Can you start zinnia seeds indoors

I have done this in the past but had a hard time getting the seedlings to gain size very fast. The last two years I waited until after the last frost and started them in six packs outside, which worked very well.

But, that meant it was longer before I got blooms. So, do you start yours inside? How early? What temperature do you keep them at for good growth?

Anything else that might affect their growth rate: water? In addition to what Trishcuit said, I do indeed start zinnias inside, because I grow some of them as an indoor gardening project. And some of my zinnias are simply started early to give them a head start when setting them into the garden.

However, my indoor gardening zinnia project is in progress right now. How early you start your zinnia seeds depends on two things: your safe no-frost date and how large you want your zinnia plants to be when you set them out.

And how large you want them to be actually depends on the pot size that you intend to have them in when you do set them out. This is a picture I took today of one of my zinnia seedlings in a 3. So it was planted 21 days ago, and as you can see from the root development, it is ready to re-pot to a larger pot, or set it out not an option for me right now. But if this were the size of pot you planned to use, you should start your zinnias 21 days before the date you planned to set them out.

Zinnias grow fast, so, as you can see, it takes them only three weeks to outgrow a 3. When they do outgrow the pot in three weeks, I either set them out, or re-pot them to a larger pot.

If I should, for some reason, wait four weeks, the zinnia roots will be growing out the bottom of the pot and cause a problem in extracting them in order to re-pot the plant. I confess that I do get busy and do that from time to time. Zinnias can reach the budding stage and actually bloom in a 5-inch pot. The zinnia in this pot has a flower bud and side branches beginning. Actually, a zinnia can bloom in a 3-inch pot, but that is kind of a sad thing to let happen. Confession -- I have done that.

The zinnia in this picture which was also taken today is budding, and it can stay in this pot for at least 2 more weeks. It was planted on January 18th, so it is 28 days old and can stay in the 5-inch pot for at least another two weeks. If well-grown, zinnias can bloom in 5 to 6 weeks from the time you insert the seed into the growing medium.

They usually come up in 2 to 4 days, although some people not me can get them up in one day. I set my heat mat thermostat at 80 degrees, which is 10 degrees warmer than our degree room temperature. If you start your zinnias 6 weeks before your planned set-out date, they can be starting to bloom when you set them out.

There are advantages to having your zinnias beginning to bloom when you set them out. One advantage is that, if you planted a mixture of colors, you can sort them according to color when you set them out. You could group the yellows together, the pinks together, the whites together, and so on.

You could do that, even though the seed packet was a mixture. This is a link to a handy planting date calculator on the Johnny's Seeds website. Just don't forget to enter your safe no-frost date, including the year, in the space provided at the top of the table. It will then use that date to give you seed planting dates for all kinds of plants, including zinnias at the bottom of the table. Incidentally, if you "go along with" the 4 weeks advance starting for zinnias that Johnny's advises, you will probably want to use a pot a little larger than the 3.

A 4-inch pot should be about right for a 4-week lead time. I also agree with Johnny's suggestion to wait until one week after the safe no-frost date to set your zinnias out. When I am planting zinnia seeds in-ground, I like to wait even longer than that, three or four weeks, to give the soil time to properly warm up.

If you have questions about any of this, don't hesitate to ask. I or someone else can answer your questions or clarify what I said here. If you are unsure of your "safe no-frost date", we can show you how to find that. A shot of half strength fertilizer once a month and plenty of light and warmth. I need help with my back deck and pool house roof!

Do I start with an architect or contractor? Just harvested some morning glory and zinnia seeds What to do with Indoor planter. Fireplace: Does anyone do woodburning for indoors anymore? So are you saying that you keep the heat mats going under the seedlings the whole time they are indors?

In the past, I have tried growing the plants on in my basement where the temperature tends to stay in the low to mid sixties. Too cool for good growth? I have a light set-up in the main part of my house where I could grow four flats. I can move it to my MIL's side of the house where the temperature stays at 75 or so, or in the main part of the house where we keep the temp at 68 degrees. What would you recommend? I don't have enough heat mats to do that, so when I repot them from 3.

Too cool for germinating zinnia seedlings. They would germinate poorly, if at all, in the 60's. Zinnias like hot weather.

Mine are also in the basement in a utility room with the hot water heater and furnace, but I keep the doors at least partly open to get some heat from the furnished area of the basement.

And I have quite a few fluorescent lights, so they provide some heat when they are all lit. They are on a timer to turn them on and off for a hour "daylight" period. I plan to move some of my larger plants upstairs in front of south-facing windows to get some benefit from sunlight. They will still get some fluorescent light to extend their daylength to 16 hours. The zinnias would germinate better in the warmer area.

I keep mine under a humidity dome to keep the medium moist until they emerge. Then they come out from under the humidity dome, or they will get spindly.

In the absence of a humidity dome, make sure the surface of the germinating medium doesn't dry out until the zinnias emerge. One of those little "spritzer" sprayers like an empty Windex bottle, well rinsed out could help with that. As the seedlings get their true leaves, they would benefit from more light if you could move them and your lights in front of a sunlit window. If that is not convenient to do, adjust the lights to keep them about two inches from the leaves, to maximize the lighting effect.

Donna, the zinnia don't need heat once the seed are all germinated. As you know, I sow all my seeds in dense rows and transplant them as soon as they are about an inch tall or so.

But as soon as I see their little heads peeking up out of the potting medium The heat makes them spindly in a hurry. Cool temps is best for that growing on stage, especially under the less than perfect lighting situation found inside. Thanks, you two! If memory serves correctly it was germination that was my biggest problem in the past. I am sure I can get them enough heat to germinate, especially now that I know I can plant them densely at first.

