Why you should be starting Stock (matthiola) earlier than you think!

I first considered growing stock when I realized two things:
1) It has a fragrance that is universally appealing. Even though it’s a spicy clove type of scent, very few people hate it! This makes it a great flower for bouquets at markets
2) Double varieties fetch a premium. People who grow stock and select for doubles can do really well with florists as shipped stock doesn’t hold up as well and isn’t as fragrant

So… I started looking into stock, which means I consulted with my handy dandy Specialty Cut Flowers book by Dr. Armitage and then read whatever research papers I could find on stock. Whenever I want to learn about a new variety, I am interested in understanding how photoperiod and temperature play a role in flowering and stem length.

For stock, temperature plays a HUGE role. In fact, many publications cited stock has a negative ROI crop, simply because the plant needs temperatures of below 60F (15.6C) in order to flower. When we talk about temperatures, we are referring to nightly temperatures. I thought to myself- how many days do I get of that in the spring? Maybe a couple of weeks at the most. It often feels like we go from cold to HOT very quickly especially in the spring.

This realization and additional research made me realize that stock should be started a lot earlier than what the seed packet says. These will likely be like my ranunculus- needing a bit of babying until we move and get a low tunnel set up. But given their fragrance and premium to florists, I think these are blooms worth that effort.

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