Something I've always wondered about was that Floret is in the Skagit Valley, which has a very unique climate and very long days in summer (we are talking sun until almost 10p at night). Now these plants are being grown in very different conditions, and I think we are just seeing the difference in how a plant reacts when grown out of the region it was created in. I think Erin's intention was exactly this: grow lots of these plants in your particular region, select your strongest plants, save seed, and grow those on. The ethos being that you are breeding a Floret zinnia that is best for you and whose genetics will be tailored to your conditions. I think if there was a shortcoming, it was that this is not fully aligned with the needs of most flower farmers who want a fully stabilized plant that is already known to perform almost identically in different climates. I am assuming most flower farmers are already on razor thin margins, and the breeding curve of these plants was just too steep. Zinnias in super hot weather... They just flop. You're just not going to get tall, erect, and straight stems. They will wilt in the intense heat, which leads to some level of bendy bend in the stem. I think the heat just leads to such accelerated growth, the stems are never strong enough... But if you pinch too aggressively when it's super hot, the aux buds fry.
Interesting, I didn't know that about Floret climate. But she originated as a mixed business with wedding work, accommodation, and flower growing, so it wasn't chosen for breeding specifically. I think that all seed not grown in your climate would need a certain amount of acclimation no matter what, that's why even in vegetable growing, saving seed from your own garden gives the best results atuned to your microclimate.
1. The vase life of our Floret zinnias is noticeably shorter by several days compared to our other varities. We've been monitoring them closely post harvest. We don't trust them. 2. So glad I didn't plant them with all of our zinnias together. This is our 4th growing season and we've never had powdery mildew. We have powdery mildew on the Florets this year for the first time and it has slightly spread into the Benary's next to them., but not as bad. Fortunately, I have two other blocks with zinnias growing in them that are perfectly fine. 3. The feedback we have received has been poor. Our subscription customers didn't really care for them. One of our regular florist wholesale customers actually came to the farm to look at them and she was also underwhelmed left with other varieties. 4. 20% didn't even grow true to variety. They have a long way to go. Definitely not worth the price tag and bed space for profitable farming as of right now in my context. I can see where some growers either want to grow them to support her mission or for their own personal garden. I'd rather maintain our reputation for consistency and high quality versus the grower with the next new thing. I just hope other seed suppliers don't start raising their prices after seeing what people will pay.
@RandLong I'm zone 4b on a ridge top with alot of air movement which doesn't hurt. But my main focus as a small scale farmer is soil health. High organic matter (5 or 6%+) will help maintain soil moisture deeper in the root zone. Low soil moisture is a contributing factor that encourages powdery mildew. I also mulch beds with a mulching compost and spray with biostimulants to encourage beneficial microbes and create a barrier on the soil surface. Since I now have had my first wave of it, I'm covercropping with biofumagants (kodial brown mustard and tillage radish.)
Jessie, You are precious and priceless. Thank you so very much for generously taking the time to share your knowledge. I graciously appreciate you. Blessings for a speedy recovery to a normal life. My sister was hospitalized with systemic lupus erithemetosis which caused a 90% decrease in her kidney function and immense pain in all her joints at 21 years of age. Survived heavy chemo. She is now 61 and vibrantly healthy. Having a loved family member experience a serious health event is surprisingly expensive and stressful. Peace, love and many more successful growing seasons to you and your family. From Southern York County Pennsylvania
I am growing Precious Metals (PM) and Golden Hour (GH). I’m in zone 4b so I have a shorter growing period than you. I started my PM indoors in early May and planted them out May 18th. I direct sowed my GH May 31st. Germination for both was 90% and I had useable stems from both by late July. I’ve been collecting open pollenated green seed from them since late August and have been pollenating isolated blooms so that I will have both surprises and replications from the blooms I’ve selected. As a hobby grower, the delight of these beautiful blooms, both large-petalled singles and enormous doubles, is why I grow what I grow. It makes me happy to see these flowers emerge and to share them with others. I look forward to seeing what comes of my seed saving next year. I’m also very glad that I didn’t plant all of the seeds I bought! My seed saving game will be significantly better next year! 😅
I have been following Erin and growing her seeds for many years. I bought the complete set of her originals, celosia, zinnias and dahlias. I grew the dahlias and zinnias from seed in my greenhouse, as per Erin's instructions. The germination rates for both zinnias and dahlias were around 98%. They were beautiful. I grow in Zone 8a, North Carolina. Our summer has been horribly hot, humid and dry. I hand-water, no irrigation or overhead watering. I've had no powdery mildew problems on either. I have had a good mix of singles and doubles on the zinnias. The colors are very unique.The dahlias are stunning. I direct-sowed the celosia, as instructed. It's glorious, as well. These seeds were expensive so I have given them all lots of attention, especially the diva dahlias. It's been worth the effort, & I will be saving the zinnia and celosia seeds and hopefully have many dahlia tubers to continue growing. I would buy them all again. Erin is amazing! I grow for my home garden. Thank you so much for the wonderful video.
Thank you. This week has actually been really hard for me, I didn’t post an update on E (she has actually been tolerating chemo well!) but used content creation as a distraction from the anxiety I’m having ♥️
Thank you very much for this video. It explains a lot what happened to my zinnias. I agree the Floret are not as tough as the other stable varieties and I also agree that we should continue grow ing them. The colors are so unique and I don’t think the other reliable varieties can compete them. Next year I will still grow all of them, Floret, Benary’s Giant, Okhlahoma, and some other new ones comming up! BUT I will make sure that I will not stress them out to ensure the double blooms
I'm curious, Crane- did the Floret zinnias that you put out too early and got stressed by the cold end up ever creating doubles? I've heard that it's hard for a stressed zinnia to revert back to doubles after singles but am hearing otherwise for the floret originals!
@@bareflowerfarm they came back beautifully! About 60% are double. I started a second set later on, and I see no difference in performance of the stressed ones and the health ones.
I am growing several Floret varieties and am enjoying them so much. I started them inside and space them 9 inches apart. Germination was great. I already had been growing the Unicorn since she offered them in 2020 and love the changing colors. I am in the midwest and do not have powdery mildew. This year I secured a package of Triple Wren Farm Antiques zinnia seed and they are strong growers. I also bought Dawn Creek and Blomma zinnias when they had a seed fundraiser for $50 for a packet last year. Blomma zinnias are tall, strong, great colors and mostly double. Zinnias bring me joy!
I just found about her flowers and her mission last night, I've watched about 30 minutes of her good videos, and it really is a wonderful to hear your story. I'm glad to know the approximate price range of discount seeds is $50 a packet, to set my expectations for what I might be able to afford. Nowhere in her literature could I find any indication of what a packet of these seeds might cost.
I started my Floret zinnias inside and had perfect germination, too! (And about 60% doubles) I definitely would pay for them again! I'm obsessed! I grew Alpenglow and Precious Metals. I'm so excited about your experiment and am going to start soaking all my seeds in fish fertilizer,too! You are such a wealth of information, Jess! Thank you for your videos!
I’m growing Alpenglow in north Idaho zone 5b in a raised bed with half compost half Idaho dirt. I had 100% germination in a seed tray, did not pinch but got glorious branching. No mildew on them, still producing through our weeks of 100°+ days. Most heart shaped centers I’ve seen. I’d consider it a great investment, despite the cost, as one bud will produce as many seeds as the packet.
I started floret zinnias indoors & used fish fertilizer until planted out, about 6 wks later. My direct sowed zinnias also received several doses of fish fertilizer. We had good summer weather. All look great. Started cutting late June & still going strong. Little spotting, but no mildew. Should last thru September. 6B, NE CT
Thank you for this video Jessie! I decided to wait on Floret's seeds since it was my first time with zinnias this season. I also tested soil block vs. 24 cell trays and direct sowing. The clear winners were the soil blocked seedlings! Although the direct sow being behind in growth essentially worked like succession planting so no regrets there. My seeds in 24 cell tray (Gardener's Supply) failed, but maybe I didn't plant them out early enough. I ordered Johnny's and Baker's Creek Queen Limes and Benary's Giants. Loved them all! I didn't realize Floret's zinnias weren't available for 2025 :( BTW with my Benary's Giants or Queenie series, no powdery mildew here in Northern Illinois. I grow in 4 x 8 raised beds. 💚👩🏻🌾
I really appreciate your research - I grew all of Florets zinnias at Zone 4 , 5,000 ft elevation; and I had incredible mid season germination and flowering success by growing them in a selfwatering planter, with potting soil. I couldn't believe the results. I did start the plants in peat pellets for 10 days in my green house. My earlier zinnias from spring are still doing well also. I will try your trick of fish fertilizer - thanks!
