Hellebore seedlings

KT53

I have discovered a number of little hellebore seedlings in a gravelled area of the front garden.  I want to keep them, but they can't stay there.  If I pot them up, what is the best compost to use?  Can I get away with using standard potting compost, as I already have that available.

Dovefromabove

I use either a mix of JI3 and MPC 50/50  or the same proportions of JI3 and sieved homemade garden compost ... whichever is convenient. They seem happy enough in that 😊 

fidgetbones

I have been mixing some grit in to MPC.  Use long pots as the roots run deep.

Palustris

They hate drying out of the roots, so when I used to dig them up I put the babies in a bucket of water until I was ready to pot them up.

KT53

Thanks everybody.  When I lift these they are effectively going to bare root apart from any sand which remains attached.  I'll get them straight into the pots.

c_watkins

Hello KT53,

I've just seen this post and wondered how you got on with your hellebore seedlings?
Which compost did you end up using, and how are they doing?
Cheers, Chris 

KT53

To be honest, I've just left them growing in the gravel for now.  They seem to be doing OK so I'll pot them on later in the year.

Fairygirl

I just do mine is fairly standard compost until I have a place for them to plant out. If they're still kicking about the following year, I redo them, separating them first if there's a few small ones in together.

B3

I've spotted some. The white ones. I was thinking that if they're growing quite happily in garden soil, why not pot them up in what they were growing in? Bad idea?