Sowing Cobaea scandens
with SARAH RAVEN
Lesson 16 of 48
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The cup and saucer plant is another great climber that needs to be sown early enough to give it a chance to flower later in the year. Let Sarah steer you through the process of sowing and training Cobaea scandens.
From the Lesson Workbook
Sowing Cobaea scandens
Cobaea scadens are sown in January or February in their own individual pots. This is because cobaea seeds are quite large, much like a courgette seed.
There are two rules to sowing seeds with a large surface area:
- Sow them in their own pot to prevent rot
- Sow them vertically, otherwise the water will sit on the flat surface and make the seed more prone to rot
Cover the seeds lightly with compost and then water in. Cobaea seeds will likely take 2 - 3 weeks to germinate.
What to do when your cobaea plants have grown their first set of true leaves
Cobaea scandens is a half-hardy annual in this country, so it can't be planted out until mid-May. As this is a vine plant though, you need to start training it while it is still in the greenhouse, otherwise it will turn into a messy bird's nest.
To train the cobaea I make a frame out of young silver birch branches, but you can use hazel, dogwood or whatever you have readily available.
Secure your branches at the top and then weave the twigs together to give your cobaea a strong frame to climb up.
Keep your plant in a light and frost-free environment until it is ready to plant out.
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Your Instructor
Sarah Raven
Acclaimed English gardener, cook and writer. Host of the UK’s No.1 gardening podcast.
Sarah Raven is a renowned English gardener, cook and award-winning author. She is an inspirational and passionate teacher - combining her decades of experience with her scientific approach to growing (she is medically trained) - and has been running cooking, flower arranging and gardening courses at Perch Hill, her 90-acre farm in East Sussex, and around the UK for over 30 years. She has written for a host of major publications - including House & Garden, The Saturday Telegraph, Country Living, Gardens Illustrated, Gardeners’ World Magazine and The English Garden - and presented on TV shows including Gardeners' World and BBC’s Great British Garden Revival. Her gardening and cookery books have won numerous awards including ‘Best Specialist Gardening Book’ for The Cutting Garden and ‘Cookery Book of the Year’ for Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook. Sarah is married to the writer Adam Nicolson, Vita Sackville-West's grandson. She also has an online shop that is a brilliant destination for plants, bulbs, seeds, tools and all things garden.
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