Lovely Petunias: Planting and Care

Petunia is one of the most beautiful, sun-loving, abundantly blossoming to the frosts, annual flowers. It is grown to decorate windows, balconies, containers and pots. It has a unique ability to adapt to weather conditions, agrotechnical technologies and our northern climate.

All kinds of this plant, except for terry, easily reproduce by seeds. Flower seeds are very small (in one gram from 5000 to 10000 pieces), they retain their germination capacity 2-3 years. To get a strong, beautiful plant, you have to tinker with him fairly. Shoots are very small, thin, require nutritious loose soil, careful watering, sunlight, heat, fertilizing and, most importantly, love. And then from one tiny seed grows a beautiful flower.

And now let's go through the whole way of growing petunia: planting, nursing, flowering.

The soil for sowing is prepared in autumn. It should be quite nutritious, loose, well retaining moisture. You can offer a combination of garden soil, sand, humus in a ratio of 1: 2: 1. It is prepared in autumn, and in winter they give a good freeze.

Petunia develops very slowly, it will not take a month or two, until it blooms, so in January and February, planting of petunias for seedlings is carried out .

Seeds of petunias are without shell and with a shell. In bags where the seeds without shell, as a rule, there are much more. But they are so small that they are difficult to sow in the ground. If the seeds with a shell, there are not many of them in the package, they are more expensive. But they can easily be expanded on the surface of the soil. When buying seeds, you should pay attention to the expiration date and the manufacturer. You can not buy seeds overdue, and the manufacturer is better to choose from the responses of friends and acquaintances.

Thawed soil is decontaminated by steaming or treated with a solution of fungicides. The treated soil mixture is covered in a container, moistened, leveled and only after that we spread the seeds of petunia on the surface without sprinkling. Sometimes snow is placed on the ground, and a seedling is planted along the snow. Petunia, or rather her seeds, melting snow draws into the soil to a shallow depth. A container with seeded seeds is placed in a bag that is tied and put in the sun.

Care should be taken to ensure that the soil does not dry out, especially when seeded seeds are sown. In order for the dragee to dissolve, moist soil and a temperature of 22-25 ° C are necessary. But at the same time it is necessary to air the seedlings and remove the condensate from the walls of the package. To ensure sprouting of the breath, make holes in the film. Very often beginning flower growers admit one big mistake: the seeds have risen, and the petunia planting is immediately freed from shelter. And small, gentle sprouts as a result of "fall". The plastic bag creates a special microclimate for germinating seeds: high humidity, high temperature and no draft, and you can not deprive a small germ of protection.

Shoots must be accustomed to room air gradually, opening the package immediately for an hour, then for several hours, and only then for the whole day. Seedling seedlings can now be placed on the windowsill to be tempered. To get high-quality petunia seedlings, planting it is sprinkled with a growth stimulant. When two or three real leaves appear, the plant is dived and a little shade for greater survival.

After a week and a half after the picking, the seedlings can be supplemented with complex water-soluble fertilizers and fertilize every two weeks. And the flower grows till the transplant into soil, having turned to this time into a bush with buds and even with flowers.

It is desirable to regularly pinch each plant over 5 - 7 leaves, so that the bush becomes thicker, new shoots are formed, and there are more flower stalks. By the way, you can use the cut off tops of petunias for cuttings. Planting these tops will give many new plants, and there will be more beautiful flowers in your flower garden.