Bright petunia is good for its splendor, beautiful and varied flowers of various shades, unpretentiousness and long flowering. But few gardeners manage to decorate their land with such popular flowers, the reason for this is the difficulty in growing seedlings.
Growing seedlings
Petunias are planted in open ground, usually in early to mid-June, so it is necessary to start sowing seeds in early March. It will take at least twelve weeks for the seedlings to fully mature and the root system to become strong. If you want to get flowering plants as early as possible, then you should sow seeds at the end of January.
The soil for sowing petunias should not be highly acidic or alkaline. For these purposes, nutrient and loose soil mixtures are used, capable of retaining moisture, and passing excess water well. You can buy a special soil mixture at a flower shop or prepare it yourself by mixing two parts of turf, decomposed peat and rotted humus with one part of sand. Mix the ingredients thoroughly and sift twice through a coarse sieve.
Place a layer of crushed claydite on the bottom of the box to serve as drainage. Put a large screening of the soil mixture on top, fill the upper third of the container with small screenings. Moisten the substrate and sprinkle the petunia seeds in even rows, spray on top with water from a spray bottle. There is no need to sprinkle the seeds with earth, they need light to germinate. It will be enough to gently press each seed to ensure contact with the ground. To grow petunia in an easier way, use peat tablets for seedlings, small petunia seeds are placed in special recesses.
Cover the boxes with glass or non-woven fabric to provide airflow to the seedlings while maintaining the correct humidity and high temperature. To ensure the required moisture level, seedlings can be sprayed with settled water with the addition of potassium permanganate. Under these conditions, petunia germinates on the seventh day. When seedlings appear, immediately remove the material, remove the glass gradually, leaving the seedlings without shelter for ten minutes at first, increase the intervals every week until the real leaves open.
Picking
Next, the seedlings need to be dived into an individual container. Plants will grow more conveniently in separate pots or cups, the seedlings will grow healthy, and it will be easier to plant them in open ground. Growing seedlings should be accompanied by regular and accurate watering. When the soil dries out, the plants die. Carefully water the fragile seedlings at the very root. From the second week, open the window to harden the petunia (but keep in mind that the plant must be protected from drafts).
Two weeks after the pick, top dressing is applied. Spray petunias with growth stimulants and complex mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen every two days. In the future, you can add root dressing. Seedlings require light almost around the clock, use fluorescent lamps for this. When roots appear from the bottom hole of the pot, it means that the seedlings are ready for planting in a container, open ground or flower garden.
