Hi Jai,
" I don't know the specifics of either my lights (I have both florescent and LED) or my heating pads. I just use what works. "
I started using T8 shoplights many years ago. They were "state of the art" back then. They are obsolescent now, with growers going to HID, LED, T5, etc. My T8s still work, and I have them onhand, so they are what I use. LED lighting is kind of the "wave of the future".
" In your second picture, what size are the pots on the bottom? Are those the final pots? "
Those were 5 x 5 inch square pots. They were final then and are final now for most of my zinnias. But when a zinnia starts to seriously outgrow a 5x5, I do have some 8x8 pots that I re-pot to.
Your coleus has an unusual flecked color pattern, including dark purple spots.
" One shows two young Zinnia haageana plants with different foliage layouts (one has all its leaves in small but cobby triplets, the other in large but lanky pairs). "
Although I am not experienced with Z. haageana, the pairs leaves seem normal, but the triplets are unusual and worthy of treating as a breeder zinnia for that reason. Do you intend to stay with Z. haageana exclusively, or do you consider "branching out" to Z. elegans and Z. hybrida (Whirligig, etc) ?
" The other picture is a mutt that I grew several years ago. I'm not sure what its parentage might have been but it looks like it might have been plucked by finches. "
It looks like something removed a lot of material. I am including a "blow-up" from your photo of the affected region. Click on it for a larger view.
I have had large wooly worms eat out a big section of a zinnia bloom and leave a big gap something like that. But there are mysteries in your photo. For one thing, there is no obvious removal of seeds, and finches are seed eaters and tend to leave a naked or exposed bloom core behind. Another mystery is the
tubular stubs in the denuded region. Those are not consistent with petal bases (there are a few petal stubs in the lower right) or of normal pollen florets. And they have odd grooved ends that look like they might be "natural" terminations to the tubes, rather than bitten ends. I am afraid that "mutt" zinnia remains an enigmatic mystery. It probably is a Z. elegans or possibly a Z. hybrida. More later. You are most welcome as a New Member here.
ZM
