Please find for sale 20+ seeds of  Cordyline Australis Purpurea better known as the Cornish Palm as well as a host of other names such Purple New Zealand Cabbage Tree, Purple Cabbage Tree, Ti Kouka, Ti Cabbage Tree, Palm Lily, Grass Palm and Purple Torbay Palm,

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Cordyline Australis 'Purpurea' is the purple-foliaged cultivar of Cordyline Australis, the popular New Zealand Cabbage Tree. It can be grown indoors as a very attractive houseplant or grow outside if given a good root-run in a relatively sheltered position with not too much strong sun and fertile well-drained soil. The fragrant flowers are borne on large racemes in mid-summer and are highly attractive to bees. Cordyline Australis purpurea is not fully hardy, but more mature specimens usually survive winter outdoors in milder regions (eg Cornwall, hence its nickname) or urban areas. Smaller specimens should be brought into greenhouses during the winter.

Cordylines do not like root run disturbance so if you are planning to grow this plant as a container specimen, the best advice is to plant it in a large pot (i.e. too large at the time). Ensure rich, well draining compost so the Cordyline can happily grow  without any need to re-pot causing root disturbance.
 


Germination Guide

1) Sow seeds at any time of year
2) Soak the seeds in hot tap water for 1 hour
3) Prepare potting mix - ideally 50/50 of regular compost mixed with perlite, vermiculite or horticultural sand. Mix should be moist but not wet
4) Put the compost mix in a plastic container and microwave on full power for 2 minutes (kills any fungus etc). Allow to cool
5) Spread the cordyline seeds over the compost surface, about 2.5cm apart. Sprinkle a 0.75cm layer of potting mix over the seeds. Lightly press down on the soil so it sits firmly over the seeds.
6)  Place the tray in a warm area out of bright light eg on a window sill but out of direct sun . Typical UK indoor room temperature is fine 17-23c. 
7) Ensure compost does not dry out. If uncovered, the best way is to pour water into the container below the seed tray, allow this water to be taken up by the compost for 30 mins or so, then once the moisture visible on the surface drain off remaining water from the container.
8) Germination can been sped up by loosely covering with a plastic bag to increase humidity - BUT I find this encourage fungal rot so prefer method in 7) above
9) Germination can be erratic for cordylines - takes 1 to 2 months
10) Transplant seedlings when large enough to handle into small pots.
11) Keep indoors during winter months and gradually acclimatize the young plants outside in Spring before planting out in final position


TOP TIP! Don't use all your seeds in the same tray just in case rot sets in. 

Olly's General Guide to Seed Sowing!

I love sowing seeds and it runs in the family - dad, granddad and finally my great-granddad for whom the hobby helped him get over his experiences in the Great War. I still get a big kick when I see the first seedling poking through from a new plant that I have never sown before or been successful at. However, even the most experienced gardeners draw "blanks" from time to time. Whilst I sow all the seeds that I sell so I know that they are viable, some are trickier than others and problems can arise so here are some tips to make "blanks" few and far between:

1) Don’t Rush! Tempting though it is when that packet arrives in the post to simply bung the seeds in some compost!

2) Google and YouTube are your friends! Take some time so see the methods other people use to germinate the seed. 

3) Think Nature! What conditions do seeds face? For example a seed from a tropical plant will fall to the warm, wet and dark jungle floor. A seed from the mountains of Europe will fall to the floor in Autumn, then have to endure months of freezing temperatures before germinating in the spring. So as growers, what we are trying to do is to simulate the conditions that the seeds will naturally experience and there are plenty of tricks that can be done to short cut the processes somewhat.

4) Good compost pays dividends. The best investment you can make is to purchase three bags - one of potting compost, one of vermiculite and one of horticultural sand. With these three bags I can make up whatever soil type a particular seed likes (although for most seeds I find a 50/50 mix of compost and vermiculite works just fine) 

5) Rot is your enemy. The single biggest danger to seed germination is rot - either before or after "damping off" the seeds germinate. To reduce the risk, ensure you have good free draining soil mix and that it is moist but not wet. Unless the seed variety absolutely requires it I prefer NOT to cover my seeds trays with plastic bags, Whilst germination is often faster this way, it greatly increases the risk of rot. I prefer to place my seed trans inside a watertight plastic tray and water from the bottom - airflow over the surface reduces the risk.

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