Content
Petunia is one of the most popular garden flowers. Bush or hanging flowers decorate classic flower beds, stone compositions, flowerpots, boxes and flowerpots; they decorate gazebos, window sills and balconies. An undoubted advantage of petunia is the duration of its flowering, starting in May and ending in late autumn.
How to grow petunia will be discussed step by step in this article.
Preparatory work
First of all, you need to decide on the type of flowers. As you know, there are bush and ampelous type petunias. The former grow in neat bushes; they are often planted in flower beds and discounts. Ampelous flowers are distinguished by long shoots falling from hanging flowerpots. Sometimes these varieties are used as creeping varieties, then the shoots with bright flowers become the basis of the flower arrangement.
There are many varieties of petunias, which are quite simple to grow - in May you need sow seeds in open ground and water regularly. These flowers do not require any complex care; they are able to grow on their own.
But those who want to grow a real multi-colored miracle in their garden will have to go a long way, and it starts with purchasing and selecting petunia seeds.
When buying seeds, you need to remember that packaging in 100 or 1000 pieces is a sign of low-quality seed. Good varieties are distinguished by packs of 5-10 seeds. Typically, the seed material of such petunias is placed in colored granules.
How to plant petunia seedlings
For petunia to start blooming as early as possible, it is better to sow the seeds not in open ground, but first grow seedlings in pots or boxes.
This should be done in early March; some varieties of hanging flowers are sown already in February, since they have a longer growing season. Boxes for seedlings should be shallow, with low sides, so that the plants have enough sunlight.
Petunia loves light and loose soils saturated with oxygen. You can purchase soil for flower seedlings at a specialty store, but it can also be easily prepared at home. For this you will need:
- two parts of turf land;
- the same amount of deciduous soil;
- one part peat;
- one part river sand.
All components need to be mixed, and the soil for petunia seedlings is ready.
There is another option: combine three parts of garden soil, three parts of peat and a little bit of some kind of baking powder (wood ash, sawdust, sand, humus) in a container for petunias.
It is advisable to sift the soil for flower seedlings, since the seeds of this flower are very small, they may “hang” or not grow through clods of earth. Pour the sifted soil into containers and water generously with settled water with the addition of manganese. You can sow the seeds the next day.
It is better to mix small seeds with dry river sand - this makes it easier to evenly distribute them throughout the seedling container. If the seeds are granular, they are clearly visible and very convenient to lay out.
Having distributed the seeds over the container, they are lightly sprinkled with dry sifted soil, and then sprayed with warm water from a spray bottle. Now the container needs to be covered with a plastic lid, film or glass and placed in a warm place where the temperature is about 23-25 degrees.
Planting petunia seedlings is finished, now all that remains is to wait!
Picking flower seedlings
When the first shoots appear under the film (about five days after sowing the seeds), it is necessary to remove the cover and move the seedlings to a cooler place. Now the optimal mode for flowers is 18 degrees at night and about 20-22 during the day.
Growing petunia at home requires additional illumination of seedlings, because in February-March there is still very little sunlight - the plants can die from its lack. To do this, you can use any fluorescent lamps, just do not install bulbs that heat up; excessive heat will destroy fragile flowers.
Flower seedlings need to be picked when each plant has a pair of leaves. Before transferring to separate containers, the seedlings must be watered generously with warm water and left for several hours.
You need to move petunia extremely carefully - the miniature stems and leaves are very fragile.The plants are taken by the petal, making sure that the lump of earth is held between the roots, and transferred to an individual glass or pot.
After transplantation, the plants are sprayed with warm, settled water from a spray bottle.
The flowers have been planted, now we will have to wait for spring warmth to move the petunia to a permanent place. In the meantime, the plants need regular care and proper watering.
How to care for petunia while it's in the house
Petunia seedlings cannot grow on their own - they need proper care. To grow healthy and strong flowers by May, you must follow a number of rules:
- Water flower seedlings only from a spray bottle, using settled water at room temperature. This should be done with a spray bottle, since the roots of petunia at this stage are superficial and can be easily washed.
- For rapid growth and abundant flowering, flower seedlings begin to be fertilized within two weeks after picking. To do this, you can use any mineral or organic fertilizers dissolved in water for irrigation. Growth stimulants and special additives designed specifically for petunias are also often used. You should not fertilize flowers with mullein - it may contain fungal spores, which is very dangerous for petunias.
- To make the bush beautiful and uniform, flower seedlings need to be pinched, forming stems and side shoots. Only ampelous varieties do not need to be formed - their creeping stems will still tend to grow in length.
- Plants often bloom before they can be moved into open ground. There is nothing wrong with this; on the contrary, you can see with your own eyes the shade of the inflorescences, on the basis of which you can draw up a design plan for a flowerbed or flowerpot.
