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With its colorful flowers and filigree foliage, the cosmea (Cosmos bipinnatus) is a real eye-catcher. If you want to enjoy these pretty summer flowers as early as possible, you can prefer the Cosmea.

In a nutshell

  • Cosmeen basically annual, usually sow themselves
  • prefer to flower indoors as early as possible
  • Seeds usually germinate well
  • most important factors are temperature and light

Choose the right time

While outdoor sowing is not possible before the ice saints in May, Cosmeen can be grown indoors from March. But you shouldn't start too early, because then, due to the still low light output, the plants can shoot up and they wilt. Such plants are weak and particularly susceptible to environmental influences and pests. For this reason, it is advisable to bring the young plants forward a few weeks before planting them out.

preparations

If you prefer cosmeen indoors, you should always keep a close eye on the growing conditions. This includes both temperature and light as well as the supply of water. It is important to ensure that the cultivation vessels have drainage holes so that excess water can drain off and stagnant moisture can be avoided. Not to forget the growing substrate. Above all, it should be low in nutrients and finely crumbly. In fertilized substrates, the fine roots of the seedlings would burn.

harvest seeds

Seeds for growing cosmea are commercially available. You can also harvest them from existing plants. The right time for this is in autumn. The ripe seeds are dark and are located in so-called nut fruits (achenes). It is best to hold a container or paper bag under the fruit when harvesting, as the seeds fall out relatively easily. Then let them dry and keep them in a dark, dry and frost-free place until sowing in spring.

Source: Zhangzhugang, Seeds of Cosmos bipinnatus 2012.08.13 15-53-02, edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Tip: You can also cut off the plants after flowering, tie them into small bouquets and hang them upside down to dry. Then place newspaper under the bouquets to catch the seeds.

Guide to Prefer

Preparing the Cosmea is uncomplicated, the fine seeds germinate well. What is also important is the germ type, because the cosmos belongs to the so-called light germs, i. H. it needs sufficient light to germinate. Then you can start.

  • fill small pots or other seed containers with growing substrate
  • Distribute seeds on the substrate
  • Cover only minimally with soil, press down lightly
  • moisten carefully without washing the seed out of the soil
  • preferably with an atomizer
  • keep evenly moist until germination
  • Cover with translucent foil for optimal germination conditions
  • Remove foil regularly for ventilation
  • Put the pots in a bright and warm place
  • Germination temperature at least 20 degrees
  • Germination after about 14-21 days
  • Prick out seedlings

Tip: If you sow in slightly larger seed trays or a mini greenhouse, then you can spread the seeds at greater intervals on the substrate and possibly save yourself the pricking out.

Prick out seedlings

After sowing and before actually planting out in the garden, the young seedlings are separated, depending on how densely they are sown. The right time has come when the plantlets are about eight centimeters high or have developed at least two cotyledons. Pricking sticks can be very helpful here, with which you can carefully and without damaging them lift them out of the ground.

  • Fill planters to the brim with substrate
  • Smooth out the soil and press down lightly
  • only a few seedlings per planter
  • Make small planting holes with a pricking stick
  • leave larger distances between the plants
  • Insert the seedlings using the pricking stick
  • lowest cotyledons should end with substrate surface
  • Lightly press down the soil around the plantlets
  • pour with shower or sprayer
  • plant in the garden after the ice saints
In this picture a seedling is pricked out, but not that of a Cosmea.

pinch

The aim of pinching is to encourage the cosmos to form many thin side shoots by shortening the main shoot. This gives you beautiful, bushy, branched plants, which of course also have significantly more flowers. As soon as the middle shoot has reached a height of 20-30 cm, you can shorten it by about a third.

Notice: In dry weather you should refrain from pinching, because the plants then need sufficient moisture for the formation of new shoots.

Plant out in the bed

Before the young plants can be planted in the bed, it is advisable to slowly get them used to the sun or the new conditions. Changing too abruptly could cause lasting damage to the seedlings. It is best to place them in a sheltered, semi-shady place outdoors for the first two days, provided there is no longer any danger of late frosts. Then they can be planted out in their final location.

  • best time after the ice saints, from mid-May
  • preferably in full sun, sheltered from the wind
  • in light, well-drained, not too nutrient-rich soil
  • pH value from slightly acidic to alkaline possible
  • Planting distances of 30-40 cm recommended
  • dig small planting holes
  • Plant Cosmeen as deep as in the pot
  • Press the soil down lightly and water it

Tip: Good neighbors for the decorative basket are daisies, asters, gypsophila, delphiniums, cornflowers, coneflowers, zinnias, dahlias, verbena and marigolds, as well as various grasses.

frequently asked Questions

What are the advantages of preferring the Cosmea?

Preferring Cosmeen brings an enormous time and harvest advantage. Seeds germinate better indoors than outdoors due to the constant conditions. In addition, the whole thing brings a certain cost advantage, because bought young plants are much more expensive than self-grown ones. The flowers and leaves are edible, so early harvesting is important.

Does sowing produce identical young plants?

In contrast to the propagation of cuttings, sowing usually does not result in identical young plants. Here you never know from which parent which traits will prevail in the grown plants.

When do early cosmeen bloom?

Flowering cosmos flowers from about May to October, while specimens that are sown directly in the bed from mid/end of May show their flowers from about July.

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Garden plants