Lime Bicolor Petunia help

I got this gorgeous petunia a number of weeks ago. I wish I could say that it looks like this now. The colors slowly began to fade, so that all blooms are now just the lime. I've tried it in all locations, thinking sun was too hot, etc.

I searched and found Proven winners said

another view.

I grew Sophistica Lime Bicolor from seed. I noticed that the color pattern changes with heat so right now most of the blooms are mostly lime green. During cooler spring,I had more of the dark pink in the blooms

Late May

Well it has been hot! I know from the leaf color that it needed some nitrogen. I re-planted it last night. I was surprised that it was not that root bound. I just put a low, natural fertilizer on it. I might start giving it a bloom booster in a couple weeks, but I can't do anything about the heat. :(

Thanks for the info.

We know heat and humidity in Arkansas...it's our state mascot....LOL

I checked my bicolor....it's mostly lime green now.

Okay, so I'm not losing my mind. Maybe in the fall the color will return.

I think temperatures do affect the bloom colour, stronger & patterns are more prominent in cooler temps. Also, petunias are fertilizer junkies. We had very cold & wet conditions for weeks. My Just like Piccasso foliage turned lime colour and I'm having a tough time getting back to green. Te slow realease fertilizer only works if it is above 20ºC or 68ºF. We have had only the last few days with warmer than that. I did give them a shot of Miracle Grow 20-20-20 with the hose sprayer and there is a bit of a difference. It feels like end of May temps

Okay. so foliar feeding is good. Do you just always feed all purpose?

I asked the grower at the greenhouse that I work at and this is what he told me:

With soil-less potting mixes, there are a few things that happen. With my problem of pale foliage, it is a soil PH problem. Also, if they get waterlogged, the plant doesn't uptake the nutrients well. Some petunias are more finiky than orthers. Need PH of 5.2 to 5.8 for petunias.
So his advisment is to add Epsom Salts to the water to help the plant "uptake" the nutrients. For the foliage colour, I will need to add some iron chelate. He also advises to apply calcium nitrate every few weeks at the recommended dosage. Calcium deficiencies affect the flowers. Most fertilizers do not have calcium because it will react with other nutrients "in the box". Adding the calcium as a suppliment is the way to go. Apparently there are "out-of-the-box" supplements avaiable to adjust soil PH.

I know with roses, the Epsom Salts made a huge difference. bigger blooms, stronger colours etc.

As far as colour in the flowers, the Epsom Salts will make a difference, as well as the calcium.

Holy Moly, we need chemist degrees!

Hmm, I'll have to go test my PH. I thought the pale foliage might just mean it needed a shot of nitrogen.

How much epsom salts do you add? And to how much water? Please!

The directions for epsom salt use are on the back of the bags we buy in the supermarket down here in Florida. For tomatoes and roses it states "one teaspoon per foot plant height every 2 weeks". For houseplants it states "one teaspoon per gallon of water and feed to plants every 1-4 weeks". I'm assuming treatment of individual plants would be at this rate.

Jon

skellogg,

I just spoon out some Epsom Salts around the base of the plants. As you normally water or if it rains, it dissolves & seeps in. Here's a great site that explains how & why it works with plants and recommended amounts.
http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/garden_benefits.htm

I do the same thing Joanne. I attempted to mix them in with water in a watering container and what a mess. The granules were clogging up the holes in the container.

Great !!! Thanks!!

So Mrs_ED did the epsom salts help your petunias I just used it last week but they look a little better now after cutting them back too but they really looked like gonners before. I have two new blooms now :)

amorecuore, I noticed the salts weren't disolving like you said and let the jugs of water sit out in the sun to heat it up and they disolved better. Wouldn't have done any good for me to put them in the pots and waiting for rain that never comes this year! It's been a rough year for all of my pots.

I didn't use the salts, I just planted them in the ground. They got better color right away on the blooms, but the leaves still look bad.

I've had some really pretty pink petunias think they were waves this year that doesn't have a lot of foliage on them just figured it was because of no rain but they have plenty of blooms on them I got those because of Joannabnana and her threads lol Never really tried them before usually I just grow what seeds I get in the swaps I'm going to start taking a lot of her suggestions for next year lol She does know her tunnies! I've already got notes I'm using for next year :)

I'm not much of a petunia grower but if I can get ones like hers I might be! I was really happy with my Lime Bicolors they had so many different patterns on them I think it's just getting late in the season I don't usually have much left around this time of year in the way of petunias seems like they are all tired out then maybe I'm just not doing something right I'm just hoping the epsom salts brings them out of it for now. I went around and watered the neighbor's that got them from me with the salts too lol

I'll have to check in on her stuff.

