|
Annual Flower Seeds
Germination Guide
Although most gardeners purchase their bedding
plants at garden centers in the spring, it's fun to get a head start on
the upcoming garden season by starting flower and vegetable seedlings
indoors. Growing quality seedlings indoors requires high quality seeds,
a well-drained, disease-free growing medium, containers, proper
temperature and moisture conditions, and adequate light.
Annual Flower
Seeds Requirements
Germination requirements (light and temperature)
vary among the different flowers and vegetables. The various crops also
differ in the length of time from seed sowing until the seedlings are
transplanted outdoors.
The following chart provides germination
information for many of the commonly grown annual flowers.
| Annual |
Germination
Temperature
(Fahrenheit) |
Lighting |
Days to
Germination |
Weeks Sowing
to Planting |
| Ageratum (Ageratum
houstonianum) |
70-75° |
L |
7-10 |
8 |
| Snapdragon (Antirrhinum
majus) |
70° |
L |
7-14 |
8-10 |
| Wax Begonia (Begonia
x
semperflorens-cultorum) |
70-75° |
L |
14 |
10-12 |
| Annual Aster (Callistephus
chinensis) |
70° |
L-D |
7-10 |
6-8 |
| Vinca (Cathranthus
roseus) |
70-75° |
L-D |
14 |
10 |
| Cockscomb (Cleosia
spp.) |
70-75° |
D |
7-10 |
6-7 |
| Bachelor's
Button (Centaurea cyanus) |
65-70° |
L-D |
7-14 |
8 |
| Cosmos (Cosmos
spp.) |
70° |
D |
5-7 |
4-6 |
| Lisianthus (Eustoma
grandiflorum) |
75° |
L |
10-14 |
14 |
| Globe Amaranth
(Gomphrena globosa) |
70° |
L-D |
14 |
7-8 |
| Sunflower* (Helianthus
annuus) |
70° |
D |
5-7 |
3-4 |
| Strawflower (Helichrysum
bracteatum) |
70-75 |
L-D |
7-10 |
6-8 |
| Impatiens (Impatiens
wallerana) |
70-75° |
L |
10-14 |
8-10 |
| Annual Statice
(Limonium sinuatum) |
70° |
L-D |
7-10 |
8-10 |
| Melampodium (Melampodium
paludosum) |
65-70° |
L-D |
7-10 |
7 |
| Four-O'Clock (Mirabilis
jalapa) |
70° |
D |
5-7 |
6-8 |
| Flowering
Tobacco (Nicotiana alata) |
70-75° |
L |
10-14 |
8 |
| Geranium (Pelargonium
x hortorum) |
70-75° |
D |
7-21 |
12 |
| Petunia (Petunia
x hybrida) |
75° |
L |
7-10 |
8-10 |
| Moss Rose (Portulaca
grandiflora) |
75° |
L |
7-10 |
10 |
| Black-Eyed
Susan (Rudbeckia spp.) |
70° |
L-D |
7-14 |
10 |
| Red Salvia (Salvia
splendens) |
70-75° |
L |
10-14 |
8 |
| Mealycup Sage (Salvia
farinacea) |
70-75° |
L |
10-14 |
8-9 |
| Creeping
Zinnia (Sanvitalia
procumbens) |
70° |
D |
7-10 |
6-7 |
| Coleus (Solenostemon
spp.) |
70-75° |
L |
10-14 |
8-10 |
| Dahlberg Daisy
(Thymophylla
tenuiloba) |
65-70° |
L |
14 |
8 |
| Nasturtium* (Tropaeolum
majus) |
65-70° |
D |
10-14 |
5-6 |
| Zinnia (Zinnia
elegans) |
70° |
D |
5-7 |
5 |
*Sunflowers and
nasturtiums do not transplant well. Both should be seeded directly into
peat pots.
Light conditions during germination are critical
for many annual flower seeds. The seeds of some plant species require
light
for germination. (In the table above, annuals that require light for
germination are designated with the letter L in the lighting column.)
After sowing these seeds, lightly press them into the germination
medium, but do not cover them. The seeds of other flowers require
darkness (D) and should be covered with the germination medium.
Finally, those designated L-D should be lightly covered, leaving the
seeds as close to the soil surface as possible.
|