If you want to learn how to care for petunias, follow this article. I know from experience everything you need to know to have the most beautiful petunias flowers!
You want to plant petunias for one reason: their flowers come in droves and still form small hanging clumps, which are very colorful to make everyone jealous!
Follow me until the end of this article, and you will see how easy it is to have the most flowering and healthy petunias!
Soil
As they are intense flowering plants, petunias always need a lot of nutrients in the soil. And when I say soil, I mean to specify the potting substrate. You can know how to care for petunias on the ground floor, but the effect and beauty will not be the same.
To make the most of your petunias’ beauty, plant them in hanging pots!
Here are some tips for getting it right the first time when preparing the substrate for these plants. Know that I don’t recommend planting more than three petunias in common 30 cm pots.
First put in the bottom of the petunias container is the stones, followed by something that serves as a cover for the layer of sand and the substrate not to come out through the drainage holes.
I use a disposable coffee filter to cover the rocks, and then I add sand and the substrate. This makes it much easier to drain, and you won’t see dirt spreading across the floor.
As for the substrate, follow the following recipe:
- Coconut fiber, 1 part;
- Worm humus or compost, 2 parts;
- Coarse sand, 1 part;
This will make for a fertile, drainable mix that retains a little more moisture, keeping the plant cool on hot days, as pendant pots tend to get hotter.
Fertilizing
Plants that bloom as much as petunias need a lot of nutrients, so not only is it important to prepare a suitable substrate, but it is also important to keep the soil nourished for the plant.
Learning how to care for petunias requires processes like this and others that we’ll see later.
The most important nutrient for plants to flourish is phosphorus. You find it in pumpkin seeds, and I recommend you crush several of them and put them in the soil of your petunia, along with coffee grounds and banana peel.
Do this a couple of times a month, and your plant will thank you.
Coverage
As I said, potting soil tends to heat up and dry out faster than garden soil. That’s why we use a lot of organic material in the substrate mix.
And for the same reason, I will recommend you to use ground cover. It will help the pot to retain more moisture and freshness.
The roots of these plants are shallow, so this will favor flowering as well, as the petunias suffer less from stress.
Watering
Even with all those soil and mulch tips, petunias still needed constant watering, and much more frequently in warm months like spring and summer.
Doing the finger test is ideal; if the soil is dry to the touch, it can be watered without problems. This little secret can be used not only for those who are learning how to care for petunias.
And if the leaves are wilted, water superficially, as this is a sign that it is too hot.
Pruning
The pinching technique is more than essential here as they are herbaceous plants.
Because this technique allows the plant to develop fuller foliage, which will generate more flowers, this, in line with everything I’ve already shown you, will yield beautiful plants.
Light
If your petunias don’t get six to eight hours in the sun a day, you won’t have as many flowers as you might think. Plants that flower a lot love the full sun.
Problem with caring for Petunias
The only problem with petunias is that they are annual plants and die as soon as they end their life cycle, which comes right after they spawn.
Unfortunately, you will have to plant new plants and go through the process of caring for petunias all over again.
I’ll give you some tips for making petunias seedlings below.
Now I’m going to turn around what I said. There is a variety of perennial petunia, that is, it lives for years, not all, and I will talk more about it at the end of the article.
Petunia common diseases and pests
Petunias are usually grown without much trouble, although some easy-to-resolve problems can arise.
- Aphids: That Vinegar Recipe Massacres Them!
- Rot: usually occurs in rainy climates. A well-draining substrate is important, as these plants do not like much water but light humidity.
How to make Petunias seedlings
Annuals:
Annuals are too fragile to root from cuttings, so they can only be propagated from seeds.
Although it’s a slow process for many plants, annual petunias grow fast, and you’ll bloom in your garden before long.
Perennials:
As I said, a perennial variety can be multiplied by the stems as long as you choose strong, healthy stems that are not blooming.
Take 10 cm long cuttings by cutting just below a leaf joint or knot.
Remove two-thirds of the bottom leaves and place the cuttings in pots of sandy compost and plenty of organic matter. Place the pots in a clear plastic bag and put them somewhere with indirect light.
Cuttings should have rooted in 2 to 3 weeks, by which time they can be planted individually.
Different varieties of Petunias
Want to know some of the different petunias out there? It’s not just 1 type of petunia that exists in different colors. There are 30 species with infinite varieties.
Mini petunia
It has small flowers and is a charming plant. Its bushes have a rounded and full shape.
You can take several of these petunias of different colors and plant them in the same place, making a beautiful flowerbed!
Perennial petunia
They are perennial, but they require annual care such as soil reform, soil loosening, more rigorous pruning, and everything related to yearly maintenance.
They have smaller flowers but are still very colorful.
Supertunia Petunia
They are large petunias, the type planted in the ground and spread up to 5 meters with 60 cm in height. In addition, its flowers are also big.
Sweetunia White Merlot
If you’ve ever seen a hanging basket of petunias that looked like a giant ball of flowers, you’ve probably seen a ‘Sweetunia’ petunia.
They cover every inch of you with flowers, and the pollution of cities doesn’t bother them at all!
Grandiflora
The most common, compact, but with large flowers and leaves. However, the size is compensated for by the low amount of flowers. You could see that the smaller the petunia flowers, the more flowers it gives, right?
Now chat with me here in the comments! Tell me, if you liked this article, what was missing, and which of these varieties would you have? This helps my work a lot!
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Also read: How to Care for Desert Rose Plant
