Also depending on how loose your soil is... you could transplant some out to another spot.

Good suggestion but we don't need anymore 4 o'clocks as I have seeds in a pot also!

Yep - me too, Kirsten. Not quite up for putting all my hopes on a single survivor but thinning by half will delay the moment you have to make your final selection, by allowing for a bit of spread between the remaining 3. I tend to just scissor the unwanted seedlings rather than prising them out of the ground...unless I am intending to transplant the spares somewhere else.

i bet your soil is friable enough.. and nutritious enough to just leave them all right there ..

you can always clip out some.. when the bush it 3 by 3 feet.. lol ..

leave them alone ...

ken

ps: nothing better than a 3 foot stake.. to mark where you planted seed ... lol .. none of this forgetting where you planted them.. eh???...lol

It has been my experience that my 4 o'clocks need support so I thought it might be a good idea to get that stake in asap ;).

UPDATE:

My "kids" have all grown up ;).

(Almost 3 feet tall)

Great kids! How many of the ones that germinated made it to this stage?

What you see 'hl' are two germinations. (I shovel pruned the others as I had no space to allow them continue to develop).

Here is the shorter variety "Tea Time" Mirabilis (also grown from seed):

Looks great, rouge. I didn't seed any this year so nice to see your blooms.

I measured it today and it tops out at 4 feet tall. I am so not one who grows from seed but "4 o'clocks" are easie peasie...from seed put directly in the ground in early May to blooming 4 feet tall with flowers galore well within the growing season.

what a fun plant. Jovial!