Why grow petunias
Petunias are very beautiful flowers that burst in blooms during the warm spring, summer and fall months, and can last until the early frosts. They can be planted in the garden, in containers and hanging baskets and come in different sizes and colors. They form beautiful beds and waterfalls in bright colors. They bring joy to the eyes and also have a beautiful fragrance. Petunias also have a sweet nectar that attracts humming birds. So if they live in your country and region, you may enjoy their company every day.
How to grow petunias
Petunias prefer full sun, well-drained rich soil, and moderate watering to keep their soil moist to slightly dry. If you do not have a sunny spot, don't get discouraged. Your petunias will grow and bloom again just not as vigorously as if they were in the sun, and some blossoms color may become slightly paler than the initial. You will have to make sure you do not water them too often - once or twice a week in the hot months is enough. If you want to keep your petunia in top shape and exploding in blossoms you should also pinch, prune, and fertilize them.
Petunias are very beautiful flowers that burst in blooms during the warm spring, summer and fall months, and can last until the early frosts. They can be planted in the garden, in containers and hanging baskets and come in different sizes and colors. They form beautiful beds and waterfalls in bright colors. They bring joy to the eyes and also have a beautiful fragrance. Petunias also have a sweet nectar that attracts humming birds. So if they live in your country and region, you may enjoy their company every day.
How to grow petunias
Petunias prefer full sun, well-drained rich soil, and moderate watering to keep their soil moist to slightly dry. If you do not have a sunny spot, don't get discouraged. Your petunias will grow and bloom again just not as vigorously as if they were in the sun, and some blossoms color may become slightly paler than the initial. You will have to make sure you do not water them too often - once or twice a week in the hot months is enough. If you want to keep your petunia in top shape and exploding in blossoms you should also pinch, prune, and fertilize them.
Pinching
To keep your petunias blooming throughout the whole season you need to pinch them. Removing the old dead blossoms from your petunia is called pinching. What you do is remove the old blossom together with the bud, in order to stimulate the flower to produce more new blossoms. Your particular type of petunia may not need this, as there are certain hybrids that simply do not produce seed buds and hence do not need stimulation through pinching. Just observe your petunia for a couple of weeks to a month and if you notice decrease in blooming start pinching - results should come within 2 weeks. Another very significant benefit of pinching is that while doing it you take a good look at the plant and may notice any diseases or insects.
Pruning
Especially if planted in a shady spot, the petunia stems may start stretching too long. If this happens cut those stems - new ones will emerge very soon and the plant will become bushier with more potential for blooming. In fact cutting stems and shaping your petunia is good in any case and gives satisfactory results very quickly.
Fertilizing
To give petunias a boost fertilize them once or twice a month according to your fertilizer and type of petunia. If your petunia came with a label check it for instructions on fertilizing. Check the instructions on your fertilizer as well. If you do not know, fertilize once a month. If you pinch your petunias, fertilizing would be nice. If you just planted the petunias in new soil, check with the soil label if the soil does not already have a fertilizer added to it.
Insects and diseases
Petunias are a good meal for caterpillars. If you notice eaten parts in your blossoms or leaves check carefully your plant. Especially if you are growing the petunia in a separate container away from other plants, chances are there will be more than one caterpillars in your plant as their butterfly mom laid several eggs.
In certain conditions petunias might get a disease called powdery mildew. It is very easy to recognise as it looks like powder or dust on the leaves and stems of the plant. It usually appears if there is too much moist and/or too little sunshine. You need to treat powdery mildew, otherwise your plant will start withering and gradually dying. To treat it buy a fungicide from your local nursery and make sure powdery mildew is in its list of treated diseases. Then follow the instructions of the fungicide. If there are already dead stems and leaves on the plant, remove them as much as possible. The earlier you spot the mildew the easier it will be to cure the plant. If the disease has spread through the whole plant, you may need to treat several times - again according to the fungicide instructions.
