With just two steps, you may easily learn how to gather lantana seeds. It’s important to know how to acquire lantana seeds in addition to how to plant them. Your mature lantana flowers will be ready to harvest all year long if you do it this way.
How to successfully grow this plant will also be covered in this post. The fact that lantana can withstand certain difficult conditions doesn’t mean you should overlook the need of keeping an eye on their health and growth. To ensure lantana seed germination, you may want to start your garden in a greenhouse.
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How To Collect Lantana Seeds?
Step #1. Collection
The first step in obtaining lantana seeds is to collect the pods. Throughout the growth season, your lantana plants will generate seeds just like any other plant. The pods of lantanas can be harvested throughout the year since they bloom from summer to October.
Starting at less than an inch in length, these seedpods turn yellow. After ripening and turning purple or black, they should be harvested. Make sure to use hands when harvesting lantana berries, which are toxic, as the seed pods ripen in the plant.
Step #2. Drying
After harvesting the seeds, the next step is to store them for planting. To allow the seed pods to dry, place them in a paper bag and keep them in a cool, dry location. Gathering the seeds from the pods in this manner will allow you to sow them fast.
There is no need to smash the pods to remove seeds after a few days of agitating the bag. Otherwise, no special equipment are required to open the berries; you may simply use your fingers to do so. When the weather warms up in the spring, you’ll be able to sow the seeds you collected.
Finding Lantana Seed Pods
Lantana blooms throughout the summer and fall, thus it is always generating flowers and seeds during this time. In other words, the flowers appear only at the end of the stems, which are long and square. Flowers fade away and are replaced by green, berry-like balls that are about 1/3 of an inch in diameter. Lanthana’s green balls are seed pods that will eventually turn a rich purple-black color when they’re ripe. The pods are ready to harvest when the skin is wrinkled and the inside is soft to the touch.
Wear gloves when harvesting lantana berries or seeds, according to the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service, because all parts of the plant are toxic. You can store the seed pods in a paper bag in a cool, dry location until the following spring. When you’re ready to sow the seeds, the pods will dry out and the seeds will come out easily. In order to get the seeds out, simply shake the paper bag. If you can’t get the seeds out of the berries, gently smash them between your fingers.
How To Grow Lantana From Seeds?
Step #1. Germination
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In order to cultivate lantana from seed, it’s better to start indoors. Your seedlings will be ready for transplantation in no time at all if you use this method. Starting lantana seeds three months prior to the last spring frost will ensure maximum yields this year.
Make sure that you keep the seeds in warm water for at least one full day before planting them in the ground. This will soften their hulls, making it easier for them to sprout. Alternatively, you might spend this time in the greenhouse preparing their pots.
A well-draining pot with a moist seed starting compost is suitable for germination of lantana seeds. There’s enough moisture in the surroundings, but it’s not wet that the seeds will be harmed by it. As a precaution, just sow three seeds per pot because it’s unlikely that all seeds would germinate.
Step #2. Maintenance
Before covering the seeds with damp compost, you can plant them at a depth of about 1 inch. To encourage development, select an area in the greenhouse that is well-lit but not directly exposed to sunlight. Lantana seeds will germinate in one to two months if you keep the soil moist and the temperature between 70°F and 75°F.
Once you have the seedlings, you can select the stronger ones and grow them under lights. Wait for the young lantana plants to grow mature leaves and then transplant in the garden after the danger of frost has passed. When transplanting, however, make sure to adapt them slowly before moving them to a permanent location with moist and well-draining soil in full light before doing so.
The seedlings can be selected and grown under lights once you have them. The best time to transplant lantanas is after the risk of frost has passed, so wait until the plants have matured. However, it is important to adapt them slowly before moving them permanently to a place with moist and well-draining soil under full sun.
