The beautiful petunia has long been one of the most beloved flowers of numerous gardeners. It is distinguished by the brightness of the petals, various colors, large flowers and a rather strong pleasant aroma that fills the entire space around the flowering bush.
Where do they plant petunias?
Due to the combination of absolute unpretentiousness to growing conditions and numerous beautiful flowers, it is very often used in landscape design for landscaping settlements: decorating streets, squares, boulevards, squares, lawns, parks.
These bright flowers look great both on median lawns and in hanging planters along the streets. Even a few plants planted near a restaurant, a beauty salon or a store located on the ground floor of the house delight visitors and passers-by with the variety of colors of delicate petals and cheer up with a sweet fragrance.
In the dacha, in the front gardens of country houses, on the balconies of city apartments, more and more flowers bloom on each of these seemingly simple plants throughout the summer.
How tochoose varieties for your flower garden?
In the home garden, petunia can be used everywhere, you just need to choose the right length and height of a flowering plant, as well as be aware of the presence of hanging lashes, the number, quality and arrangement of flowers.
So, for hanging flowerpots and flowerpots located near the house, gazebos installed along the paths of the garden, low ampelous and cascading plant varieties are suitable. It is convenient to combine them with taller counterparts of the same or contrasting color, creating a composition with a high middle and falling lashes. And for decorating a flower bed and a flower pot, short and medium-length stems, abundantly strewn with fragrant flowers, are optimal.
In urban conditions, petunias are a treasure to decorate a blooming balcony! Of these, even an inexperienced florist can create very beautiful compositions. At the same time, it is not so important whether there will be single-color varieties or multi-colored varieties in each box - different options look spectacular. They not only delight the eyes of passers-by, but also bestow their gentle smell on the owners of the apartment and people passing by.
In this article you will find information on how to grow petunia seedlings at home without any hassle and worries.
Where to start?
This question is asked by any person starting a new business for the first time. How to grow petunia seedlings at home and avoid mistakes? The one who already had an unsuccessful experience in breeding petunias reflects on this. Unfortunately, for all the unpretentiousness of an adult plant, smallseedlings are subject to various misfortunes. Not all gardeners know how to plant petunia seedlings correctly.
We start by planning a flower garden. In late autumn and winter, gardens and orchards take a break from plants, and their owners from hard, but in most cases rewarding work. This is the best time to think about plant placement in your garden, including flower beds and flower beds. The choice of seeds for seedlings will depend on how we want to see every corner of the plot of land.
Some people are satisfied with multi-flowered varieties with long stems and monochromatic flowers, and for some, expensive varieties like terry carnations are not enough.
Having decided on the color and varietal solution, feel free to go to the store for seeds.
About the timing of planting flowers
In order for our petunia to please its owners with the maximum number of warm summer and autumn days with its beautiful flowers, a few words should be said about when to plant a petunia for seedlings. Usually, grown and strengthened plants are planted in a permanent place in mid-June, when the threat of sudden cold weather has passed, and cold nights will be replaced by warm ones. Of course, in the Urals and in colder regions, snow also falls in June, but this is quite rare. If you are not sure about the weather, do not rush to plant the plants in the ground, decide according to the circumstances when to plant the petunia for seedlings.
The recommended time for sowing seeds is mid-February, that is, approximately 13-15 weeks before planting a flower in the ground. That,those who want flowering to begin as early as possible can plant a petunia as early as January. The timing does not really matter if you want it to grow and please you in a flower pot on the windowsill or in a planter near the window. The same is true for growing petunias as decoration for an insulated, glazed balcony.
About choosing seeds
By the way, a little more about them. Anyone who has ever seen petunia seeds imagines perfectly all the difficulties of planting and growing them. Outwardly, they resemble small poppy seeds, or even look like small, dusty specks. How to sow petunias for seedlings with such seeds? There is a solution. There are two categories of seeds on sale:
- In kind.
- In the form of small granules, which are one seed enclosed in a thick hard shell of nutrients and excipients that accelerate the awakening of the seed, its feeding, growth, more dynamic development and rooting in the soil, protection from diseases. As a rule, seeds of artificially bred varieties are packed into granules, which do not have sufficient resistance to adverse environmental factors and diseases.
Granular seeds, of course, are much more expensive than ordinary, cheap seeds, but working with them is much easier and more pleasant than with small ones. It is more convenient to take them with your hand and plant them in one row, and they also allow you to use a special sowing machine for planting. Experienced gardeners say that the resultplanting small and granular seeds is about the same, but when working with natural seed material, labor costs are much higher.
About the choice of land
Whatever soil you choose: purchased or from the garden - know that it must be thoroughly steamed and, if possible, rid of fungal spores and pests that affect small, weak seedlings. Petunia seedlings at home are not a myth, but a reality. It is important to simply follow the technology of growing fragile, thin, afraid of drafts and drying of seedlings.