Thank you for the video on these, Jesse! I ordered the precious metals variety. I didn’t notice any issues with powdery mildew. I didn’t have as much germination with these as I did some of my other varieties, like benary giants. I did get about 80% singles which was a little disappointing but the colors are gorgeous so I’m okay with them. I will probably order them again because I imagine they will improve and only get better each year. Also, keeping you all in my prayers and I appreciate all you teach us!
Incredible information. Thank you!! Definitely will soak my seed next year. Home gardener here. I grew alpen glow and precious metals this year. S W MI. Started in cell trays and planted out in mid-June. We had a wet hot start to summer and always deal with powdery mildew here. My alpen glow has been a glorious experience. So very pretty. No powdery mildew on them so far. Since they take extra time to fully bloom, I'm not cutting them and just enjoying them as a living bouquet. Precious metals didn't grow as well but so pretty. Will try again next year with your soaking tip as I do have left over seed.
I love this! When we leave the blooms on the stems, the living bouquet lasts so much longer and the pollinators get to enjoy. I have been doing this with some of my other zinnias :)
I’m totally thrilled with my floret Alpenglow! Good germination, a bit of a rough start once transplanted but recovered nicely and have been producing lots of beautiful double and multi layered blooms this season! Definitely a winner and yes I’ll definitely be saving seeds 😊 Thanks for sharing your experience and wondering how long you soaked your seeds for? Thanks and continuing to keep your family in my prayers ❤
I grew the precious metals mix and petit florets it’s my first year growing any flowers. So I’m sure any stunting I had was user error getting them out late. Great germination rates very few doubles on the zinnias but I did get a couple perfect ones like the product photos. I wish she was selling again this year I’d buy all of the different dahlia and zinnia packs. I love growing them just for fun and the learning experience. The petit floret dahlias are so stinking cute with the fluffy centers! I just wish they had more vase life.
I’m growing Precious Metals and love the color but they are pretty much single petals. Wish I had fuller double blooms but I will save seeds and grow again. Thanks for your analysis of these flowers. Praying for your daughter.
Thank you for the informative video. I've recently purchased Floret seeds here in New Zealand, and since watching your video, firstly I subscribed and now I'll re-watch to jot down notes to do exactly as you've done. Thank you💚💐
Thanks Jess, I was tempted to direct sow.. when I did a few.. they just didn't grow as well as the transplanted.. also thanks for the mention of doing that at very early seedling stage. 🎉
So happy to find your video!! I did a blend of direct sowing and indoor sowing for my Floret Originals - and here in Quebec, Canada the ones I direct sowed did better. They are now thriving in these fall warm days - cool nights. I'm in zone 4. I do wish I had more Alpenglow seeds - I love them!!! I will save seeds of course, but I didn't isolate them - either way I'll be saving seeds and replanting. The celosia did okay - but not great...but that's all on the weather I think - we had SO MUCH rain and then HOT HOT HOT - they didn't really have a chance - they are quite thinly flowered. Anyway - you have a new subscriber!
That's great! I didn't isolate my zinnias either but I'm totally OK if i get a blend of golden hour and alpenglow. As long as they're not mixing with crazy saturated colors, I'm a happy camper. My celosia also did meh. I think that was more on me in terms of now properly watering in the direct seeded seeds until they germinated. But enough grew that I can save seed!!
I grew Precious Metal's. I’d buy them again. The colors are amazing! I sow and grow my zinnias in 128 plug trays and transplant directly into their bed. Germination rate was awesome. And I’m fine with the flower type. Some are double and some are single. And yeah zinnias can tolerate poor growing conditions, but they look so much more beautiful if they’re pampered.
So glad you had good success! I had a very, very low germination rate for my Floret zinnias. Not sure what happened, but mine were terrible. And those that germinated weren’t as big as promised. Not sure I will buy them again!
I love mine I’m obsessed with them 😂 I grew unicorn, dawn creek honey, and dawn creek blush. I think that the heat definitely makes the double ones grow more single, I have some that have had gaps during heat waves and then start growing more petals again when it cools down. I’m so excited to see what they do going into the fall when it’s consistently cooler! Mine are also so tall, starting to get taller than I am. They got powdery mildew super badly, but it’s under control with milk+water spray and the new growth is pretty and green again 🥰
I have a patch of 4 zinnia growing in a half barrel. I started them in March.. pinched twice.. planted in May. A few days after last frost. They are still going strong.. cut from them 4 times. My FFD 4/30, LFD 10/10. I fertilize them every month with fish fertilizer. Or flower. Only one is double. The other three open face. I organza bagged one very early on. (It looks so healthy).. and to control pollination corruption cross pollination Test next year! Two as I did this year, 2 never pinching. A patch pinched in field..
90% germination soil block planted out early June. Wonderful colour, not alot of doubles. My market didn’t go for pricier zinnias because zinnias are zinnias here and people don’t care about Floret brand. Wouldn’t buy again but I’ll save some seeds. Sticking to what works in my market which are Benarys giant and Oklahoma. Zone 5a and now getting browning and powdery mildew early September on zinnias which is the norm for me
This is my first time growing flowers, so I don’t know much about anything. All of my Floret zinnias germinated, but I did them in trays. About 1/4 of them grew odd centers and half of the outer petals were really short on one side. I didn’t get any powdery mildew on them. I grew Queeny’s from Eden Brothers and all of those had some sort of disease and where the buds would bloom it became a knot sort of thing. Like I said, I don’t know much so it’s hard to explain. Lol! I did use fish fertilizer but that made all of my seedlings start to yellow so I stopped. My celosia did decently well, although I feel like it took forever to get buds. I live in zone 9a Florida for reference.
I grew the same three varieties! Very similar experience as you had. TALL stems and tons of doubles. as well as great germination (I direct sow). I grow in rich Kansas black dirt, so did not fertilize at all. I grow in a hobby cut garden and do not sell. I LOVE the colors and often mix in bouquets with Binary Giants and Quieenie Series.....Thanks so much for you content!
Good for her, I admire the work that goes into a breeding program, but the hype is about the image she’s cultivated far more than what those zinnias are themselves, particularly as it comes to consistency and reliability of the varieties.
I do think Erin has been pretty forthcoming in saying that these zinnias aren't stable yet. She had asked folks whether they wanted to wait a bit longer until they were stable or have them now, and most people said now. I personally also would rather them sooner than later, so that I can begin saving seed for zinnias that are more acclimated to my climate. Skagit Valley is a really unique climate and I think in a typical season, zinnias may fare better there than some other places. Just my 2 cents.
@@bareflowerfarm I know she’s been honest about it. I wasn’t criticizing her, I was talking about the zinnias. But that makes my point again, people’s reaction is the same reason they wanted the seeds before they were ready, more to do with the image she’s cultivated than the zinnias. Maybe I’ve seen way too many videos about them, about 60% of them are hyping interesting blooms. The rest are hyping too, just nothing that seems worthy of their thralls and that’s the sort of thing that makes *me* less interested in them.
Love flowers. Also live in NJ. Zinnias are one of my favorite. Been growing them for over 10 years. I'm a novice but have to say....i didnt get as much Zinnias this year because i didnt get them into the ground until last week of June. I sow directly. Usually I sow them last weekend of May. I fertilizer alot the first month along with composting before seeding. Do mist them early to keep insects away. Though I dont find too much issues with bugs on them as i do with other types of flowers. I usually get the first flowers in July. But August is the month they really start to shine. They do flower well until mid late September. I find high humidity isnt friendly to them and powder mildew seems to get worse in Sept. That is.... except this year it been dryer and the powder mildew is alot less. Im thinking the very hot high humidity of July may have stunted and slowed the germination of my flowers, therefore not getting as many. I always love the surprise in what you get with Zinnias, the colors, the shapes and sizes all so different but definitely a Zinnia. Birds, bees, butterflies love them and they are great for making flower arrangements. Dry well too! I always get a few that reseed themselves. Find the pink, bright and pale seem to reseed easily and not so much other colors. Yes, I save my seeds and have great success with them. My saved seeds one year did much better then the new bought seeds. They were healthier and grew more bush like. I dont know why. But i did lose some variety in color that year. So I'm always trying new seeds to add. Guess im going for that, Monet garden look and Zinnias are the best. Good Luck & God bless!
