How to Grow Tigridia Pavonia From Seeds

Sometimes nature just isn’t fair. Such is the case with Tigridia pavonia, a plant that bears incredibly lovely yellow, peach, orange or red flowers that last only one day. Usually grown from bulbs, T. pavonia flowers from June to October, so at least the gardener has the pleasure of repeat blooms. Hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture zone 8, Tigridia pavonia, also known as the tiger flower, is easy to grow from seed, started indoors in early spring.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• Horticultural sand
• Perlite
• Planting pots
• Coarse gravel
• Heat mat
• Spray bottle
• Potting soil

1. Combine equal parts of perlite and sand and pour it into a planting pot. Water the soil until it is soaked and the water drains from the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot.

2. Scatter the seeds on top of the soil and cover with a 1/8-inch layer of coarse gravel.

3. Place the heat mat in an area that receives indirect sunlight and set the temperature to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the pot on top of the mat.

4. Keep the soil moist while the Tigridia seeds germinate by misting it with water from a spray bottle.

5. Remove the pot from the heat mat when the seedlings sprout, but keep the pot in the same brightly lit area.

6. Transplant the seedlings when they have their second set of leaves. Carefully separate the Tigridia pavonia seedlings from one another and plant each seedling into its own pot, filled with equal parts of moist potting soil and sand.

7. Allow the top inch of soil to dry between waterings when the plants have their fourth set of leaves.

8. Keep the Tigridia pavonia seedlings indoors over their first winter and transplant them into the garden the following spring, after the last frost date in your area.