Zinnia growing from seeds, when to plant seedlings at home this beautiful flower will be described in detail in this article.
Zinnia, or as it is also called, major, loves warmth and light. Decorates flower beds and flower beds in public gardens, city parks and garden plots. Over 200 years of cultivation and selection, zinnia has become a flower that can enliven and decorate any corner of the garden.
These beautiful flowers are used to decorate the local area in a rustic style. This style has become increasingly popular in recent years in Europe and the world. These flowers go well with marigolds, snapdragons, and marigolds. Majors are suitable for creating compositions with any colors. The flowers delight with their variegated colors and ease of care. They are also easy to grow and bloom all summer long.
There are many varieties of zinnia. Each of them is beautiful and easy to care for.
An annual herbaceous plant that grows up to 1 m in height. The inflorescences are simple orange, white or pink with a diagonal of 5-7 cm and a height of 3-4.5 cm. Varieties are double, simple and semi-double.
The bushes are powerful, compact or spreading bushes, grow 60-90 cm in height. Shoots of the first order. The leaves are large leafy up to 12 cm in length. Terry hemispherical inflorescences are 14 cm in diameter.
Branched compact bush up to 55 cm in height with shoots of the second, third and fourth order. The inflorescences are small, spherical, up to 5 cm in diameter.
The bush is compact, spherical in shape, up to 50-65 cm in height. The leaves are large. The inflorescences are curly from narrow reed petals rolled into tubes.
This species is native to Mexico. It is an annual plant that forms branched bushes. The leaves are pointed, elongated. The inflorescences are small, orange, double or simple.
Suitable for forming landscape flower beds. Grows up to 60 cm in height. Thin shoots are pale red in color. Flowers reach 3 cm in diameter.
Similar to angustifolia zinnia. The leaves are thin and sharp. The spherical bushes grow to a height of no more than 35 cm. The inflorescences are small and yellow with an orange edge. This flower is most often grown in containers on the balcony, in small flower beds and on alpine hills.
Zinnia is grown only from seeds, without seedlings or seedlings. Perennials reproduce by self-sowing. However, this is not always convenient.
Seeds for seedlings are sown in April. By this time, you need to prepare the seeds, soil and containers.
The soil is nutritious and loose, well drained. A mixture prepared independently from garden soil, peat, humus and river sand is perfect. All components are taken in equal proportions.
The container should not be high, but voluminous for general fit. You can also sow seeds directly into separate pots or peat tablets.
Important! Zinnia does not tolerate transplantation well, so seedlings are not picked. Initially, the seeds are laid out at intervals of 3-5 cm from each other.
Step-by-step instruction:
Important! For zinnia to germinate, a temperature of 22-24 degrees is required. Then the sprouts will appear in 2-3 days.
Watch the video! Zinnia: cultivation and care
Before germination, the film or glass should be removed several times a day and the condensation should be wiped dry. After the sprouts appear, the film is removed and the containers are transferred to a brighter place. Usually in April there is already enough natural sun, so there is no need to add additional light to the flower seedlings.
Zinnia seedlings can stretch out due to lack of light. When adventitious roots form, they must be covered by adding a little soil. The sun can also destroy zinnia seedlings, so the light should be diffused.
Water the seedlings regularly, little by little, with settled water at room temperature. The soil should not dry out, but moisture should not accumulate.
At the end of May, seedlings begin to be taken outside or onto a balcony for hardening. This process lasts 7-10 days.
For zinnia, prepare an area with good lighting without drafts and wind. Flowers grow well in nutritious soils with good drainage and neutral acidity.
The land has been prepared since autumn. The area is dug up to a depth of 45 cm, 9-11 kg of organic matter (humus, rotted mullein) per square meter is added. If moisture accumulates in the area, add sand. In the spring, the site is dug up again and weeds are removed.
Important! Zinnias do not tolerate low temperatures. Young plants will die at -1 degree.
Flowers are planted in a permanent place at the end of May. In the northern regions they do this better in June.
Planting is carried out when the soil warms up well:
Advice! It is recommended to mulch the soil in the flower bed with sawdust or peat to prevent weeds from sprouting and the soil from drying out.
Zinnia is sown in the ground as soon as the weather is good, from the end of March to the end of May. Seeds are sown in open ground and watered abundantly. If the seedlings are dense, they are thinned out, since young plants may not survive when transplanted due to a weak root system.
