petunias

Has anyone had any luck growing petunias from seed. I never did this before, I always bought them already grown. I've got next week off from work and intend to sart about a dozen flats of flowers and veggies. Could use some advise so it won't be a disaster.

jordung,
Since you aren't sowing in the ground you won't have to worry about the soil temp. Just keep them warm [70 deg] and moist. Should see germ. in a few days- 5-14 generally.
The Pet seeds are so very tiny that I don't cover mine with soil at all. Just watering them in seems to be sufficient.
I usually grow old-timey re-seeders[love that smell!!} or I just sow the seeds where I want them to grow. This past fall I winter-sowed a flat of them for the first time. I am seeing a lot of green sprouts so I guess I did ok.

What varieties are you growing? There are sooo many gorgeous Pets to choose from.

Good luck to you and keep us posted!

The very dark purple ones have the best fragrance. Is the germination rate pretty good?

I seeded petunias for the first time this year. I seeded about 2 weeks ago in peat pellets, and was looking this morning and they are up. I usually buy mine from the nursery, but last year spent over 150 dollars, on one large bed. So I plan to have petunias for this year for about 5.00 total. Great savings.

Wood,
are you talking about the dark purple heirlooms? If so, I always have good germ rates with mine.

defoe,
Your bed of petunias from last yr. didn't re-seed for you?

thanks, berrygirl, I will give them a try, but I will have to seed them outdoors and can't start them ahead of time.

Wood,
that's usually what I do as well. Your zone is similar to mine, so it won't be too long before we can direct sow seeds outside!

Berrygirl The heartbreak of spending so much on the petunias, was then I had an attack of an invasive weed that I had never had before, and the weed just took over. This year I am spraying with Roundup in this particular bed before I plant anything. Live and learn.

defoe,
I know the feeling VERY well!!
For the past two years, we have been battling Red Sorrel. It is LITERALLY taking over my entire yard and all of my flower beds. There is no way we can possibly spray two acres of lawn to get rid of it all. We had never had it before and I truly hate it. I believe it came straight from the bowels of hell!!

What varieties are you growing this year? I wish you very good luck with your petunias!

You know, berrygirl, I got pigweed in my garden one year, lots of it everywhere and had never had it before. It ends up, it was in the fertilizer! It didn't even grow naturally here. I was so mad. We managed to kill most of it but some of it got away from us and reseeded. Took 3 years to get rid of it all and avoid a major disaster.

bwerrygirl
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I've been too busy doing inside and outside gardening. Especially today, it's nice outside. I have a few minutes. Right now I, soaking seed in GA3. It is ine of the gibbrellic acids naturally found
in plants and is the mian ingredien tin Super Grow and like products. This is the first tim e I've tried it this way. You soak your seeds for 5 hours in it, rinse and plant. The plants are suppose to be larger. Haven't got to the Petunias yet.
Tomarrow. To answer your question you asked me what
varieties I was planting. I've got 4 packets of Burpee Petnia mi 4 packets of double purple pirouette , 4 red piourette by Seeds & More here on-line, and 4 packets of pink cascade double petunias that I got from rhonda's stoe at ebay. After I'm done doing this at the end of the week I'll keep you posted. I'm going to do this this week because i'm on vacation til Monday. My husband is working so I might as well get it done now.

Berrgirl:, I'm just growing a mixture of petunias (purple and white) this is in a round bed, with an antique garden plow. I think that I have fixed the weed problem, but only time will tell. We raise a big vegetable garden too, everything from corn, tomatoes, squash, peas, beans, Lima and green, winter squash, etc. If it can be grown in zone 6, we try it. Already have some cold crops planted. My tomato seedlings are doing great. What do you grow?

Jordung,
Hey- don't have to apologize!! I have been outside a lot lately too as the weather is heavenly!! Those are some pretty Pets you've picked. Do tell me if you detect any fragrance at all from them. Evening is the best time to sniff- LOL! Hope they do well for you this year!


Defoe,
I grow mostly heirloom Pets like Kentucky, OF Vining, Rainmaster, Balcony, etc... Am trying Firechief this yr which is supposed to be a fragrant red. I love all old-timey flowers and plants. My late Granny turned me onto gardening when I was a kid, but I have only seriously been doing it now for about 5 yrs. I love it!!
I too grow veggies- 'maters, okra, squash, cukes, melons, corn, beans, peas, etc.... Gotta have that country cookin'!!

beerygirlWhen you remove the seeds from the pods after the flower is spent, is it still so small?

Yes!!
While I love petunias I hate the small seeds- LOL!!
I put mine in a big heavy duty zip-type bag with pods intact.Then I gently knead the bag or squish it with my hands and the seeds pop out. The pods usually are so small and dry that they kinda crumble up and don't leave too much chaff.

Thanks for the info. Science ought to be able to come up with a way to enlarge them. If they can change the color of flower why not work on the size of petunia seeds?

should petunias be pinched as they're growing? does it matter with the waves?

I find that pinching helps keep the petunias bushier. This hanging basket is filled with the Surfinia variety.

thanks for the info! how early do you start? i'd say mine are about 2" tall so far....

I didn't start these from seeds. They were purchased in cell packs. I pinch/prune them when they start getting "stringy" or "leggy". If your seedlings are only 2 inches tall I would give them some time to grow a little more. Sometimes if you pinch the first flower bud the plant will put it's energy into producing more branches and foliage. Whenever I buy annuals with first flower buds I pinch them as soon as they're planted. I usually get nice bushy and full plants. Hope this helps!

Toni

This thread needs some pictures. These are seed petunias.
Another thread has them individually & named.
Bernie

I started a number of Petunias from seed this year. I saved some Cascade seeds from plants I bought last year - we will see if they come true. I also bought some Cascade seeds from Thompson-Morgan, and the Dolce collection from Parks. Last but hopefully not least I also planted some of the Giants of California Mix from Burpee.

I tried some Wave petunias last year with a bit of success - it evidently went to my head. I guess this is my Petunia year!

bernie - another batch of gorgeous petunias!!! do you ever go thru and pinch them all?

never

zarebeth
I also bought the dolce collection from parks and the plants are doing well.They are still small and still in the GH but I'll put them out in about 2 weeks when our weather starts to get really hot.

Everyone is still under the lights, but after transplanting 6 24-cell propagation units into separate pots I am running out of room! Spring seems to have come early here, so I am moving some of my flats outside today into the portable greenhouses.

I am really excited about the Giants mix. They are supposed to be old-fashioned, huge rangy plants (I will pinch them to make them bushier), and the photo I saw was stunning! They are supposed to be extremely fragrant, with 5"+ frilled blooms. So they should be somewhat sheltered so the rain doesn't do them in, yet they need full sun.... hmmmm...

I am not the type to completely plan my gardens. I just buy what I think I like, and plant enough so that I have plenty - and pass along the rest!

Well I guess I had to give in and buy some petunias already started. For one thing I think I should have sowed them earlier and another so far only a few have germinated. They probably won't be ready until June sometime if not later.
I just bought six flats at Lowe's. I have a problem though. I started too many flats to have room for them in the greenhouse for tonight anyway. I'll make room tomarrow. If I leave them outside covered ina plastic garbage bag and closed with a twist tie will they survive temperatures that drop below 50 degrees?

jordung,
Yes, they should be OK.