How to Start Dianthus Seeds
Dianthus seeds can be purchased online, at home improvement centers and nurseries. These are an exceptionally popular flower to grow because they are easy to start from seed and they come in so many beautiful colors. Choose from over 300 varieties including solid colors of yellow, white, lavender, pink and red. Bicolors and multicolored blooms are also available. Learn how to start dianthus seeds and share plants with friends.
Required Items
- Spoon
- Peat moss
- Perlite
- Liquid plant fertilizer
- Plastic bags
- Shallow trays
- Plant dianthus seeds in shallow trays. Choose from a mixture of half peat moss and half perlite or you can purchase commercial planting mix for seeds. Seeds should be planted at the beginning of spring. Use trays with drainage holes or make holes with an ice pick if there are none. Fill trays with two to three inches of planting mix and place the seeds on top of the soil. Cover seeds with about a fourth of an inch of planting medium.
- Water tiny dianthus seeds by filling up the kitchen sink with an inch of water. Place the whole tray in the sink and allow it to absorb water through the holes on the bottom of the tray for 10 minutes. Drain the water from the sink and allow the tray to finish dripping. Repeat the process for each tray. Move trays into a sunny window.
- Use clear plastic bags to enclose each tray. Place each tray in an individual bag. This works great for keeping the soil most and letting in sunshine. The bags can be removed in 10 days or so when the sprouts appear.
- Keep soil moist by watering every couple of days and fertilize. Seedlings can be fertilized after they are at least 10 days old. Use one tsp. of a general liquid fertilizer mixed with one gallon of water. Seedlings will thrive and grow well when fertilized once a week.
- Transplant seedlings outdoors in a sunny location in the spring.