Zinnia requires minimal care. To maintain its decorative appearance, it must be watered, loosened the soil and fed.
Watering. Water rarely, but abundantly. Zinnia tolerates drought much more easily than stagnant water. However, even if there is no watering for a long time, the flowers will become pale.
Loosening. It is necessary to regularly remove weeds and loosen the soil so that the root system receives sufficient oxygen and nutrients.
Top dressing. They feed the first time a month after transplanting into open ground and the second time when the first buds appear. Apply mullein solution or complex mineral fertilizers for flowering crops.
Before transplanting into the ground, seedlings are fed 3 times with mineral fertilizers with a low nitrogen content. In the garden plot, the bushes are fertilized 2 times during the summer months with an aqueous solution of liquid manure or mineral fertilizers (1 tablespoon of superphosphate per 10 liters of water).
Zinnia responds well to fertilizers to budding and speed up flowering while maintaining quality and duration. For example, Amulet, Country Ecogel, Bud + universal. To replenish the soil with a mineral complex, universal mineral fertilizers with a low nitrogen content are used.
To make the bush more lush and beautiful, zinnias are pinched at the stage of growing seedlings or when the plants take root in a new place after transplantation. Flowers are pinched over 3-4 leaves. If this procedure is not carried out, beautiful flowers will grow on long peduncles. They are great for cutting.
Most often, zinnia is damaged by cockchafers, slugs, aphids and snails.
May beetles, collected by hand and placed in a bucket of soapy water.
Aphid accumulates in any part of the plant, usually at the top, resembling dark spots. Aphid larvae try to sap the young shoots, causing them serious damage.
Aphids are destroyed with a solution of tar soap (100 g per bucket of water). In case of mass lesions, use a solution of Actellik or Fufanon, which is prepared according to the instructions. Aphids can also be destroyed with the drug Aktara.
Slugs and snails. Pests gnaw through the leaves, plant growth slows down. It's difficult to fight them. You can lay out pieces of slate or linoleum on the area, under which insects will gather.
Zinnia can get sick if it is not cared for properly due to stagnation of moisture in the root system. To prevent flowers from dying, they are inspected regularly.
Powdery mildew. A gray coating appears on the leaves. The flowers are treated with a fungicide and the watering regime is adjusted.
Gray rot. Fuzzy mold appears on the leaves and stems. To combat it, colloidal sulfur is used.
Bacterial spot. Grayish-brown spots appear on the leaves. The disease cannot be treated, so the affected flowers are dug up and destroyed in order to save other plants from the disease.
Zinnia seeds ripen 8 weeks after flowering begins. The highest quality seeds are formed in inflorescences on stems of the first order. After the inflorescences turn brown, they are cut off and dried. Then the seeds are removed and stored in a dry place with a constant temperature. Seeds remain viable for 3-4 years.
In mid-latitudes, majora is grown as an annual. When grown in a pot, it is moved indoors in the fall and cared for as if it were indoors. Then zinnia will be grown as a perennial.
Zinnia from seeds is grown at home in the same way as in open ground. You will need containers to make the roots comfortable. Flowers need to be watered regularly, but moderately, monitor the air temperature in the room and fertilize twice per season.
In winter, the flowers are illuminated with a phytolamp so that they receive daylight 12 hours a day. Before the cold snap, beautiful flowers from the area can be transplanted into pots and grown at home.
Lush flowers of various shades with proper care will delight you for a very long time. On average, zinnia blooms for 35-40 days, and even cut flowers begin to fade only after 2 weeks.
Watch the video! Growing zinnia seedlings from seeds
Zinnia is a flowering perennial, which in our latitudes is cultivated as an annual plant. It is not capricious and very easy to care for, so you can grow it yourself without any problems. And if you set out to decorate your garden plot in the best possible way, then it would be useful to find out exactly how to plant zinnia and care for it in the open ground.
Zinnia can be bred in two ways, and whichever one you choose, it will not require much effort and time
The simplest method of planting is considered to be seed. And first, let's find out what zinnia seeds look like. They come in three types: scute-shaped, with an awl-shaped tongue, and spear-shaped.
On a note! It is worth noting that all three types of seeds can be found in the same seed head, and each variety often produces plants belonging to different varieties! For this reason, it is better to separate each species immediately after collection!
What flowers can be obtained from certain seeds?