For best results, start lantana seeds indoors six or eight weeks before you intend to transfer them outside. To soften the seed coat, soak the seeds in warm water for 24 hours. Fill individual pots with soilless seed starting medium to within 12 inch (1 cm.) of the top and saturate the medium with water. To start a garden, fill each pot with 1/8 inch (3 mm) of dirt and plant one or two seeds in the center. If more than one seedling appears, use a pair of scissors to remove the weakest one.
Starting Lantana Seeds
Before the growth season begins, Cornell University recommends sowing lantana seeds inside 3-4 months before the final spring frost. In order to remove any naturally existing compounds that could hinder germination, it is recommended that the seeds be soaked in warm water for 24 hours. Preparation of 3-inch nursery pots filled with sterile seed-starting compost should begin while the seeds soak. One pot for every lantana you plan to cultivate. To prevent the compost from becoming too wet, use containers with drainage holes.
Even under ideal conditions, lantana seeds do not dependably germinate, therefore it is advisable to sow two or three in each pot to enhance your chances of producing a healthy seedling. Using a spray bottle, wet the compost and settle it over the seeds before planting. Ideally, the pots should be placed in an area with temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure the top inch of compost is kept evenly moist. An article published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by an author from the Missouri Botanical Garden explains that lantana seeds can take up to two months to germinate.
Growing Lantana Shrubs
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Lantana seedlings should be started indoors, in bright, warm light, and left there until all risk of frost has gone. When the seedlings have several mature sets of leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into the garden. This plant prefers full sun and moist, draining soil, although it doesn’t mind any sort of soil. At least 2 feet apart, place lantanas in a row.
Aside from regular watering and occasional pruning, mature lantana bushes require relatively little maintenance or care. However, until they become established in the garden, they require extra water and a small application of mulch. Spread a 2-inch-thick layer of lightweight mulch around the base of the plant to keep the soil moist and inhibit weeds. Every time you see that the top few inches of the soil are getting a little dry, you can run the water until the soil is saturated from the bottom up. Keep shrubs compact by cutting back stems by a third of their original length.
How to Grow Lantana from Cuttings?
Is it possible to grow lantana in other ways? Cuttings from mature plants can also be used in the greenhouse and allowed to root. Remove all the lower leaves from healthy parent plants in the spring before planting four-inch chunks.
Rooting hormone can be applied to the end of the cutting and then placed in a pot of peat moss and perlite. Cover the pot with a plastic bag to keep the environment moist and stabilize the cutting. After four weeks, you can remove this cover and remove the cutting.
Until they are ready to be transplanted outside, keep the cuttings in a bright, well-ventilated area and water them regularly.
Lantana plants can be easily multiplied through the use of cuttings. Make spring cuttings of fresh growth. Remove all but a few of the lower leaves off the stems, leaving only a few at the top of the cutting. The seed starting mix or half-and-half mixture of peat moss and perlite can be prepared in a small pot. Wet the mixture and poke a hole in the center of the pot 2 inches (5 cm) deep using a pencil. Place the cutting in the hole and use rooting hormone to coat the lower two inches (5 cm) of the cutting. Firm the medium around the cutting’s base so that it stands straight.
Using three or four craft sticks, insert them into the soil near the pot’s rim and press them down. Around the pot, distribute them randomly. Seal the plastic bag around the potted cutting. The bag will be protected from the cutting process by the use of craft sticks. Keep an eye out for evidence of new growth, which indicates that the cutting has rooted, but otherwise leave the cutting alone. 3-4 weeks are needed for rooting. When you’re ready to plant it outside, take the cutting out of the bag and place it in a bright window.
Conclusion
Lantana plants may be grown from seed quite easily. The seeds of lantana can be used to grow a garden even after the flowers have gone. Place the pods in a paper bag once they’ve turned purple-black and are no longer green.
The seeds should easily fall out of the seed pods if you allow them to dry in a cool, dry location. Sewing in a greenhouse requires 24-hour soaking of the seeds. After the risk of frost has passed, it’s best to start lantana seeds in the greenhouse and then move them outside.
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