How to plant petunias for seedlings and care for flowers before transplanting into open ground

Petunia is a capricious beauty known for her exacting planting and care. Sowing petunias for seedlings is carried out according to strict rules. If you miss something, then the plants will be frail, and the flowering will be short and expressionless. Experienced gardeners have figured out how to properly process and germinate seeds, what soil and fertilizer the flower prefers, as well as its requirements for moisture and light.

Plant features

Petunia is an ornamental crop that is grown as an annual. Graceful bell flowers of various shades and shapes decorate both garden plots and window sills. Both at home and outdoors, flowering lasts an average of 3.5 months.

For any garden arrangement, suitable varieties of petunias are easily selected, since the shades of flowers vary from white to deep red. There are yellow, blue, pink and even black varieties, as well as with beautiful edging. A densely blooming petunia is a sign of a confident gardener and a reason to be proud.

Sowing dates

Optimal age transplanting seedlings into open ground - 11-13 weeks. Overexposing the shoots is not recommended, as well as moving it to the garden too early. Sowing times are calculated depending on the temperature in the region. Petunia seedlings respond poorly to spring frosts, so they are planted with a stable temperature. If you plan to relocate seedlings to the site in May, then sowing seeds is carried out at the end of February. And if young petunias are planted in June, then the seeds are dived in early spring.

Feature of sowing in February: at this time of year, the sun's heat is still not enough for the harmonious development of seedlings. Therefore, when growing seedlings at home, you will have to use phytolamps to add 2-3 hours to daylight hours in the morning or evening. If this is not possible, then it is better to plant petunias for seedlings in early or mid-March. Adequate amount of light is the key to active growth and bud formation.

Preparatory stage

In order for the seedlings of petunia to grow strong and give abundant flowering, you need to take care of it even before sowing the seeds. It all starts with the choice of soil, capacity and preparation for planting.

The container should be reasonably wide and deep. Seeds are germinated under a foil or transparent cover. The greenhouse effect significantly accelerates germination. From available tools, plastic containers are suitable: they can contain seedlings before transplanting.

After picking at the stage of 3-4 true leaves, boxes are selected with a separate hole for each sprout. They can be either wooden or plastic. The bottom of the cookware must be equipped with drainage holes. Since stagnant water will not benefit the root system, a moisture-wicking layer of expanded clay or broken brick is laid on the bottom of the boxes.

The flower is picky about the composition of the soil - petunia should be planted only in nutritious soil and fertilized from the very beginning of cultivation. Suitable soil for indoor or flowering plants, purchased in a specialized store. However, experienced gardeners mix such soil with peat.

The composition of the soil optimal for petunia:

• 0.5 parts of sand;
• 1 part peat;
• 1 part of sod land;
• 1 part humus.

Petunias prefer neutral or slightly acidic soils.To reduce acidity, lime or wood ash is added to the soil. The soil, regardless of its composition, should be well loosened, it is even allowed to pass it through a coarse sieve.

Advice! Do not forget about soil disinfection. Water it liberally with pink potassium permanganate solution before sowing. In order to prevent the seedlings from being exposed to fungal diseases, use a fungicide solution. Scalding the soil with boiling water helps from pests. Perform the procedures a few days before sowing. Treat the seedling boxes too, for example, with formalin solution or other antiseptic.

Types of seeds

Petunia seeds are sold either in bulk or in granules. The scatter is the seeds harvested directly from the plant. The seeds of petunias are quite easy to distinguish: they are very small, usually not exceeding 0.5 mm, resembling poppy seeds, but smaller.

The granulated seeds are encased in a water-soluble shell and therefore require much more moisture to germinate. Granular material is more convenient to sow, it is larger, which allows the seeds to be placed in the substrate at a certain interval. The germination rate of pelleted seeds is higher than that of ordinary seeds, but they are more expensive. On the other hand, the placer can be considered for quality.

