Petunia is a tropical plant that can be found in countries such as Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, some species have been seen in North America. Petunia is a perennial and is a relative of tobacco. The plant came into cultivation in the eighteenth century, and breeders began to breed hybrids about a hundred years ago. Now this flower is especially popular as a balcony plant. She is decorated with verandas, terraces and grown in flower beds. What is the secret of popularity? In amazingly beautiful flowers and easy to grow.
Description
Petunia refers to bushy plants, the stems of which can spread along the ground, and can have an upright shape. The maximum height of this plant is seventy centimeters. Petunia stems and twigs are covered with oval leaves no more than twelve centimeters in diameter. They can have a dark green or just a green tint, as well as the stems, pubescent. As for the flowers, they are funnel-shaped and arranged singly on thin peduncles. The color can be very diverse, depending on the variety. There are not only plain flowers, but also with a combination of several shades.
A petunia also has a fruit where the seeds are stored. If you plan to grow a petunia on a balcony, then you need the seeds of a garden hybrid that was bred by breeders from wild axillary or purple petunias. The flowering period begins at this flower in July and does not end before the onset of the first frost. Although petunia is considered a perennial plant, it is cultivated as an annual.
Growing from seeds
Perhaps every gardener wants to know all the secrets of growing petunias from seeds, and this is not as difficult as some might think. You can plant seeds for seedlings as early as the end of February, but only on the condition that you have the opportunity to artificially extend daylight hours. However, most gardeners start growing petunia seedlings no earlier than mid-March.
When planting, it is not worth saving planting material, because petunias need a long daylight hours, but at this time of the year it is quite difficult to provide such conditions. In this regard, the germination of seeds is not too high.
Get good soil before planting. it should be sufficiently nutritious, loose and light, so that it is easier for seedlings to break through. You can buy the substrate in a special store, or you can cook it yourself. Foryou will need this:
- Leaf or sod land - two parts.
- Decomposed humus - two parts.
- Peat - two parts.
- Sand is one part.
The layer of earth that will be located on top must be sifted, only in this way the seeds can lie on it evenly. The soil in which you plan to plant petunia seeds should be watered quite abundantly the day before planting.
Germination conditions
Seeds for planting are mixed with dry sand and spread evenly over the surface of the substrate. You do not need to deepen them, just gently level the surface of the soil. And also be sure to water the seedlings, it is better to use a sprayer so as not to "drown" the planting material. After watering, the seed container is covered with thick oilcloth or glass to create a greenhouse effect. Seeds germinate indoors at a temperature not lower than twenty-three degrees.
In a week you will be able to observe the appearance of the first shoots. For such petunias, the growing conditions are that they need to be opened twice a day for ventilation and at the same time sprayed with water. During this period, it is very important that the air humidity is high, but at the same time there is a risk that the plants may get sick with the "black leg". To prevent this, make sure that condensation does not appear on the film or glass, and as soon as you find it, immediately turn the glass over to the other side, and it is recommended to wipe the film.
Glass is removed only when one real, strengthened leaf appears on the seedlings. And also at this moment, watering is reduced, and the top layer of soil is covered with dry sand.
Seedlings
Growing petunias at home provides for the mandatory picking of her seedlings. This procedure is carried out only when four true leaves appear on the seedlings. It is strictly forbidden to start picking without first moistening the soil, as delicate roots and stems can be damaged.
Prepare peat pots in advance, which will be filled with a substrate having the same composition as the previous one. The seedling is gently pry with a stick and pulled out by the leaf. Try to do everything without unnecessary movements so that the clod of earth on the roots does not crumble. Growing a petunia in a peat tablet or pot begins with the fact that the dived seedling is covered with paper for several days.
Seedling care
Now for the gardener comes the most crucial moment. It is at this stage that the cultivation of petunias (photo attached) requires special attention. The main thing to watch out for is soil moisture. It should always be in a state of moderate humidity and in no case should it be allowed to dry out. It is impossible to say exactly how many times the seedlings will need to be watered, since several factors affect this. It is better if, as a result of your own observations, you determine the frequencyon one's own. After each watering, gently loosen the soil around the petunias.
For top dressing you will need foliar and root fertilizers, which must be alternated. The first fertilizer is applied a week after the pick. There are many complex fertilizers that can be used to fertilize petunias. Twenty-five grams of any fertilizer you choose must be diluted in ten liters of water.
Before planting seedlings in open ground, it is necessary to prepare them for life on the street. To do this, you can take pots with seedlings outside for a while, or transfer the flowers to a cooler room a few days before planting. Depending on the variety, flowers will bloom in two or three months.
Drop-off time
Usually growing petunias at home (photo in the article) ends up being planted in open ground. Choose fertile sandy or loamy soil for this. The plant will be very grateful to the gardener who adds humus or compost to the soil before planting. But if there are no such components, then it is better not to add anything at all. Since some flower growers replace compost with manure, and it contributes to the development of various fungal diseases.