Thanks for the video! I purchased dawn creek pastel mix, pink chenille celosia, and petite floret dahlia seeds from Floret this year. I had very inconsistent and poor germination for the zinnias and celosia. The dahlia seed germinated at 80%, which was the packet's germination rate. The petite floret dahlias have been very susceptible to powdery mildew. The pink chenille celosia took a very long time to size up and I had about 30% germination. It is a mix of fan and feather types. The dawn creek pastel mix had about 50% germination and have been growing nicely. Mostly pink singles but there are a few gems. This is why I normally avoid mixes but the seed was pricey. I am saving seed from all three and hope to grow them again next year.
Oh that’s interesting the dahlias have been getting powdery mildew as I didn’t realize dahlias could get that too! The good news is that assuming you can just grow 1-2 stems of each variety, you should have plenty of seed to save which I’m excited about 🙌🏼
I grew a test patch of Precious Metals this year. I direct seeded and got 10 plants to grow. Of those 10 only 1 was fully double like the fluffy gorgeous flowers she showed on the website. Unfortunately I didn't want singles and having a 10% double rate is not ideal. I'll try again next year with the remainder of the seed packet, but my review after this season is that they are not worth the expense. Which is a shame because the one double plant that I got is really lovely and I'd be thrilled to have a whole row of them!
This is why I love your channel. Your advice has been a Godsend for me and I will also start to soak my seeds in fish or similar fertilizer solutions before sowing them in my seed flats. I wonder if there would be any difference if one used a liquid mycorrhizae solution?
The breeder, Erin, says she chose three species of flower known to grow well in hot dry climates, specifically citing the heating planet as a background to her choices, and created genetic "heirloom" varieties with a wide assortment of characteristics. Select seeds from the best, and create a generic mix that works perfectly for your microclimate.
How did you soak the seeds for your germination experiment? Is there a video here showing how you did it? Curious to how long you soaked them and if you planted immediately after removing them. I'm new to cut flower gardening so I may be asking a dumb question. But, hey, how else will I learn, right? Thank you!
My Floret zinnias were direct seeded and my germination was very poor. It was an extremely hot summer however, with temperatures reaching 110 and higher.
Thanks for reviewing the Floret seeds. It bothers me that Floret doesn't allow customer reviews on their website for seeds and the delivery of their product.
I only grew a few of the victorian wedding, one is doing well beside my Oklahomas. I had major trouble with all my zinnias last season do to powdery mildew so I moved to a different spot with full sun and kept them well watered. So far they have done well. Some tarnish plant bug damage but that seems to have tapered off with the colder weather. I like the colors for some arrangements but it depends what I have to pair with it.
jesse, i enjoy your videos and learn so much, god bless you and your daughter at this time , sending prayers. you have a good friend in crane at cranery gardens who shared his concern and love for your family
Sending positive vibes to you and your family. Can you update us at the end of the growing season to see which cohort last longer and/or more productive overall?
Thanks for sharing! I've been scouring the internet for reviews and photos, it's so difficult to tell from the promo images what colours you'll end up with... I've bought precious metals and missed out on Dawn Creek as they should out in the first. hours. This is my first year growing and second season of veg. I'm obsessed with the unique colours and hope for some food results to save seed from. I planted some seed the other day and also have other zinnia varieties to compare with. I'd seen your other video saying there was no difference with the soaking, and some seed varieties can rot, so I didn't... but now I'm wondering if watering the seedlings with fish fertilise will give the same boost?
Hi! The research shows that soaking seeds versus watering the seedlings with fish fertilizer will have a greater impact because the plant is inherently off to a better start. But that being said, watering with fish fertilizer is still good. Don't overdo it though! It's basically just fertilizing the plant. I only fertilized the first couple of weeks and then stopped.
What an informative video! Appreciate the time & effort you take to trial these topics for us 🌸💕 also, what camera do you use? It’s a lovely looking video!
Im in Australia and bought some Floret Golden Hour Zinnia seeds ($32.50 AUD ouch!). I live in subtropical east coast and we get high humidity in summer and with that comes all things fungus and mould. I will be interested to see how these seeds go as the climate here is alot different to where they are bred. Usually my Zinnias do well until the end of season when everything is tired. I planted a handful of seed yesterday... now to wait and watch.
I hope they perform well for you! If it makes you feel better, when you do the $ conversion, the AUD packets come out to less than $2 more than what those in the US paid for- I'm sure the extra $ was due to custom import fees and all of the paperwork that had to get done on the Floret side :)
Im in Australia, just a hobby gardener. The floret seeds are $35 aud per.packet.. way out of my budget for a try and see what the hype is. .. very expensive
I would be curious to see if soaking in fertilizer versus plain water. See if hydrating/pre soaking the seed is just as effective with our without fertilizer. With another variety such as Benary's giants or Oklahoma zinnias as a control.
Hi About germination fail with the celosia, and other, have you given them cold stratification time? ( in freezer/refrigerator for 1-2 weeks/1-3 months Also about the Floret zinnia, they have to stay with bloom long time to come there right! Watch her video or “ Honey trail farm ) she has growing them successfully and explains why 😊 😊
Thank you for the valuable information! Floret seedlings, I grew the can can dahlias and shooting stars dahlias. I left them in their cups they to long ,didn’t get them all into the ground. That was expensive! The germination rate was 100 💯 percent. I was hoping for more color , but mainly got yellows and white. I was hoping
Same here! Though it’s becoming tough not to cut them all!! I can’t decide between alpenglow and golden hour as my favorite. Prob golden hour if I HAD to decide. What’s yours?
I direct sowed Florets Dawn Creek, unicorn & precious metals with great success in zone 3. Would you recommend soaking my seeds that I save this year in fish emulsion before I direct seed? Many thanks
Jessie I was so happy to find this video! I’m zone 6b New England. I started the Floret zinnia seeds early and they struggled. As a result I tried again in July direct sowing. These were a success. There was 100% germination. Granted I am a home gardener I was happy to get anything 😊 I use Neptune’s Harvest as a weak fertilizer for my veggie seedlings but had never thought to soak seeds in. I’ll try that next year. I would love to save seeds this year. As I’ve been cutting on my zinnias the new blooms are still young. Our first average frost here is October 15th although last year it didn’t come until November 2! My question is will these newest blooms have enough time to ripen to collect seeds from before the frost? When do you start letting blooms go to seed?
Im in RI and believe you will get some seed heads. Just put a string or something so you don’t mistakingly clip the heads you want to dry. I usually give a few special treatment so they don’t get powdery mildew (keep good airflow) timing: start now - if we get a wicked weather you will stand a chance of saving a few heads before October foul weather
I'm in a very hot ,very humid climate. Precious metals did okay for me, the rest struggled bad and barely did anything. Eden brothers has similair color tones & much cheaper. I just can't justify spending crazy amount of money on a secondary flower.
Hi ! Very informative video. Regarding your question about germination and starting indoors vs direct sowing..since transplantation is difficult for zinnias, wouldn't it still be worth it to direct sow if germination is less high, since in the end you'll lose some of your pre-germinated plants ? I had high germination rate indoors but many didn't make it after transplanting and those that I showed outdoors grew so quickly. You said germinating indoors and transplanting after 5 days is the way to avoid transplantation failures?
i typically would direct seed zinnias but because these were $20 a packet, I wanted to make sure I maximized the chance of success, and that happens when I am able to better control the germination environment. How long did you end up waiting to transplant? Typically anything over 14 days would be "long" for zinnias. Ideally you want to transplant before they become rootbound and that's why soil blocking is so great (they can't become rootbound bc of airpruning)
I agree with you I live in TX and they did not like the heat. I had great germination started in cell trays. I also don’t think the vase life is good by day 3 I noticed the petals start browning . What was your vase life ?
