With the showy plume crested flower spikes and vivid colors, the celosia is a highly decorative indoor plant or a show stopper in summer garden beds. You have blooms from early summer to fall.
The plant celosia is frost-tender and needs to be treated as an annual. You find the celosia flowers in rainbow 🌈 colors from pink, red, orange, and green. Still, with the unusual flower, many people have a love-and-hate relationship with this plant.
Plant Name: Celosia spp.
Other Names: plumed, wheat, and cockscomb.
Plant Type: Edible or ornamental annual flowers
Native Areas: Africa, North America, and South America
Light Requirement: Full sun
Watering: Moderate
Fertilizer: Liquid fertilizer
Toxicity: Non-toxic
Temperature: Warm Regions
Propagation: Seeds indoors
Growth: Varies depending on the variety
Soil Type: Well-drained soil
USDA Hardiness Zones: 2-11
More About Celosia Flowers
Celosia flowers look like plants that come out of Dr. Seuss’s books. Sometimes they look like feathery plumes, or is it a rooster’s comb? No, perhaps it seems like an alien’s brain.
No matter how it looks like it remains a charming garden flower.
It goes by cockscomb celosia flowers, plume celosia flowers, or wheat celosia. The celosia plants belong to the Amaranth family in the Celosia genus, with more than 60 species available as members of the Argentea and Spicata species.
While the flower spikes take on different shapes and colors, the foliage remains green, but some have attractive burgundy foliage, while others have bronze leaves. Some have soft feathery flowers, and other celosia flowers look like coral.
Growing celosia makes for fabulous cut flowers to give a living space a fresh look. You can see a large flower head develops with blooms looking like a flamingo feather. At the time, you see a metallic silver sheen on other plants’ foliage.
Some of the celosia, also known as wool, are edible, containing minerals and vitamins in your leafy greens. Still, the leaves taste their best before the plant starts to flower.
Types of Celosia
There are three general types of celosia. You can grow cockscomb celosia, plume celosia, or wheat celosia.
Each variety has the same care requirement, but each one has a different appearance:
Celosia cristata
The celosia is popular in tropical Africa and is known as the cockscomb celosia or quail grass. The flower spikes retain their color even when dry. So, you can use them as dried flowers to decorate your home.
You can grow celosia like the Celosia cristata in flower beds and borders. These low-maintenance plants also grow well in containers.
Celosia spicata
The wheat celosia grows with an erect flower spike looking like wheat hence the name. You can find the plant’s foliage molted in burgundy hues with green. The flower structure can be pink, purple, or bicolor.
The wheat celosia sure has peculiar-looking flowers.
Celosia plumosa
Lastly, the plume celosia looks like feathers in various colors. You can find pink to yellow celosia in this variety. You can even find celosia plants with beautiful red plumes in full bloom.
Caring For Plant Celosia
It helps to buy ready-grown plants in early summer or grow celosia from seeds. The best time to start seeds indoors is in spring. Plants purchased in small pots must be planted in a larger container before planting celosia into garden beds.
When planting, ensure the root ball remains at the same level as the container’s surface. Also, harden off your plants before transplanting them outside for at least two weeks after the last frost.
Where to Plant Celosia
You can grow celosia plants in containers to brighten up your patio with celosia blooms or directly in the ground as an annual in the garden. Depending on where you live, you can grow celosia plants as tender perennials.
So, before planting your celosia seedlings, check your USDA hardiness zones first. When it is time to plant celosia, do it after the last frost date when the temperatures and soil surface warm up.
Celosia Plants Light Needs
Depending on the types of celosia, they all have the exact light requirements. When you grow celosia plants, they can thrive in partial sun but do better in full sun with dry conditions.
So, plant your seedlings in a spot to enjoy the summer sun. Whether you have wheat, flamingo feather, or plumed cultivars, they will provide prolific blooms in the full summer sun.
Celosia Recommended Soil
Whether you have a Celosia plumosa, Celosia argentea, or any other plants in the genus, they need well-drained soil. When grown in full sun 🌞they prefer moist soil, but it must drain well. You can add some sand or compost if you have heavy clay soil.
The celosia plants grow best in a soil pH between 6.0 to 6.5 filled with organic matter.
How to Water Celosia Plants
The flowers grow a few feet tall depending on your variety, and for new flower heads to form with lush foliage, it needs regular watering. Still, the soil must not be soggy as it can lead to root rot and other fungal diseases.
New plants need more watering, but the rule of thumb 👍 is to test the soil to see if the top few inches are dry or moist before watering. Also, avoid watering over the celosia leaves and the new blooms; instead, water at the base.
Temperature and Humidity
The celosia plants can thrive in warm and humid conditions and grow as tender perennials in colder climates. But for optimal growth, average soil temperatures should be 60°F. For mature plants to bloom, it needs eight hours of direct sunlight.
Fertilizing Celosia Celosias
For plumed celosia and other varieties, you can feed your plants once a month during the growing season with a liquid fertilizer.
Pruning Celosia
Celosia blooms from late spring until the first frost. During the bloom time, you can deadhead the old blooms to encourage more blooming. When the flower structure starts to turn brown, you can remove them.
Propagating Celosia
The celosia blooms a lot of flower heads filled with seeds. So you can quickly grow celosia from the seed. Or you can grow your plants from cuttings.
Sowing Celosia Seedlings
Start seeds indoors, allowing them to grow in summer when soil temperatures warm up.
Prepare seed trays with a seed starting mix and barely press the seed into the potting medium.
Keep the soil moist, and you should see the celosia seedlings appearing in ten days.
When seedlings appear, move the trays into a sunny spot, and if not enough natural lights are present, you can use grow lights.
Seedlings need 16 hours of bright light daily and a dark period to grow, so do not keep the grow lights on the whole time.
Once you notice new leaves, you can thin them out per tray. When the seedlings reach a month old, you can fertilize them.
When the seedlings reach a few inches tall, you can transplant them into the garden after the first frost.
Celosia Cuttings
You can take cuttings from the plant to grow in containers or in the garden. It should take up to four weeks for the cutting to root. These plants can also spread easily through the seed, but if you do not want them to become invasive, you can remove the blooms after fading before it seeds.
Common Pest and Diseases
Celosia is bothered by a few pests but looks out for powdery mildew, spider mites, aphids, and mealybugs. The main concern with your plant is fungal diseases resulting from high humidity and insufficient air circulation. These include:
Cercospora celosiae causes red to grey spots on the leaves.
White rust causes white pustules on the underside of the foliage.
Wet stem rot from overhead watering.
Overwatering can lead to root rot.
Frequently Asked Questions
The plant is usually grown annually as they complete their life cycle in one growing season. But in warmer climates, they can survive the winter to return to the next growing season.
You can grow the plant indoors or outside in the garden, but it needs to receive enough sun when grown as a houseplant.
The tropical plant cannot survive freezing temperatures and dies in winter to be replanted in spring.
The plant needs full sun exposure of eight hours daily for optimal growth. The plant can tolerate shade, but you will not have vibrant flowers.
The annual typically lasts one growing season, which is about three months. But the celosia can bloom for up to eight weeks.
Yes, you can grow your plant indoors, but keep it sunny and give it regular watering.
The plant is not toxic to humans or pets, making it safe in the home.
You can eat the leaves, young flower spikes, and tender stems boiled or cooked in a stew or sauce.
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