Personal experience
In my 1st petunia experience I spotted the “dust” very early as I was pinching my plants every 2-3 days. But I did not realise it was a disease until the plant started withering and leaves started dying cause at first it was doing fine, even blooming. I treated it with organic fungicide and the results were surprisingly good. I treated them once again in 2 weeks per the instructions. The mildew disappeared and green leaves started emerging. Shortly after that fall rains started and temperatures dropped so I gave up on the petunias as I read somewhere that they are annual. However 1 out of 4 petunias survived and went wild healthy. Yay!
General advise
If your plant comes with a label, always check the growing tips in it. They rarely conflict with the recommendations you would read in gardening sites or books, but are sometimes slightly different. The plants we get at the nursery are usually a specific type or specific hybrid, modified to endure tougher weather or soil conditions, to produce more flowers or leaves, etc. Hence the label instructions are more precise in terms of growing care and will most likely give you much better results.
To keep your petunias blooming throughout the whole season you need to pinch them. Removing the old dead blossoms from your petunia is called pinching. What you do is remove the old blossom together with the bud, in order to stimulate the flower to produce more new blossoms. Your particular type of petunia may not need this, as there are certain hybrids that simply do not produce seed buds and hence do not need stimulation through pinching. Just observe your petunia for a couple of weeks to a month and if you notice decrease in blooming start pinching - results should come within 2 weeks. Another very significant benefit of pinching is that while doing it you take a good look at the plant and may notice any diseases or insects.
Pruning
Especially if planted in a shady spot, the petunia stems may start stretching too long. If this happens cut those stems - new ones will emerge very soon and the plant will become bushier with more potential for blooming. In fact cutting stems and shaping your petunia is good in any case and gives satisfactory results very quickly.
Fertilizing
To give petunias a boost fertilize them once or twice a month according to your fertilizer and type of petunia. If your petunia came with a label check it for instructions on fertilizing. Check the instructions on your fertilizer as well. If you do not know, fertilize once a month. If you pinch your petunias, fertilizing would be nice. If you just planted the petunias in new soil, check with the soil label if the soil does not already have a fertilizer added to it.
Insects and diseases
Petunias are a good meal for caterpillars. If you notice eaten parts in your blossoms or leaves check carefully your plant. Especially if you are growing the petunia in a separate container away from other plants, chances are there will be more than one caterpillars in your plant as their butterfly mom laid several eggs.
In certain conditions petunias might get a disease called powdery mildew. It is very easy to recognise as it looks like powder or dust on the leaves and stems of the plant. It usually appears if there is too much moist and/or too little sunshine. You need to treat powdery mildew, otherwise your plant will start withering and gradually dying. To treat it buy a fungicide from your local nursery and make sure powdery mildew is in its list of treated diseases. Then follow the instructions of the fungicide. If there are already dead stems and leaves on the plant, remove them as much as possible. The earlier you spot the mildew the easier it will be to cure the plant. If the disease has spread through the whole plant, you may need to treat several times - again according to the fungicide instructions.
Personal experience
In my 1st petunia experience I spotted the “dust” very early as I was pinching my plants every 2-3 days. But I did not realise it was a disease until the plant started withering and leaves started dying cause at first it was doing fine, even blooming. I treated it with organic fungicide and the results were surprisingly good. I treated them once again in 2 weeks per the instructions. The mildew disappeared and green leaves started emerging. Shortly after that fall rains started and temperatures dropped so I gave up on the petunias as I read somewhere that they are annual. However 1 out of 4 petunias survived and went wild healthy. Yay!
General advise
If your plant comes with a label, always check the growing tips in it. They rarely conflict with the recommendations you would read in gardening sites or books, but are sometimes slightly different. The plants we get at the nursery are usually a specific type or specific hybrid, modified to endure tougher weather or soil conditions, to produce more flowers or leaves, etc. Hence the label instructions are more precise in terms of growing care and will most likely give you much better results.
