greenhouse growing?

[hiyatim]

iv recently put a few seeds in plugs in the greenhouse, 3 of the varietys have germinated and filled the plug so i have moved them to 3 inch pots.

they are ' cosmos giant flowered' 'zinnia' and 'french marigold'

shall i keep growing them in the greenhouse or have them outside already, they are still too small to go in the garden

thanks

[stupo74]

Hi Tim,
I grow alot of "Marigolds for the "Communial" gardens here.
Alot of the plants actually grow themselves, from seed that has been dropped by the plant during the previous season.
With annuals, you can almost, or infact, guarantee, that after the 21st of this month, that most will set flower and then seed, due to the fact, of the day light hours diminishing.
I have again this year grown a "Vanilla" Marigold from seed, however as they are an F1 variety, it is not worth keeping the seed, as the plants will not grow "True" next time. I have some in the borders that are just starting to flower, i will take a couple of pics and post later.
One thing i will say for the common marigold, is they are quite hardy little blighters and easy to start from seed.
Good luck with the new plants, they have a chance.
cheers stupo.

[stupo74]

Hi Tim,
A couple of pics of the "vanilla marigolds" grown from seed, started in march,





Not so big yet but just starting to flower, However they grow in to great plants, the next picture, shows them in their full glory, later in the season from last year.



Cheers stupo

[Newtothis]

I would say harden them to the weather for a few days and then plant them out.

I grew cosmos from seed, (not sure about this giant flower version you're talking about though) last year, a whole packet and they were everywhere even in with the tomatoes. I planted them out when they filled their plugs and they were fine. They were very quick to grow and grew VERY large and just kept on flowering until well into Autumn. I have the odd ones growing up from the seeds in the ground from last year and where they are in a good spot have left them. We also have a few sown at the weekend in the greenhouse from the seeds taken last year as a project for my 4 year old, that just wanted to sow something else, no room for them now mind.

The french marigolds I bought from the shop were in plugs and I didn't even bother hardening off, just took home and planted in the ground and they are doing well, so they probably are hardy like stupo says, and yours are probably larger than the ones I bought if in 3 inch pots.

[rockdigital]

I'm landscaping and putting in a kitchen garden for my cousin. I like the library for all those questions you just asked. The pictures, diagrams and info is great from a stack of books.

[dripworld]

If they are still small then it is easy to move but if they grow large its harder to move from pots.I suggest to you grow outside only and water them regulalry.