How to sow a petunia for seedlings

Petunia is a very decorative and unpretentious flower in care. Many varieties allow you to grow it in flowerpots or flowerpots, and in flower beds, decorate alpine slides or discounts. However, in the cultivation of this flower there is a very difficult stage – planting seeds for seedlings.

It often happens that we sow, grow, care for, but in the end we don’t get such beautiful flowers as on a bag of seeds. Why this happens, and how to sow petunia correctly – this article is about this.

How to plant a petunia

Before you think about how to grow petunia seedlings at home, you need to decide on the variety of this flower, buy seeds.

There are a great many varieties, among them there are double and glossy flowers, of absolutely any shade and size. Varieties of petunia are divided into several groups:

1. Bushy multi-flowered petunia grows in the form of a small (up to 35 cm) bush, completely strewn with medium-sized flowers (about 6 cm in diameter). Such varieties are characterized by resistance to weather conditions.
2. Bush varieties with large inflorescences (about 10-12 cm) are able to decorate the most exquisite flower garden, they look favorably on flower beds, in flowerpots or decorative boxes. It should be remembered that large flowers can easily be damaged by strong winds or heavy rainfall. It is best to grow these varieties on terraces or in gazebos, where there is a canopy and protection from the wind.
3. Ampel varieties great for growing in hanging pots, but can also be used as a creeping plant. These petunias have long shoots adorned with many small or medium-sized inflorescences.
4. dwarf variety can be used in various garden compositions, for example, in rock gardens. The bushes of this variety are compact and very decorative.

The growing season of a petunia is about 12-14 weeks. In the climate of most of the country, this flower simply will not have time to bloom if sown directly into the ground.

Features of seeds

Petunia seeds are characterized by the fact that they are very small in size – round grains resemble poppy seeds, only they are not colored black, but brown.

On sale you can find petunia seeds for seedlings of two types:

• ordinary, poured into paper bags;
• granulated, coated with a colored shell.

The cost of granulated seeds will, of course, be higher. But their advantage lies in the fact that, thanks to the colored capsule, the size of each seed increases – it is more convenient to distribute them in the ground, since the seeds in the granules are larger and more noticeable.

Some gardeners note one drawback of granular plant seeds – the shell does not dissolve well in water, flower seedlings have to be watered more abundantly than it needs. If the granule does not dissolve completely, the seedlings, in general, may not sprout, or the sprouts, petunia roots may be damaged.

How to grow petunia seedlings

First of all, it is necessary to determine the timing of sowing seeds for seedlings. Most varieties of this plant bloom 2,5-3 months after the first shoots appear. Based on this, and also, taking into account the peculiarities of the climate in a particular region, the date of sowing seeds for seedlings is determined.

Another nuance is that ampelous varieties have a longer growing season, so they must be sown for seedlings before the rest.

Selection of containers and soil preparation for seedlings

It is necessary to sow petunia seeds at home in sufficiently deep containers – about 10 cm. These can be wooden, plastic or ceramic boxes, pots, containers, the main condition is that the container for seedlings is not metal, and that the container can be covered with film or glass for seed germination.

Holes for draining excess water in seedling containers must be mandatory, as the plant does not like waterlogged soil.

For even better removal of excess moisture, it is recommended to use a drainage layer. It can be expanded clay or broken red brick. This material is laid on the bottom of the seedling container.

Land for seedlings of petunias must meet several parameters:

• have a neutral or weak acidity;
• be loose and well oxygenated;
• have a light composition;
• not be too nutritious (this is necessary for the formation of a strong root system);
• do not retain moisture.

Of course, you can buy a special potting mix for flower seedlings in a flower shop, but it’s also easy to make it yourself.

To do this, you need to mix soddy soil, coconut substrate, humus, peat and sand. All components are well mixed. If the acidity of the soil is high, you can add wood ash or a little lime.

The finished earth is carefully crushed by hand, you can sift it through a sieve. Now the soil should be disinfected. To do this, the substrate is placed in the oven or microwave for 30-60 minutes or poured with boiling water.

In containers washed with soapy water or potassium permanganate, a drainage layer is laid, a substrate is poured on top. The ground is carefully tamped to prevent subsidence of small petunia seeds. Plentifully water the soil with warm water with the addition of manganese.