Hello Was the fertilizer diluted? Of so how much? What duration where the seeds soaked for? How Dos you remove the seeds from the fertilizer for sowing? Looking forward to learning more Thank you
I am in Phoenix, Arizona and have had a straight run of 100 days plus of over 100° (and our nights are in the high 80s) in which I have been growing zinnias. I had some of Floret’s Golden Hour from which I’m saving seed for next year. I have had some of the double blooms but right now mostly single, but pretty intense heat and intense sunlight (no cloud cover). I have a couple of beds that have a little bit of shade in which I have grown the queen lime series, and they have all been double. Also, my Benary Giants most of them have been double with that little bit of shade. I have found where the heat really affects is the Oklahoma’s. But I’m thinking of taking the month of July and the first half of August off. Have planted zinnias for the fall, which will go up to December for us. I do have a question for you, did you only soak the seed in the fish fertilizer or did you feed the plants at any time with the fish fertilizer also? Really appreciate your videos, especially knowing what your family is going through. My thoughts and prayers are for you and your family. God bless.
I had great germination, many doubles, Victorian wedding I didn’t like the super thin stems. I’m in 7a and started in May - battled the bugs and they are flushing again but disease end of season now. I enjoy neon colors but I love the ombres
It's a deer fence from deer busters specifically to keep out deer as we have super heavy deer pressure and they eat most things they're not supposed to eat :( We did a video on our fence in case you're interested: th-cam.com/video/J-tZaQ2fmVo/w-d-xo.html
Ladbrooke (OG soilblocker) is a good choice. I've heard people who bought the cheaper stuff on amazon have their soil blockers basically fall apart after a year so worth investing in the good stuff to last you awhile!
I always soil block and then transplant as early as possible with zinnias, that way I can control germination conditions while also avoiding any stunting as a result of root binding. I got around 90-95% germination with my floret zinnias and about 50% were at least semi double, my current plan is to save seeds from all the mostly double plants to encourage more double blooms next year.
I couldn't even buy any as they sold out within minutes! I've noticed that every TH-camr had an abundance of them 🤔 I did buy other seeds and they grew horribly. Sweet Peas didn't flower at all! It's interesting that she isn't opening her site to buy seeds this year and probably next year also. I'm glad I didn't actually buy more as most people had poor quality results ❤
I grew the Floret dahlias they have been slow to develop but quick to germinate. Am in England and started in a greenhouse. They have taken a long time to get any size to pu out and the ones in the greenhouse are really leggy despite pinching out> No blooms yet?
So dahlias are short day faculative plants. They should have initiated buds by now. It’s important that during long days they put on bushy growth and if they didn’t, it could be a sign of soil health issues/not enough fertilizer & water. You’re in England so your days are shorter and that means you’re starting to run out of time. Did the dahlias get stressed in the ground?
I love this video - THANK YOU!! I use the Neptunes all the time on my flowers - now I will soak my seeds in it next season!! I direct sowed my Floret Zinnias and had an awful summer of heat and no rain here in Upstate SC - I mostly got singles and I knew they were stressed even though I tried to keep them hydrated! There's just nothing like rain! Anyway, you ROCK!
Are you not spraying neem oil to help reduce the powdery mildew? If you picked a flower from a plant with powdery mildew I understand you can condition them in bucket of choline water-do you agree or not?
No spraying of neem oil on my end- i'm pretty religious in not spraying neem or anything that may deter/kill beneficial insects. I'm OK with letting a crop fail in this regard. People have suggested milk, which i'm not opposed to- it's more of a time thing in that case. You can condition zinnias with a CVBN tablet. To be honest, this season, I've also stopped doing that too. It is definitely a best practice though!
Just wondering, if you save seed will the plants grow out to be the same as the mother plant. I read that because of the pollinators that the plants will mix with the other zinnias and not come true.
Bc zinnias are open pollinated, they may be cross bred and come back not true. But since I didn’t plant crazy zinnia colors, I would expect them to maintain alpenglow and golden hour colors. I don’t need them to come truly exact, just within that color palette! Of course the pollinators could have visited a neighbor who has zinnias 🙂
I’m in the EU and I can’t get Floret seeds here yet, I think they have them in England but they’re not part of the EU anymore. This year slugs are all my zinnias but at least they weren’t expensive Floret seedlings 😂
Mine all got diseased early on and I just had to give up and pull them out months ago. Pretty sad since the seeds cost so much but oh well, not Floret’s fault on that one.
If you have time maybe you could compare ‘priming’ the seeds with fish fertilizer bs ‘priming’ with water with control being no intervention. I love the Golden Hour❤
I didn’t grow the Golden Hour. Really I was hoping to let everyone see how they find it and hop on the bandwagon next year so that was a mistake but I can buy a bouquet from another local grower and try to save some green seed
I couldn't get any of my celosia sprout from Floret - I got so disappointed that I spread it all over my garden to see if I could luck on anything, but nothing!
Mine were small like quarters. The colour varieties are not like yours, more generic. Not tall and stems stayed slim. I had to of done something wrong. My other variety did well though.😢
She always tells people to pinch, though. Can you imagine how bigger they might have gotten if you had pinched the test? Would be an interesting experiment.
I just don't get it. The colors of Floret zinnias are so dull, muted and lack luster in color. I've seen them in many garden influencer videos, and I am not impressed. There are so many other gorgeous and saturated colors available to growers. I'm not a fan but great video.
The way you start, "WAS IT WORTH IT OR NOT?" was painfully disrespectful to the breeder. Did it work for you? You use this microaggression, to set up a mystery question to hook audience, not really aware or careful not to hurt the feelings of the person who spent so many years trying to bring a quality seed to market. It's kind of like trashing your married partners mother, it's just not done, whether that product works for you or not, years of effort were put into it and gentle care, so trashing her with such a ridiculous title is just -- somehow beyond the flower pale.
Well for the money you spend to buy them NO! Not very big flowers!, nearly all were singles, and did not like the color my Victorian wedding turned out looked nothing like her photo of them so I won’t be buying again .
Something I've always wondered about was that Floret is in the Skagit Valley, which has a very unique climate and very long days in summer (we are talking sun until almost 10p at night). Now these plants are being grown in very different conditions, and I think we are just seeing the difference in how a plant reacts when grown out of the region it was created in.
I think Erin's intention was exactly this: grow lots of these plants in your particular region, select your strongest plants, save seed, and grow those on. The ethos being that you are breeding a Floret zinnia that is best for you and whose genetics will be tailored to your conditions. I think if there was a shortcoming, it was that this is not fully aligned with the needs of most flower farmers who want a fully stabilized plant that is already known to perform almost identically in different climates. I am assuming most flower farmers are already on razor thin margins, and the breeding curve of these plants was just too steep.
Zinnias in super hot weather... They just flop. You're just not going to get tall, erect, and straight stems. They will wilt in the intense heat, which leads to some level of bendy bend in the stem. I think the heat just leads to such accelerated growth, the stems are never strong enough... But if you pinch too aggressively when it's super hot, the aux buds fry.
This comment is spot on and one I should have communicated more eloquently like you did. I pinned it in hopes others read this and helps them!
Maybe install shade cloth canopy during the brutal heat periods.
Wow!! This video and this comment give the the light bulb moment. I couldn’t agree more. Thank you so much both.
no I don’t think they are worth the hype. I am enjoying the dahlias from Floret more. But the zinnias look very much like others that I have
Interesting, I didn't know that about Floret climate. But she originated as a mixed business with wedding work, accommodation, and flower growing, so it wasn't chosen for breeding specifically. I think that all seed not grown in your climate would need a certain amount of acclimation no matter what, that's why even in vegetable growing, saving seed from your own garden gives the best results atuned to your microclimate.
1. The vase life of our Floret zinnias is noticeably shorter by several days compared to our other varities. We've been monitoring them closely post harvest. We don't trust them.
2. So glad I didn't plant them with all of our zinnias together. This is our 4th growing season and we've never had powdery mildew. We have powdery mildew on the Florets this year for the first time and it has slightly spread into the Benary's next to them., but not as bad. Fortunately, I have two other blocks with zinnias growing in them that are perfectly fine.
3. The feedback we have received has been poor. Our subscription customers didn't really care for them. One of our regular florist wholesale customers actually came to the farm to look at them and she was also underwhelmed left with other varieties.
4. 20% didn't even grow true to variety.
They have a long way to go. Definitely not worth the price tag and bed space for profitable farming as of right now in my context. I can see where some growers either want to grow them to support her mission or for their own personal garden. I'd rather maintain our reputation for consistency and high quality versus the grower with the next new thing. I just hope other seed suppliers don't start raising their prices after seeing what people will pay.