Once I separate the seedlings and put them in individual pots I will send them to the basement to see how they do. I am so excited to learn something that will make my seed starting even better! It is about 7 weeks until my frost free date. On the Hazzard's website, with regard to Profusions, it says "seed to sale in 7 weeks". I assume this means until blooms. Do you think that four inch pots will be large enough for a 7 week lead time or should I wait two or three more weeks to get started?

This is all such a great help! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate both of your generous sharing of your knowledge and experience. By the way, if anyone else is watching this thread, I am going to include a link to a thread over in the Vegetable Gardening Forum. Read it all the way down and you will find some very valuable info on seed starting. Watch the "Tomato Man" video that is linked there, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Read this and learn! I read your linked thread with interest. I have several pots with multiple seedlings in them right now, because I planted some old seeds that had a low germination rate with as many as 9 seeds per pot.

Some pots produced only one seedling from that a few got none , but several got two or three or even four germinations. I think I will try to "re-pot" them into separate pots. I think that is a skill I need to learn. I have in past years had some success in letting zinnias grow to first bloom in that situation, and cull all but the best bloom by snipping off the rejects at the soil line, but that does "stunt" the remaining plants.

However, in the past I didn't mind doing that so much, because I do cull aggressively in order to get significant improvements in my zinnias. When I am hand pollinating my zinnias, I want to be making crosses between only "the best of the best". Knowing that I will be keeping only the best specimens at bloom time, I do set them out or sow them in-ground closer together than I would normally, knowing that I will be opening up spaces when I remove the rejects.

In some cases, that leaves quite a bit of open space, but that can be a benefit to the remaining plants, like last year in the case of this spreading zinnia. This was a single plant. The plant seemed to be a shrub and it spread across the ground, eventually producing dozens and dozens of blooms.

I never saw anything like it before, so I designated it as a "breeder" and crossed it with other unusual specimens and selfed it as much as possible, although it produced very little pollen of its own. There are species of zinnias that are true shrubs, but this was garden variety Zinnia elegans now referred to in academic circles as Z. I have no idea whether its unusual plant habit was an environmental response, or genetic. Perhaps this year I will know as I grow some of its progeny.

I usually have my seedlings in 5-inch pots by 7 weeks. Use insecticidal soaps. Consult your Cooperative Extension Service for other insecticide recommendations.

Japanese Beetles : Burpee Recommends: Hand pick early in the morning into a bucket of soapy water. Plants are shorter than is characteristic for the variety and the flowers are much smaller: When zinnias are overcrowded they can become stunted and produce smaller flowers.

Always follow the spacing recommendations for each variety. Spider Mites: These tiny spider-like pests are about the size of a grain of pepper. They may be red, black, brown or yellow.

They suck on the plant juices removing chlorophyll and injecting toxins which cause white dots on the foliage. There is often webbing visible on the plant. They cause the foliage to turn yellow and become dry and stippled. They multiply quickly and thrive in dry conditions. Burpee Recommends: Spider mites may be controlled with a forceful spray every other day. Try hot pepper wax or insecticidal soap. Check with your Cooperative Extension Service for miticide recommendations.

Should I start my zinnias indoors or outdoors? Zinnias may be started indoors or directly in the garden. If you have good conditions for growing them indoors such as plant lights, a heat mat for germination, then you can get a head start by starting them indoors.

But zinnias are easy to direct sow and bloom fairly quickly from seed so direct sowing may be a better option for some gardeners. Can I grow zinnias as a houseplant? Zinnias require full sun and hot temperatures to grow well and may not perform well in many homes. Shorter varieties may be tried in a warm sunroom during the summer. How do I condition my cut zinnia flowers? Bring a bucket of water with you to the garden when you cut your flowers and put them in the water as soon as you cut them.

This will allow them to take up water through the freshly cut stem. Cut on an angle to give more surface area for the water to be taken up. Keep them out of the direct sun. Do I need to stake my zinnias?

Taller varieties may benefit from staking, especially if they are in a windy area. Why are my zinnias tall and thin with much smaller flowers than expected? If zinnias are planted too closely together they will produce tall plants and much smaller flowers.

Always follow the recommended spacing on the planting instructions. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Learn more Ok. Learn About Zinnias. Posted in: Zinnias. How to Sow Zinnia may be grown from seed sown early indoors and transplanted outside after frost, or sown directly in the garden after frost, or from potted plants. Raise the lights as the plants grow taller. Incandescent bulbs will not work for this process because they will get too hot.

Most plants require a dark period to grow, do not leave lights on for 24 hours. Thin to one seedling per cell when they have two sets of leaves. Transplant hardened-off seedlings to the garden after the frost. Accustom young plants to outdoor conditions by moving them to a sheltered place outside for a week.

Be sure to protect them from wind and hot sun at first. If frost threatens at night, cover or bring containers indoors, then take them out again in the morning. Sowing Directly in the Garden: Direct sow seeds in average soil in full sun after all danger of frost.

These annual flowers will grow in most U. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones, as long as they receive full sunlight and grow in fast-draining soil. Planting the entire pot reduces the transplant shock so the zinnia will have a greater chance of becoming established. If you're growing dwarf zinnias in patio pots, however, you can simply direct-sow the seeds in the containers that you'll move outside when the weather warms in spring.

A sterile, fast-draining potting soil containing vermiculite or perlite is best for zinnia seedlings. This type of soil will provide the stability for the seedlings while allowing enough air pockets for the roots to receive adequate oxygen. Starting zinnia seeds indoors in the spring, four to five weeks prior to the last average spring frost date, will produce starts mature enough for transplanting outdoors.