How to sow petunia in the soil

Small petunia seeds are sown in slightly specific ways – there are several of them, each housewife chooses the most convenient method for herself:

1. Ordinary (not granulated) plant seeds should be mixed with dry coarse sand. Now they take two toothpicks, moisten one of them with water and try to capture one seed. When the seed sticks to the toothpick, it is transferred to the right place, and the second toothpick is used to detach the seed.
2. Another method involves the presence of snow on the site. White snow makes a great backdrop for dark petunia seeds. Snow is laid out on the surface of the soil and seeds are laid on it. When the snow cover melts, the seeds will firmly press against the ground and be distributed at the desired interval.
3. If granulated petunia seeds are used, they are most conveniently laid out with tweezers. Landing pattern – 3×3 cm.
4. There are special cassettes for small seeds. When using such cassettes, one flower seed must be placed in each cell.
5. If petunia seedlings are grown in peat tablets, they are first placed in a plastic pan and watered. When the tablets swell, one petunia seed can be transferred to each of them.
6. You can pre-sprout flower seeds. To do this, they are laid out on a moistened paper towel and placed in a plastic bag. The napkin needs to be moistened periodically so that it is not dry, and the bag is opened several times a day to ventilate the seeds. After 3-5 days, sprouts will appear, which can be carefully transferred to containers with soil. This method is especially good for granulated petunia seeds – the shell will gradually dissolve and the plant will not suffer.

After the seeds have been sown, they must be sprinkled with water from a spray bottle. It is best to add a little manganese to the water for irrigation in the first few days to disinfect the sprouts.

It is not necessary to sprinkle the petunia seeds with earth – they will take root and sprout just fine. In extreme cases, if in doubt, you can sprinkle the seeds with the thinnest layer of loose sand or petunia soil mixture.

Now the boxes are covered with lids, glass or film and placed in a very warm and bright place where the temperature is kept constant at 23-25 ​​degrees. If necessary, you should immediately use the backlight with a phytolamp or a simple fluorescent light bulb.

Further care for petunia seedlings

If the petunia is planted correctly, the first shoots should appear in five days. So, the most difficult thing is behind – the seeds have sprouted. Every day it is necessary to slightly open containers with seedlings, gradually increasing the ventilation time. They do this until the plants shed their seed coats – then the seedlings are completely opened.

This is done so that the seedlings of petunias do not grow, and all its forces are directed to the development of the root system.

Fragile sprouts should be watered very carefully using a spray bottle. This should be done as needed – both waterlogging and lack of moisture are detrimental to petunia seedlings.

In this period, additional lighting is especially important – the lamps should be turned on from early morning until late at night, especially on cloudy and rainy days.

The appearance of the first pair of true leaves indicates that it is time to dive the seedlings of petunias. This stage is very important, since diving does not allow excessive stretching of the stems, and helps to strengthen the roots.

Sometimes a petunia is dived several times, with each next transplant increasing the size of the seedling containers. After each pick, the seedlings are placed for several days in a place protected from the sun, where the temperature is somewhat lower than that to which the petunia is accustomed.

Now comes the phase of active growth of petunias. At this stage, the plants quickly grow green mass, additional leaves, twigs and stems appear. You can engage in the formation of a bush and remove unnecessary shoots by pinching the central or side stems.

Very often, petunia blooms before its seedlings are transferred to the ground. It is recommended to remove the buds, otherwise the plant will weaken and the bush will stop growing. To see the shade of petunias, you can leave one flower on each plant – this will help to properly arrange the flower bed.

With further cultivation, it is necessary to carry out regular feeding of petunias. Do this for the first time 10 days after the dive and repeat every 10 days until the petunias are transferred to a permanent place.

Nitrogen-based complex fertilizers for flowers are used as a feed, but the concentration of this substance should be moderate.

Approximately two weeks before transplanting petunia seedlings to a permanent place, seedlings need to be hardened off. To do this, containers with plants are taken out to the street or to a balcony with open windows. Days for hardening are chosen warm, but avoid wind and direct sunlight.

Everything, seedlings of petunias are ready for planting in open ground!

Gardeners have been arguing for more than a dozen years about how to plant a petunia for seedlings, whether this or that method of preparing seeds will be right. There are many options for planting this flower: someone sows the seeds directly into the ground, and someone hardens them in the refrigerator for two months. Everyone has their own methods, but the result should be the same – beautiful and bright flowers in the flower beds, pleasing the owner until the first cold weather.

To better absorb the information, you can watch a video on how to properly plant a petunia in your area: