Zinnia in SW Wasington.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

My brother gave me a Zinnia plant in one of those small plastic planters from the store.

I see the directions both on the card and on line but I still do not understand.

What the hell does "moderate" water mean?

Can it stay out 24/7 or do I need to bring it in at some point? I do not get anywhere near enough sunshine in my apartment.

Should I take the time and expense to repot it into a somewhat bigger pot? In other words how long will this last in this climate ( particularly now? )

If it helps with better explanation on where I am I am in Centralia in Lewis county.

[lark]

1. Zinnias love lots of sun, they need it to thrive and are outside flowers.

The water they need depends on the heat and how much sun they get. Here in hot humid Northern FL, when I plant zinnias in the front flower bed where they get 8 hours of direct sun, including the hot afternoon sun up until 4pm, we water the roots when they start to wilt in really hot weather and otherwise water the whole plant really thoroughly 1-2 times a week.

Good luck with yours, I just love zinnias, they come in so many bright colors and are such simple happy plants to me.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

2. Washington has been weird this year.

We get really hard rain or a week where it does not stop at all then the next week 70 some to 80 some weather. That is either with or without clouds. Yesterday ( or should I say this morning ) at 2am I watered out on the top soil. I gave it some more water on the dish I have it set on and it sucked it up real fast.

[lark]

3. They love lots of water too.

They'd have to to thrive in hot often wet Jax.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

4. I found when I put water on the plate that I have them on they suck it up fast.

I water it both on the top and bottom late at about 2am. I might put water on the bottom of the plate in the mid day. If it doesn't suck up the water I will empty the plate. I do not want to rot the roots. Then again I have no clue what I am talking about.

[lark]

5. Actually, sounds like a good plan for a potted plant.

Like I said, they really LOVE water, but few plants will tolerate standing water if they aren't swamp plants. I keep mine in the ground, they grow really big when they get enough filtered sun and water.