ZINNIA FLOWERS GROWING FACTS:

Zinnias flowers are a beautiful addition to your garden or balcony. Zinnias look great as cut flowers in a vase and the plant attracts birds, bees and butterflies to your garden. They are easy to grow, low maintenance, drought tolerant and have brilliants colours – making them perfect for any home!

GIY KIT CONTENTS:

HOW TO PLANT:

Unpack the kit. Use the coco peat coin to make growing medium (soil). Follow the steps:

• Place the coco peat coin in a container and add 200 mls of water
• Let the coin soak up all the water and watch it expand into growing medium
• Put the growing medium in the GIY pot and level surface

Sow three seeds in the center of the pot, placing them on top of the medium. Do not cover the seeds. Use a spray bottle to mist over the top of the seeds.

GERMINATION:

The sprouts should emerge within 14-21 days. Make sure that the growing medium stays moist. When seedlings have 3-5 leaves and reach 3-4 inches tall, transplant the seedlings into desirable pot or space.

WATER REQUIREMENT:          

Water regularly, but make sure you don’t over water. Check the soil by sticking your finger in an inch of soil. If it feels dry, its time to water.

TRANSPLANTING:

Zinnias are sensitive to root disturbance, so be extra careful when transplanting the plant to a bigger pot. If taproot gets disturbed, the double flowers may revert to single forms. In order to reduce this, transplant your entire biodegradable kit to a larger pot of about 6” depth.

Mix half the pot volume with good quality organic manure/ organic compost and half the volume with garden soil. Make sure prepared soil is loose, well-drained and rich in organic matter. Now dig in, place and bury the entire biodegradable pot with the healthy saplings.

FERTILIZER:

Potting soil mix made as per above recipe will provide good nutrition for your Zinnia plant. You can also use the organic micronutrients, available with your GIY kit, as per instructions.

FLOWERING:

Zinnias should grow in 60 – 70 days. You can cut the flowers as required. To promote regular bloom and maintain plant’s look, remove dead/faded flowers from the plant on weekly basis.

INSECTS AND DISEASES:

Zinnias can be attacked by sucking pests. You can use a mixture of Neem Oil (2-3 ml) and water (1 lit.) and spray the plant weekly to avoid pests.

Mildew is a common problem for Zinnia in humid climates. It causes powdery white spores on the leaves by drawing out moisture. Spray a solution of ½ tsp baking soda in 2 quarts of water and a few drops of liquid soap. Repeat every third day until problem persists.

FUN FACTS:

Butterflies love Zinnias and many gardeners add Zinnias specifically to attract them. Because of their vibrant colours, Zinnias work great as garden border plants.

Smaller zinnias are suitable for edging, window boxes, or other containers. The narrow leaf Zinnia also works well in hanging baskets.