skip to main content

Celosia seedlings not true

Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b

8 years ago

Celosia reseeded and some look different. Last summer we bought a 6 pack of Celosia and they all grew and blossomed. This spring babies came up, but wow! What a difference! Some are compact with a bluish red blossom, which is what we planted. Others are much bigger with smaller orangy red blossoms. I guess seedlings don't grow true.

Featured Answer

zen_man

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi Suzi,

" These are covered with bees, and I know they are cross pollinating. "

True, bees do some accidental cross pollinating, but they do more accidental selfing than cross pollinating. Bees don't deliberately pollinate or cross pollinate celosia.

" Is there anyway I can isolate some of my favorites, or will they never
come true. Some are just gorgeous, and nowhere to be found in seed
catalogs. "

So you are in effect now breeding your own celosias. I breed zinnias as a hobby, and I see a lot of bees on my zinnias. I do a much more thorough and better job of pollinating my zinnias than the bees do, so I don't consider them much of a threat. If they do a cross pollination every now and then, I might even like the result. If I don't like a zinnia, I simply pull it up or snip it off. I do quite a bit of culling.

Your celosias probably come up rather thick, so that you need to thin them, and if you wait until the first bloom, you can then remove the ones you don't like and keep your favorites. In the rare case when I want to isolate a zinnia bloom from the bees, I enclose it in a "hairnet".

You can use a safety pin to close the net tighter at the bottom if you feel the need. That is seldom necessary, because a bee won't try for long to get at a particular zinnia bloom. They give up quickly and fly on to another bloom.

If you had a little greenhouse you could grow your favorite celosias in that, away from the bees. You might be able to keep the bees away with some lightweight nylon screening material. I frequently enclose my breeders with a wire "zinnis cage" and it is easy to throw some screening over one of those.

Notice the use of safety pins to secure the screening.

Incidentally, you might find some commercially available celosia seeds that are similar to your favorites. Hazzard's Seeds has a fairly diverse offering of celosia seeds .

Celosia have a good range of colors and flower forms, so, like zinnias, breeding them can be an interesting hobby.

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

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
if you start with a named culitvar ... what i call a foo foo version ... most often then not.. the genetics degenerate ... and they come out with great variation ...

a short way of saying that is.. they dont come true from seed ...

if you want stuff that comes true.. usually you need to get back to growing species plants ...

just telling us.. celosia... doesnt really give us enough info ... to figure out the above... and i suspect the tag is long gone ...

ken
dowlinggram
8 years ago
A hybrid plant will seldom come true from seed. You can get parts of every ancestor that was cross bred to get the plant you started with or you can get parts of the plant that fertilized the seed.

To show you how genetics works. I did an experiment with hybrid Gillardia this year. I took seeds from a few low growing Arizona red shades Gillardia and I also have Goblin Gillardia in that same bed. Out of the 40 plants I grew from the seed and planted not 1 was the identical of the plants I took the seed from. About 3/4 had the compact size of the Arizona and the rest were taller like the goblin. Some were pure red like the Arizona but not the exact red. some were an orangy red like the Goblin. A few had smaller flowers and some were larger and some had gold tips like the Goblin. I did end up with some interesting plants though.

There are not as many variations of color with Gillardia as there are with Coleus. Coleus comes in a multitude of colors and you could get any of those variations from dropped seed
Related Discussions
Seedlings' TRUE leaves not emerging! Many kinds! Help! :-(
Q
Comments (15)
Hi, I have grow lights, started some seeds well over a month ago and some recently. They are taking their time with true leaves - oddly enough though, the last time I watered (I pull them out and water from underneath in a pan) I noticed a lot of root growth only. How much growing can these little fellas do? I figure if they are establishing a good root system, the rest will take off when it's ready. I've grown from seed for over 10 years in all types of environments, winter sowing, indoors, direct. Many of my plants don't really take off until april. Then they go like gangbusters. Patience is truly a virtue - just keep in mind some of the growth we can't always see - especially the roots. Do your babies look green and healthy? That's what I'm looking for right now. Cheers, McPeg
...See More
Seedlings Mini-Size & True Socotranum's
Q
Comments (8)
I have 52 seedling from Mr. Ko and they are about 4 weeks old. The directions he sends say they should be potted at 4 weeks and use 20 20 liquid fertilizer and 20 20 time release fertilizer added to the soil. This will force the plant to bloom in 4 months. Question: I can't find any time release 20 20 fertilizer. I can find the kind you mix in water but can't find time release you mix in the soil. Does anyone know if time release 20 20 is available and where you can purchase it.
...See More
Seedlings (with 2 or more sets of the true leaves) feed/fertilizer
Q
Comments (13)
"I have never never quite understood this. Is it simply that there is nothing to gain from fertilization at this time? OR, is it counterproductive to fertilize at this time?" From my experience, there's a couple reasons... First, they just don't need it. Second, just-germinated seedlings are very tender. They are very susceptible to fungi, and fertilizers can feed algae (it's very common to see algae growing on fertilized seed-starter medium.) The algae, in turn, can give place to molds and fungi - like 'damping off'. Also, keep in mind the amount of mass in a new seedling, versus one a week old. Fresh seedlings double in mass VERY, VERY quickly. The less mass of the plant, the more the concentration of fertilizer. Imagine an ounce of half-strength fertilizer on a just-germinated seedling. Now imagine that same ounce of half-strength fertilizer on a full-grown plant. Where that ounce can potentially burn a young seedling, it's not enough to even help a plant with much more mass. Waiting a few days, until the seed's resources are just about depleted, gives the seedling time to become established, and gain the mass and biological systems it needs to process the ferts.
...See More
Help! Basil seedlings, cotyledons dying, true leaves turning black
Q
Comments (4)
But...but...but... it's only baking soda! Is it bad for seedlings? I read somewhere that they use baking soda spray for gnats and other tiny insects. Re the black fungus, my camera can't show it very well but in the last photo, the tiny leaf is black on one side. I'm thinking of separating them from the rest of the healthy seedlings. I hardened them the past few days although yesterday, we had a lot of rain so I wasn't able to take them out. Maybe it wasn't as gradual as I thought? Because I left them out the whole day today. The medium is compost with dried rice husks. The cups have holes on the bottom and drain fairly well.
...See More
zen_man
8 years ago
Hi Dowlinggram,