Petunia will feel good only in the area where sunlight will constantly fall. You can plant petunias outside only when you are sure that there are no night frosts. Usually, it is the middle of May. Try to calculatetime so that the moment of disembarkation falls in the evening or at least on a cloudy day.
Disembarkation Technology
Some gardeners prefer to plant petunias that are already in bloom. Such plants usually bloom until November. Due to the small size of the flower, its place in the flower bed is a border.
As for planting seedlings, before removing seedlings from pots, you need to moisten the soil well. This is necessary in order to make it easier to pull out the flower, not damage the stem and keep the earthy root ball, with which the petunia is sent to the open ground. Bushes are placed at a distance of thirty centimeters from each other. After planting, the plants must be well watered, and the next day the soil surface should be mulched.
How to properly care
Growing and caring for a petunia does not require any supernatural skills from the gardener, but some rules should still be learned. An adult petunia can tolerate extreme heat and drought quite normally, but this does not mean that watering can be forgotten. Quite the opposite. Moreover, large-flowered varieties need a lot of water, small-flowered varieties require slightly less moisture, but there is still a need for its regular application.
Petunia has very delicate flowers, and therefore it should be watered only under the root, as trickles of water can damage the inflorescences. The next day after watering is also very important, because it is necessary to loosen the soil so that it does not form on its surface.peel, and remove existing weeds. But all these moments are not as important as top dressing.
Feeding
From fertilization directly depends on how beautiful your petunia will bloom. The first fertilizers can be applied as early as a week after the seedlings have been planted in open ground. It is recommended to use complex fertilizers with a high content of potassium. They are applied every ten days until mid-August. The use of organic fertilizers is also allowed, but not often. The best choice would be mullein infusion. It is strictly forbidden to use fresh manure, as it contributes to the beginning of the rotting process.
Propagation by cuttings
Everyone is used to the fact that petunias are propagated by seeds, but there is a second way - cuttings. It is not used for all varieties, but only for terry, ampelous and mini-petunias. The breeding process of the former can only begin with the onset of spring, but the two remaining species are suitable for year-round breeding.
For cuttings, only uterine petunia is suitable for you, from which the top is cut off, where there should be at least four leaves. But before landing, their number is reduced to two, and even shortened by half. Planting cuttings is possible only in such a substrate, which is used for planting seeds. But in this case, it is still necessary to pour a two-centimeter layer of sand impregnated with a fungicide solution from above. Each cutting should be at a distance of two centimeters from the next one; after planting, the container must becover with glass. In this case, there is no need for growth stimulants, however, cut cuttings should be immediately placed in the substrate, as their rooting ability decreases by the minute.
Pay special attention to the soil, which must always be moist. It is advisable that you spray the cuttings twice a day with a sprayer, but keep the humidity under control. Because if you dilute dampness there, then there is a risk of mold or "black legs". After two weeks, the cuttings are guaranteed to take root, unless, of course, you can provide them with proper care. When you are sure that the seedlings already have fairly large roots (about one and a half centimeters), then they can be transplanted into separate pots with a diameter of five centimeters. When the seedlings have five real he althy leaves, they should be pinched to make the bushes more magnificent. And cut cuttings can also be used for propagation. Pinching can be repeated again, but not earlier than two weeks after landing.
After forty-five days, another transplant is performed. For this, choose pots with a diameter of thirteen centimeters. Otherwise, the conditions for growing petunia seedlings from cuttings do not differ from seed.
Diseases and pests
If you follow all the recommendations regarding plant care, then pests and diseases will not bother your flowers, but no one is immune from this. It happens that the leaves of the petunia begin to turn yellow or dry. These are clear signs of diseases such as late blight,black leg and others. You can fight them with the help of treatment with drugs that can be purchased at a special store.
Various pests may also appear: aphids, spider mites, slugs, thrips. Slugs are afraid of the smell of bleach, so it is best to place a few jars of it between the beds. The fight against other insects can be declared by Bordeaux liquid or drugs purchased in stores.
The best prevention of all these problems is the right move for the plants.
How to collect seeds
Take a closer look at the flowers in advance and mark in the garden those plants that you would like to see in the flower bed next year. The lower buds are more suitable for collecting seeds, since ripening takes place much faster on them. Approximately two months will pass from the moment the bud is formed to the full ripening of the seeds.
Remember that petunia seeds are very small. You can simply cut them together with the box and store until disembarkation, but it will be better if you shake them out of the box and put them in separate bags. If you store planting material in a dry and warm place, then it will not lose its germination capacity for four years.
Conclusion
As you can see, growing petunias at home (seedling photo attached) is not that difficult. If you master a few mandatory rules, then you will certainly succeed. Petunia has always been and will be the decoration of any flower bed. Moreover, it can be planted not only in the open field, but also on the balcony, veranda and even in the house. And the cultivation technology inabsolutely the same anywhere.
