How to grow petunias in pots? Detailed explanation of sowing and seedling methods

Recently, a flower enthusiast left a message on Huinong Net asking about home cultivation methods for petunias. Next, the editor will explain the sowing and seedling management methods for petunias.

Petunia, an annual herbaceous plant, has single-petaled flowers and double-petaled flowers, spherical in shape, and can produce red, purple, and white flowers. The flowering period can last from April until frost. It is very beautiful. Seeds costing just a few cents can easily fill a pot with blooms, and one pot can propagate many more pots. The balcony will soon become a small garden. The specific planting methods are as follows:

I. Sowing

In spring, you can sow in February, March, and April. In autumn, it is suitable to sow in September and October. Cover the seeds with 1 cm of soil, water them, and place them in a ventilated spot. They sprout very quickly and can grow compact branches.

1. Place the seedling blocks into a box, add water to soak, until all are fully soaked. Pour out the excess water.

2. Dip a toothpick in water to pick up the seeds, place them into the small hole in the middle of the seedling block, cover with the lid, and place in a darker spot on the balcony. Open daily for ventilation for one to two hours, then cover again. If the seedling block turns slightly white, add water until it is fully absorbed, then pour out the excess water. In about a week, they will sprout.

3. Once two small sprouts appear, place them into another box, without the lid, exposed to light, starting with scattered light. I place the seedlings in the shade of a hibiscus flower outside the balcony, where ventilation is good. Keep the seedling block moist, add water when lacking, do not let water accumulate. Spray water once or twice daily. Humidity is most important, ventilation is most important.

II. Transplanting

When the seedlings grow to four leaves, they can be transplanted into a larger flower pot. Prepare a flower pot with a diameter of about 25 cm. For soil, prepare ordinary garden soil with some nutrient soil added, or add some coarse sand grains and leaf mold. If planting on a terrace, be careful of snails eating the leaves. Other than that, there are basically no pests.

Use a disposable paper cup or a small flower pot with a diameter of 8 cm, use seedling soil, drill holes in the paper cup, and plant it together with the seedling block. Be sure to water thoroughly; you can soak it in water. Place in sunlight, in a ventilated spot, preferably outside the balcony, and spray water morning and evening daily. How do you know when it lacks water? When you pick up the cup and it feels relatively light, you can water, and be sure to water thoroughly. After two days, feel it again, and add water again.

III. Seedling Management

After the last frost, plant out in the open field. After about 90 days, you can cultivate large seedlings with 6 to 8 large branches, more than 50 leaves, with some varieties reaching over a hundred, and at least 1 flower blooming. If sown in April, they can bloom in just over 60 days. Some hybrid varieties have far less ability to resist adverse environmental conditions during the sowing and emergence period than conventional varieties, so when sowing, be sure to pay attention to controlling environmental conditions. The sowing rate per square meter of seedbed is about 1.5 grams; if using expensive seeds, no more than 1.2 grams. Because the seeds are extremely tiny, the seeds should be mixed with 30 to 50 times their volume of fine soil or fine sand grains before sowing. After sowing, cover with fine soil 0.2 cm deep to prevent the sprouting seeds from drying out. Thin soil covering gives a higher emergence rate than no soil covering.

During the seed germination and emergence period, control the temperature at 20 to 24°C. Dry seeds of single-petaled varieties emerge in 4 to 5 days. When there is 1 true leaf, transplant, preferably transplanting only once, using a container with a diameter of 7 to 8 cm to grow into seedlings. If you need to plant out seedlings that have already flowered and grown considerably, you can first move them into a 72-cell plug tray, and finally use a plastic pot with a diameter of 13 cm or slightly larger to grow them into seedlings. The optimal daytime temperature for growth is around 23°C during the seedling stage, 27 to 28°C during the mature seedling stage, and 13 to 15°C at night. When growing seedlings in protected cultivation, petunias should be placed in the brightest spot, with sufficient light so the leaves lie flat. Under low-temperature and short-day conditions, stems and leaves grow luxuriantly; under long-day conditions, flower buds quickly form at the tips of stems and leaves. The most suitable soil pH is 6.0 to 6.5. The soil should be kept moist; avoid excessive humidity. For spring seedlings, lower the temperature 5 to 7 days before planting out, gradually increase ventilation and moderately control water for hardening off.

IV. Pinching

If you want petunias to grow dense and compact and bloom into a ball-shaped, pot-filling display, there is only one word: pinch. Constantly pinch off the top branches and leaves, constantly pinch the tops, so that more branches and side shoots grow. During the growth process, also prune off the larger lower leaves, so that the side shoots can also get sufficient light and the plant can be more ventilated.

V. Cuttings

Do not throw away the small branches cut off from pinching, because they can be stuck into soil to propagate again. Add some river sand to the soil for faster rooting. In the early stage of cuttings, keep the soil moist and avoid direct strong sunlight. They root and sprout very quickly, and it is very easy to grow a brand-new pot of petunias from a small branch. You can take cuttings for as many pots as you want to grow.

VI. Fertilizing

Because petunias grow especially fast, they need plenty of water and fertilizer.

So during the care process, apply liquid fertilizer once every half month. With frequent topdressing, they will definitely grow very well and bloom abundantly, filling the pot!

How to grow potted petunias, potted petunia management methods

Petunia is a perennial herb of the Solanaceae family, usually cultivated as an annual. It prefers warmth and tolerates cold slightly. It blooms profusely in hot summers. It dislikes waterlogging; when there is a lot of rain, the leaves are prone to disease and there are fewer flowers, directly affecting the ornamental effect. Because its flowers are large and brightly colored, with excellent ornamental effect, it has become one of the main varieties displayed in many homes.

