Zinnias blooming oddly..

[SarahFair]

Ok well my zinnias started blooming a good good few weeks ago.
The petals on alot of them only get the first 2 rows and then don't bloom agian till it hits the top..
So I have like an inch of cone showing.
Some are doing better than others..
Could it just be because it was the first bloom or is it some kind of disease?

[hendi_alex]

Just a wild stab, but thrips can cause plants to have odd formations of petal form. Am not sure your symptoms sount like that, perhaps just the earliest blooms of the season and are incomplete for some reason. But thrips do infest zinnias so might be worth looking into.

[Newt]

Hi Sarah,

I was thinking thrips too. The composite thrip likes zinnias.
http://ipm.ncsu.edu/AG136/thrips2.html

Here's some natural remedies you can make.
http://www.ghorganics.com/page9.html#Thrips:

Newt

[SarahFair]

Hmm..Ive never heard of thips before! Im not sure what they do but I have sent some pics of my flowers..
They are just such a mess
Can someone please tell me how to maintain them?
My sons birthday is at the end of Aug and I want my gardens (which I bought just last year and not alot of people have seen yet) to be in beautiful condition and I feel as if they are just such a mess!!

These are the Zinnias..



A good few are like these..

[SarahFair]

Another problem Im getting is my shades of pink...
They go from really almost white to very deep pink..



Why?? lol

[SarahFair]

And then I have this problem..

[SarahFair]

And last thing..I promise!!

Should I prune them?
Would I get bigger, better, and fuller blooms..




Should I cut the really tall ones??
What about the real small ones?