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Each gardener grows all kinds of annual flowers on his site. It would seem very good that you can update your flower garden every year. But for this you will have to constantly buy new seeds of your favorite flowers. Luckily, you can make them yourself at home. Thus, you only have to pay for the first sachet of seed. Also, you do not have to go shopping in search of the flowers you like. In this article, you will learn how to collect zinnia seeds.
Seed collection
In order to collect seeds, you just need to choose the most beautiful inflorescences in your flower garden and wait until they ripen and dry. After that, you can cut the box. It will take about 2 months for the plant to fully mature, so it is best to leave the very first flowers in advance. They often grow large and lush.
Cut baskets can be additionally dried in a dry room. Then you need to carefully pull out the petals and get the seeds. After that, they are sorted out, dried again on a newspaper and laid out in paper envelopes.
How to select quality seeds
Large seeds sprout the fastest, already on the 3rd day the first shoots may appear. But often both semi-double and non-double inflorescences can grow from one package. Even if you collect seed only from double inflorescences, there is still a risk that a large number of grown flowers will be simple or semi-double.
The only option is to select high-quality material for sowing. Simple flowers grow from dark brown heart-shaped seeds. It’s better to get rid of those. They leave only elongated, spear-like seeds with a pointed triangular tip. They usually have a grayish tint. Of course, such a selection does not guarantee that absolutely all inflorescences will be terry, but there will be many more of them. In addition, large and high-quality seeds have a higher germination rate. Immediately after you get the seeds from the flower, you can sort them out, and leave them in this form for storage. Then in the spring there will be less worries about sowing.
How to distinguish between zinnia seeds
Looking closely at the seed baskets, you can see that there are several types of seed:
- shield-shaped heart-shaped;
- spear-shaped sharp;
- elongated with a ponytail.
Although these seeds are collected from the same inflorescence, completely different zinnias can subsequently grow. Therefore, experienced flower growers sort out the seeds and sort each species separately. Here are the flowers you can get from each of these species:
- The most common zinnias can be grown from shield-shaped or heart-like seeds, even if the seed was collected on a double inflorescence.
- From spear-shaped grow simple or semi-double zinnias.
- Terry inflorescences grow from elongated seeds, at the tip of which there is a grayish tail. It is these flowers that are most valued.
Terry zinnias require special careful care. So you have to take into account how much time you have to care for the flower garden.
When the seeds are harvested
Seed material can be considered mature already 60 days after the start of flowering. Therefore, it is advisable to leave the first flowers that appear for these purposes. But even among them, you should choose only the largest and most magnificent. Then they will need to be dried and only suitable seeds selected. They must be stored in a cool dry place. It is very important that in winter it is not affected by cold and moisture, otherwise they will simply become damp. Under suitable conditions, they can be stored for 3 or 4 years without losing their sowing qualities.
If you grow several varieties, then such seeds should be stored in separate boxes or envelopes. Do not forget to sign each bag, so as not to get confused when landing. Also indicate on the packaging the year when the material was collected. Some gardeners who like to equip their flower beds in an original way also indicate the color of zinnia. Then they plant the plants in rows or circles.
If the room temperature was not suitable or the seeds were stored in a plastic bag, then germination may decrease. It will also reduce the shelf life. It would be better to sow such material next year, since in the future they may not sprout.
Conclusion
Zinnias are very common and beautiful flowers. Many flower growers love to grow them. It is very convenient that you can prepare the seed yourself without spending any money or time on shopping. The collection process is very simple and fast, the main thing is to wait until the inflorescences are completely dry. So be sure to harvest the zinnia seeds yourself. Then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor every year.