How to grow potted petunias

1. Variety selection

In production, commonly used large-flowered varieties include the "Dream", "Rainbow", and "Frosted White Edge" series; medium-flowered ones include "Merlin"; small-flowered varieties include the "Fantasy" series; flower shapes and colors are highly varied, with two types, single-petaled and double-petaled, with petal edges wrinkled or irregularly serrated; flower colors include white, red, pink, purple, blue, and bicolor series, etc.

2. Sowing requirements

Under suitable conditions, petunias can be sown and grown into seedlings all year round. Since the flowering period is generally controlled for May 1st and National Day, the sowing time is autumn sowing in October to November, and spring sowing in June to July. Before sowing, fill with medium, water thoroughly, and after sowing, finely mist to moisten the seeds. The seeds must not be covered with any medium, otherwise germination will be affected.

3. Seedling stage management

After sowing, maintain the medium temperature at 22 to 24°C, and seedlings emerge in 4 to 7 days. After the first pair of true leaves appears, spray with 50 mg/kg urea solution, and pay attention to ventilation; the seedlings can also gradually be exposed to light. When the seedlings have 2 to 3 pairs of true leaves, the medium temperature can be lowered to 18 to 20°C, and every 7 to 10 days, apply 0.1% urea solution or a 0.1% compound fertilizer solution with nitrogen:phosphorus:potassium at 15:15:15.

At this stage, still pay attention to ventilation to prevent disease, and spray with chlorothalonil or thiophanate-methyl at 800 to 1000 times dilution about every week. When the plant has 3 pairs of true leaves, the root system has already formed well. The temperature, humidity, and fertilization requirements are the same as before. Still pay attention to ventilation and disease prevention.

Potted petunia management methods

1. Light adjustment

Petunias are relatively tolerant of high temperatures during summer production. Generally, shade is only needed for a few days after transplanting to help them recover, and no shading is needed throughout the entire growth period.

2. Temperature control

After transplanting petunias, control the temperature at around 20°C, not lower than 15°C. Too low a temperature will delay flowering, or even prevent flowering. In actual production, those required to bloom for National Day must be produced in greenhouses to avoid low temperatures before National Day affecting flowering.

3. Watering

Always follow the principle of not watering until dry, and watering thoroughly when you do. Avoid excessive water in the medium; keeping the medium dry is very important. Therefore, potted soil should have good drainage. In the early growth stage, you can appropriately give more water, but about a week before leaving the nursery, it is advisable to keep it dry to prevent excessive leggy growth.

How to grow potted petunias, potted petunia management methods. That is all for today. I hope the editor's article can help everyone.

Petunia sowing time, petunia sowing methods and matters needing attention

Petunia is a very beautiful potted flower plant, so many flower enthusiasts grow it, and sow petunia flowers themselves. But petunias are generally sown from seeds and easily fill a pot. So when is the best time to sow petunias, and what matters need attention during sowing? Please read the following article about petunia sowing methods and timing.

Petunia is a plant that likes warmth and sunlight, is not tolerant of frost, and is afraid of waterlogging. Its suitable growth temperature is 13 to 18°C. The suitable germination temperature for petunias is about 18-25°C, so this environmental condition needs to be considered very suitable for sowing. Under normal light conditions, it takes about 100 days from sowing to flowering.

Although spring temperatures begin to warm up, because of more rain and less sun in early spring, petunias tend to grow leggy, so the best sowing period is late spring to early summer, that is, June to July.

The time for autumn sowing is mainly October to November. Under normal conditions, petunias take about 100 days from sowing to flowering, so flowers can generally be seen the following spring. However, for flower enthusiasts living in places without heating, sowing at this time requires caution, because ensuring petunias safely overwinter is an arduous task.

The suitable temperature to ensure smooth germination of petunias is about 18-25°C. The temperature suitable for further seed growth is about 22-34°C. Under normal conditions, they can germinate in 3 to 7 days. Flower enthusiasts had best create such a temperature environment for petunia sowing, otherwise whether healthy petunias can be successfully grown will be uncertain.

For soil selection when sowing, you can use a mixture of culture soil disinfected at high temperature, leaf mold, and fine sand. After sowing, there is no need to cover with soil; just press lightly, and the seeds can germinate smoothly, in about 5 to 7 days.

Petunias love water. Once they have drunk their fill, they are not afraid of sun! But do remember to give them sun!! If there is not enough sun, whether they can form a flower ball will test your pinching technique. When sowing in autumn, once petunias have four true leaves, they can take full sun, provided there is still plenty of water. My approach was to put them directly on the terrace right from germination, but after all, autumn temperatures are not high, and I always kept enough water in the bottom tray of the seedling box.

Before sowing, water the seedling soil thoroughly. After sowing, also ensure the seedling soil stays moist, so that it does not become too dry and affect normal germination.

Petunias like fertilizer, and the difference between using fertilizer and not using it is huge. My experience is: after 4 true leaves appear until the temporary planting stage (when the roots have filled the small cells of the seedling box), apply Biwang at 2000 times dilution once a week. From temporary planting to final planting, apply Biwang at 1500 times dilution once a week; during temporary planting, you can appropriately add a little slow-release fertilizer. From final planting to the plant-filling stage, apply Biwang at 1000 to 1500 times dilution twice a week (the concentration increases with the size of the plant). Add sufficient base fertilizer at final planting.