Growing zinnias is very rewarding with their vibrant colors, hardy character and quick bloom times. One ounce of seed yields about 1000 plants when direct sown. Seeds germinate in 35 days when temperatures are 80-85 degrees F. So keep this in mind when planning your indoor seeding schedule. Make sure the outdoor temperatures will be warm enough when the plants need to be moved outdoors. Zinnias like a soil pH between 6.0-6.5, they will produce larger and more frequent blooms if your soil is well aerated and has good organic content. You should fertilize with a balanced organic fertilizer three times during the growing season if using a granular product. Or every 2-3 weeks when foliar feeding.
Drip irrigation or soaker hoses will save time, conserve moisture, and prevent water spots and mud from splashing onto the foliage. When the soil temperatures are 70 degrees F or more you will begin your harvest in about 6-7 weeks. You can accelerate the warming of the soil by covering the beds with black plastic for a few weeks, then remove the plastic and seed the beds. After sowing cover the beds with floating row covers. This helps to moderate temperature fluctuations and also deters crows and other birds from dining on my tasty new seedlings.
Making successive plantings every two weeks will give you the highest quality flowers. When picking your zinnias make sure the blooms are fully open. Using clean, sharp pruners cut during the cooler morning or evening hours. Keep as long a stem as possible on your flower but leave a few leaf nodes on the plant allowing for additional flower production. As with any cut flower variety it is very important to get the stems into cold water as soon after picking as you can. Be sure to remove the lower foliage and any damaged foliage before arranging into bouquets. With proper harvest procedures zinnias will have a vase life of 5- 7 days. Some varieties that are very good for cutting are Oklahoma - blooming in 75-90 days. Blue Point series - blooms in 75-90 days. Sun Hybrids - are a large dahlia flowered variety blooming in 80-90 days.
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