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Petunias are very beautiful and unpretentious flowers, which are gaining more and more popularity every year, thanks to the emergence of more and more diverse varieties and varieties. Experienced flower growers strive to further diversify their collection. And beginners really want to grow some kind of variety that especially struck them, a bag of seeds of which they acquired in a fit of inspiration. And when you got home, you thought about it, is it real? After all, petunias, despite their unpretentiousness in adulthood, are rather capricious at the seedling stage. And their shoots look especially unusual.
They are really capable of scaring any novice grower if he has not yet dealt with small seeds. It seems absolutely incredible that these tiny threads could ever grow luxuriously flowering petunia plants. Nevertheless, you should not be afraid. You just need to find out in more detail what petunia seedlings need in the first place, and what are the features of petunia care after germination.
Basic requirements of a petunia
There are several conditions, without which it is almost impossible to grow good seedlings of petunias.
Light and temperature
The first and main thing that is vital for petunia seedlings is light. Its seeds also need light in order to germinate. Without light, in a dark place, they will either not germinate at all, or they will germinate belatedly and very unfriendly.
But after germination, when only thin little white loops appeared from the ground, the petunia seedlings must be transferred to the brightest lighting that is in the house. It is because of the lack of light that petunia seedlings planted in winter, in January or February, die. They are not at all satisfied with the short daylight hours that are observed at this time of the year.
And even additional lighting is not suitable for them – its level should be at least 25 Lux, and even better, it should reach 000 Lux. And for the optimal development of petunia seedlings in the first weeks of life, it is desirable that this lighting be turned on around the clock. If it is not possible to guarantee seedlings such lighting, then it is necessary either to postpone sowing until better times, or to lower the temperature.
Yes, oddly enough, it is this technique that helps plants best. If, during the germination of petunia seeds, the temperature was constantly at + 22 ° С – + 25 ° С, then as soon as the seedlings sprouted, it is advisable to lower the temperature by several degrees, at least at night. That is, it is optimal that during the day it be at the level of + 20 ° С, and at night it drops to about + 16 ° С – + 18 ° С.
In general, it is best that the lighting is maximum, and the temperature difference between day and night is slightly felt. It is under such conditions that petunia seedlings will feel best, and grow strong and squat. Since the abundance of light has a positive effect on the above-ground part of the plants. While the difference in temperature allows petunia roots to actively develop.
Often, in novice flower growers, petunia shoots are more like thin stretched strings than stocky bushes. This is due to the maintenance of seedlings at elevated temperatures and at the same time insufficient lighting. If it is not at all possible to slightly lower the temperature of the content, the only way out will be to provide the seedlings with a lot of light. Light still comes first for petunias.
Humidity
Petunia is usually sown either in small trays with lids, or in peat tablets, which are placed in containers covered with lids. That is, in any case, petunia shoots appear in such peculiar mini-greenhouses, where, of course, they feel good and comfortable.
The necessary humidity in such containers is maintained by itself. But after the emergence of seedlings, it is advisable to open the lids of such containers. First for 5-10 minutes, then daily increasing the “hardening” time, so that approximately 10-15 days after germination, you can remove the cover completely. After the petunia seedlings are a week old, and the very first, so-called cotyledon leaves, unfold well, the cover can be removed, for example, at night. Thus, it is possible to arrange the very slight decrease in temperature at night, which is so necessary for petunia seedlings for a good development of the root system.
While the lid is mainly on the container with seedlings, it practically does not need watering. In general, with watering at the initial stage of growing petunia seedlings, you must also be very careful. Better underfill than overfill. And you need to water, of course, not in the usual way, but using a pipette, syringe or the method that the florist talks about in this video material:
It would be better if the land in which the petunia seedlings grow is somewhat dried. Since the roots develop better in loose soil than in waterlogged soil. Of course, plants should not be allowed to wilt either. But it happens that you could overdo it a little when caring for seedlings, and waterlogged petunia seedlings. If at the same time you notice that the seedlings have begun to thin and become glassy (an early sign of a black leg), then you can try adding dry, calcined sand or fine vermiculite to the roots. They absorb moisture very quickly and most of the sprouts are likely to be saved.
After removing the lid and before the first and even second true leaves bloom, petunia seedlings must be monitored for moisture every day. Neither wilting nor overflow of plants should be allowed. It is even easier to add a hydrogel with vermiculite to it at the stage of compiling the soil mixture. Then the soil will not be able to dry out so quickly, and will always contain some moisture. This will allow beginners not to worry so much about the condition of the seedlings.
