Seeds

• Begin planning your location for pampas grass in winter. Plant the seeds indoors to begin growing this ornamental grass. Soak seeds in warm water for about 45 minutes to encourage germination. Fill a pot with a mixture of soil that will drain rather quickly and compost. Use your finger to make a small indention about 3 inches deep in the soil and place one seed. You can put two in a 24-inch-diameter pot. Allow the pots direct sunlight, but keep them out of the rain. Only water the plants when you can insert a finger in the soil and come out dry. Seeds should sprout in about two weeks.
  
  

Fertilizer

• After the seedlings have sprouted, they will need more water and a small amount of fertilizer to grow quickly. The larger the seedlings are by spring transplanting, the more chance of blooming plumage by late summer. After the last frost of the season, begin scouting a location for transplant. Before transplanting, remove any brown leaves and mix compost into the soil to help promote root growth.
  
  

Transplanting

• Till a 3-by-3-foot section of dirt where you want each of the plants to go. At maturity, these grass clumps are about 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall. Choose an area that has a lot of sunlight and will drain well. Pampas grass is very hardy and can survive drought or flood conditions, but it is better if they can be avoided. Pampas grass grows well in places other things will not -- such as sandy soil or full sand. Plant pampas outside in the fall about two weeks before the onset of cold weather or in April well after the frost and the ground has begun to warm.
  
  

Root Ball

• The next best way to growing pampas grass is to put only one seed in each pot and keep it growing in the pot for over one year. This will give the plant plenty of time to grow a root ball that can then be divided and planted into two bushes. If the plant is too immature, or the root is too small, you can damage the plant. Luckily, it is more difficult to kill a pampas plant than it is to keep one alive.