Not only the beauty of flowers and the duration of flowering attracts petunia flower growers. It easily adapts to different conditions of care, requires simple farming techniques. It is enough to observe the watering mode and periodically feed it in order to get a lush flowering bush in your area. You can grow it from his own collected cuttings or from purchased seedlings. But it is much easier to purchase plant seeds.
Petunia ampelous: description of the plant
Petunias are eagerly used for growing in the garden, in flowerbeds, decorating balconies, verandas. It has the most diverse color of flowers, which can bloom no more than a coin in size or reach 9–10 cm in diameter. All this diversity is divided into two main groups: upright and ampelous petunias. The length of the shoots of upright plants reaches 70 cm, but after stretching upward, they gradually fall to the ground. These varieties often take to plant in the flower beds.
The latter is characterized by long hanging shoots, which are used as a living decoration. In some varieties, the length of the loops reaches one and a half meters. Petunia is grown in pots, baskets, boxes. Sometimes it is used as a ground cover in the garden, on alpine hills, used in flower cascades.
Some experts single out another group of petunias - semi-amber It grows a lush bush with shoots no more than 40 cm and is used mainly as an indoor plant.
Did you know? Petunia belongs to the genus of shrubs and herbaceous perennials of the family of nightshade. Its natural habitat is the tropics of Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil. Actually, the name of the plant has Brazilian roots: “petun” means “tobacco”. In total there are at least 25 species of this plant, not counting the various hybrids.
The plant has a variety of flowers in color. They can be monophonic, with two or three tones. At the same time, hearts, veins, a border around the edges and even just specks can be painted in a different color. Flowers of bell-shaped form can be terry or semi-double, corrugated, carved, fringed or smooth.
Hybrid varieties have evolved in two ways: many-flowered and large-flowered. Each such amunium petunia has specific rules for planting and care. So, many-flowered considered unpretentious. They are sufficiently watered in time, periodically adding fertilizer to the water, and provide sufficient lighting. They give small, up to 5 cm in diameter, but numerous flowers. Faded inflorescences disappear independently.
Large-flowered can reach 10 cm in diameter, but gives not such plentiful flowering. However, their care is needed more thorough. They need a certain amount of light, heat, specific soil composition, as well as regular pruning of faded buds.
How to plant an ampelous petunia
As a rule, the cultivation of ampelous petunia begins with the sowing of seeds. In order for the plant to bloom as early as possible, they are engaged in sowing in February, as the plant develops very slowly. You can sow it in March, but you must take into account the characteristics of the variety and the conditions in which the flower will grow. It is noted that the large-flowered petunias give the first flowers at 85-90 days after sowing, and small-flowered - at 70-75 days. In any case, at the beginning of the growing season of the plant, he needs to provide additional illumination.
You can plant and flowering plant, buying it in a specialized store. In this case, you will enjoy flowering until late autumn.
Important! High-quality seedlings are grown only with round-the-clock coverage. During the day the most intense light is given, and at night it is muffled. Observe the temperature regime and do not let the soil dry up to a crust. Replant the plant in time in a more spacious container if you notice that its roots are already protruding to the surface. If you want to seedlings more stretched, pour more soil. Expensive varieties of petunia are grown on peat tablets.
Choosing a place for a plant
When choosing a place for a petunia, keep in mind that she loves light very much. It will suit the south side, where during the day is the maximum of the sun. The site itself should be open and not shaded. To plant a plant in the open ground can only be sure that it does not catch frost on the ground. As a rule, this is the second half of May. The landing itself is carried out in the evening or on an overcast day.If you want to land a petunia in the apartment, also choose the southern window-sills. In case of insufficient illumination, place fluorescent lamps in order to lengthen the plant daylight hours to 14-20 hours.
Soil requirements
In the question of how to plant a petunia, it is important to determine the correct composition of the soil. In order for the flower to give a lush flowering, the mind needs a loose and nutritious soil with a sufficient level of moisture capacity. Therefore, it will suit loamy, sandy, sandy sandy soil.
Before planting, it is desirable to dig up it with leaf humus or rotted manure. But fresh organic matter must be abandoned, as it provokes fungal diseases.