Watch another video that describes just this period:
The first months of seedling life
The hardest part is already over, but it is still not recommended to relax. At the age of two weeks, the first true leaves begin to appear at the seedlings of petunias. From this point on, the growth and development of the petunia will accelerate somewhat, although it is still not enough for those who are growing these flowers for the first time. After all, at the first stage, the development of the aerial part is not just slow, but very slow, and novice flower growers need to be patient.
Picks
After the opening of the first true leaves, the petunia seedlings can already dive if it was planted in common trays. For those who are doing this for the first time and are somewhat afraid of this procedure, the following advice can be given. Grow petunia seedlings without picking – in peat tablets or in separate small cups, or wait a little more until the second pair of true leaves bloom. That’s only if you sowed ordinary, non-grained seeds and, due to inexperience, planted them too densely, then it is advisable to plant the seedlings quickly, otherwise they will soon not have enough room for growth.
The picking procedure itself is not as scary as it seems.
- Before it starts, it is advisable to moisten the container with petunia seedlings, especially if this has not been done for a long time.
- Either cassettes or individual cups are prepared in advance, covered with loose fertile soil. Vermiculite or hydrogel can also be added to it, especially if the containers are small and there is the possibility of the soil drying out quickly.
- Recesses are made in the containers, about one centimeter.
- Then, with a thin stick, toothpick or match, carefully dig up the sprouts one by one, picking them up, and drag them one by one into the prepared recesses.
- Deepen them there to the very cotyledon leaves and gently crush them on all sides with the earth with the help of the same stick.
- When all the sprouts are transferred and buried, they can be lightly watered from a syringe with literally a few drops per plant.
Usually a week after this procedure, petunia sprouts take root well and quickly grow.
Additional fertilizing
It is from this period that the time comes for regular feeding of petunias, without which it will never be able to bloom profusely. For the first dressings, it is advisable to choose complex liquid organic fertilizers with a predominance of nitrogen. It is highly desirable that they also contain the main trace elements in chelated form, primarily iron and calcium.
For petunias, the following feeding scheme will be optimal: a suitable fertilizer is diluted 3-4 times compared to the manufacturer’s instructions and the resulting solution is used regularly to water the seedlings instead of water. About once a week, instead of this root dressing, petunias can be sprinkled on the leaf with the same solution. Such foliar top dressing can also be carried out using potassium humate or biohumus.
Topping
Around the same period, it is time for another agricultural technique that is often used when growing petunia seedlings – pinching it. In earlier years, this was a mandatory procedure, since most old varieties of petunias could not branch at all and grow into one stem if they were not pinched. The first pinching is usually done when the shoots are 7 to 10 cm long, or after 2-3 pairs of true leaves have opened. It consists in the fact that with nails or nail scissors they carefully pinch off a piece of the stem with a growth point above the topmost leaf. Sometimes they make it easier – they just break off the topmost sheet. In this photo, a petunia bush before pinching.
In the next photo, the same petunia bush immediately after pinching.
If you are dealing with ordinary bush forms of petunia, then after this procedure, additional side shoots begin to actively appear from the axils of all leaves.
The second pinching is carried out as necessary, when the length of the shoots already reaches 10-15 cm. At the same time, they try to remove only the very tip of the shoot in order to preserve the flower buds already laid on the bush. In the future, pinching of petunia bushes is carried out after planting seedlings in the ground with strongly grown shoots, if you want to achieve uniform fouling of the bush.
Numerous modern varieties of petunias that have appeared in recent years do not need or almost do not need pinching. Already after the appearance of the second pair of leaves, you can notice that they begin to form and actively grow side shoots from the main leaf axils.
Therefore, most likely, nothing will have to be done with them. Watch how in the video below, an experienced grower demonstrates which varieties of petunias need to be pinched and which do not:
True, sometimes, if petunia seedlings do not grow in the most favorable conditions, that is, without a difference in day and night temperatures and in an overly warm place, then it may not begin to branch. In this case, pinching is required, but it is also desirable to comply with the growing conditions. Monthly seedlings of petunia need that the temperature does not exceed + 18 ° C during the day, and at night it can already drop to + 10 ° C + 12 ° C.
Conclusion
If you manage to meet all the above requirements for growing seedlings, then the petunia will surely thank you with many beautiful flowers.
