The beauty of 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 is petunia planted?
Due to the combination of absolute unpretentiousness to the 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 the lawns of the dividing strip of the road, and in hanging flower pots along the streets. Even several plants planted near a restaurant, a beauty salon or a shop located on the ground floor of the house delight visitors and passers-by with a variety of delicate petals and cheer up a sweet fragrance.
In the country house, in the front gardens of country houses, on the balconies of city apartments throughout the summer, each of these simple at first glance plants blooms more and more flowers.
How to choose the right varieties for your flower garden?
At the home site, petunia can be used everywhere, you just need to choose the correct length and height of the flowering plant, as well as know about the presence of drooping lashes, the quantity, quality and arrangement of flowers.
So, for hanging pots and flowerpots located near the house, arbors installed along the paths of the garden, low ampel and cascading plant varieties are suitable. They are conveniently combined with higher brothers of the same or contrasting color, creating a composition with a high middle and falling lashes. And for decorating flower beds and flower pots, short and medium-long stems, abundantly strewn with fragrant flowers, are optimal.
In urban conditions, for decorating a flowering balcony, a petunia is just a treasure! Of these, even an inexperienced grower can create very beautiful compositions. At the same time, it is not so important whether in each box there will be one-color varieties or multi-colored - different options look spectacular. They not only delight the eyes of passers-by, but also present their owners with the gentle smell of the apartment owners and people passing by.
In this article you will find information on how to grow seedlings of petunias at home without unnecessary hassle and care.
Where to begin?
This question is asked by any person first embarking on a new business. How to grow seedlings of petunias at home and not make mistakes? The one who has already had an unsuccessful experience in breeding petunias is thinking about this. Unfortunately, for all the unpretentiousness of an adult plant, small seedlings are prone to various misfortunes. Not all gardeners know how to plant seedlings of petunias correctly.
We start by planning a flower garden. In late autumn and winter, gardens and vegetable gardens rest from plants, and their owners from hard, but in most cases grateful work. This is the best time to think about placing plants on your garden plot, including flower beds and flower beds. The choice of seeds for seedlings will depend on how we want to see every corner of the land.
Many-flowered varieties with long stems and monotonously colored flowers suit someone, and for others, expensive varieties similar to terry cloves 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 the maximum number of warm summer and autumn days with its beautiful flowers of the hosts, a few words should be said about when to plant petunia on seedlings. Usually grown and stronger plants are planted in a permanent place in the middle of June, when the threat of sudden cold spells 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 happens quite rarely. If you are not sure about the weather, do not rush to plant plants in the ground, decide on the circumstances when to plant petunia on seedlings.
The recommended time for sowing seeds is mid-February, that is, about 13-15 weeks before the flower is planted in the ground. Anyone who wants the flowering to begin as early as possible can plant a petunia in January. Timing is of little importance if you want it to grow and delight you in a flower pot on a windowsill or in a flower pot near a window. The same is true for growing petunias as a decoration for a warm, glazed balcony.
About seed selection
By the way, a little more about them. Anyone who has ever seen petunia seeds perfectly understands all the difficulties of planting and growing them. Outwardly, they resemble small poppy seeds, and even in general are similar to small, dusty specks. How to sow petunia seedlings with such seeds? There is a solution. There are two categories of seeds for sale:
- In kind.
- In the form of small granules, which are one seed, enclosed in a thick hard shell of nutrients and excipients, which accelerate the awakening of the seed, its nutrition, growth, more dynamic development and rooting in the ground, protection from disease. As a rule, seeds of artificially bred varieties are packaged in granules, which do not possess 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 enjoyable than with small ones. They are more convenient to take with your hand and plant in one row, and they also allow you to use a special sowing machine for planting. Experienced gardeners say that the result of planting small and granular seeds is approximately the same, but when working with natural seed, the labor costs are much higher.
About choosing land
Whatever soil you choose: purchased or from the garden - know that it must be steamed well and, if possible, rid of spores of fungi and pests that infect small, weak shoots. Petunia seedlings at home are not a myth, but a reality. It is important to simply observe the technology of growing fragile, thin, afraid drafts and drying out seedlings.
