New Seedlings sprouting

[Uncleman]

Hi- Many of my Zinnia seedlings are now sprouting under my grow lamp set up. I planted around 5 seeds per pot (3 inch pots) and in most cases I have 3 to 5 sprouts. I've never done this before and I'm wondering if I should crop these down to one sprout per pot or should I let them all continue to grow. If I let multiple sprouts grow will I be able to separate them when planting time comes? I'm in eastern Mass. and plan to plant the flowers around Memorial day.

Thanks !

 

[Greenhorn]

You should probably thin them and there will probably be no separating when they get bigger. Zinnia's grow roots pretty fast, dense & sturdy and if they are caught up together they will be pretty much bound which could be likely in a 3" pot after not too long. I have a few with 2-3 sprouts and sometime just leave them and just put the whole thing as is in a bowl or pot. Maybe try a few each way?

 

[Uncleman]

Thanks ! I've started 8 different varieties of Zinnias, 3 pots of each variety. I'm going to leave 3 shoots in 1 pot, 2 shoots in another pot and a single shoot in the last pot. It will be interesting to see how they prosper in the garden this summer. Thanks for the tip!

best - jim

 

[Greenhorn]

I really like Zinnias and have a bunch of different seed types. Like you I'll use a varieties when planting. I have some nice ones now that are starting to have buds, I'll try and get some pictures. I did get to some of them late and they did end up a little root bound.

Here is a good detailed document on growing Zinnias, it can be downloaded as a pdf too.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/flowers/zinnia-production.html