Please find for sale 25+ seeds for Atropa belladonna, better known as Deadly Nightshade

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Atropa belladonna is a poisonous deciduous perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which surprisingly also includes edible favorites such as tomatoes, potatoes, and aubergine. Native to the UK, it is particularly common in Southern England.

The plant is fast growing and may reach 5 feet tall by 4 feet wide and is tolerant of most conditions but its idea habitat is in the partial shade offered by taller trees. 

Folklore

According to folklore, Belladonna has been the plant of choice for stealth assassinations throughout history! Scotland’s MacBeth, in 1030, allegedly passed around bottles of drink laced with Belladonna to an army of Danes, which killed them all without his having to lift a sword....however as a keen historian I can find no actual evidence that this is true!!  For so-called witches, belladonna is the supposed main ingredient allowing broomsticks to levitate. And perhaps it did, even if only in their hallucinations.

Toxicity

Whatever the truth in the folklore, there is no doubt that this plant is toxic. Both the berries and the leaves are toxic to humans and animals. The berries release a poison that paralyses nerve endings in blood vessels, the heart and gastrointestinal muscles. Symptoms of poisoning include dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, headaches, confusion, and convulsions. Two berries will kill a child and 10 to 20, an adult without prompt medical attention. Whilst I can find no records of any injuries of deaths from this plant despite it being common in the South of England, if you grow this plant and have small children present it may be advised to cut off the flowers to prevent berries forming.



Germination Guide

Can either be sown directly outside where they are to grow or sown indoors before planting out once risk of last front has passed.

Either way, Deadly nightshade seeds require some cold stratification before sowing - sounds complicated but its not! All this does is to try and recreate what they would have in nature - a cold wet winter then the signal to germinate as the temperature rises in spring

1) Soak the seeds in water and place in the fridge for 2 weeks
2) Change the water daily
3) Sow the seeds immediately after the 2 weeks

Indoor Sowing:

  • Sprinkle seeds onto a well draining compost in seed tray
  • Compost should ideally be a 50/50 mix of regular compost and horticultural sand
  • Cover seeds with a fine layer or sieved compost
  • Keep moist but not wet  - best to water from the bottom by having seeds tray inside a waterproof container.
  • Keep at 17-25 degrees during day and 10-15 degrees at night - so ideal place is on window sill over a radiator as long as heating goes off/down at night
  • Thin seedlings and pot on as required.
  • Plant out once risk of last frost has passed

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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