Today, almost all summer residents in their infield grow various varieties of flowers. For many, this lesson is just a hobby, and someone plants beautiful plants for sale. But be that as it may, any colors need care. How to save a petunia in the winter? This question is of interest to many beginner gardeners. And this is not surprising, because storing flowers in the winter is a good way to preserve rare varieties for subsequent planting, if the plant does not propagate by seed. But what methods of storing petunias in the winter exist, as well as how to plant and care for planting material?
A few words about petunia
This flower is loved for its incredible beauty and long flowering period. Petunia blooms in late spring and blooms until mid-autumn, so it will decorate your garden or apartment for a long period of time. Most gardeners grow petunia as an annual plant, since it begins to bloom in the first year after planting. If you have a rare variety, then it makes sense to leave the flower for winter storage. How to save a petunia in the winter will be discussed later.
Winter storage of rare varieties of flowers
If you want to store plants in the winter in order to plant them in the spring, it is extremely important to create suitable conditions for this. Humidity should be low, it is also necessary to provide good lighting and low air temperature, at about 10 degrees. Only with the right microclimate, planting material will remain of high quality and will be able to begin to develop normally after planting.
What are the benefits of winter storage?
Compared to annual sowing, winter storage has the following advantages:
- Early flowering - planting material takes root in a new place much faster and blooms much longer. At the same time, buds can open already at the end of winter.
- Simple propagation - you do not need to sow seeds, because you will already have seedlings ready. Thus, you will spend less time and effort, and the petunia, whose photo looks simply amazing, after only a few weeks will begin to delight you with its beauty.
- Storage in winter allows you to breed rare plant varieties that do not produce seeds, and propagate only in a vegetative way.
Thus, if you want to breed petunia in your garden, then it is better to do this with the help of winter storage.
Mother plant
A mother plant is an adult flower that is placed in winter storage for the purpose of cuttings in the spring. Adult flowers are dug up in late summer and planted in pots. During the fall, plants will have time to take root and grow stronger before the onset of winter.
At the same time, dried leaves and dead sprouts should be removed from the petunia. Experienced flower growers recommend completely cutting dead wood, and leave about 12 centimeters of the total length of the shoots. Uterine plants are stored in a cool room in which there is a low humidity. A good option would be unheated glazed balconies. With the advent of spring, it is necessary to create good lighting and high humidity for the mother plant. This will allow the flower to wake up, and it will start new shoots.
Preparing planting material
So, we looked at a way to preserve vegetative petunias in the winter. But what to do with the plant next? If you live in an apartment, then it’s quite difficult to create conditions suitable for grafting due to severe restrictions on free space. If you will keep the uterine plant in a warm room, it is best to use young flowers for this, as they are stronger and they are much more likely to overwinter normally. For cuttings, it is better to use small pots, because they take up less space and it will be easier to arrange them around the apartment.
Cuttings are cut to a small length, approximately 10 centimeters. 2 leaves are left on them, which are also trimmed. This is necessary in order to reduce moisture loss. Rooted cuttings need the same care as ordinary indoor flowers. They need to be watered in a timely manner, as well as to provide optimal humidity and the necessary amount of light. Cuttings of petunias in autumn are considered the best option, since a plant can form a root system in two weeks and grow stronger before wintering.
Cuttings at home
All hybrid varieties are not propagated by seeds, but if you want to breed any rare petunia at home, for example, terry or large-flowered, you can do this quite successfully using cuttings. In this case, petunia, whose photo is striking in its beauty, will retain its properties and will take root well in a new place after planting.
Cuttings are the best method of propagation compared to planting seeds, since about 95 percent of the seedlings take root, while about 25% of the seeds simply die and do not germinate.
Preparing for the winter
So, we have already answered the question of how to save petunia in winter. But it is also very important to properly prepare the cuttings for transplantation on open ground.
Before planting in the garden, cuttings are placed in small containers filled with loose earth. Depth of landing should not be too large. About two centimeters will be enough. Capacities with processes are covered with a film to create a kind of greenhouse. To provide the plant with fresh air, several holes are made in the film.
Petunia at home in winter also needs to be fed with complex fertilizers and chemicals. It can be processed with Kornevin, which will speed up the process of forming the root system.
As for the soil, any loose soil, which must first be disinfected with any fungicide, is suitable. There is one important nuance here: it is forbidden to use the same soil twice for storing plants in winter.
Each process should be planted in a separate container to avoid mass infection of the entire planting material. In addition, planting cuttings that are stored separately is much easier.
How to care for rooted shoots?
Answering the question of how to preserve petunia in winter, one cannot ignore the features of caring for rooted processes. The root system in cuttings is formed very quickly. In order for the appendix to take root and begin to develop, it takes about two weeks. Prior to the cold snap, rooted cuttings can be stored on the street.
After new shoots appear on the cuttings, it is necessary to transplant them and cut off the two upper leaves. Thanks to this, the flower will grow lush and beautiful. An important measure in the care of a petunia is to maintain an optimal level of air humidity. To do this, use humidifiers. If it is not at your disposal, then containers filled with water are placed near the containers with cuttings.
Petunia, whose wintering in most cases is normal, needs periodic watering. You can determine its need for the upper layer of soil, which should be completely dry. But you should not water too abundantly, as this can lead to the defeat of the plant by the disease "black leg", the reason for which is high humidity. If this happens, then the damaged shoots are removed, and the cuttings are treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Uterine plant transplant
The mother plant should be transplanted before the onset of frost. This is important because the flower needs time to root. For this, healthy plants with lush flowering are selected.
Uterine flowers are forbidden to fertilize with mineral fertilizers, which contain nitrogen. This is due to the fact that the storage of plants in the winter will be carried out in a cool room. Potash and phosphorus fertilizers are best suited for feeding petunias.
Transplanting petunias for the winter is impossible without creating high-quality lighting. The lower the air temperature in the room, the less light the plant needs. If you live in an apartment and you do not have a cool room, then the backlight for flowers should be turned on for at least 10 hours.
How to care for a uterine flower?
In order for the petunia to tolerate wintering normally and not begin to wilt, it is necessary to create suitable conditions for the uterine plant under which it is stored. Only in this way can you keep him strong. It is important to consider the fact that uterine flowers can behave very differently. One part of them can hibernate before spring, while the other will actively develop and may even bloom. To keep the petunia strong, most of the buds should be removed.
During wintering, if the flower hibernates, there is no need to feed it. If petunia, the description of which can be found at flower sellers, begins rapid growth and development, then the plant should be fertilized with a small amount of potash fertilizers. In this case, you should monitor the condition of the plant and the presence of any diseases. If the flower begins to lose its strength and gradually fades, then most likely it is struck by powdery mildew. To combat this ailment, a sodium carbonate solution is used. In addition to diseases, flower wilting may occur due to a lack of light.
In mid-winter, uterine petunia should be fertilized with nitrogen. Also, the flower needs good lighting, without which it will not be able to form a strong root system.
Storage of plants in winter allows you to get high-quality planting material that will quickly take root on the open ground and begin to bloom early. In addition, this method of breeding petunias allows you to save rare varieties of this incredibly beautiful flower that do not produce seeds.
Conclusion
So, you already know how to trim the petunia for the winter. This is not difficult, so if you follow the advice and recommendations of experienced gardeners described in this article, then you will certainly succeed, and you can always enjoy the beauty of petunias without buying planting material every spring.