Nigella "flowers in a mist" growing in a container?

[tenderloingardener]

Hello gardening angels. I was collecting seeds, mostly looking for ripe E. californicus when I came across a "pooped out" annual that had the most interesting seed pods. A friendly passerby told me what they were, and I collected a few seeds. I put them in a 4" pot, about 1:1 peat moss and a potting soil that contains compost but no other fertilizer. I didn't expect to see anything until spring. If anything at all. Well, they have nearly all popped up and some are dveloping first "true" leaves. My question is, given the size of the plant I took the pods from, is growing these in a container even feasible? Is it possible too keep the plant to a smaller size and still get blooms? Since I collected from a plant with no blooms left I have no idea what species or subspecies they are. Surprize!
Any advice would be fantastic. I'd love to grow these! If it's not totally nuts to even try at what point should I transplant and into what size container-the smallest I can get away with! Need I get a joint compound bucket such as those many grow tomatoes?

Shawna Fetzer
Writing from the heart of the city

[imafan26]

Nigella, love in a mist, is related to the buttercup family. I tried to grow it, but I don't think it likes my heat very much. If it grows for you fantabulous.

[rainbowgardener]

I haven't grown it, but I would think the depth of your container would be most important. It is a smallish plant, no more than 2' tall and 1' wide, but it grows a long tap root and it does not like to be transplanted. So I would move your seedlings now into a pot that is at least a foot deep and with room for their mature size.

[tenderloingardener]

Thanks for the advice. It looks like a foraging expedition is on. The folks at my neighborhood Good Will are smoking the good stuff charging double what I would pay for new! There is one place with really good prices on terra cotta but he is usually too busy chatting up important people to sell me stuff Some of the shops in the city are so "cool" I'm surprized they manage to stay open!

1' isn't too bad. I should be able to deal with that. One can never find one of those buckets when one wants one. This makes me think I've likely sown my E. californicum in too shallow of a pot as well-about 10" and my bread poppies-yeah, should I get lucky enough for some plants I think they are going to need a MUCH bigger pot too.

I'm gonna check out roof access ( on the DL.

Thanks for the correction-"love-in-a-mist" not flowers. I knew that but we are sharing a device so one gets a little flustered trying to hurry!

Shawna
From the Heart of the City

[imafan26]

A lot of things can be used as pots. Muck buckets cost around $10 here and hold 18 gallons of soil.
Sometimes you can get pallets for free and rebuild them as planter boxes. Styrofoam boxes from some companies can be gotten for fee. They come in various sizes so you have to be creative.

There are recycling places that have some good stuff but it isn't always cheap. Then there is the the dump. If you hang out there long enough one man's garbage may be your treasure.

I picked up 5 gallon buckets one day while I was dumping weeds from another guy dumping construction materials. Construction sites are also good places to pick up left over concrete wire, sometimes buckets and scrap wood. Make sure you bring them some beer to say thanks later.

Restaurants sometimes have buckets that are tossed out and food grade buckets are better for plants. I use the construction buckets for weeds, tools and storage. I can get 55 gallon drums for rain barrels from the bakery and shoyu distributors.

[rainbowgardener]

We have this whole three page thread going on free/ inexpensive container ideas. Check it out:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... p?p=255655

[tenderloingardener]

Funny how you never see those buckets when you need one. Actually, there was one the other night but there is a dirty little secret about SF dog owners. They will pick up the poo, most of the time, but if there is anything from a plastic bucket to a cardboard box around they will deposit the poo there rather than a proper receptacle. So, it was a poopy bucket. Many of your suggestions are what I meant by "foraging." Lots of eateries around-one of those industrial size mayo buckets would be great. Or a smaller joint compound bucket. Thing is, anything over 10" across on the bottom can't fit on the ledge. We found a very tall-huge- clay pot that I intend to use if I can get any P. somniferum to come up. I know sowing in there would have been ideal, but that's a lot of dirt. ($) So I need something viable first.
We have a bit of an argument going at my place right now. I think my husband (dearest love of my life) has never really grown flowers that put down tap roots. So he insists that, like plants with more tendril-like root systems, I can keep the plant as small as I want by cutting it, keeping it in a smaller container. I maintain that with plants that grow a big tap root, if the tap root isn't allowed enough room the plant may stop maturing and in some cases never produce the flowers, which is the whole point. I realized that the pot I put my E. californicum and E. lemonii seeds in is actually not as big (deep) as I thought it was. Not even 10". He insists this is okay, that I will just have smaller plants. Which would be fine, but I'm not so sure I'll get the full life cycle. I'm especially excited about the Nigella, and honestly, judging from what I collected the seed pods from, 1' is conservative. Side note-Nigella seeds are tasty and are used in Indian cookery called black cumin. Anyway, what do you guys think? If I keep the Nigella in a smaller pot, will I get my love-in-a-mist?

What do you guys think?

[tenderloingardener]

Hello again! I got my Nigella in a good pot and it's growing well, but there is something odd. Out of the 6 or so plants only one grows buds, flowers, seed pods. There is no chance that the other plants are not Nigella. I tried to find out if this was one of those plants that have a gender-only females flowering-and even diving into the library books I couldn't find the answer. The flowering plant has leaves that look much different from the others, which grow a new shoot that looks like a bottle brush from the center of the plant-the way most tap root plants do. The one that makes flowers that are clearly "love-in-a-mist" grows in a more spiky, off center way. P

Is there a botanist out there who can tell me what's up-or someone who has experience with these sometimes over prolific flowers?

Peace

[imafan26]

Post a picture of it in the id section. Someone might be able to identify it.

[rainbowgardener]

Agree, post pictures of the flowering one and the others.

I know you said: There is no chance that the other plants are not Nigella.


But you also said: The flowering plant has leaves that look much different from the others


So it is hard for me to understand how a plant with flowers and leaves that are very different is the same plant.

You are thinking I only planted nigella seeds, so they all have to be nigella. Unfortunately, weeds are ubiquitous. So the alternate explanation is that only one of your nigella seeds sprouted and some weeds sprouted.

nigella has very feathery leaves. Is this what yours is looking like?



https://www.nathankramer.com/garden/plan ... e_Mist.jpg