It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 30
zen_man
9 years ago
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It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 21
Comments (113)JG, "Does your pink flower have patches of white in it? What else do you have there?" It doesn't seem to have patches of white, just the side effect of poor growing conditions. As for what is what, last year I grew a huge mixture. I think I had Zahara Coral, Big Red, Giant Flowered Mixed, Envy, Candy Cane, Thumbelina, and some kind of white zinnia seed, plus my own from previous years. As you've mentioned, I can definitely see some traits from before. Here's a picture of my little raised bed, with zinnias growing between peppers. They're all pink except possibly the one in the foreground, which appears to be yellow with an orange center. I'm really hoping that it is yellow, because the only yellow flowers that I had last year were from my very first zinnia plant, which was yellow, maybe 4 or 5 years ago. That's not to say that the flower couldn't have gotten the yellow from elsewhere, but I'd like to imagine it came from my plant. I'm eagerly keeping an eye on that one. Also, JG, the latest zinnias that you posted are absolutely gorgeous. I'm guessing it's your camera, but they all have a very pleasant soft glow to them. ZM, nice explanation about the seeds. That's a good solid technique. I have experimented with germinating embryos as well and can confirm that they do behave like you've described, coming up much sooner because of the seed husk. I'm more of an indoor growing person myself, and I'm going to grow zinnias this winter. I may experiment with some odd techniques to see what could happen, like intentionally bending the stems and shaping the plant, cutting liberally and watching what comes of it. I will keep everyone updated for sure. Here's a "Common Buckeye" butterfly sipping some nectar on this hot day:...See MoreIt can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 33
Comments (106)Hi Mary, " Do you think that adding boron to the zinnia nutrients will help with stem strength? " I don't think so. Boron deficiency causes death of the growing point. Actually, those curved stems in your photos would seem to indicate that your stems must be rather strong just to support a heavy zinnia head with such a curved structure. A straight stem is the most efficient strategy for supporting a zinnia head with a potentially weak stem. I am not sure what is causing your zinnia stems to be so curved. I am curious about that, myself. There is a lot to learn about zinnias, and that is an ongoing process for me. I don't add any special nutrient to my outdoors zinnias to increase stem strength. Maybe I should. However, I am using Benary's Giants in an attempt to add genetic stem strength. My outdoor zinnias do have a problem with our Kansas winds. Typically a strong wind, usually associated with a storm, will blow my zinnia seedlings over to lie on the ground, and then the new growth rises vertically from that position, resulting in an "L" shaped main stem. I do use zinnia cages (like tomato cages, only re-purposed and redesigned for zinnias) to brace my selected breeder specimens, but I don't have nearly enough cages for all of my zinnias. There may be soil components that contribute stalk and stem strength. Calcium might be one, but I suspect there are others. I do add a small amount of Potassium Silicate to my indoor nutrient solutions, because silicon makes strong cell walls which in turn makes from strong stalks, stems, and other plant structures -- possibly leaves and flower structures as well. Outdoor soil may contain enough soluble silicon to help. Rice farmers frequently use commercial fertilizers that are fortified with silicon, because rice stems need the strength to hold heavy heads of grain above the water that the rice field is flooded with. Fortunately it doesn't take a lot of silicon for my indoor zinnia growing activities. I might experiment with adding silicon to a few of my outdoor plants, but I would need to find a much more economical source of silicon if I wanted to treat my whole garden. The silicon product I use is called ProTeKt, and you can find out more about it at this link for ProTeKt " I promise this is the last about boron. (For a while... :-) " We can discuss boron or any other nutrient at any time you want. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)...See MoreIt can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 39
Comments (110)I can see there's a lot I've missed. Lizzie - our feral cats are not too crazy about walking across the pea gravel we have down in the patio. You could try a perimeter of that as a deterrent. But if you have aggressive grass, you'll definitely want to put down landscape cloth underneath it. I've also seen, though never tried, plastic forks buried with the tines up in areas to protect small seedlings. Once the plants have grown (and presumably the cats have learned to avoid the area), you can pull the forks out for the sake of aesthetics. BTW - I totally hate you for living where you can be outside planting (just kidding). It is 20-something freakin' degrees here outside right now, and I am not pleased. Thought we and the cats had made it through the winter already, but now I see more days of nasty severe cold ahead on the weather map. :( Good news is I have some things germinated and growing under lights after having done their several week stint in the fridge. Mostly perennials - echinacea and a few others, but I see two of the daturas I took a chance on saving seed from (a Raspberry Swirl) have germinated this morning - woo hoo! Will be interested to see whether they retain any of the "raspberry fanciness" or if they will revert to a more sedate white. I might prefer something in between to tell the truth - the double swirl didn't quite pull off the promised "look", though the coloring was nice. Will very shortly be starting the bulk of my other seeds under lights, except for the zinnias and tomatoes, which typically I start a couple of weeks later. Will not be doing veggies this year except for tomatoes and green beans (and garlic, which is already out there from the fall planting.) Will concentrate on flowers, specifically those things which I am growing for the patio garden, and the various things I made crosses from last year - the zinnias, daylilies, pansies, petunias and some papaver somniferums. Those last 4 were not done with any great care - just curious, now that ZM has caused me to be bitten by the hybridizing bug. Won't be growing the z. marylandicas this year. They were pretty, but just didn't excite me the way the taller z. elegans do. And I may restrict which of my zinnia strains I plant this season. As the seeds stay viable for more than a few years, I can always go back later if I want to pursue something different. Will definitely plant my "lotus" hybrids, the crosses with the one white I had, some yellows and a couple of the dahlia-types. Once again, there will be some much to do this year; I think I need to pick and choose since I can't do it all. One other thing I really feel necessary to comment on. Lizzie, one should never, ever allow cats to play with scissors. For one thing, they are notoriously irresponsible with their tools. They leave them lying about; they bat them under sofas, drop them in water and food dishes. And, really, scissors are totally superfluous anyway. Cats are perfectly capable with tooth and claw of shredding, well - just about anything: paper, cardboard boxes, small mammals, hands, legs, other cats. Just thought I'd mention it. - Alex...See MoreIt can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 55
Comments (121)Zenman - lol. I don't know about expertise, but I did mention the process of denuding seeds to expose embryos a couple of times on daylily sites at facebook, and received about zero comment back. I suppose the input coming from a "newbie" like myself was ... what word to use?... presumptuous - that's it. I am definitely a very small fish in a giant ocean of professionals. Ah well, you're the one who taught me first to do it, and I saw that it was a helpful technique to hasten germination, and in some cases, allow germination when the seed coat was being especially resistant. And I have used it for some daylily seeds, and feel it has helped. Not always, you understand, but enough to make it a viable option in my book. Glad to hear you are getting some rain. They have been forecasting rain for us, but little has fallen. The various spring-marshy areas that are usually swimming with overflow at this time of year, are almost dry. I am a bit concerned about this presaging a summer drought; but maybe the rains are just delayed. I could certainly handle the rain coming during the heat of summer instead of now. :) Let me know if you are starting a new thread - I may chime in from time to time. Always enjoy seeing what new things you come up with. Alex...See Morezen_man
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