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Unreliable seed, seed saving, hand-pollinating/breeding cosmos ...

Yes I struggled with a title as I have a few related queries going round my head, sorry! 

First off, I've only been gardening a couple of years, and both this year and last I purchased cosmos seeds where the flowers have turned out very different from the named cultivar. Last year I tried to grow fizzy purple and ended up with what looks like fizzy rose picotee. This year I tried to grow double-click cranberry but have ended up with plants with magenta single flowers. It's pretty frustrating as I plant them in a certain position to work with the other plants and then up with something completely different.

I know this sometimes happens with the wrong seed being supplied, but is there a particular problem with cosmos cross pollination and their seeds being particularly unreliable or have I been unlucky? I would really like to try fizzy purple again next year, but I don't know if it's worth another go only to be disappointed with wishy washy pastel flowers.

Also, I do quite like the magenta ones that have grown this year, and also a magenta and white striped one that self-seeded and I'm guessing may have been a cross between the picotee and a magenta plant from last year's 'dwarf' sensation cosmos (not actually dwarf :D ). I'm very much enjoying collecting my own seed generally and would like to try to grow these again next year. But as I am growing multiple types - the Not Doubleclick Cranberry, Rubenza, and volunteers from last year's plants, I'm guessing the resulting plants will be quite unpredictable?

If I wanted to try to grow plants similar to the parents can I isolate flowers in a bag before they're fully open and then hand pollinate them? I have multiple plants of the magenta but just one striped one - can I pollinate with flowers from the same plant? If I can keep that one going I quite fancy crossing the striped one with different coloured cosmos down the line just to see what I get. I do like unpredictability but I like to be able to predict when and where the unpredictability will happen. ;)

I know that's a lot of questions, but if anyone could offer a few tips or point me towards a useful info source, I'd be really grateful. I did try googling only to discover that breeding cosmos is a task in the video game, Animal Crossing, and it was very hard to find anything related to real world plants.  :(
Sussex coast

Posts

  • By the way, the seeds were purchased from Mr Fothergills and Premier Seeds Direct, not dodgy Chinese ones from Amazon or similar. :(  
    Sussex coast
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I have never had the problem you describe. I only grow 2 types: C.Purity and C.Dazzler, both of which I buy each year from Chilterns. I have done the same for many years.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Hmmm, perhaps I have just been unlucky then.  :/
    Sussex coast
  • Did you find out the answers to your questions about Cosmos?  I would be very interested to know your findings.  I am trying to do the same with a particular cosmos that has cross pollinated and self seeded producing the most beautiful flowers which I would replicate for next year. 
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    If you grow them with other Cosmos, the seed produced is unlikely to produce plants the same as the parents. They are very promiscuous.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • @dianepotter118029, unfortunately I decided to forget about this for this year as I've just had too much else going on and am going to buy new seeds next year and hope for the best, including trying fizzy purple again - determined to grow them!  :D I'm also going to try apricotta and apricot lemonade, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they are. 

    Good luck with yours. I guess it's worth saving seed from your preferred plant and seeing what you get. I'd love to see a picture. :)
    Sussex coast
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