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Seedlings - are they ready to go out?

alexemmersonukalexemmersonuk Posts: 171
in Plants
Hi everyone - I planted some Zinnia, Sunflowers, Cosmos and Felicia seedlings a few weeks ago and placed them on a sunny windowsill in a propagator (will add pictures). 

I am fairly new at this and was wondering - how do I know when they are ready to go outside? I think I remember someone saying that, if they get taller than the soil, they need a new pot, but I am also unsure if they need to stay indoors for a bit longer or not? 

I imagine there will be different rules for different flowers, and I am getting a little overwhelmed by slightly contrasting info I found online and on back of packets, so I am hoping to get a bit of general advice re seedlings grown indoors, and if any of you are pros at Zinnias (LOVE them!!), or sunflowers or Cosmos or Felicias, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Thank You! 
(Pictures coming in a few mins). 
Growing a pink garden, one plant at a time....

Posts

  • alexemmersonukalexemmersonuk Posts: 171

    Growing a pink garden, one plant at a time....
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    No.

    Firstly they are far too small, need to be potted on.
    Secondly most of them are not hardy, so cannot go out until after the last frost.
    I won't even sow my Zinnias until the end of April, with the aim of planting them out in June.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Yes, a way to go yet l'm afraid  :)
    As you can see they don't all germinate at the same time, so you might have to pot some up before others in the same tray. The sunflowers should be fairly soon and the ones in your third picture.
    Cosmos can be tricky as they can get very leggy but be nowhere near ready to go outside.

    When they're ready, pot them into 3 inch (old school) pots and keep them somewhere sunny, turning them regularly so they don't keep leaning towards the light. With the cosmos, you can put them into the pots quite deeply, l think l'm right in saying that they can go in as deep as the first set of leaves. I always brush the leaves gently now and again as l read that it strengthens the stem. I stand to be corrected though ! 

    You then need to harden them off by putting them outside in warm temperatures, bringing them in at night, then after around 10 days, assuming there's no frost, you can leave them out all night to acclimatise. By this time, if you tip them out of their pots you should find a good root system and out they go into the big wide world. Depending on where you live this could be end of May/beginning of June.
    This is just a general guide, hope it helps. I've never grown Zinnia l'm afraid, but there's bound to be someone who has  :)
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Of the ones you have, sunflowers are the most tolerant, but as you've had them germinating in a warm situation, they'll still need time. Potting on and then some hardening off. If you'd waited a few weeks, you could have sown those outside. They wouldn't have needed extra heat at all either, for germination.  :)
    Cosmos can get very leggy while indoors, but they can be pinched out as they grow, and you'll get a bushier plant, which is better. Too small yet though. They're all just getting their proper sets of leaves - the bottom ones are the seed leaves.
    Bury them up to the seed leaves when you pot them on, as @JennyJ says. The sunflowers too. 

    Once there's roots showing at the bottom of the trays, they can be potted on. You'll have to be more patient with the zinnias, as @punkdoc says.  I don't think I've ever grown felicia from seed, so not sure about those   :)
    They all look nice and healthy though  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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