As a substrate for planting seeds, well-ground surface layers of peat are used, mixed with sand, which protects the soil from the growth of moss, algae and root rot (“black legs”), flavored with fertilizers and microelements that provide a small plant with everything necessary for growth, development and further flowering.
The preservation of the optimum amount of moisture depends on the quality of the soil and its composition. From its lack, seedlings quickly dry up, and 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 and how to determine the required amount of land and how to grow seedlings of petunia at home. Some offer the use of plastic containers with a lid for products sold in the departments of disposable tableware stores, others are of the opinion that it is advisable to use containers made of natural materials (peat). We learn later how petunia seedlings are grown in peat tablets.
If the container for seedlings does not have drainage holes, it is imperative to make them before starting work.
We fill the tank for sowing petunias with earth, without adding 2 cm to the top, the minimum distance from the ground to the edge of the tank is 6 mm. This distance is necessary for the development of small shoots in a space protected on all sides. If you plan to use a plastic container with a lid, be sure to make several small holes in it, through which the space of the greenhouse will be ventilated, and leave the distance from the ground to the top about two centimeters.
How to plant petunia seedlings
So we come to the most important thing. Let's talk how to sow petunia for seedlings. There are two ways to land, choose any.
In the first case, the soil is moistened in advance with water and slightly compacted. On top of it, seeds are placed in granular form or natural seeds.
You should resort to a little trick before sowing petunias for seedlings: if you decide to use small seeds of petunias, sprinkle them first on a sheet of white paper, arm yourself with a jar of water and a toothpick. After leveling the seeds on a leaf in one layer, select the best ones, wetting the end of the toothpick with water, bring it to the selected seed. When it sticks to a wet toothpick, carefully transfer it to a container with earth. Using a wet toothpick, plant the right amount of seeds on the ground.
In the second embodiment, a layer of snow 3-4 mm thick is laid on slightly compacted soil, and petunia seeds are placed on top of it. This method does not require preliminary watering and is preferable for people with impaired vision, since it is more convenient to sow petunias for seedlings when a dark seed falls on a white snow background.
In both cases, it is desirable that the distance between seedlings be at least 5 mm. In no case can you dig in small seeds of petunia: the sprouts will not have enough strength to break out from under the ground. If you really want to fix them in a particular place, you can slightly sow 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, close 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.
Seedlings of petunias in peat tablets
This is another way to plant petunia on seedlings. Tablets are a ready-made substrate that requires only regular moisturizing as it dries.
On top of the tablet, make a deepening, put the seeds there, moisturize and leave it warm. Tablets are placed on a pallet, plate or in a container with the expectation of a further increase in their volume by 4-5 times.
Petunia seedlings at home in low light quickly stretch. Sometimes a day is enough for this, so it’s 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 petunia on seedlings?
As they grow thin, thin flecks are released from the seed peel. For this process, they need a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil. Only after the first leaves were born, can you remove the film.
Further, all attention is focused on maintaining the air temperature of about 20 degrees, airing the room and seedlings for 10-20 minutes daily and timely moistening of the soil. Please note: it does not have to be constantly raw. Control of these parameters is required, since it is not enough to plant petunia on seedlings, it is also necessary to grow it.
We wait until the first real two leaves appear and proceed to the next step.
Dive and Seating
How to plant petunia seedlings after a dive? The main rule should be compliance with the distance between them of 5 cm or more. One way to achieve the result can be to plant the picked petunia in separate pots or plastic cups, having previously made drainage holes in them, since it is otherwise impossible to grow petunia seedlings at home before flowering: the shoots grow rapidly and actively occupy space.
Conclusion
Having learned how to plant petunia on seedlings, you will achieve positive results without problems. Your work will be rewarded with delightful hats of bright, fragrant colors. And it will cost you practically nothing, since it is very simple to grow seedlings of petunias at home. Beautiful flower beds for you!