Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 6, 3 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hi Brenda,

" I think it's a beaut... It is a brilliant red. The largest zinnia that I have. "

Wow! That one is a beaut !!! And no pollen florets showing. There must be a bunch of receptive stigmas up in the upper and possibly the middle of that bloom that are crying for pollen. Try not to lose the genes of that big one. Try to get as many of its stigmas pollinated as possible. Even if the pollen is from a somewhat smaller zinnia, the "big genes" are not lost in a cross, and can be recovered in subsequent generation recombinants.

Your #3 above does have extra curled cactus petals. There was a strain of zinnias several decades ago that were called "Fantasy flowered", and that specimen gives you an avenue to bring back the Fantasy flower form in your zinnias.

I'm sorry you lost a constructed message. That has happened to me repeatedly, and it is very annoying.

" I decided to give them a shot of 12-12-12 fertilizer today, then I cultivated them with tractor and cultivators. "

Wow! You have a tractor and cultivator !!! That is impressive. I kind of have to do my cultivation with a garden hoe. And I hand pull or clip off weeds that are really close to my zinnias. I do have a mid-tine tiller (a Merry Tiller) that I can use to prepare a seed bed. But it is no help cultivating or weeding. That I have to do by hand. You are really impressing me. It was some of your large zinnia specimens that inspired me to grow some Giants of California this year, and I am really glad I did. Those large heirloom zinnias also have large plants, and they are going to add some "big genes" to some of my breeders. I have some unusual specimen that should make some interesting crosses with those California Giants. More later. You are doing great with your zinnia project. I am still trying to form a picture in my mind of a tractor cultivating zinnias. That is mind blowing!

ZM