Help starting Zahara Zinnia seeds

17 years ago

Hello, I'd sure appreciate a little advice here. I haven't bothered with flower seeds in many years due to poor luck & short summers here. I stick to perennials and fill in with annuals already started.

I bought the mixed Zahara seeds from Harris & the directions are slim and none to me. I bought a large tray with the small peat pots that expand with water. My dilema is this: Do I put only one (1) seed in each or do I put 2 or 3 in each pot??

The lady in the garden dept. & I had a chat and she told me when I cock the plastic cover of the tray or remove it altogether after sprouting occurs that she takes a very small fan and lets it blow on the plants because it will make the stems stronger. It sounded like a good idea to me. Do you agree?

Now that I am retired, maybe I'll get back into flower seeds again, it could be a lot of fun now that I have the time.

Thank you, Donna

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Comments (4)

zen_man
17 years ago
Donna,

"Do I put only one (1) seed in each or do I put 2 or 3 in each pot??"

For expensive seeds, like Zahara, and also for my hand-pollinated "breeder" zinnias, I put just one seed per pot and for the pots that don't germinate in a week or so, I replant one per pot. Zinnias usually germinate in 2 to 4 days, but some take longer for some reason.

For inexpensive seeds, I may put as many as four seeds in a pot and keep only the best looking seedling. To avoid disturbing the roots of my selected seedling, I use small scissors to snip out the rejects, cutting them off at the soil line.

"Now that I am retired, maybe I'll get back into flower seeds again, it could be a lot of fun now that I have the time."

Here's an idea. Join us over in the It can be fun to breed your own zinnias message thread. Your participation would be most welcome.

ZM
qmarker
Original Author
17 years ago
I've still got a question or two on my Zahara seeds also I've got so many of them one of my friends wants to join me and start some so we can compare notes. Should be fun.

The Zahara package gives very little info. It says "dark" to germinate. That confuses me.

If we start them in the dark, when do the go to light? I've always heard Zinnias need tons of light.

We are using the Jiffy peat trays with covers. Can we later just plant those outside or will we have to transplant the seedlings twice (once in Jiffy and then in another pot?)

Can the seeds be saved and started next year? I had to get a ton of them and I can't use them all this year.

Lastly, thanks ZM for your invite to this forum. I've been reading like crazy over here.
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holtzclaw
17 years ago
I don't know why it would have said "dark" for zinnias. They need "tons of light".
Transplanting once directly should be fine. The intermediate transplanting would only be for insurance and couldn't hurt if the root is not disturbed.
Yes, you can save the seed if stored properly. (See the recent threads about zinnias.)
carolynefox
17 years ago
I just learned of the Zahara...Neil Sperry had an interesting article about them in this month's Texas Gardener. My question, given that I live in Houston and it's already hot...have I waited too long to grow them from seeds?

Thanks!