Not that it matters, but Suzi was growing Celosia, and not Coleus.

You make a good point about recombinations of genes occurring in the F2 generation of an F1 hybrid. Incidentally, Gaillardias have a strain called Razzle Dazzle (click on the link) that has an interesting flower form and a range of colors. In my zinnia breeding experiments I have developed a zinnia strain with a very similar flower form, so I refer to those zinnias as Razzle Dazzles.

I am working to widen the color range of my Razzle Dazzles and to increase their size as well. I will be using the very technique of F2 recombinance that you described.

ZM
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
Original Author
8 years ago
This morning I took some photos of what I ended up with. The plants are so different. Then I looked at seed catalogs. I've got some that look different than they have. Can't wait till next year to see what pops up!
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
Original Author
8 years ago
These are covered with bees, and I know they are cross pollinating. Is there anyway I can isolate some of my favorites, or will they never come true. Some are just gorgeous, and nowhere to be found in seed catalogs.
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the isolation techniques and for the link. Looks like a good place to get seeds, but none of theirs look like what I have growing. Bombay maybe, but mine is a deeper bluish red and much more frilly. That is one I will isolate for sure. I love these flowers! I go out and check on them at least 3 times daily!
zen_man
8 years ago
Hi Suzi,

" ...Bombay maybe, but mine is a deeper bluish red and much more frilly. "

You might be able to cross yours with the Bombay to get your improved flower form in the extended Bombay color range.

ZM
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b thanked zen_man

Related Stories

GARDENING GUIDES Seeds or Seedlings? How to Get Your Garden Started

By Abundant City

Growing delicious herbs and vegetables starts with knowing your goals and when you want to plant

HOUZZ TV Houzz TV: How to Make and Plant a Veggie Box

By Annie Thornton

See how to start edibles from seed, then transfer the seedlings to a box on stilts to make harvesting more fun

EDIBLE GARDENS Herb Garden Essentials: Discover Delicate Chervil

By Marianne Lipanovich

Go beyond the tried-and-true edible herbs and try this nonconformist that's surprisingly easy to grow

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Blue Sage

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

True blue and adored by hummingbirds, blue sage is easy to grow from seed in a sunny fall garden

GARDENING GUIDES Lessons in the Rewards of Selfless Gardening

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Let go of gardening for your own vision and watch the garden’s own true vision come forth

GARDENING GUIDES Herb Garden Essentials: Grow Your Own Delicious Mint

By Marianne Lipanovich

Pull out a pot for this one. Mint's spreading habit and hard-to-kill nature can be a blessing — if you're properly prepared

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: California Poppy

Fall planting: California's state flower offers a glorious spring show and spreads readily in gardens under the right conditions

REGIONAL GARDEN GUIDES Texas Gardener's April Checklist

By J. Peterson Garden Design

Get your sowing and planting on — spring brings a tantalizing array of possibilities in the garden

SPRING GARDENING Enjoy the Peak of Spring Gardening — Here’s What to Do in May

By Annie Thornton

Bid the frost farewell and treasure the blooms. No matter what U.S. region you’re in, one of these guides will help your garden flourish

GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING Unexpected Edible Gardens

By Becky Harris

How to grow your own herbs and vegetables almost anywhere

Sponsored

More Discussions

Is chickweed benign?

3

Moonlight nasturtium climb?

11

Tell me about Pentas lanceolata (Egyptian Star Flower)

12

Would like to keep mulleins

2

Not what I ordered?

3