What do you do with leggy cosmos?
Yes, you may plant leggy seedlings deeper in the soil to compensate for their lengthy stems! However, don't push yourself to put them further down right away because they're still quite young and delicate. To prevent leggy seedlings from dying prematurely, make sure you water them frequently.
A seedling straining for light may grow leggy. When transplanting seedlings (either potting on or planting outdoors in pots and borders), I advise pinching out the growing tip of each stem to encourage stems to branch and produce more cosmos flowers.
Once your seedlings have formed 2-3 pairs of leaves, you can pinch out the growing tips to produce bushier plants with more flowers. Taller varieties may need staking. Otherwise all varieties will flower for a long period if deadheaded regularly and fed with a liquid fertiliser.
Deadheading regularly will help Cosmos to bloom longer. A good tip for deadheading Cosmos is not to just take the flower head off, but cut the stem right back to the first leaf below the flower head. Once you have cut the Cosmos flowers, put them straight into water.
Can you bury leggy seedlings deeper in the soil? Generally, yes, you can plant leggy seedlings deeper in the soil to help compensate for the extra-long stems! However, avoid the temptation to plant them deeper right away, when they're still very young and tender.
The good news is, leggy seedlings can usually be fixed before it's too late. I've transplanted hundreds of tall, floppy seedlings with success, most of which went on to recover and have normal, productive yields.
Giving them too much help in the way of fertilizer can make them overly tall and lanky. Instead of fertilizing them during the growing season, just mix some compost into the soil before you sow your seeds or set in your transplants, and your fertilizing is done!
Cut your cosmos as the flower just opens and the center is still tight. Use sharp scissors to cut the slender stems at a leaf node — that's the spot where the leaf joins the stem. The plant will branch from there and form even more flowering stems.
Flowers Falling Over
Because cosmos can grow to be tall, the flower heads can cause the flower to lean over. Again, cosmos plants can become quite large! Some varieties can grow as tall as 7 feet!
Start with cosmos seedlings that are at least 6-8 inches in height. Use scissors or your nails to pinch cosmos after the top three inches or so. Make sure to leave branches on both sides if you're trying to double your flowers. Water the original cosmos plant if needed.
How do I get my cosmos to bloom more?
To promote flowering you should transplant your cosmos as soon as possible to a sunnier location, cut back any overhanging tree limbs that could be casting shade or if its not too late in the Summer, sow new seedlings in a garden boarder with full sun and well draining soil.
As soon as the first frost blackens the leaves, cut off the stems and foliage, lift them, remove all soil from the roots and dry them for a few days in a frost-free shed.
Do cosmos come back every year? Nearly all cosmos are annuals meaning they do not come back every year. In order to have blooms every year, you will need to resow the seeds the following spring.
Like tomatoes, cosmos often develop roots at the base of their stems. As the plants grow, hill up a little soil around the base of each plant, which encourages them to bush out and stand steady in gusty summer storms.
Solutions for Stretched Seedlings
The buried stem will not only thrive but will grow roots. For most other seedlings, the best thing you can do is act quickly. Find a peat pot or other fairly deep container and bury your seedlings up to their neck. You don't want the seedlings to grow even a day taller.
If caught early, they can often be saved by being mindful of proper lighting, heat, and water levels. Starting out with those things in place is obviously the best practice. But if you find that your seedlings are leggy, making some simple adjustments can mean that even your leggy seedlings can survive, and thrive!
Water from the Bottom Up. Another way you can salvage seedlings that have become leggy is to water from the bottom up. This will ensure that the entire seed starting medium is moist and encourages roots to spread downward. To do this, put your seedling containers in a tray, then water the tray instead of the containers ...
At the most basic level, leggy seedlings are caused by a lack of light. It could be that the window you are growing your seedlings in does not provide enough light or it could be that the lights you are using as grow lights aren't close enough to the seedling. Either way, the seedlings will get leggy.
Of all the annual flowering plants you can grow in your cutting garden (or even the back of your veggie patch), none is more productive than cosmos. They truly are a cut-and-come-again flower: The more you harvest them, the more they bloom.
Like I've mentioned with zinnias and dahlias, it's good to pinch out the initial growing tip to encourage the plant to send out lots of numerous side shoots - all of which will form nice and long stems that are perfect for the vase. Make sure that when your cosmos start blooming, you keep them deadheaded.
How do you keep cosmos upright?
Cutting back cosmos also keeps the plants compact and bushy. Otherwise, they can get tall and lanky and have a tendency to fall over - especially the full-size varieties. If necessary, use stakes to keep cosmos upright. Cosmos is an extremely robust plant that is virtually never affected by pests or disease.
STAGE OF HARVEST
In order to have long lasting blooms, you must cut Cosmos BEFORE the blooms have been pollinated, looking for buds that are cracking open or just opened. The flower will open up in the vase over the next few days. When harvested at this stage, you can expect them to last about 5 days.
Of all the annual plants you can grow in your cutting garden, none are more productive than cosmos. They truly are a cut-and-come-again flower: the more you harvest them, the more they bloom.
Benefits: Better Blooms, More Colorful Blooms, Easy to Use
If you go to any farm or farmer's market the only type of fertilizer they will recommend using is this water-soluble solution by miracle-gro.
Do not fertilize cosmos. Nutrient rich soil produces plants that are weak-stemmed (floppy), late blooming and flower sparsely. Avoid soil that have been heavily amended with fertilizer and compost.
Cosmos atrosanguineus or chocolate Cosmos flower is a tender perennial, meaning that its tubers should be lifted in the autumn and kept in a dry shed over winter or protected from the frost and cold weather by covering with straw, mulch or wrapped in horticultural fleece.
Place the packet in the bottom of a canning jar or clean mayonnaise jar. Place the seed envelope in the jar, put on the lid, and store it until next spring. The dried milk powder will absorb any stray moisture, keeping the cosmos seeds dry and safe until spring planting. Did you find this helpful?
Both germination and growth are fast, but cosmos plants are frost tender, so don't be in a rush. Cosmos are light sensitive and don't bloom their best until late summer, when the days grow shorter.
Cosmos are half-hardy annuals that grow, flower, set seed and die all in one year, but unlike hardy annuals, they can't withstand low temperatures. They're quick and easy to grow from seed, flowering in as little as 12 weeks, and can be added to borders and pots for a burst of showy colour.
Cosmos are not hardy plants and if you leave them in your borders over winter there is a real chance they will be killed by a sharp frost, or rot in cold wet soil. When deadheading, cut the stem back to the first leaf beneath the flowerhead. The perennial chocolate cosmos varieties will need winter protection.
Why are my cosmos so short?
Excess Water. Since cosmos are native to Mexico, they are used to dry, humid soil conditions. In fact, they thrive in drought-like conditions. So overwatering is often a big reason for a reduction in blooms.
Cut your cosmos as the flower just opens and the center is still tight. Use sharp scissors to cut the slender stems at a leaf node — that's the spot where the leaf joins the stem. The plant will branch from there and form even more flowering stems.
To promote flowering you should transplant your cosmos as soon as possible to a sunnier location, cut back any overhanging tree limbs that could be casting shade or if its not too late in the Summer, sow new seedlings in a garden boarder with full sun and well draining soil.