Undoubtedly, the most spectacular are double inflorescences. However, it is necessary to remember that they will become so only with proper care. If you are not sure that you can devote enough time to your zinnia, then it is better to focus on semi-double or simple varieties. In addition, the latter are much less susceptible to diseases, tolerate the vagaries of the weather relatively calmly and forgive quite a few mistakes of novice gardeners.
So, if you decide to plant zinnia seeds in open ground, you should remember that this requires a certain climate, and during harsh, long winters this method of propagation is not suitable. Planting seeds directly into open ground is possible under mild climatic conditions - if your garden plot is located in a warm region.
The procedure looks like this:
For the climatic conditions of our country, the most acceptable method of growing zinnia is seedlings. This way the plants take root better and begin to bloom much earlier.
So, planting zinnia using the seedling method and caring for it is carried out in the following way:
On a note! It is best to sow zinnia seeds for seedlings in April. If you do this earlier, the seedlings may turn out to be too elongated, and, accordingly, the plants will be very fragile!
In general, planting and caring for long-term zinnia is not particularly difficult, but before placing seedlings in open ground, it is necessary to carry out certain preparatory measures.
If you decide not to grow seedlings, but to purchase them in a store, then you should approach their choice wisely:
Zinnias are unpretentious, but despite this, the area in which they will grow must meet certain requirements:
As mentioned above, zinnia prefers to grow in well-drained soil - this way the moisture will not stagnate and the plant will not rot. However, this is not the only condition:
Advice! It is better to prepare the site in the fall!
The technology for planting young seedlings is as follows:
So, we’ve sorted out the planting of zinnias, now we should pay attention to the features of care. This flower definitely needs to be given some attention - this is the only way you will get abundantly flowering plants that will become the best decoration for your site.
Agricultural technology is simple.
On a note! Zinnia tolerates drought much more calmly than waterlogged soil. However, you should not water too rarely, as the plant will begin to wither - the leaves will droop, and the petals will lose their bright color!
Zinnia is susceptible to diseases such as:
Zinnia is undemanding to growing conditions and looks impressive both in a flower garden and in a bouquet. This explains its great popularity. The height of the bush ranges from 20 to 100 cm and depends on the type and variety. The flower is used to create a rustic landscape along with daisies, marigolds and marigolds.
Zinnia seedlings grow very quickly and require a separate pot for each plant. Considering that the seeds are large and germinate well, it will be much easier to sow the seeds directly in open ground, if the climate allows.
Zinnia seeds
When sorting seeds, you may notice that they differ from each other. One seed basket can contain different types of seeds:
To plant flower seeds, gardeners take into account both the overall picture in the region and certain successful dates.
If you know when to plant zinnia, even novice gardeners will be able to grow it from seeds.
Sowing time for seedlings:
It takes 2–3 months from emergence to flowering. Therefore, when growing from seeds in open ground in 2019, it is recommended to sow zinnia in late April or early May. When sowing at a later date, the plants will not have time to form buds.
Zinnia seedlings die even with slight frosts, so in regions where the temperature can drop below zero in May, they are planted in the ground in late May - early June.
Zinnia seedlings are transplanted into open ground at the age of 6–8 weeks. Therefore, if planting is planned for early May, sowing is carried out at the end of February. If weather conditions do not allow planting earlier than early June, seeds are sown no earlier than mid-March.
Low growing zinnia Lilliput
Low-growing zinnia Short Staff
Narrow-leaved zinnia Persian carpet
Bush zinnia Thumbelina
When planting zinnia seedlings, the first flowers will appear at the end of June and the plants will bloom throughout the summer. Therefore, for early flowering, it is better to grow zinnia as seedlings. However, this is not always possible due to natural limitations in the apartment: seedlings may not have enough space in a small room. In this case, growing zinnia from seeds directly in the ground helps.
For planting, choose a sunny area, reliably protected from the wind. Zinnia requires well-drained fertile soil with a neutral pH reaction. Soil preparation is carried out in the fall. The selected area is dug up to a depth of approximately 0.5 m, at the same time weeds are removed and leaf humus or compost is added at the rate of 8–10 kg per 1 sq. m. m. Seedlings are planted by transshipment or together with a peat pot.
The seeds are sown and then watered abundantly. If the seedlings are dense, they are carefully thinned out. Seedlings are not replanted: due to a weak root system, inevitable damage during replanting slows down the growth and development of plants, and in dry and hot weather they may die.
