cosmos from seed

ellejay

Hi
I've grown cosmos cupcake from seed, see attached pic.
I thought they were coming on great, they're about two inches high, but my sister bought three in a garden centre and they're huge.

Will my Cosmos grow to the size currently available in garden centres or are the Cosmos that you'd buy now on their second year of growth?

ellejay

Sorry I forgot to attach pic IMG_0943.JPG

JPup

Looks like a healthy seedling to my non expert eye. Cosmos don't flower until later in the summer so another couple of months growth to go yet

ellejay

JPup wrote: »

Looks like a healthy seedling to my non expert eye. Cosmos don't flower until later in the summer so another couple of months growth to go yet

The three my sister got were in flower!!

I really hope the seedlings grow on.

looksee

Your sister's flowers had been 'forced' in ideal nursery circumstances. Yours have a much better chance of making good plants if a little slower. Don't panic, they are fine. Last year though there was a great Cosmos failure, masses of growth and few flowers - that was our experience, I thought it was just us but a lot of people said the same. Don't be tempted to feed them, that's one way of getting loads of green and no flowers.

ellejay

looksee wrote: »

Your sister's flowers had been 'forced' in ideal nursery circumstances. Yours have a much better chance of making good plants if a little slower. Don't panic, they are fine. Last year though there was a great Cosmos failure, masses of growth and few flowers - that was our experience, I thought it was just us but a lot of people said the same. Don't be tempted to feed them, that's one way of getting loads of green and no flowers.

Thank you very much, that's really helpful, I was going to feed them.

I'm leaving them outside in a sunny area from 10:00am til about 21:00 and bringing them back inside.
I plan on leaving them out fully from middle of next week, then end of the week plant out.
Does that sound right?

Would you have any pictures of your cosmos that you grew from seed you could post up please.
I wish I'd a crystal ball sometimes to see how the seedlings are meant to turn out! First year is the hardest I guess.

Do you think the Cosmos failure was a bad batch of seeds distributed or the growing conditions.
I thought it was very sunny and warm lat year til mid June then just grey skies.

Mr.Wemmick

ellejay wrote: »

Thank you very much, that's really helpful, I was going to feed them.

I'm leaving them outside in a sunny area from 10:00am til about 21:00 and bringing them back inside.
I plan on leaving them out fully from middle of next week, then end of the week plant out.
Does that sound right?

Would you have any pictures of your cosmos that you grew from seed you could post up please.
I wish I'd a crystal ball sometimes to see how the seedlings are meant to turn out! First year is the hardest I guess.

Do you think the Cosmos failure was a bad batch of seeds distributed or the growing conditions.
I thought it was very sunny and warm lat year til mid June then just grey skies.

Last year in lockdown I grew a lot of cosmos from seed. This is a pic of some the seedlings on May 4th 2020.
They were huge in the garden border by the end of June early July, and got even bigger. Don't let those little seedlings fool you, they fly it once they get going. I pinched out the the top pair of leaves to get bushier plants.

looksee

That was part of the problem with ours, the plants grew absolutely huge, around 4ft high and as far across, with massive stems like sunflower stems, and in fact a lot of the stems had partially collapsed then grown on up, where they were lying on the ground they re-rooted. But almost no flowers. The last time I grew cosmos, in a different garden, they grew tallish, about 3ft maybe, but much slimmer and daintier and masses of flowers. They are quite tough plants and will grow with enthusiasm. Once the danger of frost has passed you can leave them out.

Mr.Wemmick

Here are two lots of the cosmos seedlings (pink) on July 2nd after I planted them out at the end of May. They got very big later in the Summer, had to pull some out to thin them a bit. Not planting any this year.

You can also plant the seeds direct in the soil from mid May. I did that one year. Might do so again if I have any gaps, although I am a wee bit tired of the plant after planting them for 3 years on the trot - always covered in aphids too. My favourite cosmos, mind, are the single white ones, wasn't overly keen on the pinks ones I planted here.

ellejay

Mr.Wemmick wrote: »

Here are two lots of the cosmos seedlings (pink) on July 2nd after I planted them out at the end of May. They got very big later in the Summer, had to pull some out to thin them a bit. Not planting any this year.

You can also plant the seeds direct in the soil from mid May. I did that one year. Might do so again if I have any gaps, although I am a wee bit tired of the plant after planting them for 3 years on the trot - always covered in aphids too. My favourite cosmos, mind, are the single white ones, wasn't overly keen on the pinks ones I planted here.

Thanks for posting the pic it's a great help.
They look lovely!
The Cosmos that's first left of your pic, beside the blue pot of pansy's, did that grow from one cosmos seed or did you plant a few seedlings together? I'm nearly at plating out stage and planning where to plant them.
I've aphid spray that I got for Lupins, so that should work on the Cosmos I think?

