Such a magnificent flower, like zinnia, is grown in many areas. This annual plant combines such important qualities as beauty and ease of care. Currently, this elegant flower has a huge number of varieties and varieties. A wide variety of colors and sizes of inflorescences, as well as the height of the plant itself, allow you to choose the most interesting solution for each garden. Cynium can be used not only for flower beds, but also for borders, decoration of alpine hills , etc.
The main propagation method for such an annual as zinnia is seed cultivation. The process itself, as a rule, does not cause any particular difficulties, but one very important point should be taken into account - young seedlings cannot tolerate even small frosts. Therefore, only in the southern regions of the country it is possible to sow directly into the ground in April and not to use covering materials.
But lovers of such a wonderful flower like zinnia, have grown from seeds even in fairly cold regions. To do this, greenhouses, modern covering materials, which give a very good result, are used. You can grow seedlings in boxes or pots in the house or on the balcony. Thus, it is possible to achieve longer flowering.
In a flower such as zinnia, seeds can be obtained mainly in the southern regions. But proper care and hot summers allow us to achieve this result in the middle lane of our country. They ripen approximately 60 days after flowering has begun. The best qualities are possessed by seeds that are obtained from the apical basket located on the central shoot.
Zinnia seeds retain their germination for 2-3 years. If the seeds are not very fresh, then it is better to soak them in order to plant only hatching specimens. You can put them in boxes, but to avoid a dive, you need to do this not very thickly. Some gardeners prefer to plant in peat pots, which is quite convenient. Seeds must be planted to a depth of 1 cm. After about a week, if the ambient temperature is not lower than 22 degrees, shoots will appear.
When the last cold weather has passed, you can plant zinnia in a permanent place. These flowers love light and well-fertilized soil. But this plant does not tolerate stagnation of water. It is desirable that the area where zinnia will grow was protected from the wind. Depending on the variety, seedlings are planted at a distance of 25 to 40 cm. Then the care consists in watering, without which the plant is most likely not to die, but the flowers will be much smaller. 2-3 dressings are also desirable, which will allow you to get larger and more beautiful flowers.
In order for the garden to be decorated with such a magnificent flower as zinnia, growing from seeds is not something difficult. A novice can do all these work, but you can succeed in an even simpler way. Only in this case, flowering will come a little later. Seeds are planted immediately on a permanent place in early June, when the danger of return cold weather disappears. But this method has its drawback - the flowering period will become much shorter, because the flowers are very thermophilic and will lose their beauty during the first autumn frosts.
However, connoisseurs of such an original flower as zinnia, growing from seeds even in the late stages of planting, could turn it into an original way to decorate greenhouses or a house, and then, if the weather is good again, put it outside again. Many regions of our country are characterized by rather unstable weather, especially in spring and autumn. In the middle zone, return frosts and even snow occur even in early June, but at the same time April and May can be very warm. In the fall, frosts, although short-term, occur in the very beginning of September, and then usually the weather is warm for a long time. Therefore, many grow zinnias in pots, containers, etc. This plant feels very good in such containers, and if there is a threat of cooling, they can easily be brought into the greenhouse and even the house, thereby prolonging their beautiful flowering.