Row spacingzinium - 30–35 cm, in a row - 30–40 cm, hole depth - 5 cm, seed placement depth 1–2 cm. Several seedlings are placed in one hole. It is recommended to cover plantings and seedlings with special covering material if there is a danger of frost.
The bed needs to be watered every other day. To prevent the formation of a hard earthen crust, it is recommended to mulch the surface with humus. It may take up to 2 weeks for seedlings to emerge. The seedlings should be thinned out, then the bed should be weeded and watered regularly. Zinnia tolerates heat and lack of watering well, but if the plants do not receive the right amount of water during the growth period, the bushes will be small, and flowers will appear only at the tops of the shoots.
During the planting season, you need to weed, water abundantly at the roots and loosen the soil surface. During flowering, faded flowers should be removed regularly. There is no need to install supports, since the zinnia shoots are very strong.
Zinnias need to be fed at least twice a season with mineral fertilizers or liquid manure. The first feeding is carried out 4-5 weeks after planting, and the second - during the formation of buds. You can use “Amulet” and “Ecogel Country”.
Pinching is done so that the zinnia bush is beautiful and lush. After the plants take root in open ground, they are pinched above the 3rd or 4th leaf. If pinching is not carried out, sparse flowers will grow on long peduncles.
The choice of method, timing of sowing seeds and planting seedlings depend on the climate zone and the gardener’s design task. If you need to get flowering as soon as possible, it is better to start growing seedlings now.
A lover of light and warmth, zinnia holds its flower caps high and proud, decorating flower beds and flower beds in city parks, squares and, of course, garden plots. This unpretentious flower will be discussed in this article.
Over more than 200 years of cultivation and selection work, zinnia has become a flower that can revive and decorate even the darkest and most abandoned corner of the garden.
Most often, two types of flowers are used in culture: narrow-leaved zinnia and graceful zinnia, although there are more than 20 of them.
Like other plants, zinnia has a huge number of varieties, among which there are low ones, up to 30 cm - dwarf ones. The stem of a medium-sized plant can reach 70 cm. Those flowers whose height has crossed the meter mark are classified as tall individuals.
Each variety carries a different variety of flower basket colors. Their palette is rich and pleasing to the eye with red and orange, pink and crimson, white and yellow colors. Zinnia inflorescences, in turn, are divided into varieties according to shape and structure. There are scabioses, chrysanthemums, cacti, and Californians.
But Russian gardeners are especially fond of dahlias and pompoms.
Or Lilliputian, do not exceed 55 cm in height and are liked by gardeners for the compactness of the bush and its branchiness. Terry caps of flowers, 3-5 cm in size, abundantly cover multiple shoots of the plant. And if several different varieties of pompom zinnias are planted in the flower garden, then the garden plot will play with a rainbow of colors until autumn.
Zinnia is very sensitive to cold; temperatures as low as -1°C will kill the plant. But you can prolong the feeling of summer if you transplant the flower into a pot before frost and bring it into the house. On rainy autumn days, it will remind the summer resident of the sun and warmth.
The most popular varieties of Lilliputian zinnias can be called “Tom-Thumb” and “Rotkopchen”. Low, up to 45 cm, bushes are strewn with numerous caps of bright red flowers. Even the hottest rays of the sun will not affect the intensity of the color, and the plant will give pleasure until late autumn.
Its varieties have large flowers. A strong plant, often exceeding a height of 1 m, with double inflorescences up to 15 cm, will look advantageous in a group and create a unique composition in any corner of the garden. The main thing is that it is sunny and protected from the wind. And the variety of colors of the baskets - white, yellow, pink, crimson, lilac, purple - will allow the summer resident to use his imagination to create unique flower beds.
Zinnia variety " polar bear", with white terry baskets and a height of 60-70 cm, is worthy of taking center stage in any flower bed.
« Dream» – plants up to 1 m high, with soft pink flowers, look good both in single-color plantings and in combination with the “Violet” variety. The flower has the same height as the previous variety, but has bright purple inflorescences. Lush, double flowers look perfect in bouquets.
The Californian zinnia variety is distinguished by its large flowers. The size of the inflorescence can be 12-14 cm; it ends with a strong and tall, up to 1 m, stem. It is thanks to its strength that the plant does not require support.
