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What should I do with these cosmos seedlings?

SplandySplandy Posts: 161
Are they big enough to go into other pots now or should I keep them in these modules a while longer? Once they go into separate pots do they stay in those until they are planted out or do they have to go into bigger pots again?

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  • B3B3 Posts: 24,439
    They're looking a bit leggy. Mine were going that way too. I've potted mine up, in small pots burying a bit of the stem and I'm going to leave them outside in a sheltered spot.
    The way I look at it is, there's plenty of time to sow some more if we get a frost. I'll have to watch out for slugs though!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 13,275
    They need burying, they are leggy.

    There are ashtrays of emulsion,
    for the fag ends of the aristocracy.

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Hampshire_HogHampshire_Hog Posts: 1,089
    edited April 2019
    Use that empty pot we can see out of your window fill it with compost and bury them all  so that the compost is about an inch from the leaves hold by the leaf not the stem tuck them in that sunny corner there and cross fingers. once they have a few more leaves they can be transplanted or if you prefer just let them grow in the pot.

    "You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
  • SplandySplandy Posts: 161
    So they should go outside now? And when you say burying, should I curl it up or just push it down? 
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 13,275
    Too early to go out yet.
    Bury them deeper in their pots.
    There are ashtrays of emulsion,
    for the fag ends of the aristocracy.

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • SplandySplandy Posts: 161
    Ooh thanks for that, I will have a read through
  • Hampshire_HogHampshire_Hog Posts: 1,089
    Depends where you are @Splandy my cosmos have been outside for nearly a fortnight in a sheltered spot down here in the south , they were a little leggy so I filled a deep flower pot with compost then remove each seedling from its tray in turn, dibber a deep hole in the new compost and gently drop the seedling in up to an inch from the leaf when the pots full I gently firm around and water in.

    "You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
  • I've potted my cosmos seedlings deep - do you remove the first leaves and can someone explain what 'pinching out' entails?
  • B3B3 Posts: 24,439
    Don't remove the first leaves at all.  Pinching out means pinching off a small bit ,about an inch usually, of the top growth. This encourages the plant to produce side shoots. How high you let the plant get before you do this depends a lot on what variety you have. Some grow very tall and some don't.
    It's way too soon to do it yet anyway.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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