Taraxacum mongolicum seed

Yellow flowering dandelion is common, but the white ones are rare over the world.
Slightly bitter, delicate with the taste of spring and edible from root to Flower, the humble dandelion (Taraxacum mongolicum, coreanum Nakai) is more than just a garden weed. As a salad green, dandelions can be grown indoors in containers year round for a continuous harvest.

how to germinate dandelion from seeds

1

Fill a 6-inch-deep or deeper pot, which has bottom drainage holes, with moist potting soil. Use a pot at least 4 inches in diameter for a single dandelion, or grow multiple dandelion plants in a large pot.

2

Place dandelion seeds 1 1/2 inches apart on the pot’s soil. Sprinkle a little potting soil over each seed until all the seeds are barely covered, about 1/8 inch deep in the soil.

3

Spray the soil with water, dampening the seeds. Place the pot in a bright spot indoors, and keep its soil moist. Dandelion seeds sprout in soil as low as 50 F, but they germinate quicker when the soil temperature is nearer to 77 F. Seedlings should appear above the soil within two weeks after the seeds were sown.

4

Grow dandelion plants in a bright indoor area, such as a sunny porch or a room with natural light. Dandelions grow vigorously in full sun but tolerate partial shade.

5

Pour 2 cups of 8-16-8 or other general purpose fertilizer into 1 gallon of water. Blend the fertilizer and water thoroughly. The result is a concentrated fertilizer mixture.

6

Fertilize the dandelions’ soil when the plants are 4 to 6 inches tall then twice each month for the rest of the growing season. Combine 2 tablespoons of the concentrated fertilizer mixture with 1 gallon of water, and use the solution to water the dandelion’s soil until it is damp all the way through. Each application of the fertilizer solution replaces one regular watering.

7

Water the dandelions’ soil throughout the growing season when the top of the soil dries slightly. Water deeply until excess moisture leaks from the pot’s bottom drainage holes.

8

Cut dandelions for salads at their base when they grow 4 to 8 inches tall. As the leaves mature, they become more bitter and tough, but they are edible at any time.

9

Harvest the dandelion flowers when they open fully but before they go to seed and turn white. Cut a flower stalk at its base. If you grow the dandelions predominantly for salad greens, then pinch off the flowers at their bases as soon as the blooms appear.

10

Overwinter dandelions in containers indoors in a bright, frost-free area. Promote leaf growth by continuing to remove the flowers as they appear. Harvest the leaves through winter.