A Detailed Guide to Selecting and Growing Hollyhock Seeds

Hollyhock, also called cloak flower, because its plants can grow to two or three meters tall, so it also has the elegant name "yizhanghong". Hollyhock plants are especially tall and are very popular in flower markets. There are many hollyhock varieties, and to make it convenient for everyone to grow them indoors, many dwarf varieties have also been bred. So how do you select hollyhock seeds? What growing methods are there? Let us take a look together below.

1. How do you select hollyhock seeds?

Hollyhock seeds are not expensive. They can be purchased at some flower markets or online. After purchase, choose healthy and intact ones for planting, and discard those of poor quality, and they can be used for sowing.

But hollyhock seeds have a hard shell, so they need to be soaked in clean water to let the seed shell slowly soften and break the dormancy of the embryo inside the seed shell, thereby promoting seed germination. If you buy too many hollyhock seeds, you can store them to plant again the next year, because hollyhock seeds can be stored for 3-4 years.

After drying, hollyhock seeds should be sown as soon as possible. If purchased seeds are not sown in time, the germination rate will continuously decrease. If the seeds are harvested from seed pods that dried naturally in an outdoor environment (having experienced snowfall and snowmelt), they can germinate without soaking in clean water.

2. What growing methods are there for hollyhock?

1. Growing methods

Hollyhock is easy to propagate and extremely easy to cultivate. It is mostly propagated by seed, but division and cuttings can also be used. When propagating by sowing, it can generally be sown in spring or autumn, mostly in autumn. It sprouts the following spring. When the seedlings grow to 15-20 cm, transplant them with soil. If sowing in the final planting position, only simple thinning is needed.

Hollyhock sowing should be done in September, sown in a seedbed or pot, or it can also be directly sown. After sowing, cover thinly with fine soil, water frequently, and keep it moist. Transplant when the seedlings grow 3 to 4 leaves. After growth resumes, apply diluted human and livestock manure urine mixed with 5 times water two to three times; plant in the final position when about 10 leaves have grown. It can also be planted in the final position when 4 to 5 leaves have grown. Division and cuttings are done from September to October.

2. Soil preparation

Before sowing, prepare the soil well and apply decomposed compost as base fertilizer. After the seedlings are transplanted and survive, apply diluted liquid fertilizer several more times, and then they will have deep roots and lush leaves, with large, brightly colored flowers. After the flowers fade in autumn, the stems can be cut off, leaving 3 to 5 cm of stubble at the base. The next year new shoots can still grow, producing even more vigorous plants that continue to bloom and set seed.

3. Seedling stage management

In the first few weeks after transplanting, the seedlings need regular watering to keep the soil slightly moist. After a few weeks, once the seedlings are growing vigorously, they do not need frequent care. Some varieties with relatively fragile flower stalks and especially tall plants need bamboo poles or wooden stakes for support to prevent them from being blown over.

4. Fertilizer and water management

Hollyhock is suitable for growing in fertile, deep soil. After planting in the final position, apply human and livestock manure urine mixed with 4 times water once a month. Hollyhock can also be grown as a perennial rootstock plant. In autumn the aboveground part withers, and it overwinters by the rootstock, sprouting the following spring and still blooming in summer. After the hollyhock plants grow vigorously, avoid frequent watering. It is afraid of too much water. Too much water or poor ventilation makes it prone to powdery mildew or black rot.

The above is an introduction to hollyhock. In fact, planting hollyhock flowers is very convenient. Hollyhock can be seen in many courtyards or street landscaping. Hollyhock blooms every year in June when the wheat matures, hence the name "barley ripe". Therefore, people take its full bloom period as an auspicious day for the wheat harvest.

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