City beauties, or how to grow petunia from seeds.

Among plants that "settled down" in urban conditions, the most honorable place belongs to petunia. Its ability to blossom blossom from May to October, living in a small pot or balcony box, earned deserved appreciation from urban florists.

This also explains the attention of breeders to this amazing flower. Over a relatively short period of time, a large number of new varieties, hybrids and garden groups have been identified, emphasizing the various virtues of petunia.

How to grow petunia from seeds.

Petunia belongs to the family of Solanaceae and is a perennial herbaceous plant or shrub. But in our climate it is bred as an annual, in other words, petunia is grown every year from seeds.

It should be noted that with this method of reproduction, some properties of hybrids (especially complex flower shapes or unusual shades) are lost in subsequent generations. In order to preserve them, vegetative reproduction is used.

But the question "how to grow petunia from seeds" remains relevant, since the lion's share of plants intended for decorating city houses and streets, is born thanks to annual seed reproduction.

So, let's take a closer look at what makes petunia growing at home and how to grow petunia from seeds.

Let's start with the definition of terms. Petunia develops long enough (from 70 to 90 days from planting to flowering, depending on the variety). Therefore, in order to get flowering plants in May-June, it is necessary to plant seeds for seedlings in February.

But for normal development of shoots, good lighting is required. Short February days it can not provide, so the sprouts get sick, stretch and do not have time to develop a full root system. Therefore, it is possible to plant petunia seeds in February if it is possible to prolong the daylight with artificial light sources.

If the shoots have to rely only on natural lighting, then the planting of seeds can begin in the second half of March.

Petunia seeds are very small. This imposes restrictions on the preparation of the soil for sowing. It should be loose, light and nutritious.

The prepared soil is evenly moistened. Mixed with sand seeds are sown, sprayed and covered with glass. The temperature required for seed germination is 20-23 ° C.

Seedlings appear on the 6-7th day. After this, a daily two-time spraying is necessary. The glass is turned over and wiped with each spraying. Remove it after the shoots begin to appear their own leaves.

All this time, you should be careful not to allow excessive overmoistening of the soil, it is detrimental to petunias. If the shoots look bad and are clearly going to die, reduce watering and add a little dry sand.

Adult and strengthened sprouts dive into plastic cups, preserving for further cultivation only well-developed strong plants.

Cultivation of petunia flowers.

Those who want to know how to grow petunia from seeds, it is necessary to remember constantly that this heat-loving and light-loving plant. And to withstand these two conditions is important throughout the development of seedlings, if in the future from petunias expect a plentiful and lush bloom.

Breeders brought out varieties of petunia, resistant to lower temperatures. Some of them (varieties) can survive even short-term frosts, which allows them to be planted in cities in the open ground at the end of April or early May.

The distance between plants planted on the bed is 15-20 cm for small-flowered varieties and 20-25 cm for large-flowered varieties. When landing in boxes and containers, this distance is reduced by one and a half times. The distance between ampel plants is 20-25 cm. The transplantation is usually carried by the plant easily.

The abundant flowering of petunia, especially living in tight volumes (boxes or pots), is supported by feeding. It is carried out during the entire period of flowering with the help of universal means for flowering plants.

An untidy view of the plant can give rain and wind, damaging the delicate flowers. Therefore, in unprotected areas it is better to plant varieties that are more resistant to the effects of these natural phenomena.

It is desirable to remove faded flowers of petunias, giving the plant a more well-groomed appearance and directing its efforts to further flowering. It also makes sense to shorten too long lashes, "dropping out" from the overall neat appearance of the plant.