Cultivation of petunia from seeds or seedlings

Petunia belongs to the family of Solanaceae. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with densely erect erect (bushy forms) or creeping stems (ampel forms). For the cultivation is usually used the so-called petunia garden (Petunia X hybrida), which is a hybrid form of petunia violet and petunia axillary, the birthplace of which is South America. In total, more than two dozen of its varieties are known. Some of them reproduce by cuttings, but more often the cultivation of petunia from seeds is practiced.

Perennial petunia in the middle band usuallyIt is cultivated as an annual, but if desired, it can be excavated in autumn and preserved until next spring. It blooms already in the sowing year, colorfully and abundantly, that is why it is in great demand among the flower growers who practice growing petunias from seeds and in the open ground, and when planting balconies. Its flowers are funnel-shaped, about 5 cm in diameter. They can be both terry and simple, have a bright color: white, pink, purple, lilac, blue, yellow. Two-color varieties are also bred - with spots, borders, stripes.

Growing petunia from seeds is a fairly simple process. Sow it in pots or boxes with greenhouse land in February-March.

Optimum temperature for seed germination -about +22 degrees Celsius, but if they have been stored for several years, it is better to increase it. The seeds are sown sparingly, so that the sprouts do not oppress each other. The container should be covered with a film. Petunia seeds are very small, they are not closed up in the soil, but are planted on the surface of the earth. You can not wet the substrate, but at the same time, do not allow it to dry out.

Shoots appear, on average, on the tenth day. When growing a mixture of different varieties, the seeds of petunias, having a blue color of flowers, are the first to germinate, and petunias with red and purple flowers appear the last. Sprouts dive and after the end of frost is planted on beds or flower beds at a distance of 10-20 cm from each other. Pre-seedling should be hardened for 10 days at a temperature of + 10-14 degrees Celsius.

The root system of the plant is sufficientbranched and well restored after transplantation. An obligatory condition for the full development of petunias is a sufficient amount of light. Blossoms petunia 55-90 days after sowing (depending on the variety). It blooms from early summer to autumn frosts. When caring for the plant should shorten too long shoots - after that they become more magnificent. It is also necessary to remove faded flowers in time: it's better to tie new buds.

One of the prerequisites for a successfulcultivation of these plants is timely top dressing. Seedlings of petunia should be fertilized weekly. It is also necessary to feed the plants in July-August. You can take any fertilizer suitable for flowering plants, but it is more convenient to use a special composition for petunias, which is sold in specialized stores. In regions with mild climates, it is possible to grow petunia from seeds directly in the open ground, bypassing the stage of seedlings.

Seed propagation technology in many casesis not as effective as we would like, and is not suitable for all garden plants. So, growing begonias from seeds does not justify itself by far not always: the majority prefers to still propagate them with cuttings or parts of leaves. In some crops the germination of seeds is generally low. For example, it is difficult to name the successful cultivation of cranberries from seeds - they usually grow only 60 with a small percentage, so for the cultivation of this culture, also mainly use cuttings. However, petunia is a grateful plant: its seeds peck quickly and harmoniously, so in this case this method is the simplest and most rational (excluding varieties that lose their properties when multiplying by seeds).