Hello javiwa,

" We're in a suburban area surrounded by oak trees everywhere -- plenty
of acorns for the squirrels to stash during fall/winter (and then spend
their spring digging up every inch of my yard wondering where they hid
their treasures). :) We co-exist just fine -- I don't mind adjusting. "

Many years ago I was in a similar situation in a suburban area that was heavily infested with squirrels. It would have been illegal and ineffectual to shoot them -- there were just too many squirrels and they could travel everywhere in the tree canopy without ever coming down on the ground. And I did mind adjusting. So we moved to where we are now in this rural area. Problem solved.

" It's rather odd that you aren't able to click to enlarge my last pic,
ZM. I'm able to w/ no problem -- this is what my screen shows when I
click on the image: "

That is basically what I see, taking into account possible different browser settings and different monitor sizes. Notice that there is a significant amount of text visible to both the left and to the right of your enlarged image. Your image has a lot of room to expand into that it isn't using. Now click on my 1000-pixel version, and compare that with how much text is visible to the left and to the right of the expanded image. I don't think this is a Mac vs PC issue.

You have established that you have a serious squirrel problem, and simply moving isn't an option. Maybe we can think of some way to keep the squirrels from digging in your gardening space, or at least keep them from digging in some places. My first thought would be chicken wire. A square or rectangular piece of chicken wire laid flat on the ground would give ample space for plants to grow through it, it would be almost invisible, and you could use those Anchoring Pins/Fabric Staples, (click on the link) to hold the chicken wire pieces down flat on the ground. The chicken wire would keep the squirrels from digging through it. Chicken wire comes in various widths and styles. I use the 2-foot wide 2-inch chicken wire to make temporary fences to keep our guineas and chickens from dusting themselves in my new seedbeds. My son uses a lot of the 1-inch chicken wire. I am not a fan of animal repellents, and I am not sure they work. But they might be worth a try.

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

Kind of you to branch out and try to help with my squirrel issues, ZM. :) Speaking of branches, check out my version of a chicken wire defense for recently planted impatiens:

Made use of a bunch of fallen crape myrtle limbs, and they seem to have done the trick. Squirrel holes all around, but not here.

Last week (4/15), I harvested some yellow Profusion seeds/embryos -- opened the sheaths, then simply planted the entire unit (petals, sheath, embryo) into potting mix. Very excited to see that three of the four sprouted this morning...yay!

Hello javiwa,

Congratulations on those successful germinations. And kudos to your wide pixel-count images. 990 pixels wide is a good size and close to the 1000 pixels that I use. Your iPhone 8 photographs are excellent, as good or better than a "regular" camera for the pictures you have been taking. Its primary limitation is that it can't throw the background out of focus as well as a conventional camera can. This is an example of an out-of-focus background.

Your use of the crepe myrtle limbs to discourage squirrel digging is ingenious. In case you run out of limbs, or want something less visible, don't forget the chicken wire.

You are going to be able to grow seedlings from your Profusion and Short Stuff, but neither are particularly good for butterflies. I recommend that you get some Zowie Yellow Flame seed and grow them (and save seeds from them for a subsequent generation this year.) I think your growing season might be long enough to make that happen.

ZM

ZM: the iPhone actually doesn't do too bad a job at fuzzing out the background, when needed. One can tap the screen to focus the shot on a desired area. This pic (of still unidentified eggs laid on my buddleia) is a bit out of focus as I shot this on a breezy day:

It gets the job done for now. :)

I'll make note of the Zowies for next year as I don't want to dive into a new set of seeds just yet. The summers here start to get too hot and humid right about mid-May for me -- never mind the cans of Off! I'm blowing through these days. (I can't step foot outside for even a minute without the mosquitoes finding me. I start to wonder if DEET poisoning is a thing...). I put in a ton of time each spring to get the yard as ready as ready can be so I can spend minimal time out there from about May to November!

This is my first time/season growing zinnias, so an experiment for sure. Even if they don't attract butterflies as intended, the buzzers and hummers will still appreciate the effort. And they make for a pretty yard -- all pluses.

ETA: As it is, I'm realizing that the seedlings I've got going (zinnias, plus milkweeds galore!) will have me in the yard well into June, possibly. I'll get better with my timing next year...live and learn.

Hi javiwa,

Your iPhone pictures look good. And that background is nice and soft.