This group of flowers, like other zinnias, is rich in bright colors. The “California Mix” variety is available for sale, where the seeds are selected in such a way that the plants grown from them will create a unique and enchanting flower garden.
As noted above, zinnia does not tolerate even a hint of sub-zero temperatures. Therefore, the main condition when sowing the seeds of this flower for seedlings is that stable warm weather should be established when planting the plant.
In addition, it should be taken into account that the seed of the flower germinates quickly, and the sprouts also develop quickly. The seedling period of zinnia is 4-6 weeks. It follows that the best time for sowing will be mid-April.
For flower crops there is also a lunar calendar that will recommend the best days for this work.
The best days for sowing, picking, and replanting seeds of annual flowers in 2017
March - 3; 4; 10; 12; 20; 27; 28
April - 4; 5; 9; 18; 21-23; 26-28
May - 1-4; 15; 24; 25; 28-31
June - 1; 2; eleven; 16
By checking your expected sowing date with the grower’s lunar calendar, you can find the best option and be confident in the successful cultivation and abundant flowering of your pets.
Preparatory activities. Working with the seed material of this flower gives the gardener great pleasure. The seeds are quite large and sorting them does not require any effort. They are not subjected to additional processing. The only thing that is recommended to do to achieve the best result is to soak the seeds in the Epin solution.
This will activate their vital forces and ensure more friendly shoots.
If sowing will be done in seedling boxes, then their depth should not be less than 8-10 cm. You should not immediately fill them to their entire height with soil. A little more than half a box will be enough for sowing.
By placing the seeds at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other, you can skip the diving stage. It’s just that later, when the seedlings grow and get stronger, you will need to add nutritious soil. The stems will produce adventitious roots and the plant will continue to grow without the stress of replanting.
The soil for sowing is prepared nutritious and loose, with good drainage properties. After sowing, the boxes are covered with polyethylene and left warm for germination. At 20-25°C, sprouts will appear on days 5-7. Next, the seedlings need light and regular watering, without waterlogging the soil.
If seeds are sown densely, they will require replanting to provide a larger feeding area. To do this, the seedlings are carefully removed from the seedling box and placed either in separate cups or in another container, but of a larger size. At this time, you should think about the purpose of the flowers: cutting, decorating a summer cottage, or the plant will be a seed plant.
If flowers are grown for landscape design of a site, then for greater bushiness, tall varieties of zinnias are pinched above the 5th leaf. This will stimulate the plant to form new shoots from the leaf axils. Accordingly, the number of flowers will increase, since each shoot ends in a bud.
While the seedlings are at home, care should also be taken to prepare the place for planting zinnias.
At the very end of May or early June, the seedlings can be moved to the flower garden at the dacha. But this must be preceded by hardening off the plants for at least a week.
First, an open window will allow the plant to feel the fresh air, then a short period of time on the balcony or outside, but in good weather. It’s good if it is possible to carry out hardening directly at the dacha, where there is more opportunity to place a box of seedlings in a suitable place.
When it is decided to transplant zinnia bushes to a permanent place, it is important not to forget about the height of the plant and plant it in accordance with this.
The place for zinnia should be sunny; the flower will tolerate even hot sun better than shade. Given the strong branching of the plant, they should be planted at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. This will provide space for flower development and ease of weeding and loosening the soil around the plantings.
If for some reason the seedlings were not grown, this does not mean that the gardener can be left without this wonderful flower. Sowing can be done directly into open ground.
To germinate under natural conditions, the seeds will take 7-10 days (depending on weather conditions), and creating a mini-greenhouse for the garden bed will reduce the time from sowing to germination. The end of the first ten days of May is quite suitable for this work.
Sowing seeds directly onto the site has its advantages. The plant initially senses the temperature of the surrounding air, this saves the gardener from such an event as hardening off home seedlings.
Although flowering will occur 2-3 weeks later. But if this is not important, then this method will relieve the load on the windowsill, on which seedlings of peppers and tomatoes are already in full swing in April.
Grown zinnia bushes are transplanted to their designated place, observing the planting interval.
Caring for plants will not give the gardener much trouble. It consists of weeding, loosening the soil, watering and pinching the main growing point. However, if the flower is grown for cutting, this should not be done.
Flowers last a long time in bouquets, about two weeks. You just need to properly process the stem. Flowers that are intended to decorate the house should not be completely open. Half-blooming zinnias are cut off and, before placing in a vase, the stem is shortened again, but by lowering it into warm water.
