"Janna" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone

I have lots of annual and half hardy annuals seedlings growing happily in
my
greenhouse, but have no idea if I should pinch out the tips or not!

I've cosmos, larkspur, clarkia, antirrhinums, sunflowers and lots of
others.
Not sure which ones, or if all, should be pinched and at what stage in
their
growth.

Please help, I've always worried over this!
Grateful thanks.

**************************
My opinion for what it's worth is,
Most of the plants mentioned are annuals and are for border planting en
masse.
On the prepared border surface you mark out (draw out), patterned areas with
a stick (all adjoining each other) , so as to give a good massed show of
different colours, in crowded patches with no earth showing in between the
different flowers. So you sow by sprinkling the seeds frugally by hand on to
the border. The different seeds go direct onto the prepared ground.and you
let nature take its course, resulting in a splendid massed display. When the
plants are maturing you can cull some of them if they are too crowded, but
the culled plants won't take kindly to being transplanted elsewhere, so you
chuck 'em.
Sunflowers are usually nurtured first inside, then planted out as required,
usually against the sunny side of a north wall.
There is nothing to stop you planting the other annual plants out
individually, - I have done it myself once or twice but it's laborious.
I always pinch out the preliminary shoots of pansies when they are still in
their first little pots in the greenhouse. this makes them grow side shoots
on each pruned shoot When these new shoot are developing its just about
the time for planting out, so Bingo!, a slightly delayed show but I get a
bigger mass of flowers on each plant.
Good luck!.
Doug.

************************