I planted some waves years ago and got lots of reseeds. Sadly, I had to redo the raised bed they were in, so lost a good number of those. So this year I planted some more waves just in hopes that I'd get volunteers for next year.

My petunias weren't that spectacular this year. We had a very cold & wet growing season. There were very few days that it got over 23ºC which is 73ºF, so the petunias became a bit waterlogged and their uptake of nutrients were hindered. Hoping for a better year next year.
I have some bi-colored petunias in the basket above the window

and some in this mixed container

Sad show of Pinstripe petunia (above was Salmon Flambe)

Windowboxes were ok but not great

Lot's of Pink in this container group

These looked good with some dahlias

They look fabulous to me! Your yard in simply scrumptious! I would be thrilled if mine looked that bad, lol!

Very nice. Joanne, most people would consider your blooms to be spectacular. You set your standards far higher compared to most. Can't do anything about the weather you're dealt. Most everywhere in the US had much higher than average temps this summer, which isn't good for blooms either. Sometimes just being "average" (as in temps) is a very good thing.

I agree skellogg,

joannabanana's garden really is/was stunning! Wouldn't mind if mine looks like hers this coming season. We haven't had Spring this year - we went from Winter temperatures BANG! straight to Summer highs. Our official Spring date is 1 September, but we have been having temperatures in the high 80s (30-32deg C) for more than a week now. The poor plants are struggling, and I have to water every evening...

Elsa

Joannabanana I think I'm going to try some of those Salmon Flambe for next year they have patterns on them kind of like the lime bicolors don't they. I love the window box above your window that's so cool! Sure looks like you had a good year to me your yard is beautiful!

Thanks everyone. I really liked a couple of petunias that I bought: Sophistica Antique Shades and Debonair Dusty Rose. The colors where stronger than Salmon Flambe. Most of the petunias in my pictures are started from seed. (I'm at work so sorry, no photos of Antique Shades or Dusty Rose)

I just planted the new "Sophistica Lime Green" petunia seeds last week, along with "Dreams Red" and "Dreams White". Hope they work out and look nice together this winter.

I love the Dreams...Huge flowers that are star shaped

Gosh to be in your zone amorecuore, if I could pitch a pot at you I would lol I'd love to be starting some petunias right now ;) I tried to move to Fl. several years ago and my son wouldn't go with me have regretted not going anyway every since!

And joannabanana I can't believe you bought petunias as many as you grow from seeds you sound as bad as me with all of these perennials I have grown from seed and can't resist the nursuries Ha! I'm trying to cut down on annuals but you and your petunias, you are an enabler joannabanana LOL

Well I'm just bananas for your pentunias. What an adorable garden you have.

I do like the year round gardening in South Florida, particularly from late October through mid April. The temperatures stay at or below 80, and the choices for what will grow multiplies by ten. The 2011 seed packs have just hit the shelves in the past week or two. It's a sign that it's about time to get things started.

I started working at a grower (annuals & poinsettias) last April. It was very hard not to buy extras. Ended up bring home quite a few things.

Love the Job!! Task at hand is creating next spring's catalogue. It's been a lot of work, but very enjoyable. It's been amazing to be directly involved with decided the plants to grow, the varieties & colors. Also planned container and hanging basket recipes. AWESOME!!!

Holy Petunias!!! there is a huge selection with both vegetative and seed varieties

Oh my! What a dream job that would be! Getting paid to do something that much fun that you love! I want one like that, teeheehee! And bonus! You can probably take home any sick plants you want for nothing! lol!

Anybody want to suggest where to buy seeds for interesting petunia varieties? I do grow mine from seed. I like the waves, and I've tried the Dolce varieties twice now and have been disappointed both years. Never heard of the Sophistica until I read this thread.

Swallowtail Garden Seeds has a good selection of petunia seeds (78 varieties) at reasonable prices. I also like to look at varieties available through Harris Seeds (new 2011 varieties already listed) and Hazzard's Greenhouse (over 300 different varieties and mixes!!!!). Seeds are quite pricey/expensive on these two sites, but they are very good sites to look at and gather ideas for next year. If you find something you like on those sites you can always do a google search to see if you can find them at a better price elsewhere. It definitely takes more than a few minutes to go through all the varieties at Hazzard's Greenhouse, but it sure is fun looking at all of them.

thanks, I'll take a look at those