Hello, I am interested in how you do not have mildew on your zinnias. Do you have tips on how to avoid it? I am in a humid zone 7a. Thank you.
@RandLong I'm zone 4b on a ridge top with alot of air movement which doesn't hurt. But my main focus as a small scale farmer is soil health. High organic matter (5 or 6%+) will help maintain soil moisture deeper in the root zone. Low soil moisture is a contributing factor that encourages powdery mildew. I also mulch beds with a mulching compost and spray with biostimulants to encourage beneficial microbes and create a barrier on the soil surface. Since I now have had my first wave of it, I'm covercropping with biofumagants (kodial brown mustard and tillage radish.)
Jessie, You are precious and priceless. Thank you so very much for generously taking the time to share your knowledge. I graciously appreciate you. Blessings for a speedy recovery to a normal life. My sister was hospitalized with systemic lupus erithemetosis which caused a 90% decrease in her kidney function and immense pain in all her joints at 21 years of age.
Survived heavy chemo. She is now 61 and vibrantly healthy. Having a loved family member experience a serious health event is surprisingly expensive and stressful. Peace, love and many more successful growing seasons to you and your family. From Southern York County Pennsylvania
This fish fertilizer experiment is so interesting! That would not have occured to me without your videos.
I am growing Precious Metals (PM) and Golden Hour (GH). I’m in zone 4b so I have a shorter growing period than you. I started my PM indoors in early May and planted them out May 18th. I direct sowed my GH May 31st. Germination for both was 90% and I had useable stems from both by late July. I’ve been collecting open pollenated green seed from them since late August and have been pollenating isolated blooms so that I will have both surprises and replications from the blooms I’ve selected.
As a hobby grower, the delight of these beautiful blooms, both large-petalled singles and enormous doubles, is why I grow what I grow. It makes me happy to see these flowers emerge and to share them with others. I look forward to seeing what comes of my seed saving next year. I’m also very glad that I didn’t plant all of the seeds I bought! My seed saving game will be significantly better next year! 😅
I have been following Erin and growing her seeds for many years. I bought the complete set of her originals, celosia, zinnias and dahlias. I grew the dahlias and zinnias from seed in my greenhouse, as per Erin's instructions. The germination rates for both zinnias and dahlias were around 98%. They were beautiful. I grow in Zone 8a, North Carolina. Our summer has been horribly hot, humid and dry. I hand-water, no irrigation or overhead watering. I've had no powdery mildew problems on either. I have had a good mix of singles and doubles on the zinnias. The colors are very unique.The dahlias are stunning. I direct-sowed the celosia, as instructed. It's glorious, as well. These seeds were expensive so I have given them all lots of attention, especially the diva dahlias. It's been worth the effort, & I will be saving the zinnia and celosia seeds and hopefully have many dahlia tubers to continue growing. I would buy them all again. Erin is amazing! I grow for my home garden. Thank you so much for the wonderful video.
Thinking of your baby and your family. 🙏🏽
Thank you. This week has actually been really hard for me, I didn’t post an update on E (she has actually been tolerating chemo well!) but used content creation as a distraction from the anxiety I’m having ♥️
@@bareflowerfarmhugs 🥰
@@bareflowerfarm sending you hugs, lots of prayers. ❤️🙏🏽
Thank you very much for this video. It explains a lot what happened to my zinnias. I agree the Floret are not as tough as the other stable varieties and I also agree that we should continue grow ing them. The colors are so unique and I don’t think the other reliable varieties can compete them. Next year I will still grow all of them, Floret, Benary’s Giant, Okhlahoma, and some other new ones comming up! BUT I will make sure that I will not stress them out to ensure the double blooms
I'm curious, Crane- did the Floret zinnias that you put out too early and got stressed by the cold end up ever creating doubles? I've heard that it's hard for a stressed zinnia to revert back to doubles after singles but am hearing otherwise for the floret originals!
@@bareflowerfarm they came back beautifully! About 60% are double. I started a second set later on, and I see no difference in performance of the stressed ones and the health ones.
I am growing several Floret varieties and am enjoying them so much. I started them inside and space them 9 inches apart. Germination was great. I already had been growing the Unicorn since she offered them in 2020 and love the changing colors. I am in the midwest and do not have powdery mildew. This year I secured a package of Triple Wren Farm Antiques zinnia seed and they are strong growers. I also bought Dawn Creek and Blomma zinnias when they had a seed fundraiser for $50 for a packet last year. Blomma zinnias are tall, strong, great colors and mostly double. Zinnias bring me joy!
I just found about her flowers and her mission last night, I've watched about 30 minutes of her good videos, and it really is a wonderful to hear your story. I'm glad to know the approximate price range of discount seeds is $50 a packet, to set my expectations for what I might be able to afford. Nowhere in her literature could I find any indication of what a packet of these seeds might cost.
I started my Floret zinnias inside and had perfect germination, too! (And about 60% doubles) I definitely would pay for them again! I'm obsessed! I grew Alpenglow and Precious Metals.
I'm so excited about your experiment and am going to start soaking all my seeds in fish fertilizer,too! You are such a wealth of information, Jess! Thank you for your videos!
I’m growing Alpenglow in north Idaho zone 5b in a raised bed with half compost half Idaho dirt. I had 100% germination in a seed tray, did not pinch but got glorious branching. No mildew on them, still producing through our weeks of 100°+ days. Most heart shaped centers I’ve seen.
I’d consider it a great investment, despite the cost, as one bud will produce as many seeds as the packet.
That is so great to hear! I too am excited to save seed. Today, I saved seed from other Dawn Creek zinnias and 3 seedheads produced over 200 seeds!!
I started floret zinnias indoors & used fish fertilizer until planted out, about 6 wks later. My direct sowed zinnias also received several doses of fish fertilizer. We had good summer weather. All look great. Started cutting late June & still going strong. Little spotting, but no mildew. Should last thru September. 6B, NE CT
Thank you for this video Jessie! I decided to wait on Floret's seeds since it was my first time with zinnias this season. I also tested soil block vs. 24 cell trays and direct sowing. The clear winners were the soil blocked seedlings! Although the direct sow being behind in growth essentially worked like succession planting so no regrets there. My seeds in 24 cell tray (Gardener's Supply) failed, but maybe I didn't plant them out early enough. I ordered Johnny's and Baker's Creek Queen Limes and Benary's Giants. Loved them all! I didn't realize Floret's zinnias weren't available for 2025 :( BTW with my Benary's Giants or Queenie series, no powdery mildew here in Northern Illinois. I grow in 4 x 8 raised beds. 💚👩🏻🌾
I really appreciate your research - I grew all of Florets zinnias at Zone 4 , 5,000 ft elevation; and I had incredible mid season germination and flowering success by growing them in a selfwatering planter, with potting soil. I couldn't believe the results. I did start the plants in peat pellets for 10 days in my green house. My earlier zinnias from spring are still doing well also. I will try your trick of fish fertilizer - thanks!
That is so awesome to hear you also had a great experience!
Thank you for the video on these, Jesse! I ordered the precious metals variety. I didn’t notice any issues with powdery mildew. I didn’t have as much germination with these as I did some of my other varieties, like benary giants. I did get about 80% singles which was a little disappointing but the colors are gorgeous so I’m okay with them. I will probably order them again because I imagine they will improve and only get better each year.
Also, keeping you all in my prayers and I appreciate all you teach us!
Thanks so much for all your effort and information!! I love my floret zinnias. I will definitely be trying your “experiment” next season!!😊
Thank you so much for experimenting with the seed soaking. Going to give it a try with my zinnias and other seeds next year.
Incredible information. Thank you!! Definitely will soak my seed next year. Home gardener here. I grew alpen glow and precious metals this year. S W MI. Started in cell trays and planted out in mid-June. We had a wet hot start to summer and always deal with powdery mildew here. My alpen glow has been a glorious experience. So very pretty. No powdery mildew on them so far. Since they take extra time to fully bloom, I'm not cutting them and just enjoying them as a living bouquet. Precious metals didn't grow as well but so pretty. Will try again next year with your soaking tip as I do have left over seed.
