Collecting Cosmos Seed
Collecting Cosmos Seeds
Collecting your own seed is a great way of increasing the number of plants you have in your garden for very little cost. So why not save on those seed packet costs and save your own seed for sowing the following year? In this article we show you how to collect Cosmos seed.
Cosmos are an easy to grow annual with flowers available in white, pink, orange and red. The white variety are particularly lovely as the white colour is particularly vivid in early evening light. Cosmos flower from summer to autumn. They are great for borders or pots and containers.
The picture shows a dried seed head still on the plant. The dark brown areas are ripe Cosmos seeds. Cut the seed heads from the plant and place them into a bag. Once you have brought them inside you need to remove the seeds from the seed head. This can be done by hand. You will have to remove any chaff from the seeds as this may cause the seeds to go mouldy when they are stored.
These are Cosmos seeds that have been removed from the seed head and all the chaff removed. They are small blackish brown seeds.
Only keep the largest and fattest seeds. Any seeds that feel soft when you gently squeeze them between your fingers should be discarded.
Allow the seeds to fully dry when you are storing them. You can read our article on storing seed
here.
Cosmos seed can be sown from March to May.
A young cosmos seedling that has been pricked out into a 9cm pot.