" The summers here start to get too hot and humid right about mid-May for
me -- never mind the cans of Off! I'm blowing through these days. (I
can't step foot outside for even a minute without the mosquitoes finding
me. I start to wonder if DEET poisoning is a thing.. "

We have mosquitoes in the Summer, too. There are alternatives to DEET. Citronella candles and torches don't work well, but I have used them in the past. When we lived Maine we used a completely different personal application product to repel Black Flies. And I had a head net I wore. There are full body protective nets, but that was too extreme even for me. I would never willingly move into an area that had Black Flies again.

Hunters spend some money to protect themselves against mosquitoes. One summer here there was a predicted meteor shower that I wanted to watch, and we were in the midst of our mosquito season (we have several species of mosquitoes here), so I invested in a Thermacell Mosquito Repeller that I placed near my reclining portable chair. That chair will recline all the way back, so I placed it in an open area well away from trees, which gave me an outdoor planetarium view of the sky. The Thermacell gave me several hours of mosquito protection, and a Thermos of hot coffee kept me awake for the show. I figure that night it cost me about a dollar per "good" meteor. The rest of the family were not so patient, but there was room for them in the protected zone.

Some of the towns around here have mosquito "foggers" mounted on jeeps, and they go up and down the alleys spraying something that kills the mosquitoes. You might want to suggest to your town government that they might want to spend some of those tax dollars killing your mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can carry serious diseases. Well, I am getting off my anti-mosquito soapbox. Good luck, and enjoy your zinnias.

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

ZM: Our city actually does spray for mosquitos. I think they got started several weeks ago: they cruise the neighborhoods in the evenings and spray at sidewalk/gutter level. I've noticed (and neighbors in a forum have mentioned) that this spraying is taking a toll on the honeybees -- i.e., they're starting to die. I noticed a couple of bees (over the course of weeks) wandering aimlessly across the sidewalk, and I finally put two and two together. Nothing's perfect, is it? Yes, West Nile is a real concern out here.

Thanks for all the tips and good conversation, ZM.

Hi javiwa,

Too bad about the bees. But human lives come first.

" Thanks for all the tips and good conversation. "

And thank you for all your tips and good conversation. As they say, "don't be a stranger."

ZM

She's baaaaack with one more question/issue (maybe).

I harvested a few yellow seeds this morning and noticed some had areas of discoloration -- not sure if moisture (damage?) or bug nibbles:

Please let me know if you think their viability has been compromised, ZM.

Thanks.

Hello javiwa,

I don't think those "places" are bug nibbles or moisture damage. They could be just accidental scuffs and scrapes that occurred in the process of extracting the petals from the seedhead. I suggest you go ahead and use them. Even commercial zinnia seeds test out at only about 80 percent germination. Overall, I probably average only about 50%, although I am getting a bit better since I started "pasteurizing" my growing medium in an old microwave oven. Stay in touch and show us how your seeds are germinating.

Incidentally, what you have learned from this green-seed embryo thing might come in handy some day. For instance, if you got a florist bouquet that had some zinnias in it that you really liked, you now have the "technology" to get some zinnia plants from the zinnia blooms in the bouquet. And if you were in a public park somewhere that had some nice zinnias on display that you liked, you might "borrow" a petal or two and nobody would miss them. Birds do that kind of damage to zinnias all the time.

But that is a "two-edged sword". I don't enter my "special" zinnias in the County Fair because I know that anyone could get a petal or two and the next year I would be competing against my own unique zinnia strains.

ZM

Only 80%?! Guess I'm just being greedy (not to mention unrealistic). ;)

A couple of successes to share -- the two on the left sprouted yesterday; little guy on the right, overnight (should green up throughout the day):

Hello javiwa,

You are doing very well sprouting zinnia green seeds. Seed sellers are very poor at identifying which zinnias are F1 hybrids and which are open pollinated, but I believe Short Stuff is actually an F1 hybrid, despite the omission of that from many descriptions. As an F1 hybrid, your green seeds will be recombinants, which means they will have a random recombination of genes from the two parents of the hybrid. Which means you can expect some variation in your Short Stuff seedlings. You might even get something "interesting", so be on the lookout for that.

ZM

Thanks for the vote of confidence, ZM! I'd bet the vast majority of folks who purchase either seeds or flats of bedding plants won't be harvesting and germinating seeds -- therefore, no need for sellers to get us rookies into the weeds with talk of F1 hybrids. That said, I DID pay attention during HS biology class, so understand the reference. It will be interesting what the SS seedlings yield. I'll be sure to report back, assuming my various plants survive.

