I have asked around on social media about some oddities with my Zinnias in a particular bed. Most have pointed me to fasciation.

I am determined to find out more about this! Do any of you have detailed knowledge of fasciation?

First, because of the very green plants with strong, healthy and abundant blooms, I am wondering if there is a harm to the future seeds for breeding. I will test them indoors this fall and winter.

I wouldn't use them for cut flowers because if the flat stems, curled stems and notches but

Again, I noticed this in one particular bed but once I started looking closer at all my beds, I noticed the same in many. Each of these beds have only one thing in common in terms of handling and environment: the same brand of fertilizer.

On 2 beds I used fertilizer to amend the soil for scattered seeds with a totally different source for the soil than the others. These plants aren't nearly as green or abundant with blooms but have the flat stems and some have the notches.

The ratios: 0-10-10

On all other beds that have these oddities are in soil from various sources but I used the same brand as above except this product was for plant starters when transplanting from the starter pots to the beds. These plants grew quickly, are very green and have an abundance of flowers. They are the plants with the most prominent notches and flattened stems.

The ratios and ingredients
0-0-0
Vitamin B1 .02%
With iron, manganese and zinc (no ratios provided)

Other than that, all I can think of is the water source but then why do the plants without the fertilizers not have these oddities?

Any idea if there would be a connection to the fertilizer?

Hello ZinniaLove,

I am a bit confused about whether this is a response to my It can be fun to breed your own Zinnias message thread or the start of a new message thread. I have seen several examples of "dimpled" zinnia stems similar to your photo. There can be much more extreme forms of fasciation in zinnias, and I don't consider the occasional dimpled stem as a problem. I don't think fertilizer is the cause, nor is it a cure or prevention. If you have some photos of more examples of zinnia fasciation, they would be of interest.

ZM

Hi ZenMan,

Yes I meant to post in this thread. I hope that is ok. I am new to Zinnia breeding but all the zinnias I grew this year were dedicated to trying my hand at zinnia breeding. You're right. It IS fun.

The plants that this is occurring in are both in seeds saved from indoor growing and hand pollinating last winter as well as from commercial seeds purchased.

Here are two photos that had these stems.

Hello ZinniaLove,

OK, you got my attention with those two photos. Those are possible symptoms of a bizarre plant disease called "Aster Yellows". There is almost no limit to how weird its symptoms can become.

Many years ago I had an infection of Aster Yellows in my North zinnia garden. A few of my zinnias became scarily weird. I had an instance of a large zinnia bloom developing what appeared to be a strange new zinnia plant in the center of its main bloom. It was not caused by a seed germinating in the flower head. Sometimes Aster Yellows can make your plants form what are called "Witches Brooms". I had some extreme fasciation in my zinnias. Some could be called "Witches Brooms". The cause of the disease is almost like science fiction. It is almost another life form.

So I am no longer "poo-pooing" your problem. You could be dealing with a potential Aster Yellows problem in your zinnias. You can start learning about it at this link. https://gardenerspath.com/how-...

It is a really really weird plant disease. But you can get rid of it. And you should.

ZM

Thank you for the info! I will read up on Aster Yellows. I wish I would have taken photos of the many others.

Thank you again for the information ZenMan