The plant is unpretentious and tolerates air drought and heat well. However, a prolonged absence of water leads to shredding of inflorescences and loss of leaf turgor. Therefore, the flower should not be left completely unattended.
Following these simple rules will allow you to see flowering plants on your site from mid-June until the onset of frost. The life of one flower lasts about a month, and if they are removed after wilting, then the zinnia bush as a whole will bloom continuously.
But the period of growing zinnias on the site is not always cloudless. It happens that this strong and beautiful plant is attacked by pests, and improper care or weather conditions cause flower diseases.
Despite its tolerance to dry soil, this can lead to a flower disease such as powdery mildew. The appearance of grayish spots on the leaves and petals of the inflorescences indicates a problem. Industrially produced drugs Vectra, Topaz or Skor will help solve it.
Wet summers or excessive watering cause gray mold to damage zinnias. The disease looks like fluffy mold, which appears not only on the leaves, but can also affect the stem. And if measures are not taken in time, the flower may die.
Fungicides will be good helpers in the fight for the health of flowers: Maxim, Fundazol or colloidal sulfur.
At the beginning of summer, the activity of such insects as aphids occurs. It feeds on the sap of young shoots, causing significant damage to the plant.
To destroy it, you can use the drug Aktara. Detailed instructions for use are indicated on the package with the drug. The biological product Fitoverm helps against sucking insects.
Slugs and snails leave unpleasant marks on zinnia leaves. Gnawed leaves spoil the decorative appearance of the flower and slow down its development.
These pests require manual extermination. To facilitate this, frankly speaking, not a very pleasant event, pieces of roofing felt or linoleum are laid out between the rows. Insects love to hide there.
By periodically checking shelters you can significantly reduce the number of zinnia pests. If there are no poultry or animals on the site, it is possible to use chemicals in granules. This is Thunderstorm and Meta.
If these troubles have bypassed the strongest and most beautiful plants, then you should think about preparing your own seed for sowing in the following seasons.
There is no doubt that some varieties of zinnias grown on the site gave the gardener real pleasure with their flowering, so you can easily collect seeds from the plants you like in your flowerbed. Just when the buds are blooming, you need to mark the brightest and largest inflorescences by attaching a ribbon of the corresponding color to the stem.
In addition, the number of buds on it is sharply limited. Leaving five inflorescences on the plant, remove the rest and continue to prune newly emerging ones until the seed capsule is cut off. This will allow all the forces of the flower to be directed towards the formation of seeds and their ripening.
After the inflorescence has withered, it is necessary to wait for the seed pod to ripen. In total, it takes about two months from the moment the bud opens to the collection of the finished seeds. But if the weather is not kind, then ripening can also occur indoors. To do this, they are cut and left in a place where it is dry and warm.
Having gutted the dried seed head of the flower, you can begin to select the required number of seeds. It should be remembered that the best of them are located closer to the core and have a triangular or awl-shaped shape.
Dry seeds are placed in paper bags and must be labeled: the name of the flower, the height of the plant, its color and the year the seeds were collected.
Don't rely entirely on memory. After three years, which is exactly how long zinnia seeds remain viable, the summer resident will not even remember which seeds are stored in his stocks without an inscription on the package.
Be sure to grow zinnias in your garden; they will delight you with their beauty and bright colors for a long time!
Growing Zinnia from seeds is a simple procedure, which is why this flower is so common among gardeners. Among the huge variety of varieties, you can choose any one to suit your taste. In order to ensure maximum flowering duration, it is recommended to grow through seedlings.
Zinnia is a flower of the Asteraceae family, which does not lose its decorative effect for a long time, and is well worth cutting. Its second popular name is major. The flower's homeland is South America, and it was brought to Europe in 1976. The credit goes to professor in medicine Johann Gottlieb Zinn. This is how the flower got its name. In temperate climates it is an annual plant that is propagated by seeds, but in its homeland it is a perennial plant. With proper planting planning, zinnias can decorate the area from early summer to late autumn. Dwarf varieties can be taken indoors for the winter to grow in a pot, and when warm weather arrives, planted again in the ground.
Attention! Zinnia flowers are odorless when grown.
