petunia seeds

OK i harvested some red wave petunia seed. will they come true. (i don't think they do). does anyone know if i plant them what they will come back as?
thanks
diana

They'll probably look similar...they may not 'wave' as good, size or shape of bloom may be different, or the color may be less accurate....You most likely won't have something totally different...they just won't be identical to the parent in more than one way.

I thought the WAVE petunias came back identical to the parent as long as you don't have other petunias growing anywhere where they can cross pollinate. I grew them for years and even had some (many) self sow. I could not tell the seedlings from the parents.

Suzy

Some of them will look like the original...you just shouldn't count on it say, for selling purposes. For general gardening uses, they should be fine, just expect a few 'off' types.

melody, suzy,
thanks for the info
diana

When is the right time to harvest petunia seeds? I have not been able to get any seed from my plants. I have been dead heading periodically so that may be the problem, not waiting long enough.

It will be a surprise next year anyway because they are hybrids. I bought some seed from Stokes this spring & really like the flowers I got but they are hybrids so probably won't come true but sometimes surprises are fun too.

If you dead-head, then the potential seeds are being removed. The seeds form right where the flower was. The petals will fall off and a small green capsule will form. When it turns tan and dry, break it off and crack it open over a container...tiny black seeds will fall out.

I'll look a little closer next time before I do my deadheading. I guess it's really not deadheading, I just pull the spent bloom off, I don't pinch anything back.

If you're pulling the bloom off, chances are, you're pulling off the ovary too. You really need to leave the whole thing to get seeds. You don't have to leave every bloom, just enough for your seed needs. Each little pod should yield between 50 and 75 seeds.

I planted mostly hybrid Petunias and some hybrid Dahlias, my friend brought to my attention that if they are hybrids I may not get seed. Is she correct?

They'll probably set seed, the plants you get from that seed most likely won't look like the parent though