As a substrate for planting seeds, well-crushed surface layers of peat are used, mixed with sand, which protects the soil from the growth of moss, algae and root rot ("black leg"), flavored with fertilizers and microelements, providing a small plant with everything necessary for growth, development and further flowering.
The preservation of the optimal amount of moisture depends on the quality of the soil, its composition. From its lack, seedlings quickly dry out, and its excess contributes to the development of fungi and damage to the stem or root system of the plant.
Another important point: the level of acidity and salinity of the soil should be as low as possible.
There are several opinions of experienced gardeners on how to determine the amount of land needed and how to grow petunia seedlings at home. Some suggest using plastic containers with a lid for products sold in the disposable tableware departments of stores, while others are of the opinion that it is advisableuse of containers made of natural materials (peat). How petunia seedlings are grown in peat tablets, we will find out a little later.
If the seedling container does not have drainage holes, be sure to make them before starting work.
The container for sowing petunias is filled with earth, without filling up to the top 2 cm, the minimum distance from the ground to the edge of the container is 6 mm. This distance is necessary for the development of small seedlings in a space protected from all sides. If you plan to use a plastic container with a lid, be sure to make a few small holes in it, through which the space of the “greenhouse” will be ventilated, and leave a distance of about two centimeters from the ground to the top.
How to plant petunias for seedlings
So we come to the most important thing. Let's talk about how to sow petunias for seedlings. There are two landing methods, choose any.
In the first case, the soil is moistened in advance with water and slightly compacted. Seeds in granular form or natural seeds are placed on top of it.
You should resort to a little trick before sowing a petunia for seedlings: if you decide to use small petunia seeds, then scatter them first on a sheet of white paper, arm yourself with a jar of water and a toothpick. Having leveled the seeds on the leaf in one layer, select the best ones, moistening the end of the toothpick with water, bring it to the selected seed. When it sticks to a wet toothpick, carefully transfer to a container with earth. Using wettoothpick, plant the desired number of seeds on the ground.
In the second variant, a layer of snow 3-4 mm thick is placed on a slightly compacted soil, and petunia seeds are placed on top of it. This method does not require pre-watering and is preferable for visually impaired people, since it is more convenient to sow petunias for seedlings when a dark seed lies on a white background of snow.
In either case, it is desirable that the distance between shoots be at least 5 mm. In no case should you deepen small petunia seeds: the sprouts will not have enough strength to break out of the ground. If you really want to fix them in a specific place, you can lightly press down the sown surface of the earth with a flat board.
How to help seeds sprout?
Some gardeners recommend watering the ground with a 0.1% solution of Previkur to speed up growth. Only this must be done very carefully so as not to wash off the seeds in one direction. You can use a spray bottle or a very fine strainer.
After sowing, cover the plastic container with a lid with holes, plastic wrap or non-woven material, put in a warm place. After 5-8 days, the first shoots will appear.
Petunia seedlings in peat tablets
This is another way to plant petunia seedlings. The tablets are a ready-made substrate, requiring only regular moistening as they dry.
Make a hole in the top of the tablet, put the seeds in there, moisten and keep warm. Tablets are placed on a tray, plate or containerwith the expectation of a further increase in their volume by 4-5 times.
Seedlings of petunias at home in low light are quickly drawn out. Sometimes a day is enough for this, so it is important to look at your seedlings several times every day, controlling their growth. In the event that you see that the seedlings have begun to stretch, it is worth putting an energy-saving fluorescent lamp from the side of the room, compensating for its lack from the outside.
When to plant petunias for seedlings?
As they grow, the thin werelets are freed from the seed coat. For this process, they need a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil. Only after the first leaves have appeared, you can remove the film.
Further, all attention is focused on maintaining the air temperature at about 20 degrees, airing the room and seedlings for 10-20 minutes daily and timely moistening the soil. Please note: it should not be constantly raw. The control of these parameters is mandatory, since it is not enough to plant a petunia for seedlings, you also need to grow it.
We wait until the first two real leaves appear and proceed to the next step.
Picking and seating
How to properly plant petunia seedlings after a pick? The main rule should be to maintain a distance between them of 5 cm or more. One of the ways to achieve the result can be planting a dived petunia in separate pots or plastic glasses, having previously made drainage holes in them, since it is different to grow petunia seedlings at home before floweringimpossible: shoots grow rapidly and actively occupy space.
Conclusion
Having learned how to plant a petunia for seedlings, you will achieve positive results without any problems. Your work will be rewarded with delightful caps of bright, fragrant flowers. And it will cost you practically nothing, since it is very easy to grow petunia seedlings at home. Have the most beautiful flower beds!