As for plant varieties, for all varieties of petunias, the rules for processing, planting seeds and caring for sprouts are similar. When choosing planting material, you need to focus on its quality and combination with other plants in the flowerbed. For growing in hanging pots, special ampelous varieties are taken.

Several ways to sow seeds

The containers and soil are prepared, it remains to choose the sowing method. There are different methods for mash and pellets. Since the planting material is very small, it is not buried in the soil, but scattered over the surface. For better germination, the seeds are sprinkled with a thin layer of substrate, but no more than 1-2 mm.

A scattering of petunia seeds is sown in three ways: mixed with sand, use snow or a wet toothpick.

Method one: sand

Mixing the placer with sand facilitates its even distribution in the substrate, which means proper growth. Sowing stages:

1. The disinfected container is covered with soil. The soil is watered abundantly with settled water.
2. A scattering of seeds is poured into a deep plate, a little sand is added to them. Everything is thoroughly mixed.
3. The mixture is transferred to a moistened substrate: you need to carefully scatter it in a thin, even layer.
4. Now you need to moisten the scatter using a spray from a spray bottle. Why you can't use a watering can: A powerful jet of water will deepen small and light seeds into the soil more than necessary, and they may not germinate.
5. It remains to sprinkle the seeds with 1-2 mm of substrate.

Method two: snow

To grow petunia seeds evenly using a thin layer of snow:

1. The soil fits in the box, you do not need to water it. Snow is distributed on top in a thin layer, no more than 1.5 mm.
2. Now seeds are poured directly onto the snow. They will be clearly visible against a white background.
3. Using a toothpick, the scatter is spread more evenly.
4. The snow will gradually melt, thereby pulling the seeds into the soil and moistening it. There is no need to sprinkle the seed with soil additionally.

Method three: toothpick

Another way to get even seedlings:

1. The seeds are spread over a white sheet of paper.
2. The tip of a toothpick is moistened in water, and the seed is picked up by it.
3. Now it moves into the ground. The seed is easily separated with a second (dry) toothpick.
4. This is how all the seeds are distributed. The method is convenient when a limited number of seedlings is required.

Advice! Fill the soil in the box so that 2-3 cm remains to its edge.

Granular seeds in peat tablets

The better growing petunias from pelleted seeds:

1. They are easier to spread evenly over the ground. This will ensure the same nutrition for each sprout.
2. Subsequently, the seedlings are easier to dive without damaging the root system.
3. No need to feed.

Peat tablets are a special substrate for the germination of pelleted petunia seeds. The method is convenient in that the maximum amount of material grows, and there is no need for picking. Tablets come in different sizes, for petunia seeds medium, 4-5 cm in diameter, are suitable.

How to properly plant a granular seed in a peat tablet:

1. Peat is placed in special plastic containers.
2. A few hours before planting, the tablets must be abundantly moistened until swollen. Peat absorbs water well, but if excess liquid has accumulated at the bottom of the container, then it must be drained.
3. The seeds are picked up with tweezers and moved to the center of the tablet, there is a special depression there.
4. For the seeds to sprout faster, the tablet must be well moistened again. This time, this is done with a spray bottle to prevent the petunia seeds from deepening.
5. After a few minutes, stir the loosened tablet shell.
6. It remains to cover the container with a transparent lid and move to a warm place for germination.

Seedling care

Immediately after sowing, the container should be covered with plastic wrap, creating a mini-greenhouse, and provide good lighting. Therefore, the box immediately moves to the brightest place in the house. Additional lighting is organized using a phytolamp.

The temperature for germination should be stable and warm, approximately + 24-25 degrees. Daily spraying of the substrate is required. If condensation accumulates on the lid, remove it with a dry cloth.

After about a week, the first shoots appear from the seeds. Now you can lower the temperature to + 18-20 degrees. Every day you need to open the seedlings for ten minutes of airing (hardening). Gradually, the procedure becomes more frequent. With the appearance of the first real leaves, the cover or film is removed permanently.