- Two weeks before transplanting petunias to a permanent place, they begin to harden. The process is reminiscent of hardening off seedlings of tomatoes or peppers - the boxes are simply taken out onto balconies or outside, gradually increasing the time they spend in the fresh air.
When the seedling bushes become sufficiently lush and strong, 15-20 buds or inflorescences will form on each of them, the leaves will be bright green, petunias can be taken out into open ground.
How to properly plant petunia in a permanent place
You can plant flowers in open ground only when the threat of spring frosts has passed. In most of Russia, this is usually done in mid-to-late May.
Before planting petunia in the ground, it is necessary to thoroughly loosen the soil in the area and prepare holes for transferring flower seedlings. The bushes are carefully transferred to the flowerbed and sprinkled with earth up to the first leaves. Now you need to water the plants with settled water, being careful not to wet the leaves and buds.
It is recommended to plant flowers in cloudy, warm weather or in the evening. It is important that there are no scorching rays of the sun, which can burn the delicate leaves - the petunia will become lethargic and will not take root well.
The distance between the bushes should be enough for the normal development of flowers. For varieties with large flowers, 25-30 cm between bushes is enough, and for petunias with small inflorescences, 15 cm is enough.
If flowers are supposed to be grown in flowerpots or boxes, you need to take into account that one adult plant needs at least five liters of soil. So, in a ten-liter flowerpot, for example, you can plant no more than two bushes. If you plan to grow petunia in boxes, then the calculation is as follows: there should be a maximum of three bushes per meter.
How to care for petunia in flower beds and flowerpots
The difference lies in the amount of soil in which the flowers grow. If in large flower beds or garden beds you have to water the flowers as needed and depending on weather conditions, then in cramped pots and boxes the moisture will evaporate too quickly - you will have to water the petunia often.
Sometimes it is necessary to water flowers at least twice a day. It is better to do this in the early morning and evening, when the sun is no longer hot.
Caring for petunia involves more than just watering; flowers also need other “procedures”:
- It is necessary to continue to pinch stems and shoots on bush varieties throughout the flowering period. This is the only way the bushes will be neat and well-groomed.
- Wilted flowers should be picked off weekly. Leave a few inflorescences if you need to collect seeds for the next season.
- If you fertilize flowers at least once every two weeks, the inflorescences will be larger and brighter, and the flowering time of petunias will be extended.
- Petunia belongs to the nightshade family, which means it is susceptible to the same diseases that affect potatoes and tomatoes. You can protect flowers from blackleg with Oxadixil, Metalaxil or Mancozeb. This disease appears due to excessive humidity.The same problem leads to late blight infecting petunias. Flowers need to be treated for this disease with preparations containing copper. Otherwise, the roots of the plants will begin to rot and the bushes will disappear. Grayish small spots on leaves and flowers may be gray rot - another fungal disease of ornamental plants. It needs to be fought with the help of such means as “Dispute”, “Maxim” or “Integral”.
- To prevent infection of flowers, it is enough to maintain a normal level of humidity - the soil between the bushes should not be too dry or too wet.
- In mid-summer, as a rule, petunia begins to degenerate - there are fewer inflorescences and leaves on the bushes. To renew plants, trim their stems. On bush plants you need to leave 10-15 cm, and the hanging ones should be shortened by exactly half.
To preserve the “breed” and extend the life of a valuable petunia variety, you can try propagation by cuttings. Cuttings are cut from the bushes of parent plants and placed in a cool place for the winter. In the spring, the cuttings are placed in water until roots appear, then grown like ordinary seedlings - in pots or boxes.
That's all the recommendations on how to properly grow petunia in your garden.
Conclusion
Growing and caring for petunia can be either very simple or quite complex processes - a lot depends on the variety of flowers, their type, as well as the requirements of the gardener himself.
For example, simple varieties with small inflorescences, intended for open ground, flower beds and ridges, do not require complex care. If the land on the site is quite fertile and the summer is not dry, you can simply sow the flowers directly into the ground and forget about them. Petunia can easily grow on its own, especially when the conditions for its growth are favorable.
But more decorative varieties, such as ampelous, large-flowered or giant petunias, reaching a height of 150 cm, look especially impressive, but, accordingly, require much more attention from the gardener. They need to be grown in seedlings, constantly fertilized, treated with stimulants and fungicidal preparations, regularly watered and pinch petunia. But such efforts are completely justified - petunias of various varieties can fill the entire flower garden or decorate a spacious terrace, loggia, or gazebo.
Videos and photos about planting and caring for petunia can help a novice gardener. So, let's grow petunia without mistakes and enjoy the result!
