Pinching Petunia Correctly

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

Petunia has been at its peak of popularity for many years. It is grown everywhere and amazes with its color and variety of forms. For fans of this plant, we offer information that will help to achieve continuous and lush flowering

A little about petunia

It is difficult to find someone unfamiliar with petunia. It is present everywhere: on the streets, in parks, squares, they like to plant it in apartments and in personal plots. This annual plant has the shape of a fluffy bush covered with buds. For cultivation, it does not require special conditions, loves the sun and tolerates partial shade well, with regular watering it is not afraid of high temperatures. Flowering begins in late spring and lasts until late autumn.

At the moment, more than 70 varieties are available for florists, which are divided into types: cascading, bush, ampelous. By the type of peduncles on double, one- and two-color. Petunia fully gives up its potential only with proper care. Let's talk about an important point in growing - formative pinching.

Why do you need to pinch a petunia? Getting healthy and beautiful plants is easy. To do this, you need to properly plant and correctly shape. Sowing and picking are important moments in the life of a plant, but pinching is the main fact for obtaining numerous inflorescences and a beautiful bush. This technique stimulates the growth of new stems, increases bushiness and promotes abundant bud formation.

The benefits of pruning are aimed not only at activating the development of lateral shoots and increasing bushiness, but also for stopping growth and preventing seedlings from pulling out. In the process of further vegetation, the bush acquires an elegant splendor and rounded shape. Your seedling will become stockier and sturdier.

Rules for pinching petunias

The essence of pruning is cutting / stopping the upper shoots. This must be done at a certain time and not everyone knows about it. Young plants are selected for this "operation". The seedling at this time must contain at least five true leaves. The manipulation is carried out with fingers or with sharp scissors. And it is also useful to know that when re-pruning, a practical florist does not throw away the cut parts, since this is an excellent planting material.

So, what rules must be followed in order for the procedure to be successful? When growing your seedlings, you need to make sure that they do not overgrow. Therefore, when the plants get stronger and five or six leaves are formed on them, they are ready for pinching. The process does not take long: you cut or pinch off the crown, leaving five leaves. The plant reacts to this event calmly and, as a result of cupping, forms new points of growth - it begins to bush. After a week, you will notice intense formation of young stems from the leaf sinuses.

It is useful to know that it is recommended to carry out the tops-pruning event after transplanting into open ground or diving, and only after full adaptation and rooting. Usually 4-6 days pass after disembarkation.

How to prune a petunia? Your goal is to remove the crown when you first trim. During work, you need to try to less injure the stem. A month later, when full-fledged new shoots grow, repeated pinching is carried out. To ensure high-quality flowering and to obtain the largest possible inflorescences, petunias need to be fed periodically.

Cutting petunias after pruning

For those wishing to increase the number of petunias, we advise you to prepare a container for collecting the cuttings that have appeared. After repeated pruning, many cropped shoots remain - this is an excellent material for planting. Using them, you can get new plants in a short time. For rooting, you just need to put them in water. Before doing this, remove the lower leaves, leaving the upper rosette intact. After the roots appear, you have a full-fledged seedling ready for planting.

In conclusion, I would like to say that for abundant flowering and the formation of a beautiful bush, a number of activities need to be carried out. The scheme of actions looks like this: sowing - picking - double pruning. In addition, you need regular watering, feeding, removing dried inflorescences and old growth. Thanks to this, you will get an abundant and long-lasting flowering.