I love this! When we leave the blooms on the stems, the living bouquet lasts so much longer and the pollinators get to enjoy. I have been doing this with some of my other zinnias :)
I’m totally thrilled with my floret Alpenglow! Good germination, a bit of a rough start once transplanted but recovered nicely and have been producing lots of beautiful double and multi layered blooms this season! Definitely a winner and yes I’ll definitely be saving seeds 😊
Thanks for sharing your experience and wondering how long you soaked your seeds for?
Thanks and continuing to keep your family in my prayers ❤
Really awesome work! I love to see how you incorporate science into your flower farming.
I grew the precious metals mix and petit florets it’s my first year growing any flowers. So I’m sure any stunting I had was user error getting them out late. Great germination rates very few doubles on the zinnias but I did get a couple perfect ones like the product photos. I wish she was selling again this year I’d buy all of the different dahlia and zinnia packs. I love growing them just for fun and the learning experience. The petit floret dahlias are so stinking cute with the fluffy centers! I just wish they had more vase life.
I’m growing Precious Metals and love the color but they are pretty much single petals. Wish I had fuller double blooms but I will save seeds and grow again. Thanks for your analysis of these flowers. Praying for your daughter.
We just got Floret seeds in Australia, it will be interesting to see how we all go with them in our climate
Thank you for the informative video.
I've recently purchased Floret seeds here in New Zealand, and since watching your video, firstly I subscribed and now I'll re-watch to jot down notes to do exactly as you've done. Thank you💚💐
Thanks Jess, I was tempted to direct sow.. when I did a few.. they just didn't grow as well as the transplanted.. also thanks for the mention of doing that at very early seedling stage. 🎉
So happy to find your video!! I did a blend of direct sowing and indoor sowing for my Floret Originals - and here in Quebec, Canada the ones I direct sowed did better. They are now thriving in these fall warm days - cool nights. I'm in zone 4. I do wish I had more Alpenglow seeds - I love them!!! I will save seeds of course, but I didn't isolate them - either way I'll be saving seeds and replanting. The celosia did okay - but not great...but that's all on the weather I think - we had SO MUCH rain and then HOT HOT HOT - they didn't really have a chance - they are quite thinly flowered. Anyway - you have a new subscriber!
That's great! I didn't isolate my zinnias either but I'm totally OK if i get a blend of golden hour and alpenglow. As long as they're not mixing with crazy saturated colors, I'm a happy camper.
My celosia also did meh. I think that was more on me in terms of now properly watering in the direct seeded seeds until they germinated. But enough grew that I can save seed!!
This is such great info! Thank you for sharing with us. Praying for baby E and the whole family.
Thank you 💜
Me too!! That’s my favorite thing about gardening is trying new things!
Would love to see your process for soaking the seeds in the fertilizer! How much water to fertilizer and for how long did you soak?
I actually have a video that explained all of that in detail! th-cam.com/video/g7aP7466-co/w-d-xo.html
I grew Precious Metal's. I’d buy them again. The colors are amazing! I sow and grow my zinnias in 128 plug trays and transplant directly into their bed. Germination rate was awesome. And I’m fine with the flower type. Some are double and some are single. And yeah zinnias can tolerate poor growing conditions, but they look so much more beautiful if they’re pampered.
I love this! And 100%, these are princesses who want to be pampered 👸
Wow! You are a wealth of information! Thanks 🌼🐝
I recently learned that chive tea is a preventative for powdery mildew -
Maybe something to look into (only a preventative not a cure) 🌿☮️
Thank you! A most try 👍😃
They also sell products to commercial growers that is essentially baking soda.
So glad you had good success! I had a very, very low germination rate for my Floret zinnias. Not sure what happened, but mine were terrible. And those that germinated weren’t as big as promised. Not sure I will buy them again!
I love mine I’m obsessed with them 😂 I grew unicorn, dawn creek honey, and dawn creek blush. I think that the heat definitely makes the double ones grow more single, I have some that have had gaps during heat waves and then start growing more petals again when it cools down. I’m so excited to see what they do going into the fall when it’s consistently cooler!
Mine are also so tall, starting to get taller than I am. They got powdery mildew super badly, but it’s under control with milk+water spray and the new growth is pretty and green again 🥰
I have a patch of 4 zinnia growing in a half barrel. I started them in March.. pinched twice.. planted in May. A few days after last frost. They are still going strong.. cut from them 4 times. My FFD 4/30, LFD 10/10. I fertilize them every month with fish fertilizer. Or flower. Only one is double. The other three open face. I organza bagged one very early on. (It looks so healthy).. and to control pollination corruption cross pollination Test next year! Two as I did this year, 2 never pinching. A patch pinched in field..
90% germination soil block planted out early June. Wonderful colour, not alot of doubles. My market didn’t go for pricier zinnias because zinnias are zinnias here and people don’t care about Floret brand. Wouldn’t buy again but I’ll save some seeds. Sticking to what works in my market which are Benarys giant and Oklahoma. Zone 5a and now getting browning and powdery mildew early September on zinnias which is the norm for me
This is my first time growing flowers, so I don’t know much about anything. All of my Floret zinnias germinated, but I did them in trays. About 1/4 of them grew odd centers and half of the outer petals were really short on one side. I didn’t get any powdery mildew on them. I grew Queeny’s from Eden Brothers and all of those had some sort of disease and where the buds would bloom it became a knot sort of thing. Like I said, I don’t know much so it’s hard to explain. Lol! I did use fish fertilizer but that made all of my seedlings start to yellow so I stopped. My celosia did decently well, although I feel like it took forever to get buds. I live in zone 9a Florida for reference.
I grew the same three varieties! Very similar experience as you had. TALL stems and tons of doubles. as well as great germination (I direct sow). I grow in rich Kansas black dirt, so did not fertilize at all. I grow in a hobby cut garden and do not sell. I LOVE the colors and often mix in bouquets with Binary Giants and Quieenie Series.....Thanks so much for you content!
Good for her, I admire the work that goes into a breeding program, but the hype is about the image she’s cultivated far more than what those zinnias are themselves, particularly as it comes to consistency and reliability of the varieties.
I do think Erin has been pretty forthcoming in saying that these zinnias aren't stable yet. She had asked folks whether they wanted to wait a bit longer until they were stable or have them now, and most people said now. I personally also would rather them sooner than later, so that I can begin saving seed for zinnias that are more acclimated to my climate. Skagit Valley is a really unique climate and I think in a typical season, zinnias may fare better there than some other places. Just my 2 cents.
@@bareflowerfarm I know she’s been honest about it. I wasn’t criticizing her, I was talking about the zinnias. But that makes my point again, people’s reaction is the same reason they wanted the seeds before they were ready, more to do with the image she’s cultivated than the zinnias. Maybe I’ve seen way too many videos about them, about 60% of them are hyping interesting blooms. The rest are hyping too, just nothing that seems worthy of their thralls and that’s the sort of thing that makes *me* less interested in them.
Love flowers. Also live in NJ. Zinnias are one of my favorite. Been growing them for over 10 years. I'm a novice but have to say....i didnt get as much Zinnias this year because i didnt get them into the ground until last week of June. I sow directly. Usually I sow them last weekend of May. I fertilizer alot the first month along with composting before seeding. Do mist them early to keep insects away. Though I dont find too much issues with bugs on them as i do with other types of flowers. I usually get the first flowers in July. But August is the month they really start to shine. They do flower well until mid late September. I find high humidity isnt friendly to them and powder mildew seems to get worse in Sept. That is.... except this year it been dryer and the powder mildew is alot less. Im thinking the very hot high humidity of July may have stunted and slowed the germination of my flowers, therefore not getting as many.
I always love the surprise in what you get with Zinnias, the colors, the shapes and sizes all so different but definitely a Zinnia. Birds, bees, butterflies love them and they are great for making flower arrangements. Dry well too! I always get a few that reseed themselves. Find the pink, bright and pale seem to reseed easily and not so much other colors. Yes, I save my seeds and have great success with them. My saved seeds one year did much better then the new bought seeds. They were healthier and grew more bush like. I dont know why. But i did lose some variety in color that year. So I'm always trying new seeds to add. Guess im going for that, Monet garden look and Zinnias are the best. Good Luck & God bless!
