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Cosmos seedlings

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  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066

    Mine are in the conservatory (loads of light) and have still gone a bit leggy.   Second lot too as I abondoned the first for the same reason.  Might put them outside for a bit today as the weather is good and it's not cold.

    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066

    Have a daylight lamp (as I get S.A.D. in the winter) I expect a couple of hours of that might help.

    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • They are gorgeous Fishy, I can't wait to to see them altogether, I think it will look beautiful image

  • chickychicky Posts: 10,409

    Mine always get "leggy" - but bury them up to their shoulders when pricking out and they do fineimage Especially if you pinch them out to within an inch of their life a la verdunimage

  • Fishy65Fishy65 Posts: 2,276

    Well a day in the 'lightbox' and no collapsed seedlings or leaning towards the window.

    Chicky I think I might do the pinching out this year. What does young master Verdun recommend? image Is it just the top set of leaves?

  • rosemummyrosemummy Posts: 2,010

    Only 3 of mine survived, they too were leggy so planted deep when pricked out, they look ok now outside, will sow more ( if I can find any more room in the house among the sweet peas, , larkspur, sweet rocket , broccoli, courgettes ...) 

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190

    Pinch out the middle when you have about 4 pairs of true leaves, pick off all flower buds until you have a big plant. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,352
    I'm like Lyn - I pinch Cosmos back several times - sometimes right into June / July when there's lots of other stuff going on in the garden & I am less in need of theflowers. I find this makes a much sturdier plant which lasts well & flowers through to the first frosts. Ones which are only pinched once or twice seem to go quite leggy & look quite messy come August.

    This year I am trying some double Cosmos (snowball or puff ball? - something like that). They looked almost like old fashioned rose heads on the pac so I had to try them.

    Anybody else grown them? Are they as good and easy as the regular cosmos?
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190

    image

     They are good, but the bees cant get in until they have opened up quite a lot. You do need to regularly deadhead as I don't think there were so many flowers on them as the common ones.

    Last year I got my cosmos up to about 5ft, on tree trunks and as soon as they flowered we had strong winds and broke them down, this year I am only growing dwarf ones, courtesy of the seed swap thread.

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,352

    Thanks for that info Lyn - I confess I hadn't thought about the effect on bees - maybe I'll stick in a few of the 'normal' ones too so I can do a direct compare & contrast.

    I usually grow the shorter varieties but still find (in spite of constantly pinching them back for the the first couple of months) that they become huge plants. I reduced the best ones by about 18" in mid Sept last year & found that really kept them going through autumn with lots of new buds. They finally succumbed mid to late November. 

    The only annuals I always grow image

    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
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