This is only my 2nd year growing. The best advice I got last year from a former grower was to cut the stems as long as I could, even if it meant sacrificing buds, which I've done, and been well-rewarded for it. They WILL put on new buds, I promise.
I just measured some that I cut a couple of days ago for a kitchen bouquet and they were 12" - 15". But mine are still short. 18" is a pretty good length.
I like the longer stems, it provides more of an option for the buyer. They can always cut them shorter if that's what they want.

I had a really hard time sacrificing buds with my Dahlias, but I'm finding the same is true with them. The more you cut, the more flowers you get.

Thanks, Blueberry. I've been sacrificing about two buds per cut. I could cut down a few inches further, but I just can't bring myself to sacrifice FOUR buds, especially this year when the plants are still so small.

I was out cutting chinese asters this evening. These are one of my very favorite cut flowers, but I find you have to really sacrifice a LOT of buds, and they don't grow back like the zinnias. Much shorter growing/bloom time. I decided I will just have to find room to plant more of them, lol. And I guess I should do the same with the zinnias.

Oh, and I need to get a bit more ruthless, lol. Thanks for your input!

:)
Dee

Dee,
It depends on what kind of bouquet I'm making as to what stem length I cut. It's not often I can match the length of a sunflower, so I usually don't add zinnias to those bouquets. I find the zinnia needs to be worked into the center or slightly out from the enter of the bouquet, rather than the outer edge because they will crease at the top of the stem and then flop over in your bouquet. (Usually noticed when you are handing the bouquet to the customer.) Some of my zinnias had great stem length this year due to the wet July weather, then when the sun finally showed up in August the stems took off. I still have to sacrifice one or possibly 2 future flowers, but I never take 4. When I do a "all zinnia" bouquet, the stems are a bit shorter than say when I'm making something colorful using amazon neon and other flowers. I had never made just all zinnia bouqeuts up until this year, and only took 3 with me to the market but they sold pretty quick. I seemed to have customers last week that liked the idea of an "all one flower" bouquet. I did another with all pink asters and that one sold as well. You just never know.
Cheryl

I've never done an all-zinnia bouquet either (or for that matter, all of anything bouquet. The closest was some huge lilies with just a few sprigs of hosta blooms, but even that was two kinds of flowers.) Anyway, I have thought of doing an all-zinnia bouquet, and yesterday I saw some absolutely gorgeous all-chinese-aster bouquets (which, with probably 20 to 30 stems, were underpriced, IMO).

Anyway, maybe I will have to rethink using zinnias with other, taller flowers, although I like to mix zinnias, dahlias, and sunflowers. But if I only sacrifice one to two buds, the longest stem length I get is 12 inches or smaller. That's cutting right down to the next set of buds, so to get longer I'd have to cut off this set (the third and fourth buds).

The only solution really is to buy another acre of land so I can plant more flowers, lol. I'm sure I have an extra $450K lying around somewhere....

:)
Dee

The longer the stem the better. That is why if you are growing Zinnias for cut flowers you should grow the tall varieties that grow at least 3'.

Since Zinnias are a "cut-and-come again" type, the more you cut the more stems, even if you sacrifice a couple of buds they will be replaced by new stems.

I always try to cut as long as possible but always ABOVE the new side branches if possible, but if I have to cut below to get extra length for a stem I do so knowing more side branches will be coming.

Tommyk, can you give me an idea of the length you cut in inches, perhaps? I do grow tall varieties, and cut above new side branches - but the question is, which side branches? The first two? (usually only a few inches) The second two? (usually about 10 to 12 inches, and sacrificing the first two buds.) TO get nice long stems of 14 inches or longer, I'd usually have to cut above the third set of buds/leaves, which sacrifices three to four buds.

Are you saying you routinely cut that low? It seems, this year in particular for me, cutting that low leaves so little of the plant I worry it won't grow back (or grow back in a timely manner.)

Thanks all for your replies!
:)
Dee

diggerdee: I cut stems at least 14", sometimes as long as 18" depending on variety.

The dilemma for cut flowers growers is how much do you sacrifice buds for a single beautiful flower. With Zinnias this is not quite as bad a problem because of the many side branches.

Well grown Zinnias will continue to produce side branches even if cutting real long stems.

I think the best thing is to grow tall growing Zinnias and plant them very close together which will make the plants grow even taller due to the competition. Many of my Zinnias are at least 4' with some even higher due to the spacing. I've found this to produce really long stems which you can cut and not sacrifice many side branches.

We grow for production so we have many plants, even if we sacrifice some side branches we still get heavy production.

If you are growing cut flowers for yourself you may want to cut shorter stems, but for marker production the longer the stem the better since shoppers will end up re-cutting stems when they get home a number of time to prolong the life of the flower.

diggerdee:

China Asters are my favorite annual for cut flowers. The only problem is they are not a "cut-and-come-again" plant. You do get a lot of stems but poor side production at best.

We grow a lot of Asters so we get excellent production for a 3-4 week period then they go down-hill rapidly. Some growers stagger plantings by about 1 month but that takes space.

My choice for best flower is the Aster, my choice for the best flower AND production is the Zinnia.

As for being "ruthless" . . . yes, you sacrifice some buds to get the best flower NOW. As a market production we have to grow lots of plants, especially Asters, but they are well worth the effort because of the beautiful shapes, size, and colors.