Basic rules for planting seedlings of ampelous petunia
There are several basic rules for planting a petunia ampelous seedling. If you stick to them, you will definitely grow a healthy and luxuriantly flowering plant.
First of all, select high-quality seeds from western manufacturers for sowing. So you are guaranteed to get good germination of seeds. Choose the right and high-quality primer in a specialty store. Before sowing, it is desirable to ignite it in the oven or disinfect it with special means.
Observe planting dates. It is necessary to engage in germinating seeds not earlier than February, but not later than April. Strictly adhere to the recommendations for sowing and planting seedlings of a particular variety. So, the seedlings need to swoop in time. In the open ground it is planted along with an earthy clod, so as not to damage the root system. Amunia petunia has its own planting pattern: there must be a distance of at least 30 cm between bushes. It is important to plant water after planting, and to mulch the planted area the next day.
Water the plant regularly, focusing on the amount of water consumed by flowers. Strict temperature conditions are important only when growing seedlings. Seeds should germinate at a temperature of 18-20 ° C, and spike at a temperature of 16-18 ° C. But the most important is the mode of refreshment. Until the seedlings grow and mature, it should be lit at least 14 hours a day. The entire period of vegetation petunia requires feeding. For this, liquid or granular fertilizers are used.
Petunia Care Rules
Now let's take a closer look at the basic rules for the care of a plant.
Watering and feeding plants
The most important thing in watering petunias - enough water. Its amount should be increased as the plant grows. The greater the vegetative mass, the more it needs moisture. It is important not to allow the land to dry out, otherwise the shoots of the plants become stiff, the leaves crumble, and the flowers become smaller. On hot days, watering should take place no less than twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. Petunias that are grown in pots are generally recommended to be periodically immersed in water with a pot.
But an excess of moisture also has a detrimental effect on the plant. Therefore, it is important not to miss the moment when the moisture has evaporated, but the ground has not dried up yet. Try to pick up the soil from under the plant and rub it in your fingers. If the soil does not leave marks on the hands and completely crumbles, it is sufficiently dry and requires watering.
Did you know? If you do not have the opportunity to water the plant often, add a hydrogel to the soil. He holds moisture, not letting it evaporate, and gradually gives it to the plant. So you can reduce the frequency of irrigation in two - three times.
The plant requires feeding about once a week. To do this, use potash and phosphate fertilizers. But some varieties of petunia, for example, from the Potunia group, are recommended to be fed with each watering. Starting with intensive feeding during the landing, it should be gradually reduced, stopping at a concentration of about 2-3 g per liter of water. Otherwise, abundant flowering you will not wait.
For other varieties, the concentration of the liquid feed should be no more than 5 g per bucket of water. At the same time, it is not recommended to pour dressing into dry soil or with irrigation - it is possible to burn root hairs, through which moisture is absorbed. So the plant can die. As a rule, it is recommended to use one cap per liter on the package, but in the case of petunia, half should be taken. And they recommend such a scheme of irrigation and fertilizing: watering the soil in the morning, and adding fertilizing in the evening.
Soil care
Petunia is poured over carefully at the very root, so that water does not fall on the flowers. The next day, the soil around the flowers weed, loosen and remove weeds. Take care that the soil does not get stuck in a hard crust.
How to trim ampelous petunia, form a bush
Even when the petunia is well groomed, by the middle of summer shoots from the root to the middle of the length shed their leaves, and flowering remains only at the ends of the branches. In order to preserve the aesthetics of the plant, it is necessary to carry out activities for the formation of the bush. To do this, without special pity, cut off about two-thirds of the shoot, despite the fact that there remains almost a bare branch.
Important! Petunia bush can be saved for the next season, if you store it in a cool and bright place at a temperature of 7-10 ° C. This may be a balcony, a loggia, but not a basement. Before sending for wintering, the plant should also be cut by two thirds. It is watered rarely, and in March, cut again. After that, planted in a fresh substrate and a wider pot. Although flower growers recommend not to engage in such complex manipulations, but to buy fresh seeds in spring.
