Zinnia Seed Question

I have these really attractive " State Fair Mix " Zinnias, I lost the package and want to replant these next year.....when and how do i collect the seeds?

I don't have any zinnias growing, but marigold seeds are in the same place as zinnias.

1. You will find the seeds at the base of the flower .. this is true for all seeds

2. Let the flower die and dry out a bit

3. Peel back the cover on the base and you will see the seeds.

4. Collect and dry as the flowers die.

Make sure the seeds are dark or light brown when you take the flower head off. If they are white, they are not ripe.

Remove the seeds from the base of the flower and put them in a small dish and allow to dry. Keep out of sun and humidity. Once dry you can store them. If you store them while still moist, they will get mold.

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This message was edited Jul 18, 2008 10:41 AM

Fantastic!.....Thanks for the photo, it was exactly what I was needing with the information.....Do you know if the seeds will replicate the actually color of the flower they come from. There is such a diverse range of colors and petals in my zinnia planting, but there are a couple that do nothing for me....is is possible to pick and choose what color a petal type I can keep?


Thanks for all of your help

TJB

I've been wondering the same. I have multiple colors and varieties all together, and out of all the plants I have there is only one white flower. I imagine that if they cross pollinate that I will get a surprise of colors from the seeds I collect.

You're welcome.

If they are F1 (first generation) hybrids most likely they will not breed true to the parent .. yours are probably under conditions called open pollination. What that means is that the insects that pollinate will have probably spread pollen from one color to another.

I'm not a big zinnia grower so I really don't know about the genetics. Perhaps someone else can give you a better answer. What I do know is that seeds from the candy cane zinnia did not breed true to the parent .. what I got was solids of all the colors found in the multi-colored one. Since the State Fair mix are solids the F2 generation (the seeds you are collecting now) may be a blending of colors and solids.



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Are the Zinnia seeds the same as Marigold? The ones in the example are Marigold and I am also wondering about Zinnia, since I have grown them alot and seem to see nothing but the petals... Are they the seeds?

Marigold seeds look like little spikes. Zinnia seeds are sort of flat. It's NOT the petals that have the seeds but the part in the center of the flower.

Here are what the seeds for zinnia look like

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/58116/

Marigold seeds look like little spikes.

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