Atropa caucasica

'Caucasica Belladonna'

[Syn. Atropa belladonna ssp. caucasica]

Solanaceae: perennial to 3′, hardy to zone 5, purplish flowers, black berries, native to the Northern Caucasus.  Used in local medicine, very similar to Atropa belladonna in overall leaf form, flowers and size, the one significant difference is that caucasica has purple stems, as opposed to the green stems of Atropa belladonna, smaller and slenderer in growth habit than A. belladonna, easy to grow in shade or sun.

GROWING INFORMATION

Atropa species are cold germinating, meaning the need a period of cold weather [winter], followed by a period of warm weather [spring], this process leeches the chemicals out of the seeds that inhibit the seeds from germinating at the wrong time of the year. that said seeds over one-year-old are noticeably easier to germinate than fresh seeds.

there are a few methods to trick the seeds in to germinating.  Seeds can either be mixed with a little damp sand in a sealed bag and placed in the fridge for 4-6 weeks or so, and then sown at 20°C, these should germinate in amount 4-5 weeks, this method has worked for pretty well in the past.

the second option is the soak the seeds for 24hr in a solution of GA3 [Gibberellic Acid], this is a natural plant hormone, used for the stimulation of germination of difficult seeds. it’s easy to get a hold of on the net, and it is the bees knees when it comes to this species. soak for 24hr, then sow a 15-20°C for germination in 4-5 weeks, they come up like weeds using this stuff.

HARVESTED: 2023

APPROX. 200 SEEDS