table of contents
- Choose the right time
- Preparations
- Harvest seeds
- Instructions for preferring
- Prick out the seedlings
- Pinching
- Plant out in the bed
- frequently asked Questions
With its colorful flowers and filigree foliage, the Cosmea (Cosmos bipinnatus) 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 generally annual, usually sow themselves
- prefer for the earliest possible flowering indoors
- Seeds usually germinate well
- the 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 preferred indoors from March. However, you should not start too early, because then, due to the still low light output, the plants can shoot up and become grueled. Such plants are powerless and particularly susceptible to environmental influences and pests. For this reason, it is advisable to bring the young plants forward only a few weeks before planting out.
Preparations
If you prefer to use Cosmeen indoors, you should always keep an 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 growing containers have drainage holes so that excess irrigation water can run off and accumulated moisture can be avoided. Not to forget the growing medium. 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 the Cosmea are commercially available. But you can also harvest them from existing plants. The right time for this is in autumn. The ripe seeds are dark and are found in so-called nut fruits (achenes). It is best to hold a container or a paper bag under the fruit when harvesting, because the seeds fall out relatively easily. Then let them dry and store them in a dark, dry and frost-free place until they are sown in spring.
Tip: You can also cut off the plants after flowering, tie them together in small bunches and hang them upside down to dry. Then place newspaper under the bouquets to catch the seeds.
Instructions for preferring
Preferring the Cosmea is straightforward, the fine seeds germinate well. What is also important is the type of germ, because the jewelry basket belongs to the so-called light germs, i. H. it needs enough light to germinate. Then you can start.
- Fill small pots or other seed containers with growing medium
- Spread seeds on the substrate
- Cover only minimally with soil, press down lightly
- moisten carefully without washing the seeds out of the earth
- best with an atomizer
- keep evenly moist until germination
- Cover with translucent film for optimal germination conditions
- Remove the film regularly for ventilation
- Put pots in a bright and warm place
- Germination temperature at least 20 degrees
- Germination takes about 14-21 days
- Prick out the seedlings
Tip: If you sow in somewhat larger seed trays or in a mini greenhouse, then you can distribute the seeds at larger intervals on the substrate and thus possibly save yourself pricking.
Prick out the seedlings
After sowing and before actually planting out in the garden, the young seedlings are separated, depending on how densely they have sown. The right time has come when the plants are approx. are eight centimeters high or have formed at least two cotyledons. Pricking sticks can be very helpful here, with which you can carefully lift them out of the earth without damaging them.
- Fill planters to the brim with substrate
- Smooth out the earth and press down lightly
- only a few seedlings per planter
- make small planting holes with a pricking stick
- leave larger spaces between the plants
- Insert the seedlings using the prick stick
- The lowest cotyledons should be flush with the substrate surface
- Lightly press the soil around the plants
- water with a shower head or atomizer
- after the ice saints plant in the garden
Pinching
The aim of pinching is to stimulate the jewelry basket by shortening the main shoot to form many thin side shoots. This results in beautiful, bushy, branched plants that of course also have significantly more flowers. As soon as the middle shoot has reached a height of 20-30 cm, it can be shortened by about a third.
Note: 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 bring them to the sun or to get used to the new conditions. A too abrupt change could damage the seedlings permanently. It is best to put them in a sheltered, partially shaded place outdoors for the first two days, provided there is no longer any risk of late frosts. Then they can be planted in their final location.
- best time after the ice saints, from mid-May
- preferably in a full sun, sheltered from the wind
- in light, well drained, not too nutritious soil
- pH value from slightly acidic to alkaline possible
- Plant spacing of 30-40 cm is recommended
- Dig small planting holes
- Put cosmeen as deep as in the pot
- Press the soil lightly and water it
Tip: Good neighbors for the jewelry basket are daisies, asters, Gypsophila, Delphinium, cornflowers, coneflowers, zinnias, dahlias, verbenas and marigolds as well as various grasses.
frequently asked Questions
Preferring cosmeen gives you a huge head start in terms of time and harvest. The 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. By the way, blossoms and leaves are edible, which is why the harvest advance is important.
In contrast to propagation from cuttings, sowing does not usually produce identical young plants. Here you never know from which parent which properties will prevail in the grown plants.
Early ornamental baskets bloom from around May to October, while specimens that are sown directly in the bed from mid / end of May show their blooming splendor from around July.