Especially happy to report an orange Short Stuff seedling poking through (originally jammed into a pot 4/22):

Til now, I've not been able to get any of the orange ones to sprout -- and the orange SS have provided the fewest #s of embryos. Fingers crossed!

(Arrows point to the other two hopefully-viable seeds/petals...hope they're not far behind.)

Progress report three weeks later (whatever will sprout has sprouted, I figure):

All of the above were planted as embryos ~ 4/21 or 4/22, with some poking through 4/28 (my last post). Does this look about right for 3 weeks growth? I added some diluted fish emulsion yesterday afternoon, only to have it all washed away (very likely) by a multi-hour rain deluge.

An unscientific look, but my results after planting actually-identified embryos (flower color/type: # of embryos sprouted/planted):

• Pink Short Stuff: 5/9
• Orange SS: 2/5
• Yellow SS: 5/3 ! (Dunno what happened here as I labelled my little pot as containing only 3 embryos -- yet, 5 sprouted!)
• Pink Profusion: 3/6
• Yellow Pro: 5/6

Side notes:

1. Don't know what's up with that puny Pink Profusion in lower left. It's been like that for at least two weeks.
2. Not all containers shown -- thought I'd spare everyone pics of soil-filled yogurt cups (i.e., no seedlings sprouted).
3. All seedlings have been outdoors for weeks, and most have seen a degree of bright Texas sunlight every day. Shall I add more fish emulsion to brighten up the leaves? They're looking a bit pale right now.
4. Orange SS: not only do I find fewer embryos in the petals pulled, but a lower % of embryos sprout. Too bad, as I could use more orange in my mix. :)

90s temps are upon us!

Hello javiwa,

You have done well sprouting zinnia seedlings from green seed embryos. Most people have never done that, or don't even know about the technique.

" Does this look about right for 3 weeks growth? "

Yes. Your seedlings will have root systems about the size of their upper plant, so you should be thinking about re-potting them or setting them in the ground. You don't have to separate them, but you probably should. A little damage to the roots is inevitable when you separate them, but they usually recover.

Separating your seedlings is a hands-on experience that every gardener usually learns "the hard way", by trial and error. It could be demonstrated in a class, but such classes are very rare. Just be careful to do as little damage as possible to the root systems when "teasing" them apart. It is possible that some of their root systems are already partially entangled. I usually just plant one green seed or embryo per 3.25-inch square pot to avoid the drama of pulling root systems apart.

I am currently planting zinnia seeds, some brown and some green, in-ground in my outdoor garden. My indoor zinnia project is coming to an end, but it is supplying a lot of green seeds for my outdoor zinnia project. Keep us informed of your progress.

ZM

Hi, ZM. I knew it would be a gamble either way (i.e., how many would sprout per container), so I thought 2-3 would be safe. Even if all 3 sprouted, I'd try to carefully disentangle the roots; failing that, I'll just plunk them into the garden soil and see what happens. Another % might very well fall by the wayside once in the yard.

I'm rather amazed how much an embryo shrivels in a month's time. Pic 1 shows a newly exposed embryo. Pics 2 & 3 are a month later.

This really points another benefit of harvesting green embryos, as (to me) it's easier to ID a plump (and, therefore, hopefully viable embryo) at the green stage as opposed to months later when everything is shriveled. Harvesting green would increase the percentage of seeds eventually germinating. Again, maybe this is just me being a newbie at this.

Hi javiwa,

" it's easier to ID a plump (and, therefore, hopefully viable embryo) at
the green stage as opposed to months later when everything is shriveled.
"

I have noticed the same thing.

" Harvesting green would increase the percentage of seeds eventually germinating. "

I agree.

" Again, maybe this is just me being a newbie at this. "

To a certain extent, we are all newbies at this. And the majority of gardeners don't even know about harvesting zinnia seeds at the green stage.

Since you are starting some seeds from F1 hybrids, you may see some zinnias that don't look like the seed parent. We will be interested to see what your F1 progeny zinnias look like when they bloom.

ZM

With the heat here, ZM, and my running out of sunny spots in the yards (am reserving some for my multitude of milkweed seedlings that have been quite cooperative), I hesitate to plant the zinnias in the yard. If I were to, they'd be scattered all over (wherever I could squeeze them in) -- in order to nurse them along properly in this heat (Did I mention the heat?! Can you tell I don't like the heat?), I'd have to remember where I planted them. :)

I, too, am now curious as to what the blooms will look like; and you've given me extra incentive to keep an eye on this. I read that zinnias take 60-70 days to bloom. I'm headed out of town again the second week of July, but that may give me enough time: I'll put these seedlings into pots and monitor from my back door. Await my report and keep your fingers crossed for me.

