What do flax seeds grow into

Blue flax is a short-lived perennial, scarlet flax, an annual. Both seed prolifically and so are likely to stay in your garden for many years — particularly if you save seed and give Mother Nature a helping hand every once and awhile. Choose a sunny site with well-drained, sandy soil. Direct planting is preferred, but seeds can be sown in flats to be transplanted later.

Start seeds indoors weeks before the last frost. If you are sowing inside, be advised that flax resent root disturbance. To avoid problems, transplant them to larger pots before seedlings show major root development or become root bound. If direct seeding, rake soil and broadcast seeds, raking in and tamping down to make good soil to seed contact. Water in thoroughly.

Soil: Average to sandy well-drained soils are preferred. Flax does not do well in heavy clay or in wet conditions. Flax is a hardy plant and will not be harmed by late frosts in the spring. It complements stronger foliage plants with its wispy stems of gray-green foliage. Each flowering stem is topped with silky short-lived disk flowers that bloom and are quickly replaced with more. Scarlet flax has gorgeous red petals with a dark eye — blue flax is a gentle, cornflower blue that gives a cool, relaxed look to plantings.

Both bloom from mid-spring through summer, but succession sowing can give you a longer season. Staking: Flax is not staked but its fairly spindly stems are helped with a bit of casual support either from stronger companion plants or from pea-sticks dead, branched stems. Insert the pea sticks here and there around the developing plants to give them something to lean against and eventually mask. Watering: Keep seeds and seedlings evenly moist. As plants develop they will need less water.

If indirectly sowing indoors, allow sufficient ventilation as young seedlings can be killed by damping off disease if kept too wet and humid. If you live in a hotter climate, this can negatively affect the possibility of re-bloom. This difference in the timing of harvest is a major reason why commercial flax farmers produce either fiber or seeds but not both.

Again, a hobby grower can compromise. To reap both seeds and fiber, harvest the flax about four months after planting. The leaves on the lower half or two-thirds of the stem will be turning yellow and dropping off. Most of the seedpods will have turned gold or tan; if you shake them, the seeds will rattle inside. Grasp the stems, a handful at a time, right at ground level and pull them up, roots and all.

Shake the soil off the roots, lay a few handfuls of stems together side by side, and use rubber bands or string to secure them into a bundle. Hang the bundles in a warm place with good air circulation. After a few weeks, when the stalks are stiff and dry, you can thresh out the seeds. This takes some effort: you have to crush open the pods. One method is to slide a pillowcase over the top end of a bundle, tie the case securely around the stems, then put it down on a paved driveway, sidewalk or other hard, flat surface.

Beat the pods through the cloth with a block of wood, roll them with a rolling pin push hard! After several minutes of such activity, open the bag to confirm that most of the pods have been crushed, shake the bundle vigorously to knock out all the seeds, then pour the seeds and chaff out of the pillowcase into a bowl and start again with the next bundle.

After threshing all the bundles, sift the seeds through a colander or coarse strainer to remove bits of stems and broken pods. Step outdoors in the breeze and pour the seeds slowly from one container to another to winnow away any remaining chaff or dust. Processing the bundles of stems to extract the fibers for spinning is a complex task that requires simple but special tools, a lot of hard physical work, and a sense of timing and judgment that comes only from long experience.

The first step, called retting, involves soaking or wetting the stems for a period of days or weeks to promote bacterial action, which separates the different layers of stem tissues and loosens the fibers.

That's pretty much the whole point of growing heirloom plants, anyway. Speaking of, all of our vegetable, herb, and ornamental seeds are non-GMO and, wherever possible, open-pollinated. And they're always fresh; we source our seeds from the most-reputable and sustainable suppliers we can find, and only stock as much seed as we can expect to sell in a single year.

We keep our inventory in climate-controlled storage because old, dusty, manky seeds lose their viability quite quickly after two or more seasons. And if you do have trouble with our products, our family business is here to make it right Use this popup to embed a mailing list sign up form. Alternatively use it as a simple call to action with a link to a product or a page. Stock Favors Blank Seed Envelopes.

Contact support seedneeds. The Facts on Growing Flax from Seed. While it's been cultivated for different uses over the millennia, flax is in and of itself an heirloom, whether or not it's been turned into somebody's grandma's tablecloth North Dakota State University published a timeline celebrating flax's cultural milestones: BCE: In the Dawn of Agriculture, which began in the Fertile Crescent, flax was among the first crops ever cultivated.

Scarlet Flax Linum grandiflorum rubrum Native to Mediterranean Europe and North Africa, scarlet flax is also known as red or crimson flax. General Tips for Growing Ornamental Flax Flax is slow to germinate, sometimes taking a whole month to get rolling.

Troubleshooting Flax tends to get a bit topheavy and might lean sideways like a drunken sailor. Consider growing it near a windbreak. Flax isn't particularly susceptible to diseases in the home garden environment, but keep an eye out for rust and fusarium wilt.

Grasshoppers, caterpillars, potato aphids, and cutworms like to munch on flax, but no more so than on other plants. Harvesting Flax at Home Flax isn't a good cut flower, especially given that individual blooms don't last long. Pull the plants out of the ground when the plants are mostly golden, with just a touch of green. Bundle the plants into shocks or "stooks" and set them upright to dry.

Try placing them over a triangle of bamboo sticks to help keep the air circulated in the centers. Use a fine-toothed comb to remove the seed pods. A traditional harvesting comb is called a "ripple. Now You've Got the Facts James Everly. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email. Older Post. Newer Post. Newsletter Sign Up Sign up for our newsletter to receive special promotions and exclusive discounts.

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