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CELOSIA GUIDES

feather-like pink, red and yellow flowering celosia shrubs

Container GrowingIndoors GrowingSowing

Celosia , or ‘ Cockscomb ’ , is a sheer and vivacious plant used to bring a splatter of colour to gardens .

This plant is n’t dispute to spring up from seed and doing so is actually a authentic style to enliven up your garden .

round black seeds from a celosia plant on a grey table surface indoors

As an yearly plant , this is a cognitive operation that will need to be done each class – as the plant endure out its entire lifecycle ( sprouting to setting germ ) within a one - class timeframe .

Here ’s a abbreviated overview of the process :

Let ’s take a look in a little more depth .

green-leaved celosia seedlings with red stems growing inside a large tray

When To Sow Celosia

In the UK you ’ll need to inseminate your genus Celosia seeds indoors for them to grow to a sufficient size of it within the class .

February through to April is plausibly the best time to do this .

1) Sow Cockscomb Seeds

The first step is to constitute your seed in compost .

set out a stratum of compost to make full the deepness of a seed tray , then conjure the seeds lightly onto the control surface and just cover with either compost or vermiculite .

For best results choose a seed - starting compost , as this has the right balance of nutrient to facilitate levelheaded ontogenesis .

celosias beginning to bloom, growing in individual containers in rows

“ As Celosia seeds can be susceptible to fungal infections , it ’s important to ensure equipment include the seed tray is clean before starting and the seedlings are not over - watered and allowed to dry out between waterings , ” says Roy Nicol , Master Horticulturist .

2) Provide The Right Care

Seeds call for term to be just ripe to grow big and secure , which is one of the chief reason for engraft them indoors .

It ’s much easier to manipulate temperature and wet storey in spite of appearance .

For good outcome , keep the temperature between 15 - 20 ° century as consistently as possible .

red and yellow flowering celosias growing in rows

A heated propagator can help to achieve desired results .

Use a spray bottle to spritz the top bed of soil every other twenty-four hour period , as this will keep the wet grade in the right range .

3) Transplant Seedlings

When your seedlings are starting to become established you ’ll want to thin them out a little to give them space to turn .

Keeping them bunched up will stymie their ability to thrive and will reduce the final size of your Celosia , as well as create ideal conditions for ‘ damping off ’ .

cook another semen tray by putting out a layer of compost , then gently move the seedlings out of the first tray .

gardener planting a celosia with pink flowers and green leaves into soil

Leave a gap of 5 centimeter between each seedling in this fresh one so they have space to grow .

4) Harden Off

Hardening off assure that your seedling are ready for the harsher conditions in the outdoors of the UK .

Skip this footstep at your peril , as a seedling that has n’t been indurate off is more probable to conk when you plant it out .

Be aware that hardening off can take a couple of weeks , so ensure to comprise this footmark into your daily schedule .

I ’d commend making a note of it somewhere , either in your garden planning book or a calendar .

allow for the tray of seedling outdoors for a couple of hours during the day , in a sheltered and umbrageous spot .

Bring them indoors again that dark .

take over this for a few days , extending the time spent outside for an hour or so each day .

5) Plant Outdoors

When your seedling are fully established and hardened off , it ’s time to found them out .

belated May or rather June ( well after the last frost ) is the best sentence of year for this .

Plant out into beds or containers of well - irrigate , well - drain compost .

Leave a gap of at least 20 cm between each young plant to ensure the adult plant has plenitude of space to mature big and strong .

Keep your seedlings well - watered as they develop .

Celosia will be in blush from June through October , giving you a pastiche of people of color to enjoy in the summertime months .