the botanical name for purple coneflower, a perennial species of flowering plant native to much of the eastern United States. It is frequently cultivated as an ornamental plant for its showy, daisy-like flowers, which appear atop 4-foot-tall stems throughout the summer months. Although the species is most commonly cultivated using vegetative methods such as division, non-hybrid varieties will also grow well from seeds if the seeds are exposed to cold temperatures for a week or so before sowing.

Plastic bag
6-pack planting container
Potting soil
Spray bottle
Propagation heat mat

Instructions

- 1
  Chill the Echinacea purpurea seeds for seven to 10 days inside the refrigerator to break their dormancy and prepare them for germination. Put the seeds inside a plastic bag when storing them.
- 2
  Fill a 6-pack planting container with sterile potting soil. Sow two Echinacea purpurea seeds in each cell of the planting container. Cover the seeds with a 1/4-inch-thick layer of potting soil.
- 3
  Mist the soil heavily using a spray bottle. Spritz each cell until water begins to pool on the soil and trickle out of the drainage holes.
- 4
  Put the 6-pack planting container where it will receive eight hours of sunlight each day. Apply bottom heat to the planting container using a propagation heat mat set to 75 F.
- 5
  Mist the Echinacea purpurea seeds using the spray bottle whenever the top of the soil feels dry when pressed. Keep the top half-inch of soil moist during the germination process.
- 6
  Watch for germination in two to three weeks. Pluck out and discard the weaker of the two Echinacea seedlings once they grow to 1 inch in height and put on a set of fully formed leaves.

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