Petunia: Sowing And Caring For Seedlings

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

In February, you need to take care of flower seedlings for those gardeners who dream of decorating their garden plot with delicate petunias. These perennial flowers arrived in our region from hot countries, but have long become so familiar that they are no longer perceived as exotic. In our flower beds, petunia hybrids are grown as annual crops, and in addition to open-air flower beds, ampelous varieties are placed in hanging pots and planted in wide tall decorative vases

Soil mixture for sowing petunia seeds

For sowing petunia seeds for seedlings, you will need the following components of the nutrient substrate:

• peat - 6 parts;

• sheet land - 2 parts;

• sod land - 2 parts;

• coarse river sand - 1 part.

For 1 kg of substrate add 1 table. a spoonful of ash. You need to stock up on sand in abundance. This natural material will be needed not only for loosening the soil mixture for seedlings, but also for arranging a drainage layer in the seed container.

Features of sowing petunia seeds

Petunia seeds are very small - so much so that in one pinch there can be up to several hundred pieces. And to ensure uniform sowing, you will need to additionally use an auxiliary material - fine sand. A few tablespoons of sand are thoroughly mixed with the seed and only after that the seeds are distributed over the surface of the soil.

The size of the seeds of petunia also makes special demands on the preparation of the soil mixture for sowing. To do this, approximately four-fifths of the substrate is stuffed into a container, and the rest of the earth is sifted into the container through a sieve and the surface is carefully leveled. This is an important condition for the seeds to be drawn into the soil by moisture and germinate successfully.

Sowing is carried out on a moistened substrate. Watering is carried out from a spray bottle. A good effect will be when sowing seeds on an additional thin layer of snow. During the thawing process, it will draw in the seed to the desired depth. In addition, melt water will serve as a kind of activator for the awakening of plant seeds.

Modern growers also produce pre-coated flower seeds. It is more convenient to work with them, they do not require the use of sand for sowing and they can be laid out in neat furrows one seed at a time.

Petunia crop care

The container with crops is covered with glass or transparent film and left in a warm place. Care consists in carefully moistening the soil and ventilating the container.

The emergence of seedlings can be expected no more than a week after sowing the seeds. Seedlings need good lighting, therefore, in regions where daylight hours are still less than 12 hours at this time, additional lighting is organized for plants. Moisturizing is carried out in the morning. There is no need to rush to remove the glass from the container, but it is lifted so that air can circulate freely.

Picking and nipping seedlings

They start picking when the seedlings have 2 true leaves. Before this, the seedlings are watered and the soil is allowed to soak in moisture, so that it is easier to get the roots of the plants out of the soil. You do not need to try to take out of the container one plant at a time. You can dig in and separate a whole bunch of seedlings, move it onto saucers and here carefully separate the roots with thin skewers or toothpicks.

After transplanting into separate pots, the seedlings are left in a bright place, but protected from bright sunlight. To do this, shade with paper, cardboard at noon. As the soil dries up, watering is carried out.

After the appearance of three pairs of leaves, the top is pinched. Thanks to this agricultural technique, the seedlings do not stretch out and due to the appearance of side shoots, a more lush flowering of the future bush will be ensured.