Hello javiwa,

" Can you tell I don't like the heat? "

And yet you live in Texas. We lived for 20 years in Fort Worth, and used to count the consecutive days when the temperature was 100 or more. Actually, our local TV weatherman did that for us. He refused to classify a day as "hot" unless it was triple digits. So I guess that, in Texas, 99 degrees is just "warm".

" I'll put these seedlings into pots and monitor from my back door. Await my report and keep your fingers crossed for me. "

That sounds like a plan. I'll stay tuned to station JAVIWA

ZM

And yet you live in Texas. One goes where the job takes us. :) Just returned from a glorious weather-week in L.A. (my hometown) and was tempted to cancel the one-way ticket back out here. But my zinnias called!

Hi javiwa,

" One goes where the job takes us. "

That was my only reason for living in Fort Worth for 20 years. When we came to Kansas, I assumed I was getting away from the Armadillos. But no. We saw one as road kill a few months ago. They aren't numerous, but the Armadillos are actually here in Kansas. At least the Killer Bees and Fire Ants don't live here.

I managed to successfully transfer the seedlings into larger pots. I don't plan on moving them again this summer, so no risk of disturbing their roots a second time; call me risk averse. I did have one fatality: one little guy -- nestled between two others, and I left them as a trio to avoid touching the roots -- just keeled over within the hour.

Ha! So much for monitoring from my back door (inside where the A/C is!). Every single afternoon this week, we've had monster thunderstorms pass through -- to the point that I'm in and out, moving my pots out of the deluge, then moving them back out when the sun pokes out.

------

Not that the Short Stuff currently in the yard are doing that well, but I still dead head the flowers and harvest seeds -- I just hate to waste! If I decide not to use them next year, I may just trade them away or send them to my mom and let her work her magic. :)

So, ZM, some new observations and questions popped up after this morning's harvest -- I think pictured below are pink SSs.

I recall you posted in another forum that seeds can be harvested (and plants subsequently grown) from both male and female (petal?) parts of the flower. Sorry, I'm not up on the correct terminology. Up until now, I'd only ever seen the obvious, end-of-petal seeds. The 'male' seeds were a mystery to me...until today, I think.

I pulled off the petals as usual, then decided to rummage through the remaining pollen bulb/body/thing -- sure enough, another set of seeds appeared!

That's them, correct?

I also noticed that some of the harvested seeds appear much more brown/dark then others -- the darker ones (right) coming from the older, lower petals and the lighter ones (left) from the smaller, younger petals closer to the center of the flower:

Any idea, ZM, if the darker (presumably more mature) seeds have a higher %age of germination? If so, perhaps I'll think about leaving the younger petals on the flower a bit longer -- though, with all the rain we've had plus standard humidity, I don't want to risk the seeds succumbing to disease.

Hello javiwa,

First of all, great photos !!! You continue to "bowl me over." I don't think I could do any better, and I have a Nikon SLR camera and some pretty good image software.

Yes, you have discovered the male seeds, the floret seeds. Big time. You don't see those in commercial packets of F1 zinnias (like your Short Stuffs), but for open pollinated zinnias and F2s you will find a lot of floret seeds in the package.

" Any idea, ZM, if the darker (presumably more mature) seeds have a higher
%age of germination? If so, perhaps I'll think about leaving the
younger petals on the flower a bit longer -- though, with all the rain
we've had plus standard humidity, I don't want to risk the seeds
succumbing to disease. "

Actually, all of your floret seeds look pretty good to me. They look "fat enough" to have a reasonably well developed embryo. I don't worry too much about my percents of germination. Obviously zero percent is not good, and that can happen. But the difference between 40% germination and 80% germination with my saved zinnia seeds doesn't concern me a lot. If I anticipate lower germination, I just plant my seeds closer together.

In fact, if my cultural practices tend to produce a lower percentage of germination, I sort of rationalize that as not necessarily a bad thing, but a "survival of the fittest" thing. Any "weak" zinnias are going to get culled anyway, so if they don't survive germination, that is OK by me.

" ...though, with all the rain we've had plus standard humidity, I don't want to risk the seeds succumbing to disease. "

Zinnia disease is a problem everywhere, both here in Kansas, and in your Southern area perhaps even worse. Maybe you should get something now, to have it ready for when the time comes.

According to the GreenCure Web Site, GreenCure controls Alternaria blight, Anthracnose, Ascochyta blight, Blackspot, Botrytis
blight, Botrytis gray mold, Cercospora leaf spot, Corynespora leaf spot,
Didymellina leaf spot, Diplodia tip blight, Downy mildew, Entomosporium
leaf spot, Fusarium, Helminthosporium leaf spot, Ink spot, Monilinea
fruit and blossom rot, Penicillium spp., Phomopsis blight, Powdery
mildew, Ovulinia sp., Ramularia leaf spot, Ray blight, Rust, Scab,
and Septoria leaf spot. That's a lot of stuff, some of which attacks zinnias.

Also, do you have any Physan 20™ on hand? As they say on their website, Physan 20™ is
a broad range disinfectant, fungicide, virucide, and algaecide which
effectively controls a wide variety of pathogens on hard surfaces and
plants. Its applications include greenhouses, hard surfaces, lawn and
turfgrass, seedlings and cut flowers, decorative fountains, pools
and birdbaths, and plants. I have been using Physan 20 for several years to prevent infections on my zinnias, expecially my indoor zinnias.

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

Thanks as always, ZM. At this point, my desire to maximize germination %age is for the benefit of anyone I might wish to trade or give seeds to -- I'd feel bad if they received a bunch of duds. Right now, all my zinnias in the yard are looking rather sad -- probably all the rain. We needed it up until last weekend, but enough is enough! The SS leaves definitely have something going on with the leaves -- fungus/disease of some sort is eating at the leaf margins, and the leaves that are whole are discolored. I'll try to shoot some pics tomorrow.

When I turned the flower heads upside down this morning to harvest the seeds, thrips and springtails were in abundance! And earlier this week, I found new critters in the beds (was ID'd by a GWer as true bugs and possibly another beetle):

All of the SS and the pink Profusion have kinda gone into shutdown mode: they're hanging onto their spent buds, yet not producing any new ones. Right now, the Profusions are a mass of faded pink/white instead of bright fuchsia.

Years ago, I recall the local garden experts touting the use of Consan Triple Action 20 (for lawn fungus IIRC) -- sounds like a product very similar to Physan 20. I'll believe I have some in the garage, so I stand ready! :)

Hi javiwa,

As I recall, Consan and Physan 20 are similar, if not identical.

I don't recognize the little beetle. Is it a Flea Beetle? If it hops like a flea and is small like a flea, it probably is a Flea Beetle. I had some on my zinnias one year, but our guineas ate them all. However, little beetles like Flea Beetles are a frequent pest on our Eggplants.

" ...fungus/disease of some sort is eating at the leaf margins, and the
leaves that are whole are discolored. I'll try to shoot some pics
tomorrow. "

Are you currently spraying or treating them with anything?

ZM

ZM: No, the beetle(s) doesn't hop. The adult has wings, but in its attempts to get away, just crawled. I'm leaving them alone and keeping fingers crossed that: 1) the beneficials and lizards will do their job; 2) they're not doing much/any harm.

The zinnias were an experiment for me this year anyway; so, no, I haven't sprayed. It seems to be an endless struggle w/ humidity and fungal diseases down here, and I don't find joy in constantly spraying chemicals. I'd much rather seek out varieties that do well here: my garden philosophy is definitely sink or swim....bit of horticultural tough love.

Just got back in from my 1/2 hour of early morning maintenance. The air is incredibly soupy already, and I just heard the weatherman say feels-like temps are already in the 90s.

BTW, regarding my pics: I figure if I'm going to post and ask for help, I need to do my part to provide as clear photos as possible. :)

I'll post my sad zinnias shortly.

The first four pics are Short Stuff, planted in a bed that receives sun from morning til early afternoon. (This is the bed where I found the little black bugs/beetles.)

As you can see, my dead heading isn't promoting much new bud formation. These have been in the ground for a couple of months (purchased from the nursery at 6-packs). The SS leaves have pretty much had issues since the first week I put them in the ground.

The next two are Profusions planted in a bed that receives strong afternoon sun (starting around noon-1, and until sunset). The leaves are definitely in better condition than the SS, but are showing signs of a mottling. Could be spider mites (I haven't flipped over the leaves), but if so, I won't spray. Bloom production has been slow (I think -- unless my expectations are off base):

At least the second one is pushing out new leaves.

These two Profusion are in a front bed that receives ~ 4-5 hours a.m. sun:

These receive much less sun and have healthier leaves than the first two sets pictured. I had already removed quite a few faded pink blooms when this pic was shot -- the faded blooms far outnumbered the bright/dark pinks.

Hello javiwa,

What is the nature of the mulch that I see in the pictures? What are you providing in the way of nutrition to those zinnias?

" The leaves are definitely in better condition than the SS, but are showing signs of a mottling. "

Since Profusions are supposed to be immune to Powdery Mildew, that mottling is something of a mystery. If Spider Mites are involved, you should see some of the webbing.

Short Stuff zinnias have genetic inhibition of growth factors (like gibberellicacid) to keep them short, which may be why you aren't seeing a lot of new growth in them. The most troublesome thing I see in those pictures is the dark centers. It looks like the same stuff that is rotting your leafy mulch is rotting the centers of your zinnias. The centers of your zinnias should look alive and healthy, like in this photo.

Except for the centers, I don't see any symptoms of serious disease yet. It looks like same stuff that is rotting the leafy mulch is rotting your zinnia centers. I would rethink the mulch and improve their nutrition.

ZM

'Morning, ZM. I wonder: should I avoid harvesting seeds from flowers that have blackened centers? (i.e., will diseased seeds simply not germinate, or might they produce diseased plants?)

We tried something new for mulch this year: gathered and shredded dried leaves from our yard and neighborhood (so, mostly live oak & silver maple leaves, and a small amount of pine needles). Currently, the layer of leaves ranges from 1/2" to 2-3".

For decades, we hauled in and spreaded shredded hardwood bark mulch on all our beds. But this stuff got so compacted that keeping up with the watering for 3/4 of the year became very difficult. Not to mention, only the hardiest of the hardy plants did well in these conditions. After a lot of reading, we decided to go the route of mulching with leaves, the extra bonus being all the additional organic matter in the soil.

Thanks for the chaffy scale lesson -- make sense that these would create the necessary air pockets to ensure good circulation.

Nutrition: When I first planted the zinnias, I noticed quite a bit of granular fertilizer in the potting medium (from the nursery). I side dressed in the beginning with a small qty of Rose Tone (it's what I had on hand), and have applied dilute fish fertilizer 2x.

Hello javiwa,

" ...will diseased seeds simply not germinate, or might they produce diseased plants? "

Diseased seeds will produce diseased plants. Commercial zinnia seed is treated to kill any disease. Home saved seeds, and seeds obtained in "swaps" are common carriers of a variety of diseases.

" We tried something new for mulch this year: gathered and shredded dried
leaves from our yard and neighborhood (so, mostly live oak & silver
maple leaves, and a small amount of pine needles). Currently, the
layer of leaves ranges from 1/2" to 2-3". "

Organic mulches are also a disease (and pest) carrier. Some commercial mulches are heat treated to sterilize them and most seed companies use carefully controlled heat to sterilize their seeds, But even sterilized mulches can provide a hiding place and a protective environment for many pests.

" When I first planted the zinnias, I noticed quite a bit of granular
fertilizer in the potting medium (from the nursery). I side dressed in
the beginning with a small qty of Rose Tone (it's what I had on hand),
and have applied dilute fish fertilizer 2x. "

It is important to know what chemical elements are present in a fertilizer product. Usually that information is given on the label. Miracle-Gro Tomato Food works very well with zinnias, partly because it has more Magnesium than some of the other Miracle-Gro products. (Magnesium is a component of chlorophyll.)

Miracle-Gro Tomato Food's listed ingredients are: Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Tomato Plant Food 18-18-21 Guaranteed Analysis F 1198: Total Nitrogen (N) (18%), Ammoniacal Nitrogen (1.4%), Urea Nitrogen (14.0%), Nitrate Nitrogen
(2.6%), Available Phosphate (P2O5) (18%), Soluble Potash (K2O) (21%),
Magnesium (Mg) (0.050%), Water Soluble Magnesium (Mg) (0.50%), Copper
(Cu) (0.05%), Water Soluble Copper (Cu) (0.05%), Iron (Fe) (0.10%),
Chelated Iron (Fe) 0.10%, Manganese (Mn) (0.05%), Chelated Manganese
(Mn) (0.05%), Zinc (Zn) (0.05%), Water Soluble Zinc (Zn) (0.05%).
Derived from Ammonium Sulfate, Potassium Nitrate, Urea, Potassium
Phosphate, Magnesium Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Iron EDTA, Manganese EDTA, and Zinc Sulfate.

