https://www.houzz.com/discussions/annuals/query/%27zen_man%27/nqrw

Well that tells me absolutely nothing. Sorry I asked

Heh heh...that's Ken's way of telling you that there are many threads already posted on this very subject that you will see if you click on the link. If you are interested in the process, you might want to check out the current thread https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5075461/it-can-be-fun-to-breed-your-own-zinnias-part-47?n=105

- which you can see is already in Part 47. We're all learning as we go. :) And if you're really interested, start scrolling back through the past Parts before that; there's some great material there.

Alex

Hi dowlinggram,

You can get a quicker introduction by reading this message thread over in the Plant Hybridizing forum, How to hybridize zinnias -- it's easy.

" I presume you use some kind of cheesecloth bag to prevent cross pollination. "

I don't bother with bagging any more. Many years ago I did do some bagging, mainly to keep seed eating birds from disturbing my breeder blooms. I made "bags" from netting fabric, hand stitched with yarn.

I frequently protect my breeder plants from wind damage by enclosing them in a "zinnia cage", which is just a re-purposed tomato cage. It is easy enough to throw some nylon screening over a zinnia cage. Notice the safety pins. It looks like I didn't get one of them closed.

But in recent years I have not done any kind of bagging or screening. I do put up party pinwheels to "scare" the birds away, and that seems to work well enough. I have a variety of sizes of zinnia cages to protect my best zinnias from our Kansas wind storms.

The bees are not interested in doing any kind of pollinating -- they are just going for the nectar in zinnia blooms. Hummingbirds, butterflies, skippers, and day-flying moths also go for the nectar. Several species of bees go after the zinnia nectar: bumblebees, carpenter bees, and honeybees are the main ones here.

The zinnia pollen florets open in the morning, pretty much all at once. So that is the best time to get the pollen and use it. But the bees don't know that and don't care about the pollen anyway. Zinnia pollen does not "keep" and it is viable for only a few hours. There is nothing time critical about the nectar, and the bees are just as likely to show up in late afternoon, long after you have finished using the pollen.

In regard to those zinnias whose seed you want to keep true, just use their pollen to self their stigmas. You can get much higher seed yields that way, and reduce the amount of accidental bee pollination. So, whether you are selfing to produce a true strain or cross pollinating to create new zinnias, "be the bee". You can do a much better job than the bees would ever do.

Don't hesitate if you have questions or comments, here or in the current "It can be fun to breed your own zinnias" message thread. Feral cats are optional.

ZM