Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) | 25+ seeds

Please find for sale 25+ seeds for Atropa belladonna, better known as Deadly Nightshade

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Atropa belladonna is a poisonous deciduous perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which surprisingly also includes edible favorites such as tomatoes, potatoes, and aubergine. Native to the UK, it is particularly common in Southern England.

The plant is fast growing and may reach 5 feet tall by 4 feet wide and is tolerant of most conditions but its idea habitat is in the partial shade offered by taller trees. 

Folklore

According to folklore, Belladonna has been the plant of choice for stealth assassinations throughout history! Scotland’s MacBeth, in 1030, allegedly passed around bottles of drink laced with Belladonna to an army of Danes, which killed them all without his having to lift a sword....however as a keen historian I can find no actual evidence that this is true!!  For so-called witches, belladonna is the supposed main ingredient allowing broomsticks to levitate. And perhaps it did, even if only in their hallucinations.

Toxicity

Whatever the truth in the folklore, there is no doubt that this plant is toxic. Both the berries and the leaves are toxic to humans and animals. The berries release a poison that paralyses nerve endings in blood vessels, the heart and gastrointestinal muscles. Symptoms of poisoning include dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, headaches, confusion, and convulsions. Two berries will kill a child and 10 to 20, an adult without prompt medical attention. Whilst I can find no records of any injuries of deaths from this plant despite it being common in the South of England, if you grow this plant and have small children present it may be advised to cut off the flowers to prevent berries forming.

Germination Guide

Can either be sown directly outside where they are to grow or sown indoors before planting out once risk of last front has passed.

Either way, Deadly nightshade seeds require some cold stratification before sowing - sounds complicated but its not! All this does is to try and recreate what they would have in nature - a cold wet winter then the signal to germinate as the temperature rises in spring

1) Soak the seeds in water and place in the fridge for 2 weeks

2) Change the water daily

3) Sow the seeds immediately after the 2 weeks

Indoor Sowing:

• Sprinkle seeds onto a well draining compost in seed tray
• Compost should ideally be a 50/50 mix of regular compost and horticultural sand
• Cover seeds with a fine layer or sieved compost
• Keep moist but not wet  - best to water from the bottom by having seeds tray inside a waterproof container.
• Keep at 17-25 degrees during day and 10-15 degrees at night - so ideal place is on window sill over a radiator as long as heating goes off/down at night
• Thin seedlings and pot on as required.
• Plant out once risk of last frost has passed