Too little sun, most likely. We can't answer to the fertilizer if you used an additional product besides what was already in the MG stuff. Those kinds of potting mixes don't come with enough fertilizer to be a problem.

Hi pagenie,

I agree 100% with what rhizo said. You describe a classic case of too little sun. Zinnias need "full sun", which usually means at least 8 hours of direct sunshine per day. (Cloudy days don't count in that definition.) Most plants will "stretch" if they don't have enough sun.

" The only Zinnia Seeds I found locally were the Fredonia Brand. Could someone help me decide why this happened? I would like to [t]ry the seeds but don't want to use them if they were not of good quality. "

I am unfamiliar with the Fredonia brand, and if they are all that is available to you locally, I would recommend that you purchase seeds online from a reputable seed company. There are several good online sources. I will provide links to three that are well respected and offer a good selection.

Swallowtail Garden Seeds

Stokes Seeds

Hazzard's Seeds

Those are not the only good online seed sources, but they are a good place to start shopping, because they will give you a much wider range of zinnia varieties to pick from than what is available locally. Your Fredonia seeds may be OK. They certainly are not to blame for your plants stretching in insufficient light.

I raise and breed zinnias as a hobby. These are a sample of the results I got from crossing Cactus type zinnias with Whirligigs (which have two or more colors on each petal).

This next one actually has more than two colors on each petal.

These next ones are specimens selected from the Whirligig strain, which has a lot of variation within it. They were not crossed with anything, but probably could have produced some interesting hybrids with other zinnias.

You might want to experiment with making a few crosses between your own zinnias when you get them growing well. You might get some interesting results.

ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

Those look gorgeous!

Hi MK,

Glad you like them. My zinnia breeding activities have also yielded some rather unusual zinnia flower forms.

I call the ones like that Razzle Dazzles because they resemble the Razzle Dazzle strain of Gaillardias. Many of the Razzle Dazzles have two colors.I also have a zinnia variation that I refer to as "exotic".
Another variation I refer to as tubular petaled.
What appears like an inch worm in that last photo is actually just a curled petal. I have no idea why it curled like that. I enjoy breeding zinnias.

ZM

Wow, interesting! I love zinnias, and there is always some kind of variety in my garden. I've never seen anything like those!