Thanks for the video! I purchased dawn creek pastel mix, pink chenille celosia, and petite floret dahlia seeds from Floret this year. I had very inconsistent and poor germination for the zinnias and celosia. The dahlia seed germinated at 80%, which was the packet's germination rate. The petite floret dahlias have been very susceptible to powdery mildew. The pink chenille celosia took a very long time to size up and I had about 30% germination. It is a mix of fan and feather types. The dawn creek pastel mix had about 50% germination and have been growing nicely. Mostly pink singles but there are a few gems. This is why I normally avoid mixes but the seed was pricey. I am saving seed from all three and hope to grow them again next year.
Oh that’s interesting the dahlias have been getting powdery mildew as I didn’t realize dahlias could get that too! The good news is that assuming you can just grow 1-2 stems of each variety, you should have plenty of seed to save which I’m excited about 🙌🏼
I grew a test patch of Precious Metals this year. I direct seeded and got 10 plants to grow. Of those 10 only 1 was fully double like the fluffy gorgeous flowers she showed on the website. Unfortunately I didn't want singles and having a 10% double rate is not ideal. I'll try again next year with the remainder of the seed packet, but my review after this season is that they are not worth the expense. Which is a shame because the one double plant that I got is really lovely and I'd be thrilled to have a whole row of them!
I’m so sorry to hear that. Would you say your zinnias may have experienced stress (lack of water or naturally too hot of a climate)?
This is why I love your channel. Your advice has been a Godsend for me and I will also start to soak my seeds in fish or similar fertilizer solutions before sowing them in my seed flats. I wonder if there would be any difference if one used a liquid mycorrhizae solution?
The breeder, Erin, says she chose three species of flower known to grow well in hot dry climates, specifically citing the heating planet as a background to her choices, and created genetic "heirloom" varieties with a wide assortment of characteristics. Select seeds from the best, and create a generic mix that works perfectly for your microclimate.
How did you soak the seeds for your germination experiment? Is there a video here showing how you did it? Curious to how long you soaked them and if you planted immediately after removing them. I'm new to cut flower gardening so I may be asking a dumb question. But, hey, how else will I learn, right? Thank you!
My Floret zinnias were direct seeded and my germination was very poor. It was an extremely hot summer however, with temperatures reaching 110 and higher.
Thanks for reviewing the Floret seeds. It bothers me that Floret doesn't allow customer reviews on their website for seeds and the delivery of their product.
I only grew a few of the victorian wedding, one is doing well beside my Oklahomas. I had major trouble with all my zinnias last season do to powdery mildew so I moved to a different spot with full sun and kept them well watered. So far they have done well. Some tarnish plant bug damage but that seems to have tapered off with the colder weather. I like the colors for some arrangements but it depends what I have to pair with it.
I got some seeds called red spider zinnias . Single glowers very tall. Eye popping orange red. Loved them. Interested on seeing these shown also.
jesse, i enjoy your videos and learn so much, god bless you and your daughter at this time , sending prayers. you have a good friend in crane at cranery gardens who shared his concern and love for your family
Sending positive vibes to you and your family. Can you update us at the end of the growing season to see which cohort last longer and/or more productive overall?
Yup, that's the plan!
I had great germination direct sown with burlap over them in a raised bed until they sprout.
Jess, you need to organza bag early, before any chance of pollination or cross pollination. Otherwise they will be a mix of single and double.
Thanks for sharing! I've been scouring the internet for reviews and photos, it's so difficult to tell from the promo images what colours you'll end up with... I've bought precious metals and missed out on Dawn Creek as they should out in the first. hours. This is my first year growing and second season of veg. I'm obsessed with the unique colours and hope for some food results to save seed from. I planted some seed the other day and also have other zinnia varieties to compare with. I'd seen your other video saying there was no difference with the soaking, and some seed varieties can rot, so I didn't... but now I'm wondering if watering the seedlings with fish fertilise will give the same boost?
Hi! The research shows that soaking seeds versus watering the seedlings with fish fertilizer will have a greater impact because the plant is inherently off to a better start. But that being said, watering with fish fertilizer is still good. Don't overdo it though! It's basically just fertilizing the plant. I only fertilized the first couple of weeks and then stopped.
What an informative video! Appreciate the time & effort you take to trial these topics for us 🌸💕 also, what camera do you use? It’s a lovely looking video!
Im in Australia and bought some Floret Golden Hour Zinnia seeds ($32.50 AUD ouch!). I live in subtropical east coast and we get high humidity in summer and with that comes all things fungus and mould. I will be interested to see how these seeds go as the climate here is alot different to where they are bred. Usually my Zinnias do well until the end of season when everything is tired. I planted a handful of seed yesterday... now to wait and watch.
I hope they perform well for you! If it makes you feel better, when you do the $ conversion, the AUD packets come out to less than $2 more than what those in the US paid for- I'm sure the extra $ was due to custom import fees and all of the paperwork that had to get done on the Floret side :)
Im in Australia, just a hobby gardener. The floret seeds are $35 aud per.packet.. way out of my budget for a try and see what the hype is. .. very expensive
I would be curious to see if soaking in fertilizer versus plain water. See if hydrating/pre soaking the seed is just as effective with our without fertilizer. With another variety such as Benary's giants or Oklahoma zinnias as a control.
Good point. My growing conditions are similar. I am now very curious to grow them😅
Hi About germination fail with the celosia, and other, have you given them cold stratification time? ( in freezer/refrigerator for 1-2 weeks/1-3 months
Also about the Floret zinnia, they have to stay with bloom long time to come there right! Watch her video or “ Honey trail farm ) she has growing them successfully and explains why
😊
😊
i got great germination on my glowing amber. i didnt cold stratified them
Thank you for the valuable information! Floret seedlings,
I grew the can can dahlias and shooting stars dahlias. I left them in their cups they to long ,didn’t get them all into the ground. That was expensive! The germination rate was 100 💯 percent.
I was hoping for more color , but mainly got yellows and white.
I was hoping
I'm saving all my zinna seeds this fall! Such beautiful and rich colors! What's your favorite color
Same here! Though it’s becoming tough not to cut them all!! I can’t decide between alpenglow and golden hour as my favorite. Prob golden hour if I HAD to decide. What’s yours?
@@bareflowerfarm I'm thinking the purple ones....only got purple red pink and orange....all deep brilliant and rich
My favorite are the two tones. ❤
I direct sowed Florets Dawn Creek, unicorn & precious metals with great success in zone 3. Would you recommend soaking my seeds that I save this year in fish emulsion before I direct seed? Many thanks
Jessie I was so happy to find this video! I’m zone 6b New England. I started the Floret zinnia seeds early and they struggled. As a result I tried again in July direct sowing. These were a success. There was 100% germination. Granted I am a home gardener I was happy to get anything 😊 I use Neptune’s Harvest as a weak fertilizer for my veggie seedlings but had never thought to soak seeds in. I’ll try that next year. I would love to save seeds this year. As I’ve been cutting on my zinnias the new blooms are still young. Our first average frost here is October 15th although last year it didn’t come until November 2! My question is will these newest blooms have enough time to ripen to collect seeds from before the frost? When do you start letting blooms go to seed?
Im in RI and believe you will get some seed heads. Just put a string or something so you don’t mistakingly clip the heads you want to dry. I usually give a few special treatment so they don’t get powdery mildew (keep good airflow) timing: start now - if we get a wicked weather you will stand a chance of saving a few heads before October foul weather
I think the newest blooms right now should ripen in time. I struggle with this too because I can sell every stem but yet I need seed lol!!
Thank you @cjcarroll7531 & @bareflowerfarm !
I'm in a very hot ,very humid climate. Precious metals did okay for me, the rest struggled bad and barely did anything. Eden brothers has similair color tones & much cheaper. I just can't justify spending crazy amount of money on a secondary flower.
Thanks so much for your fantastic content, how long did you soak the seeds? I am in Australia & have seeds on the way in the mail ❤🎉
Hi ! Very informative video. Regarding your question about germination and starting indoors vs direct sowing..since transplantation is difficult for zinnias, wouldn't it still be worth it to direct sow if germination is less high, since in the end you'll lose some of your pre-germinated plants ? I had high germination rate indoors but many didn't make it after transplanting and those that I showed outdoors grew so quickly. You said germinating indoors and transplanting after 5 days is the way to avoid transplantation failures?
i typically would direct seed zinnias but because these were $20 a packet, I wanted to make sure I maximized the chance of success, and that happens when I am able to better control the germination environment. How long did you end up waiting to transplant? Typically anything over 14 days would be "long" for zinnias. Ideally you want to transplant before they become rootbound and that's why soil blocking is so great (they can't become rootbound bc of airpruning)
Eh, I’m sorta happy with mine. Way too many singles, colors good but I’m not going to re buy again.
