Do zinnias cross pollinate?

I am planting about 10 different kinds of zinnias and i don't want to buy plants again next year. so i want to save my seeds. If i plant them in the same bed or in diffrent beds close to one another. will they cross pollinate and if they do then my seeds will not be true. is this correct? and if i plant them away from each other how far do they have to be so they do not cross pollinate?
thanks
d

d,
I feel bad that no one has helped you yet.....
I grow zinnias but I have no idea. I am going to "guess" and say yes, that they will cross-pollinate.
Go here http://www.redbudfarms.com/ and I am sure these nice folks can help you. Email or call them as they are supposed to be the best zinnia growers in the country!

thanks berrygirl

d,

Yes, since zinnias are pollinated by various bees and butterflies, some cross pollination will occur. But the majority of your zinnia seeds will be "selfed". Some may be crosses between other zinnias of the same variety, so even though they are hybrids, they will not appear to be so, except they might be a bit more vigorous than selfed seeds.

If you are growing F1 hybrid zinnias, then saving their seeds will not come true, but will show some interesting variations from their F1 parents. That will be further complicated when one F1 hybrid crosses with a different F1 hybrid.

If it is important to you to have predictable uniform zinnias, then you should buy fresh seeds each year. But if that isn't a requirement, then by all means, save some seeds.

If you see two different zinnias that you think might make a good cross, then take a pair of tweezers, pick an anther from the "male" zinnia and rub it on the stigmas of a "female" zinnia. Then, to do the cross in the other direction, reverse that order. It's a good idea to attach some sort of label to the zinnia heads that you have cross pollinated.

It only takes a few minutes to pollinate all of the receptive stigmas of a zinnia flower. Some people may "bag" the zinnia head to prevent further insect pollination, but so far I haven't gone to that trouble.

If you don't want to bag the seed heads, and if it is important to you to defeat the bees and butterflies from crossing a flower that you want to be selfed, you can take pollen in the anthers of that zinnia and apply it to the stigma of that same flower.

Crossing different zinnias is really kind of an interesting experiment. There are a lot of different zinnia varieties to choose from, and it's easy to get "hooked" on breeding your own new zinnia varieties. Its tempting to make crosses between crosses, ad infinitum. You can be very choosey and save only your most favorites and cast all others onto the compost heap.

If you do get a hybrid that you really like, you can stabilize it by repeatedly selfing it for several generations, saving seeds from only the "true" specimens.

It's hard to describe the feeling of anticipation waiting for one of your very own hybrids to bloom out for the first time.

MM