Hi dssguy,

In my opinion, 5 inches is much too close together for the health of the plants, and overcrowded zinnias can lose all their lower leaves and look rather "ratty".

Incidentally, that second picture looks like a really good trial garden, but those zinnias could be one of the dwarf varieties like Magellan or Dreamland. The Zaharas are nice, but I think they would have somewhat smaller flowers and narrower leaves. Whatever they are, they look impressive.

Benary's Giants were bred for cut flowers, and they are typically grown as a row crop by market gardeners who simply harvest the blooms for sale to the Florist trade. Market gardeners really don't care how the zinnias look in the field, as long as their blooms look saleable.

You can grow Benary's Giants for landscape use, but I would space their plants more than a foot apart. You might look to your seed packets for guidance on how far apart to plant your seeds.

Growing and breeding zinnias is a hobby of mine, and sometimes when I am planting some "experimental" zinnias I will plant the seeds as close as 5 inches apart, but I do that with the expectancy of culling out and removing well over half of them at first bloom. Ideally, I like my zinnia plants to be about 18 inches apart. I space my rows 16 inches apart, with the idea that if the plants are "staggered" from one row to the next, they will be about 18 inches apart in all directions. That is a kind of "honeycomb" layout.

But usually the seed packets will give you some guidance on this. And your personal preferences about a landscape. Some landscapes deliberately have a kind of wild meadowland look, with a lot of random irregularity in the plant spacing.

ZM

This post was edited by zenman on Sat, Mar 29, 14 at 12:57

Thanks for your response Zenman. I was going to try to go for the look of that top picture (Benarys)and then have the front row Zaharas (yellow and starlight rose). The person who made that top garden said the plants were spaced about 12 inches apart. I really want that look, I think I may try 12 inches apart and see how that goes.

One other question you may be able to help me with...I will be planting them in a 40 foot long space. Do you recommend just dropping a seed every foot? I was thinking to germinate them inside and then put them outside once they were a few inches tall. Is that ok?

One last question...I have a side yard that I was just now thinking to plant some Giant Benarys to block out part of my vegetable garden from the street (we are in Brooklyn!). The area doesnt get much sun, maybe a few hours a day at most. Do you think the Benarys will grow there? I would assume they would do something, but as its really an experimental area I may try it out.

Hi dssguy,

"I will be planting them in a 40 foot long space. Do you recommend just dropping a seed every foot? I was thinking to germinate them inside and then put them outside once they were a few inches tall. Is that ok?"

Germinating them inside and setting out seedling plants could give a nice controlled effect, but it might be more trouble than it is worth. I don't know what your climate situation is, but I would probably just plant them in-ground outside where they are to stay.

I wouldn't just "drop" the zinnia seeds, but I would open a furrow and drop the seeds individually into the furrow and cover them about a quarter of an inch to half an inch deep, depending on the soil. And them sprinkle them every day until they come up. Which should be in less than a week. Keeping the seedbed moist until the seedlings emerge is important.

ZM

Hi again, dssguy,

"I have a side yard that I was just now thinking to plant some Giant Benarys to block out part of my vegetable garden from the street (we are in Brooklyn!). The area doesn't get much sun, maybe a few hours a day at most. Do you think the Benarys will grow there? I would assume they would do something, but as its really an experimental area I may try it out."

Well, zinnias are a full sun plant, so the more hours of sun, the better. They will probably grow there, but stretch for sun, so I would space them a bit farther apart. They may be more disease prone. It's worth an experiment.

If photosynthesis is an issue, you might try spraying them with a dilute solution of sugar. Zinnias actually can benefit from regular foliar feedings of soluble nutrients, like Miracle-Gro, for example. (My zinnias seem to prefer the Miracle-Gro Tomato Food, probably for its greater magnesium content). Magnesium is a component of chlorophyll. And zinnias can absorb some sugar, if it is included in those foliar feedings. Sometimes I add a small amount of glycerine to the mix.

When you foliar feed with a product like Miracle-Gro, you are already practicing a form of foliar feeding organic nutrients, because urea is an organic compound. So sucrose and glycerol can just add some "punch" to the mix, and augment what the plant can produce from its own photosynthesis processes. Doing some experiments with your gardening can be fun. Just so you don't try anything dangerous.

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

I had a huge patch of zinnias last year that was exactly what you are aiming for. I had taller Purple Prince and Uproar Rose in back, with Zahara and Profusion varieties in front. I planted 12 inches apart and it was perfect. More sun is clearly preferred for ideal blooming and disease prevention. Mine are planted purely as a nectar source for my butterflies, so I don't use any fertilizers or insecticides--plus I'm lazy. LOL. Best of luck.

Martha

To add to the discussion.....the more elbow room your zinnias have above ground, the less likely you'll be troubled by a rampant disease issue. Excellent air circulation and sun penetration are very important for the prevention of the diseases that zinnias can be susceptible to.

Also, elbow room below ground is important! Roots compete for water, nutrients, oxygen, and space in the soil and suffer if their
quarters are too tight. The results will be slower growth, stunted growth, disease and pest pressure.

Have we convinced you, yet? :-)

I know exactly what trials where the bottom photo was taken ....Rakers in Michigan. :-)