Passion-NUT for Petunias 2011

To continue the discussion and sharing photos of petunias. The other thread was getting a bit long.

Checking in! Oh my , thats lovely!

Those are "potunias" in propagation trays. Potunias are daylight neutral, meaning they will set bud and flower with less than 12 hours of daylight, hence all the flowers today. I have a few colours in mind to try out this year. Very cool colours like Lobster and Papaya. Potunias grow in a round mounding ball.

A few good petunia/calibrachoa web sites:

www.potunias.com (very unique strong colours)
www.ballhort.com (info on the new Black Velvet, Pinstripe & Phantom, also Suncatcher, Sun Spun)
www.wave-rave.com (Wave Family)
www.provenwinners.com for Supertunias and Superbells calibrachoa (also has container recipes)
www.minifamousclub.com for miniFamous Calibrachoa (also has container recipes)
www.stokeseeds.com (info on most seed varieties) my favourite reference for plant info and seed starting tips


This message was edited Mar 9, 2011 6:48 AM

Oh thats funny! POT-tunias! I like that!

Joanna you do such great work! Keep 'em coming!

Have tried and liked Potunias. They are a fairly common winter grown variety for South Florida. Petunias grow during the short days of winter here. Choosing a day length neutral variety is your best choice.

Which is a variety that does best on a very hot, south side of the house? I haven't had the best of luck with them. Some of the waves get so leggy and I don't like seeing bare stems.
I have seen baskets that are so full, what am I doing wrong?

bluegrass - I find I need to cut mine back about half way through the growing season and give them a nice dose of fertilizer. That keeps them going the rest of the season.

ok, do the supertunias do better than waves?

I can grow a 5 foot tall marigold, but getting those wonderful full potunias is a challenge for me too!

I grow these and for the life of me can not have a full pot! LOL http://plantstep.com/FlowerCatalog.psl?action=10416&Page=1&Date=04/05/11

Well, watch, I wil boast onthem marigolds last season and who knows what they wil do this season, but I got the itch and hop they will do well. Praying they will do good this year too!

As for this seasons tunias.. hmm mmmm dont know yet.

All I can say is pinch pinch pinch when they are small and I continue to pinch about 1/3 of the stems per week through the season. It seems to help a lot.
Ann

Aren't shockwave white supposed to be white? I got the seeds from Burpees. What a surprise! I do think they're pretty, though.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8474199

Pam

Pam

what a pretty delicate color!

Could the PH have anything to do with that?

I agree with Ann. Lots of continuous pinching and pruning back gives you a longer period of a fuller look. The type of petunia can also be a factor. There are mounding types of petunias that keep a compact look with little care.

What name do I look for when searching for a mounding type at a nursery?

Thanks for the advice on pinching. Will try it this year. Have cut back in the past but guess I cut back to far- they didn't die but never flowered again. Who wants petunias with no flowers.

I can't remember specific varieties that are mounding. If they have plant tags sometimes they will refer to the petunia as "mounding" or "spreading" or "trailing" variety. If its a larger sized petunia plant sometimes you can visually tell that it's a mounding variety. They're more compact, upright and uniform in nature. Many people are familiar with the "Wave" Petunias, but don't realiize there are 5 different types of "Wave" Petunias (Wave, Shock Wave, Easy Wave, Tidal Wave, Double Wave). The "Shock Wave" and "Easy Wave" are the more mounding types of Wave petunias. "Easy Wave" petunias have typical sized blooms and "Shock Wave" varieties have petite sized blooms. To read all about the different Wave types and colors available you can visit their website at www.wave-rave.com.

Took this picture this morning. They're a bit damp from the lawn sprinklers. These three red petunias were labeled as "mounding type". I bought them and planted them in this location last October. They have only been pruned once since last October and have remained fairly compact on their own.

cool!

Different Mounding Series: (many different colors in each series)
Famous, Fortunia, Potunia, Sun Spun, Suncatcher, Surprise, Sweet Sunshine, Debonair, Sophistica,

Phantom and Pinstripe are mounding, and the Black Velvet is more upright

So... do you pinch back wave petunias too? I'm just trying my hand at them this year...

Hi avianut, I do, I pinch them a lot in the spring and then intermittently through the growing season.
Ann

Happy Birthday, Joannabanana! Hope your year is filled with everything your heart desires!

Celebrate!

Thanks! It's been really busy and I haven't been on DG a lot. I hope to post some pics of the flowers soon. Rainy days right now so I might get some transplanting down

Happy Birthday Joanna!

Joanna B Many Happy returns and celebrate all month!
Give me a call if you get up here.
Alberta Ann