Agreed
Sooooo many singles. And it's not weather related. Our other zinnias doing great. They just aren't ready for profitable flower farming yet.
I agree with you I live in TX and they did not like the heat. I had great germination started in cell trays. I also don’t think the vase life is good by day 3 I noticed the petals start browning . What was your vase life ?
Beautiful!
Hello
Was the fertilizer diluted? Of so how much? What duration where the seeds soaked for? How Dos you remove the seeds from the fertilizer for sowing?
Looking forward to learning more
Thank you
Hi, this video should answer all of your questions! th-cam.com/video/g7aP7466-co/w-d-xo.html
I am in Phoenix, Arizona and have had a straight run of 100 days plus of over 100° (and our nights are in the high 80s) in which I have been growing zinnias. I had some of Floret’s Golden Hour from which I’m saving seed for next year. I have had some of the double blooms but right now mostly single, but pretty intense heat and intense sunlight (no cloud cover). I have a couple of beds that have a little bit of shade in which I have grown the queen lime series, and they have all been double. Also, my Benary Giants most of them have been double with that little bit of shade. I have found where the heat really affects is the Oklahoma’s. But I’m thinking of taking the month of July and the first half of August off. Have planted zinnias for the fall, which will go up to December for us. I do have a question for you, did you only soak the seed in the fish fertilizer or did you feed the plants at any time with the fish fertilizer also? Really appreciate your videos, especially knowing what your family is going through. My thoughts and prayers are for you and your family. God bless.
I had great germination, many doubles, Victorian wedding I didn’t like the super thin stems. I’m in 7a and started in May - battled the bugs and they are flushing again but disease end of season now.
I enjoy neon colors but I love the ombres
Can you tell me about your fencing? What did you use for deer?
It's a deer fence from deer busters specifically to keep out deer as we have super heavy deer pressure and they eat most things they're not supposed to eat :(
We did a video on our fence in case you're interested: th-cam.com/video/J-tZaQ2fmVo/w-d-xo.html
@@bareflowerfarmThank you!!!
Do you have a soil blocker recommendation?
Ladbrooke (OG soilblocker) is a good choice. I've heard people who bought the cheaper stuff on amazon have their soil blockers basically fall apart after a year so worth investing in the good stuff to last you awhile!
beautiful color 😊
No update on your daughter? I hope she is doing well with her treatments. 💪 💖 😘
I always soil block and then transplant as early as possible with zinnias, that way I can control germination conditions while also avoiding any stunting as a result of root binding. I got around 90-95% germination with my floret zinnias and about 50% were at least semi double, my current plan is to save seeds from all the mostly double plants to encourage more double blooms next year.
I couldn't even buy any as they sold out within minutes!
I've noticed that every TH-camr had an abundance of them 🤔
I did buy other seeds and they grew horribly. Sweet Peas didn't flower at all!
It's interesting that she isn't opening her site to buy seeds this year and probably next year also.
I'm glad I didn't actually buy more as most people had poor quality results ❤
I grew the Floret dahlias they have been slow to develop but quick to germinate. Am in England and started in a greenhouse. They have taken a long time to get any size to pu out and the ones in the greenhouse are really leggy despite pinching out> No blooms yet?
So dahlias are short day faculative plants. They should have initiated buds by now. It’s important that during long days they put on bushy growth and if they didn’t, it could be a sign of soil health issues/not enough fertilizer & water. You’re in England so your days are shorter and that means you’re starting to run out of time.
Did the dahlias get stressed in the ground?
@@bareflowerfarm the dahlias have bloomed now but disappointed with the blooms. Nothing special for all the hype!
Very interesting!! How long do you soak in the fertilizer prior to planting? Did you direct seed them or cell/soil block?
Here is the video on what I did for full details! th-cam.com/video/g7aP7466-co/w-d-xo.htmlsi=e9vHgEp5mvf3SCJt
I love this video - THANK YOU!! I use the Neptunes all the time on my flowers - now I will soak my seeds in it next season!! I direct sowed my Floret Zinnias and had an awful summer of heat and no rain here in Upstate SC - I mostly got singles and I knew they were stressed even though I tried to keep them hydrated! There's just nothing like rain! Anyway, you ROCK!
How long did you soak it in fish fertilizer?
this video will give you alot more info! th-cam.com/video/g7aP7466-co/w-d-xo.html
Are you not spraying neem oil to help reduce the powdery mildew? If you picked a flower from a plant with powdery mildew I understand you can condition them in bucket of choline water-do you agree or not?
No spraying of neem oil on my end- i'm pretty religious in not spraying neem or anything that may deter/kill beneficial insects. I'm OK with letting a crop fail in this regard. People have suggested milk, which i'm not opposed to- it's more of a time thing in that case.
You can condition zinnias with a CVBN tablet. To be honest, this season, I've also stopped doing that too. It is definitely a best practice though!
Just wondering, if you save seed will the plants grow out to be the same as the mother plant. I read that because of the pollinators that the plants will mix with the other zinnias and not come true.
Bc zinnias are open pollinated, they may be cross bred and come back not true. But since I didn’t plant crazy zinnia colors, I would expect them to maintain alpenglow and golden hour colors. I don’t need them to come truly exact, just within that color palette! Of course the pollinators could have visited a neighbor who has zinnias 🙂
I’m in the EU and I can’t get Floret seeds here yet, I think they have them in England but they’re not part of the EU anymore. This year slugs are all my zinnias but at least they weren’t expensive Floret seedlings 😂
Ahhh I keep forgetting about Brexit! Sorry to hear about the slugs, that's so disappointing!
Mine all got diseased early on and I just had to give up and pull them out months ago. Pretty sad since the seeds cost so much but oh well, not Floret’s fault on that one.
If you have time maybe you could compare ‘priming’ the seeds with fish fertilizer bs ‘priming’ with water with control being no intervention. I love the Golden Hour❤
I didn’t grow the Golden Hour. Really I was hoping to let everyone see how they find it and hop on the bandwagon next year so that was a mistake but I can buy a bouquet from another local grower and try to save some green seed
I couldn't get any of my celosia sprout from Floret - I got so disappointed that I spread it all over my garden to see if I could luck on anything, but nothing!
They will prob pop up next year like mine do 😆
Your zinnias are so beautiful.
Mine were small like quarters. The colour varieties are not like yours, more generic. Not tall and stems stayed slim. I had to of done something wrong. My other variety did well though.😢
oh no! do you know if the zinnias were stressed at all and the quality of the soil they were planted into?
I started my seeds in trays and I only had a few from each variety that didn’t germinate for my zinnias, celosia, and dahlias from floret
She always tells people to pinch, though. Can you imagine how bigger they might have gotten if you had pinched the test? Would be an interesting experiment.
Singles ATTRACT MORE POLLINATORS which means more fertilization and seeds,love my singles way better than my doubles
مسبىة مزفقة🪴🪴🫶🏻🫶🏻🍹🍹🍹🩷🌸☘️💐🌱🌿🌿🌷🌷🌵🌵🌵🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹👍🏾👍🏾
Anyone wanna save and send me some seeds😊
Australia Bbrought the, at like double your price
I just don't get it. The colors of Floret zinnias are so dull, muted and lack luster in color. I've seen them in many garden influencer videos, and I am not impressed. There are so many other gorgeous and saturated colors available to growers. I'm not a fan but great video.
This is why I love them. They are beautiful blush pastel tones which is more aesthetically pleasing
The way you start, "WAS IT WORTH IT OR NOT?" was painfully disrespectful to the breeder. Did it work for you? You use this microaggression, to set up a mystery question to hook audience, not really aware or careful not to hurt the feelings of the person who spent so many years trying to bring a quality seed to market. It's kind of like trashing your married partners mother, it's just not done, whether that product works for you or not, years of effort were put into it and gentle care, so trashing her with such a ridiculous title is just -- somehow beyond the flower pale.
Well for the money you spend to buy them NO! Not very big flowers!, nearly all were singles, and did not like the color my Victorian wedding turned out looked nothing like her photo of them so I won’t be buying again .