As a water soluble product, it omits Calcium, because Calcium would form an insoluble precipitate with the Phosphates in the formula. Your soil may also contain Calcium, or you may need to add it via Lawn Lime or Gypsum. I use Calcium nitrate (very water soluble) for my indoor zinnias.

Soluble nutrients are effectively applied as a foliar drench, which is absorbed by both the leaves and the roots (the roots get the run-off from the foliage). For more rapid results I apply a one-third strength solution every few days. That is also safer in case any gets on the petals of a bloom, which are a bit more delicate than the leaves.

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

Hi, ZM! Providing an early July update. My potted zinnias (from seed) have endured ridiculously hot weather since mid-May (every day, temps in the mid- to upper 90s). Add to that our July 4th flooding rains and my attention turning to raising/releasing swallowtail butterflies (Eastern black and Giants) -- well, the zinnias aren't being raised under the most controlled of environments. :)

Given all that, I thought I'd post a few shots of my yellow Profusions that germinated in early April.

Leaves are obviously damaged from spider mites and some sort of leaf miner (I think), but I'm avoiding insecticides of any sort.

Hope you've been well with your zinnia adventures!

BTW, that orange Short Stuff I posted up there?

At some point just several weeks ago, it decided to wake up and go nuts...doing great now.

Hello javiwa,

Your zinnias are looking much better.

" Leaves are obviously damaged from spider mites and some sort of leaf miner (I think), but I'm avoiding insecticides of any sort. "

I think we can rule out spider mites, because they produce visible webs, sort of like cobwebs, but without the dust. And the mites aren't insects, so an insecticide wouldn't help. There is something a little wrong with some of the leaves -- possible a nutrition deficiency of a trace element.

" Hope you've been well with your zinnia adventures! "

I have some Razzle Dazzles in my outside garden. These are progressively closer views of the same Razzle Dazzle bloom.

ZM

I love your Razzle Dazzles, ZM! Definitely not your garden variety zinnia...heh. :)

Not having a benchmark to know what healthy zinnia leaves should look like, I guess at this point I'm just happy that: 1) I was able to germinate the seeds into more plants, and 2) I didn't kill them. Low bar, I know.

ZM -- I'm baaaack! :) Remember that yellow what-I-thought-was-an-about-to-open yellow zinnia bud, up there in my 7/6 6:23 a.m. post? Very, very strange as it's just a, what, pollen ball now? Seed came of a Profusion zinnia, but even the leaves are more similar (fat/wide) to the 'standard' zinnias than Profusion:

Odd, no?

My orange Short Stuff from above is just going nuts in this heat. So, I'm batting about 1/12 with my zinnias. Still, neither butterflies nor hummers seem to be visiting this one. But it sure is beautiful!

Hi javiwa,

" Very, very strange as it's just a, what, pollen ball now? Seed came of a
Profusion zinnia, but even the leaves are more similar (fat/wide) to
the 'standard' zinnias than Profusion: "

I don't see any actual pollen there, but I do see stigmas. That may be what the seeds growers call a "Femina", which is a feminine-only zinnia that is used in the production of F1 hybrid zinnia seeds.

As far as I know, there aren't any F1 hybrid Profusions in the marketplace, so it probably came from your saved seeds of Short Stuff, which is an F1 hybrid. Feminas are the maternal parent of all commercial Fl hybrid zinnia seed. You could apply pollen to your Femina and get some F1 hybrid seeds from it.

ZM

I see -- thanks for the explanation, ZM. It's quite possible I got my seeds mixed up along the way.

Mid-August update! As advertised, even with our incessant heat, the zinnias that took hold in the beds are doing so, so well. It just took them longer than I expected to get going, but I'm astonished how well they're doing.

Here's a pic of yet another couple of Short Stuff zinnias started from harvested seeds -- yup, another femina:

I think I'd be rather disappointed if I sowed seeds next year, thinking I would get flowers with petals, only to see femina/s/ae all over. :) Guess that's just the luck of the draw with seeds.

Here's a pink Short Stuff I started from seed, then eventually transferred into a bed. Odd that I purchased a lighter pink Short Stuff zinnia, yet the seed is yielding a much darker/deeper pink -- love it, though!

