Why Are My Cosmos All Leaves While Neighbor’s Are Blooming?

PoOlga said on Mar 9, 2021:
Natasha, please tell me about cosmos…

Olya, hi!
I am absolutely in love with this American cosmos! It’s a shame the seeds I saved from it didn’t germinate. Last year, I sowed it on March 23rd, it sprouted in two days, started blooming on June 25th, and flowered right up until the frost. Sadly, I only took photos in early summer since we only got about two weeks of actual sunshine in June.

PoOlga said on Mar 9, 2021:
The ordinary ones grow as volunteers by my neighbor’s house…

I actually don’t have any seeds left for the ordinary ones. For years, I bought domestic seed packets with various fancy names, but I’m pretty sure they all just package seeds out of the same bulk sack. I would start them indoors in March, and despite the label claiming they were “dwarf 8-inch” varieties, they would grow into massive 5 to 6-foot giant bushes and wouldn’t even start blooming until early September. The bushes themselves are gorgeous, almost like burning bush (Kochia), but you have to space them 20 inches apart.

This PanAmerican variety, though, stays compact and blooms early. And the flowers are the size of saucers! 🌸

PoOlga said on Mar 9, 2021:
I’m gonna go soak the cosmos seeds right now.

Oh, forgot to mention! The most annoying thing about starting cosmos indoors is that they demand intense grow lights. Their leaves are tiny and thread-like, just like dill. Because of that, both cosmos and indoor dill never seem to get enough light and are constantly trying to get leggy.

Let me add a quick tip about cosmos based on my own observations. Just like nasturtiums, they *hate* rich, fertile soil. Or rather, they love it too much and put on crazy green foliage instead of blooming.My neighbor literally never fertilizes her soil, and her cosmos start blooming a whole month earlier than mine! Her plants have tiny, spindly leaves, but they are absolutely smothered in flowers.

Meanwhile, my well-fed, lush green plants only produce a few measly flowers. Sure, they are beautiful because they are fancy varieties, but the plants are as tall as me with stems thick as my thumb! 🌿

SvetaR said on Mar 9, 2021:
Meanwhile, my well-fed, lush green plants only produce a few measly flowers… plants are as tall as me with stems thick as my thumb!

Yep, cut from the exact same cloth! Sounds just like mine. 😂

I give all my cosmos the exact same fertilizer—maybe once or twice in May. And honestly, all the different named varieties I buy end up looking exactly like what you described. But if you plant them along a long pathway, spaced about 20-24 inches apart and 14-16 inches from the curb, they make a stunning floral hedge.

Update: Two of my ‘Honey Barrel’ tomatoes sprouted this afternoon! 🍅Also, after hyping up the PanAmerican seeds so much, I dug through my seed stash, found one unsown packet from last year, and resowed some more cosmos.

PoOlga said on Mar 9, 2021:
Starting dill indoors as seedlings? That’s hardcore…

Olya, last year I canned 110 jars of pickles, and after that, I was just giving cucumbers away. My greenhouse cucumbers are ready for pickling by May, but dill crowns aren’t mature until mid-July at the earliest. This year, I don’t want to can anymore—we need to eat last year’s stash first—so I won’t be starting dill indoors this season. 🥒

Nataly said on Mar 9, 2021:
Wait, is it already time to sow cosmos?! … Do you prick them out later?

Nataly, I do prick them out sometimes, but only if two seeds accidentally sprouted in the same cell. Generally, I try to just up-pot them without disturbing the roots, because they are so fragile, thin, and prone to getting leggy—they really test my nerves!

IMHO, hold off and don’t sow them for another couple of weeks. Even though I just resowed mine today… my brain short-circuited and down the rabbit hole I went. You know exactly how it is when the seed fever hits! 🤦‍♀️🤣