cosmos seeds

I planted my cosmos seeds as stated on packet, I put them in my cosevatory to germinate , but thet have come through really quickly and are feally long and have to small leaves on top but are up to2-3 inches after only a week is it back to th drawing board or do you think they will be ok if pot on?

 

The two leaves are the "seed leaves" (called "Cotolegons" or somesuch) and most seeds have them - they won't look the same as the real leaves,

If there isn't enough light when the seed germinates that bit gets elongated and makes the seedling leggy. I suppose it thinks its still trying to push through the soil ...

I think it would be worth trying to prick them out into pots and burrying them up to the first leaves, but you may find that a) a 3" pot doesn't let you bury the whole thing and b) they might not make strong plants.

I'd have a go though ... the cabbages I grew in February did that too - I didn't check often enough to see if they had germinated :(

Cosmos grows pretty tall, so I'd pot on and see what happens. If you've got some more seed you could sew it as a fall back. So in a shallow pot or tray, put in a plastic bag, and then leave in a spot that has good light, but not direct sun that will bake them

 

thanks I will give them a go and see what happens

 

Hi galaxysue. I don't think you have a problem. Cosmos seeds grow extremely quickly and look very lanky after a few days, and then they appear to stop growing. In the past I thought I would have enormous problems if they kept growing at that rate - but they didn't. I think what happens is that they are large seeds that obviously store a lot of food. The initial spurt of growth comes from using up that food, but once consumed, they settle down and growth then depends on the sunlight that they receive.

I would agree with Kristen, give them as much light as you can, and bury them deeper when you pot them up.

 

Perhaps next time sow half the packet and keep some back to sow a few weeks later.

Sowing Cosmos too early can result in flowering too early, before the plants has had time to really get established.
Potting them deeper will help.

 

Plant some outdoors when the soil warms,and some Larkspur,
The border isn't complete for me without them.