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Man does not live by bread alone. The vast majority of land owners want their garden to be well-groomed and the flower garden in order. And in this case, you can not do without pilots. They bloom almost all season and do not require special care. Some of them can be sown in the ground immediately in a permanent place, but most annual flowers in this case will bloom too late. Therefore, they are grown from seedlings. This is how zinnia is grown.
With this flower you can decorate any flower bed. A huge number of plant varieties of different heights and with different types of inflorescences allow it to be widely used in landscape design. And the color palette – almost all colors and shades, additionally contributes to this.
Zinnia comes from Central America, there are no frosts. The plant does not tolerate them in our climate either. Even lowering the temperature by only 1 degree below 0 is fatal for her. Therefore, it is possible to sow zinnia in open ground only after the end of the return spring frosts.
Why seedlings
In most varieties, the period from germination to the first flowering lasts almost 70 days. If we add more time from sowing to the appearance of sprouts, it turns out that flowering zinnia can be seen in almost 3 months. Our summer is short, and when sown in open ground, the flower simply does not have time to show everything that it is capable of. Therefore, the only way to get early flowering is to grow seedlings.
How to sow zinnia so that it does not stretch
The seeds of this flower have good germination and break out of the ground quickly – sometimes even in 6 days. To hasten the seedlings and make sure the quality of the seeds, they must first be soaked. Any growth stimulator will also be a good helper, it must be used according to the instructions. Plants grown from seeds treated in this way will show better health and lush blooms.
The seeds are laid out in grooves to a depth of 0,5 cm. The soil should be slightly moist, but not waterlogged. For growing zinnia seedlings, it is very important to choose the right containers. A well-developed root system requires room for growth, so the height of the container for growing seedlings should not be less than 10 cm. When picking, which is carried out about 3 weeks after germination, it is necessary to take care of high cups of sufficient volume. Pinching the root when picking will make the roots fibrous, they have the greatest suction capacity, and will feed the plants perfectly.
In order for seedlings to appear faster, a plastic bag is put on the container with crops and put in heat. After germination, the most important thing for them is a sufficient amount of light. Therefore, their place is on the brightest windowsill.
Comfort for seedlings
Like any plant, zinnia has its own growing preferences. This also applies to seedlings. In what conditions will she be comfortable:
- Where seedlings are grown, the air temperature should be about 20 degrees.
- This light-loving plant requires good lighting, and daylight hours should last at least 12 hours.
- Watering zinnia seedlings should be moderate. In this case, it is better to slightly underfill than to overfill. Do not forget that the water should have room temperature and be well settled.
- The soil for growing zinnia seedlings is selected with a neutral reaction, well-permeable to air and excess moisture. It should not be too dense – in such soil, the roots do not develop well. The content of organic nutrients in the soil should be moderate, it is better to feed zinnia with organic matter after planting in the ground.
- An important point is fertilizer. Zinnia seedlings are fed only with mineral fertilizers; at this stage, they do not need organic matter. It is best to use a complex fertilizer with trace elements that is highly soluble in water. The dosage for seedlings is reduced by half.
If these conditions are not met, problems will arise:
- seedlings will stretch, especially often in the phase of cotyledon leaves;
- thin stems are not able to support their own weight and lie on the ground;
- weakened plants lie in wait for fungal diseases, stems can be affected by a black leg and rot;
- growth and development of plants will slow down.
Why seedlings are stretched
The main reason is non-compliance with growing conditions. What is it expressed in?
- The seeds were sown too early. This plant is fast growing. In the middle lane, it is not worth sowing zinnia for seedlings earlier than in the middle or end of April. In warmer regions, you can do this 2-3 weeks earlier. It is preferable to get a seedling with fewer leaves, but strong and stocky. It will take root better and start growing faster after transplantation.
- Too high temperature on the windowsill. Under these conditions, the seedlings will certainly stretch, as its growth will accelerate.
- Bad lighting. This circumstance causes the stems to stretch out in search of light; without it, plants simply cannot exist.
- Too dense sowing. If it is not possible to plant the seedlings in separate containers, they cannot be sown too densely. Competition for light and nutrition will inevitably force the seedlings to stretch.
How to help stretched plants
If, despite all efforts, the seedlings are still stretched, what measures should be taken:
First of all, adjust the measures for the care of seedlings:
- with a lack of light, organize supplementary illumination with special phytolamps, if they are not available, ordinary fluorescent lamps will also do. When using ordinary incandescent lamps for additional illumination, they should not be placed close to the seedlings – they may overheat and even burn.
- Dry containers with plants and then water them less abundantly, make sure that the water is not cold;
- if the temperature in the seedling growing area is too high, organize frequent ventilation, if it is too low, arrange heating to increase it;
- sometimes the air temperature is quite high, but the ground is cold, it is blown from the cracks in the window. In this case, seedlings will not grow and develop normally, you need to insulate the window sill.
Plants will have enough of the nutrition that is in the soil.
What else can you do to help plants? The best thing you can do is to plant their flower garden. Unfortunately, a lot here depends on weather conditions; it is not always possible to perform a transplant. Measures that can be taken indoors:
- pour soil into the seedling container. This will not only help the plants, but also make them stronger, additional roots form on the stems.
- dig a recess next to each seedling, in which to put the stem and cover it with earth, the leaves should be outside;
- slow down growth by correcting the temperature regime – keep it cool at night and in the sun during the day;
- spray seedlings with drugs that inhibit the growth of seedlings, for example, Athlete – it is also suitable for zinnia.
Dilute the drug, following the instructions. Spraying should be twice with a weekly interval.
- If the plants are too crowded, you can seat them in separate cups, deepening the stems to the cotyledon leaves;
- a good way is to just pinch each sprout, this technique will force the plant to bush, side shoots will grow, and not the central stem.
Such plants after planting in the ground will give more lush flowering.
- If the seedlings are large enough, each can be tied to a support of bamboo skewers. This must be done carefully, trying not to damage the stem, you can not press it against the support.
You can see how to help stretched zinnia seedlings in the video:
Zinnia is one of the ten most attractive and common annuals. Sow it for seedlings, help it if it is stretched out, and the plant will thank you with lush and long flowering.