The bush varies in height from 20 cm to 1 m, depending on the type and variety. The leaf blades are sessile, ovoid, slightly pointed at the ends. On the stem they are located oppositely or whorled, and have hard pubescence. When grown, the inflorescences appear as baskets on long shoots. The petals are arranged tiled, their density depends on the variety and type. The fruit is an achene with a tuft.
When grown, the plant loves warmth and does not tolerate cold. Even slight frosts can destroy it. The place where zinnia is grown should be sunny and protected from strong winds. The flower prefers fertile soils rich in humus, well permeable to oxygen and water. The plant reacts poorly to both excess and lack of water. During drought, the buds become smaller and the ends of the petals dry out.
Advice! When growing, experienced gardeners advise pinching zinnias at the seedling stage above the fifth leaf, this will make the bush thicker.
To achieve long-term flowering of zinnia, already faded shoots must be removed in a timely manner. The plant requires fertilizing with mineral and organic fertilizers. Usually twice a season is enough.
The two most popular types for gardeners to grow are narrow-leaved and graceful. There are about 20 of them in total. These two species are represented by a huge number of varieties, the seeds of which are sold in specialized stores. All of them are grouped according to the size of the adult plant:
Zinnias are also grouped by the appearance of their flowers:
Each variety differs in its color, basket structure and stem height, which allows the active use of zinnias in landscape design. The most common when grown among gardeners:
In order to collect seeds from zinnia for growing, you need to wait until they are fully ripe, that is, when the boxes turn brown. They should be carefully cut and opened over a sheet of paper. The seed can be stored there until spring. Growing zinnia from seeds at home is quite popular among gardeners.
Zinnia can be grown from seeds at home. If you follow a number of simple rules, the bushes will be strong and healthy. The process itself is not difficult even for novice gardeners. Seeds have good germination when grown.
It is important to observe the timing of sowing zinnia seedlings - the second half of April will be optimal. It is not worth planting seeds earlier, because the flower will grow quickly enough, which will make it difficult to move it into open ground. Also, seedlings sown early are likely to stretch and weaken.
Preparing seeds for growing zinnia flowers from them is quite simple. They are large, and there will be no difficulties in sorting. No additional processing is required during cultivation. If desired, you can use Epin's solution - soak seeds wrapped in cloth in it. Fresh ones will sprout in two days, older ones in about a week.
The depth of the boxes for planting zinnia seeds should be at least 10 cm. When growing, they are filled with soil a little more than half. The soil for seedlings should be loose and nutritious, and good drainage should be ensured. Use a mixture of sand and peat with garden soil.
Zinnia seedlings develop quickly when grown, and the bushes turn out to be quite large, so when planting, it is necessary to maintain a distance of 3 cm between them. Seed the seeds to a depth of 1 cm. Then the soil is well moistened and glass is placed on top. The seeds remain under cover until germination. Since the flower’s germination rate during cultivation is good, less frequent planting or the use of separate containers is allowed. Thus, it makes sense to plant seeds so as not to resort to picking later.
Zinnia seedlings will appear 4 days after planting. The film must be removed from them immediately. Watering should be moderate to prevent excess moisture. When the seedlings grow to 10 cm, it’s time to plant them. When growing, seedlings are carefully moved into separate pots, deepened to the cotyledons. The stem, covered with earth, is overgrown with additional roots. If the flower was originally planted in separate containers, then it is simply spudded. The temperature suitable for zinnia is within +22 °C. You can grow a flower in peat tablets; this will greatly simplify care, allowing you to avoid picking. Loosening the soil and removing weeds if they appear in pots are mandatory procedures.
Advice! For better branching of the root system when growing, pinch the main root about 1 cm.
Two weeks before planting in open ground, seedlings should begin to be hardened off. Zinnia is taken out to the balcony in good weather. Thanks to this procedure, the plants will become stronger, but it is important to avoid drafts. It should take about 2 months from sowing to transplanting into a flowerbed.
If not properly cared for when growing, plants can be affected by various diseases, and in most cases it is the seedlings that are affected:
Zinnia can also be attacked by pests, especially if the seedlings are in a country house, and they can spread from the garden to young flowers:
Growing Zinnia from seeds is the most reliable way to propagate flowers for summer cottages. The heat-loving plant in the central climate is known as an annual plant and is sown as seedlings. Gardeners love this flower for its variety of colors and decorative appearance of foliage.
Planting zinnia is presented in the video:
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