Mid-Atlantic Gardening: 2010 Seed starting in the MA group, 1 by Karldan

Karldan wrote:
Well, I usually direct seed zinnas rather thick in rows. If you transplant them when it's cloudy and expecting rain, then you don't even have to water them in, nature does it. That being said, I've had to transplant them at Noon on very hot days, I just ran the sprinkler and transplanted them with me and them getting sprinkled, again no problems. Zinna seeds can last many years, don't be afraid to save seeds. The picture shows pink and orange zinnas from old seed. Last March, I put 6 2 year old seeds in a moist paprt towell in a zip lock baggie. (This is the old seed germinator test) Put the date and kinds of seeds on the baggie, you can mix seeds on your towell as long as you can tell them apart- large flat zinnias, little rod rudbeckia, small round dianthus, and so on. The Zinnas promptly germinated. I don't like to kill anything so I potted them up and in the border they went. 5 pink and 1 orange. They grew almost 6 feet tall. I looked a pink bloom in the eye, (I am 6 feet tall), and said "Remember me? I remember you, you were a flat seed I put in a paper towell in March." I do not like starting zinnas indoors, because of damping off and mildew, which zinnas are VERY subseptible to, also they grow incredibly fast, getting big very quick.