Hablitzia Tamnoides can be sown over the winter months and left outside in a cold frame to germinate, you will usually see the seedlings emerge within 3-4 weeks. It is good to get them going and sow through November and December because you can prick them out in January and they will have a head start in the new year. They will stay in the polytunnel for a little while and then put outside before transplanting out in a bed in the spring. The polytunnel gets too hot for them once the weather warms up, so it is ideal to start them off in the coldest months.
Hablitzia can survive in a pot for a few months but much prefers to be planted in the ground as soon as possible. They spend their first couple of years putting down a deep root system so it helps them along if you can plant them out as soon as they are large enough to handle. We give ours a spacing of 60-90cm between plants and give them something to scramble up.
Pricking out Hablitzia Seedlings in January.
The shoots of a young Hablitzia Tamnoides plant.