I'm sorry for all the questions, that should be the last!

Mr.Wemmick

ellejay wrote: »

Thanks for posting the pic it's a great help.
They look lovely!
The Cosmos that's first left of your pic, beside the blue pot of pansy's, did that grow from one cosmos seed or did you plant a few seedlings together? I'm nearly at plating out stage and planning where to plant them.
I've aphid spray that I got for Lupins, so that should work on the Cosmos I think?

I'm sorry for all the questions, that should be the last!

Please ask away, no worries. I was the same as you when I first planted from seed, you never know what you're going to get. Some seeds do not germinate at all and you always need to sow more than you need. We share plants around our street as we end up with too many.

I plant close together so each clump you see would be anywhere from 4 - 6 plants. The gap you can kind of see, I planted summer bulbs, I then panted the second group of cosmos. That border is long and narrow and I tend to over crowd it a bit.

If you do plant close together, you will need to thin them out in July. I will post another pick later that shows them getting far too big for the space. Last Summer they smothered my bulbs, the buggers

Mr.Wemmick

Photos from August last year are a bit small, but you can see the cosmos towering over everything else and some just fell across the path. The white cosmos in front of the verbena bonariensis further down was lovely.

I won't plant the pink cosmos double flowers again, in fact I sent all the remaining seeds to my Mum in Co. Tipp.

ellejay

Mr.Wemmick wrote: »

Photos from August last year are a bit small, but you can see the cosmos towering over everything else and some just fell across the path. The white cosmos in front of the verbena bonariensis further down was lovely.

I won't plant the pink cosmos double flowers again, in fact I sent all the remaining seeds to my Mum in Co. Tipp.

Your garden looks fabulous I love your border.
I think I'll plant a good few of the seedlings together to get that effect.
I like the height of the plants.
You're great for the help, if mine looks only half as good I'll be happy.

Mr.Wemmick

ellejay wrote: »

Your garden looks fabulous I love your border.
I think I'll plant a good few of the seedlings together to get that effect.
I like the height of the plants.
You're great for the help, if mine looks only half as good I'll be happy.

Bet you they will. Cosmos is a thriving plant, bit of a beautiful thug.. Take photos and let us know how you get on. I take photos every year or else I forget where I planted things. I'll have some seedlings of cosmos come up in those spots so will know where to keep an eye out. Sneeze weed is another beauty, just ordered some plug plants as I want to get more in that border further down.

I'm my Mother's daughter, get my love of flowers from her. She has a fab garden in County Tipp, a lot bigger than my wee thing. I have an awful battered lawn, the kids wreck it.

Don't forget to support them from the wind. I use a few bamboo sticks firmly into the ground before planting the seedlings.

ellejay

Mr.Wemmick wrote: »

Bet you they will. Cosmos is a thriving plant, bit of a beautiful thug.. Take photos and let us know how you get on. I take photos every year or else I forget where I planted things. I'll have some seedlings of cosmos come up in those spots so will know where to keep an eye out. Sneeze weed is another beauty, just ordered some plug plants as I want to get more in that border further down.

I'm my Mother's daughter, get my love of flowers from her. She has a fab garden in County Tipp, a lot bigger than my wee thing. I have an awful battered lawn, the kids wreck it.

Don't forget to support them from the wind. I use a few bamboo sticks firmly into the ground before planting the seedlings.

I haven't heard of sneeze weed I'll take a look thanks!

Same as myself, I get my love of gardening from my mother.
She's not mad on growing plants from seed unfortunately, no patience.

Good tip on staking them, I surely will.

Looking forward to posting the pics

Mr.Wemmick

I bought some White purity Cosmos seeds today and have just potted up about 12 seeds to put out in the garden early June.

This thread is to blame as I was determined not to have any this year.. :P

ellejay

Mr.Wemmick wrote: »

I bought some White purity Cosmos seeds today and have just potted up about 12 seeds to put out in the garden early June.

This thread is to blame as I was determined not to have any this year.. :P

go for it :pac::pac:

ellejay

here some pics of the cosmos I grew from seed

the pictures don't do them justice at all definitely growing them next year

thanks so much for your help and advice mr wemmick

IMG_1214.JPG

IMG_1102.JPG

IMG_1103.JPG

IMG_1104.JPG

IMG_1105.JPG

wildwillow

Well done. Gather and dry some seeds and you will have a free display next year. Allow the dead headed flowers stay on the soil and lots will self seed unless we have a severe winter. Just be careful when weeding that you don't pull the seedlings out.

ellejay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942721#Comment_117942721

Thanks for your post, I was wondering how to get seeds from them.

I really like the white ones, they're about four feet high.