Hi javiwa,

" I think I'd be rather disappointed if I sowed seeds next year, thinking I
would get flowers with petals, only to see femina/s/ae all over. :)
Guess that's just the luck of the draw with seeds. "

You won't have feminas if you don't save seeds from commercial F1 hybrids. The F1 seeds all have a femina as their mother parent. In other words, all F1 zinnia seeds come from feminas. Unlike the commercial seeds guys, who have to use feminas to produce F1 hybrid seed, you can cross any two zinnias in your zinnia patch or garden. Any two. That is a tremendous lot more freedom than the commercial guys have. That is why I have gobs of zinnias that the commercial guys don't have. Like this specimen.

It wouldn't hurt to buy a few Whirligigs from more than one source, with the idea of getting more variety. With mixture zinnias like Whirligigs, just coming from a different field actually gives you a potentially different mixture, even though the packets have the same name (Whirligig).

ZM

Thanks as always, ZM. Because of Houston's humid weather, Profusion and Short Stuff appear to be the recommended zinnias that aren't susceptible to fungal diseases. So, I guess pulling green seeds off SS zinnias won't be an option for future seasons. I'm afraid I don't have the time to cross and hybridize zinnias, as my focus is on raising butterflies. :)

BTW, how does a layperson determine whether a flower/plant is a F1 or non-F1 hybrid? TIA.

Zenman, I have received some Magellan zinnia seeds that are coated, uncoated were out of stock so I opt for the coated. Source was Geoseed. I also have uncoated zinnia Binary seed. The coated Magellan seed just is not germinating...tried a couple techniques, paper towel, plug tray with soil-less mix. The Binary's only took a couple of days in either technique. I believe I have read that coated seed is more difficult to germinate? Can you please comment when time allows? Thank you, Patty

Hello Patty,

Houzz's new way of arranging message strings is really confusing.

I confess that I have never purchased or grown any coated zinnia seed, so I can't be much help there. The primary use for coated zinnia seed is by market garden growers who plant a large area using mechanical seed planters. They sell zinnia blooms to florists and/or open markets. "Regular" zinnia seed are too irregularly shaped to go through a mechanical planter dependably, while the coated seeds have simpler shapes that presumably work with mechanical planters.

Since you are not using a mechanical planter, you don't have any requirement for coated zinnia seed. If GeoSeed's coated zinnia seed have zero germination, many of their market-grower customers will be asking for a refund, so that they can purchase coated zinnia seed from an alternate source. Market growers do need the coated zinnia seed.

By "Binary" do you mean Benary? Benary is a well known German seed company, and Benary has a strain of large "Dahlia flowered" zinnias in a wide range of separate colors.

Most seed companies will replace any seed that fail to germinate. In the case of your coated zinnia seeds, I don't know how long you should have to wait for them to germinate. But if they still haven't germinated after two weeks, I think you would be justified in notifying GeoSeed of that and request a non-coated substitution and/or a refund. You probably should talk with them on the telephone, one person to another person.

ZM

Magellan Coral F2 !!!

Sorry to jump in, above pic are offspring from coral F1 magellan. Wanted to see what i get as common myth is they dont come true from seed. Well first one bloomed orange, may not be coral, but to me plant is the same as F1

Hello enshalla,

The Magellan strain of zinnias are not F1 hybrids -- Magellans are just a selected strain. So that F1-F2 thing does not apply to them.

ZM

Thanks so much that's great to know!

It's certainly advertised as such (F1)!

So the offspring seem like the parents except for colour but I only planted 6, any thoughts on variation in terms of plant size and habit ? I'll show updates when the rest

Hi enshalla,

" It's certainly advertised as such (F1)! "

I have not seen any such advertisements. And I have seen several catalogs that offer Magellan zinnia seed for sale. But claiming Magellans to be F1 hybrids would be false advertisement, and a violation of laws.

" So the offspring seem like the parents except for colour but I only planted 6, any thoughts on variation in terms of plant size and habit ? "

You have no idea what your local bees pollinated your Magellans with. Possibly with zinnia pollen from your neighbors. Possibly with pollen from your Magellans, if they even had any pollen that day. Possibly from zinnias a long distance away. Since you had only 6 zinnia plants there is a good mathematical chance the zinnia pollen on the bees was from other zinnias. So there is no reason to expect that seed you saved from your Magellans were selfed. It is possible, even likely, they were random F1 hybrids with unknown zinnias that supplied pollen to the bees. So yes, you could see variation in terms of plant size and habit.

ZM

Experiment Update, results are in: seeds saved from magellan coral have finally bloomed, majority have orange blooms and identical to parent in terms of plant habit (but not colour). One offspring has the coral colour but is only semidouble. Definitely saving my magellan seeds from now on !