Cultivation of Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea purpurea

Abstract

The demand for Echinacea is greater than the wild supply so there is opportunity for growers to cultivate it as a crop. Echinacea purpurea is relatively easy to grow, tops and flowers from cultivated fields supplying most of the market. Echinacea angustifolia, harvested for its root, is much riskier to cultivate, but there is steady and growing demand. Seed choice, germination techniques, and choices of when to direct seed and when to transplant greenhouse starts affect the likelihood of success when cultivating Echinacea for the marketplace.