Annuals: Dolce Petunia series, 0 by Weezingreens

Weezingreens wrote:
I grow all my petunias from seed, and many colors and varieties. The seeds are small, so I mix the seed with sand to get an even distribution. I have had trouble getting pelletized seed to germinate in a timely manner. I sow my seeds indoors in early spring.

As to collecting seeds from hybrids, they will probably not be the same as the original plant for more than one reason. First of all, they will cross pollinate with other petunias in proximity, and second of all, they may revert back to one of the petunias used to cross into a hybrid.

Most hybrids are registered before being distributed to such places as Parks. I doubt that they grow much of their own seeds, if any. Since producing valid hybrid plants requires such strict isolation and pollination control, it would be impossilbe for one seed company to do this.

Some seed companies will tell you where their seeds come from. I believe Thompson & Morgan sends out a list. Sometimes the seeds purchased are not up to standard for some reason, and I would imagine they will purchase this Dolce seed from another company next year, or discontinue offering it all together if it doesn't prove itself to be acceptable. I assume they must grow test batches themselves... if not, they ought to.

I collect seeds from many of my hybrid plants, many of which are F1 hybrids. I try to keep them separated from other varieties when I do this. For instance, I supply the City of Seward with their downtown baskets. One year, I used Celebrity Blue Petunias in them. In the fall, I retreived the baskets and collected lots of seed. I was fairly comfortable in saying the petunias were going to be blue... and in my experience, the petunias from those seed have been. Had I mixed in white petunias, I wouldn't have been so sure.

As for coming their hybrid status, they could be considered F2 at the very best, and an unknown variety at the worst. Sometimes you'll find an F2 version of one of those expensive varieties, and for the most part, they are much the same, but they may have smaller flowers, less vivid colors, or they are less compact in habit, etc. That is what I find with my own collected seed.

I purchased Frillytunia seed this year from Stokes Seed. I've always had good luck with them. Last year they only offered Frillytunia Rose, and I really liked the look. This season there was White and there was Burgundy, as well. I purchased seed for all three. The rose & burgundy came out as expected, but the first blooms of the white were streaked with pink... lovely, but not what was expected. For my purposes, it didn't matter. If I were using them in a formal garden pattern as a landscaper, it probably would have. I should still let them know.

If you look at the PF options for entering plants, one of the options under seed collecting says that seed collecting is not recommended for this plant because it may not come back true. When I'm filling in the seed collecting options for hybrids, I check that one off, as well as the ways to collect the seed. Sometimes, the joy and economy of collecting seed outweighs the dis-similarities, and in some cases the resulting plants have advantages of their own. My second generation blue petunias have the wonderful scent of old time petunias and the lovely color of the original blue ones.

If any of you are displeased with the results of the seeds you purchased from Parks, you should let them know. If they do not respond or the response is unsatisfactory, report them in the Garden Watchdog. If they receive enough bad press, they will certainly change suppliers for this cultivar or discontinue selling it.