Picking is a crucial stage, which consists in moving the sprouts into separate containers. From the moment when they have 3-4 true leaves, further proximity in one container only slows down their development. Healthy shoots 4-5 cm long are transplanted. Since petunias have a branched root system, they need special care when transplanting. It is carried out by the transshipment method, that is, a clod of earth is stored on the roots.

Pick rules:

1. According to the rules described above, a container, drainage and soil are prepared. This can be a large common box, but it is better to dive petunias into separate boxes.
2. Each sprout is buried with a wooden stick to a depth of 3 cm at an angle of 45 degrees. This is necessary to pinch off the edge of the central root, so that a strong branched root system is formed.
3. The sprout is moved into a new box and covered with earth so that about 3.5 cm remains on the surface, that is, up to the cotyledon leaves.

How to care for seedlings after picking:

1. With the appearance of new leaves, it is necessary to prepare the seedlings for moving to open ground. The room where the box is located is ventilated for 10 minutes every day, gradually extending the procedure to 30 minutes. The temperature should drop by an average of 10-15 degrees.
2. Now we need to create diffused light so that the sprouts do not suffer.
3. Seedlings require moderate moisture. Lack of water leads to drying out, and excess leads to fungal diseases. You can water petunias from a pallet, so the plant itself regulates the amount of moisture. No crust should form on the soil, this prevents oxygen from reaching the roots.
4. Petunia seedlings are in dire need of feeding. The first fertilization is carried out already 2 weeks after sowing. Immediately after picking, you can help the seedlings adapt by adding nitrogen fertilizer to the soil for growth.
5. To strengthen the aboveground part, a spraying procedure is introduced with a solution of complex liquid fertilizer. The preparations "Crystalon" and "Uniflor Micro" are suitable.

Care for seedlings in peat tablets is somewhat different. Until the emergence of shoots, they are kept at a temperature of +25 degrees, then it is reduced to +18. If the room is warmer, then the seedlings will begin to stretch. Like simple seedlings, sprouts in peat tablets are sensitive to lack and excess of moisture. The main difference is that they do not require feeding. All the necessary substances for growth are already contained in the peat tablet. In addition, there is no need for a pick in the usual sense. The seedlings are placed in a container with soil directly in the tablet. In doing so, the protective shell is carefully removed.

Advice! Sometimes the roots have time to grow through the tablet shell. In this case, just make a few cuts and carefully peel off the cover. The roots should not be damaged.

Possible difficulties

When growing petunia seedlings at home, flower growers notice that the plants turn yellow, stretch, dry. Sometimes this happens even if all the rules of care are followed.

If undesirable phenomena are observed, petunias need additional help:

1. Chlorosis is a disease caused by iron deficiency. The seedlings begin to turn yellow and wither. It is necessary to reduce watering and apply appropriate fertilizationeg iron chelate.
2. Seedlings do not develop. You need to pay attention to the looseness of the soil and feed the petunias with nitrogen.
3. If the seedlings are stretched, then nitrogen fertilizers are replaced with phosphorus and calcium.
4. If the bushes are not dense enough, you can pinch the top or feed them with the Epin solution.

Landing in open ground

Planting petunias in open ground is carried out 11-13 weeks after sowing seeds, and falls around the end of May or mid-June. Seedlings are removed from the pots along with an earthen clod. The transplant is carried out on a cloudy day or in the evening when there is no sun. Before removing a seedling, the soil is watered abundantly. This prevents root damage.

Advice! On the plot, plant petunias next to begonias, levkoy, irises, tulips, snapdragons, marigolds, hyacinths, lilies.

The capricious petunia strikes with amazing shades of flowers. Their bright scattering will decorate any terrace, balcony or summer cottage. Starting with sowing seeds, you need to carefully monitor the seedlings to achieve abundant bud formation. If everything was done correctly, then bright flowers will adorn the site throughout the summer and until mid-September.