Amun petunia is precisely trimmed, pinching in this case will not help much. If only the end of the shoot is removed, new shoots on the exposed part will not appear anyway. To avoid the lack of aesthetics of such a procedure, it can be carried out in several stages, cutting off two or three branches with an interval of a week.
Amulet petunia: pinching
To flower was lush and flowering, it must be pinned. This will save the branches from possible damage during growth, ensure the emergence of new shoots and the density of the bush.
How to pinch ampelnoe petunia correctly? As with any other plant, you must remove the tip of the shoot, especially if it is too stretched. Together with him it is necessary to pinch off all the bloomed buds, especially if the seed boxes appeared on them. Otherwise, the plant will put all its forces on their formation, and you will not see any more flowers.
How the flower multiplies
The most common method of propagation of a flower is seeds. But you can breed it and cuttings. This is a rather complicated process, but justified with some varieties of ampelous petunias, which are very expensive.
Seed propagation
If you decide to grow a flower from seed, then buy fresh from the store. It is not recommended to collect them independently from petunias growing in the area. Most of the varieties that are represented in stores today are hybrid. This means that not all signs of the mother bush are transferred to the next generation, and in the end you will get a degenerate variety. In addition, if you have several varieties on the plot, they are likely to re-pollinate. And some varieties are not able to set up seeds at all, such as, for example, terry.
Purchased seeds are sown in a well-hydrated loose nutrient soil, poured into special boxes. Seeds are not sprinkled with soil, but covered with a transparent film or glass so that they are sufficiently illuminated.
Did you know? Petunia seeds are very small: up to 10 thousand grains per one gram of seed. For ease of sowing, they are mixed with sand in proportions of 1: 5 or they buy planting material formed in a dragee.
Good seed germination is achieved at a temperature of 22-24 ° C and humidity of 95-98%. Sprouts make their way in about a week or two. With the first sheet remove the shelter. Every day they must be sprayed and gradually reduce the temperature. By the time the seedlings in the box get stronger, the ambient air temperature should be 18-20 ° C during the day and 14-16 ° C at night.
About a month after sowing, when there are at least two leaves on sprouts, they dive, deepening the sprout in the ground to the first leaf. The growth of seedlings can be very slow, because at this time all the forces of the plant go to the formation of the root system. When it forms two or three more leaves, it is necessary to carry out a picking.
Do not forget to water the seedlings in time and sufficiently, but at the same time avoid stagnant moisture. Young sprouts are prone to black leg disease.
Important! "Black Leg" - a fungal disease. It can appear only on young shoots in the first weeks of their life. If the barely sprung shoots rot, fall and dry, they are probably infected with this fungus. For prevention, it is recommended to water the seedlings with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Before planting seedlings in open ground, it must be well tempered. Properly prepared plants feel good even when the temperature drops to 10 ° C.
Cuttings
During reproduction of petunia, grafting is also used. They spend it in February - May, but if you create good conditions for planting material, you can spend it all year round. These conditions include illumination and temperature range of 15-22 ° C. The cuttings are planted in peat tablets, half-liter cups or boxes for seedlings with a suitable soil mixture.
Cuttings from healthy uterine plants are cut at an angle so that there are 4-6 leaves on the planting material, and the cutting itself is not more than 10 cm in length. Only two upper leaves are left on it and immediately planted in the ground for a fourth of the leg length. When planting in a box, make sure that the distance between the cuttings is not less than 1.5 cm. Seedlings should be covered with glass or transparent film, provide a temperature not lower than 21 ° C and plenty of light.
The roots of the cuttings appear on the 5-10 day. Then they need to take care of in the same way as for seedlings obtained from seeds. When the root system is sufficiently strong, they dive into separate tanks. The advantage of this seedling is that it gives flowering within 20-35 days after planting.
Petunia - relatively undemanding plant. If you provide it with an intense and abundant light and monitor the soil moisture, you can ensure its long flowering. For the pomp of the bush enough time to hold the nip and pruning. It can multiply as cuttings and seeds. The last option is the most profitable, especially if you buy seeds in specialized stores. Among the huge number of varieties and hybrids, you will surely find one that fits perfectly into your garden.
