Indigo Seed Propagation

Q: I grew some indigo plants, can you tell me how to propagate seeds from my plants?

A: In Los Angeles I’ll start harvesting seeds by the middle of July, but if you are in a colder climate like the northeast, they don’t typically mature until around Thanksgiving.  I do this by rooting any stems that are flowering in water indoors and letting them complete their cycle out of the soil, which they’re surprisingly happy to do.

I trim my seed bearing stalks from plants as the seeds mature and bundle them and invert them and hang them to dry.  Birds and mice love to eat the seeds so make sure to dry and store them out of reach!

Once the stalk is crispy, I will stomp or hand crush all the seed groups and begin sieveing things to remove leaves and stems and dried flower bits. I then roll the seeds between leather sheets to strip them clean, though this is not necessary for germination. I’ll then wind winnow what remains to separate the lighter and immature seed from the bulky growers!  I germinate in bulk trays and thin/transplant as needed.