Tips for Growing Better Echinacea

As popular as Echinacea are, it can be tricky getting them to grow into strong perennials. You have probably seen one single tall stem shooting up over a bare wisp of a plant or heard about coneflowers not overwintering well.

These and other growing problems can be resolved if you remember three simple facts about Echinacea:

1. Daylength is Important
Echinacea starts to emerge when the soil warms up. Once their first leaves emerge, they require lots of daylight. About 13 hours of continuous daylight (early April in most of the US) is needed or the plants will simply stall out. If your crop just sits there and doesn’t grow, you planted too early.

2. They Really Want to Flower
Once they start to actively grow, Echinacea wants to bloom. If the crown is well-developed, has multiple stems, and the root system is well-formed, then the plug should have enough energy to develop both foliage and flowers. On the other hand, if the plant is small in early April, it will want to throw all its energy into producing flowers. You don’t want this to happen.

3. A Strong Start Fuels Fast Growth
It seems obvious but sourcing plugs with strong crowns, multiple shoots and a well-developed root system is a key factor for growing robust coneflowers. Echinacea grows fast once it gets going, especially if they have a strong start. It’s vital to start with premium quality vernalized plugs when you’re growing Echinacea.

There is no shortcut when it comes to Echinacea. We believe all Echinacea benefit from the prior year’s growth, especially with some newer varieties that don’t bulk up quite as well as others. That’s why we plant all of our Echinacea crops the summer prior to sale and offer only vernalized plugs in spring. Our quick turn 32ct plugs will be ready to take off for you, so you’ll be able to fill your customers’ needs that same season. See which Echinacea we have in stock on our current availability.