CELOSIA ARMOR SERIES Celosia cristata

COLORS AVAILABLE: Orange, Yellow, Purple, Red
FLOWER/GARDEN SIZE: Cockscomb-type celosia, Garden height: 12”-16”
NOVELTY CHARACTERISTIC: Vigorous plants with large, showy bloom in the center of the foliage
MARKET USE: Bedding plant, summer sales; excellent for large outdoor plantings, mixed containers, as a novelty crop

CULTURAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

CONTAINER SIZE:
SOWING: 288 tray or larger
FINISH CONTAINER: 4-1/2-inch to 6-inch pots, gallons, and larger containers. Multiple plants on containers over 6 inches in diameter.

PLUG STAGE:
GERMINATION emergence 8-10 days / 72-75 °F / cover seed lightly
EC (POUR THRU METHOD): emergence to cotyledon expansion= <0.5 mS/cm
cotyledon expansion to plug finish= <1.0 mS/cm
PLUG FINISH TIME: 3 to 5 weeks in a 288 plug tray

FINISHING:
TRANSPLANT: 20-30 days after sowing
DAYS TO FLOWER: 60-70 days
TEMPERATURE: 70-75 °F day / 65-68 °F night
EC: 1.0-2.6 mS/cm (pour thru method)
pH: 6.0-6.6

GARDEN:
NOTES:
-A nutrient deficiency workup for Celosia has been published in June 2001 issue of GM Pro.
- Finishing will take about 10 weeks from sow date.
-A-Rest, Cycocel, B-Nine, Bonzi & Sumagic have all shown effectiveness on Celosia
- Dry is best for general guidelines of watering practices, but avoid excessively dry conditions in the seedling stages as stress-related premature flowering may result.
- Seedling vigor has been shown to be fairly sensitive to plug tray size. In trials here in California, plug trays smaller than 288 have stunted young seedlings and lengthened finish time needed for plug crops. This also lengthened time to flower by 5-7 days.