Increasing Production by Pruning Zinnias

Planting Zinnias in the Garden

There are several different color variations of the Benary Giant Zinnia varieties that we offer such as Lime, Coral, Orange, Scarlet, Wine, and White. We also offer a Benary Giant Zinnia Mix that contains deep red, orange, coral, lime, wine, bright pink, white, purple, salmon rose, golden yellow, scarlet, and carmine rose. Not only do these zinnias produce a variety of beautiful colors, but they also attract pollinators which allows for many benefits in the vegetable garden. When planting zinnias they can either be planted by transplant or direct-seeded. When transplanting they work great in our seed starting trays that have internal vertical root training ribs that help with aeration and root ball drainage. A benefit of transplanting is the ability to get a jumpstart on the growing season and have plants ready to go in the ground by the time the weather conditions are just right. When direct seeding you can not use our garden seeder due to the oblong seed size. Therefore, when direct seeding by hand you should make a small furrow in the soil and scatter the zinnia seeds along the furrow. Then lightly cover the seeds with a garden rake and pack the planted area in the vegetable garden. We recommend planting zinnias on double rows with drip tape irrigation to conserve water and maximize garden space. When burying drip tape in the garden it ensures that you are providing water directly to the plant roots that need it. By planting zinnias on either side of the drip tape you can get more production off one row in the vegetable garden. Typically zinnias are planted during the spring and take around 75 days to mature. They're also very heat-tolerant so they will continue to produce throughout the warmer months of summer.

Increasing Production of Zinnias

On this week's episode, Travis explains how to get more production by pruning zinnias in the garden. When planting zinnias on a double row in the vegetable garden it helps to decrease weed pressure and fill out the area with nice bushy plants. Also, when planting zinnias if they are transplanted and we let them grow straight up they are more susceptible to being blown over by the wind. To avoid them being blown over we want the zinnias to grow more laterally and bush out along the garden rows. When pruning zinnias, you want to go all the way down to the nearest branch that is splitting off and prune it off there. By pruning your zinnias in the vegetable garden you will increase your production and improve thicker growth to maintain a beautiful harvest of flowers throughout the entire growing season.

Why Grow Flowers in the Vegetable Garden?

We recommend growing flowers in the vegetable garden to increase pollination and harvests. Honeybees, butterflies, birds, and other pollinators are all attracted to flowers. We need pollinators in our garden to increase the production of seeds and for plant reproduction. As more pollinators come into the garden there is more pollen being transferred from the male anther to the female stigma. As insects collect the pollen they will in return distribute it to vegetables which will increase your overall harvestings in the vegetable garden.