Breeders have bred many varieties of petunias, a considerable number of them are perennial. This plant is characterized by a love of heat and light. Bushes are compact and densely branched. The flower is large, wide-edged, tubular, with a limb, can be of different colors. Petunia blooms profusely and for a long time, it is indispensable for flower beds, balconies, mixborders.
Petunia propagation methods
There are two main ways of breeding petunias: propagation by cuttings and growing from seeds. Plants obtained from cuttings turn into full-fledged flowering bushes faster than those grown from seeds.
Terry and large-flowered hybrids, as well as ampelous petunia, have become increasingly popular . It is almost impossible to collect seeds from these varieties, but even if it succeeds, it is unlikely to grow anything. Want to completely save your favorite petunias? Propagation by cuttings is the most suitable method.
It has several advantages:
- 100% conservation of variety and color;
- minimum costs, in contrast to the acquisition of seeds or seedlings;
- simple and easy process;
- a plant propagated by a similar method blooms much faster and has a more developed root system.
How to make a vegetative cuttings of petunias
Petunias take root quite easily. From the uterine plant, it is necessary to cut off the appendix with two internodes. Best for cuttings suitable shoots from 8 to 9 centimeters, which have 3-4 pairs of leaves. Make the lower cut oblique, immediately below the node, and the upper one, straight, one and a half centimeters higher above the node. After stopping the growth of shoots, you can cut off the apical cuttings, this contributes to their rooting in the future. On the sprout you need to cut off all the flowers and buds.
At the next stage, it is necessary to sprinkle the tip of the shank with Kornevin. Plant the shoot in a container and put in a dark place. Petunias are best taken in overcast or coarse sand, a mixture of humus and sod land is also well suited. Do not deepen the seedlings by more than one and a half centimeters into the ground. The plant will let out new roots within two or three weeks after planting.
Seedling care in the cold season
When cooling, seedlings must be brought into a warm room. For wintering, the plant needs a sufficient amount of light and compliance with a temperature regime of 14 to 16 degrees. Starting in mid-November, it is better to install additional artificial lighting for seedlings. The lamp should work about 14 hours a day. Watering recommended moderate.
Pretty photophilous plants are petunias. Propagation by cuttings in January will require increasing the time of artificial lighting up to 16 hours. With insufficient light, the plant makes maximum efforts for the development of the deciduous component, while the root does not grow. Accordingly, cuttings obtained from such a petunia will be difficult to adapt and be accepted. It is also necessary to gradually introduce fertilizers, alternate potash and nitrogen-containing fertilizing. This will significantly enhance growth.
When the resulting plants have grown enough, they can also be used as uterine and get new cuttings from them already. The procedure must be carried out in the same way, only young seedlings must immediately be placed under artificial lighting. It is necessary to take into account the time of year and the lack of sunlight. The distance from seedlings to the lamp should be no more than 15-20 centimeters, the duration of the backlight - up to 16 hours a day.
How to create a greenhouse effect?
The greenhouse effect can be achieved with a glass jar, it is necessary to cover the plant for two weeks. But it is necessary to carry out ventilation several times, since under such a cap mold can start. Plants will grow well if sprayed daily from a spray bottle. So you provide both the necessary air circulation and nutrition.
With vegetative cuttings in the autumn-winter period, the plant will please with its flowering already in mid-spring.
The most appropriate time and conditions for vegetative cuttings
Theoretically, there is no time limit for plant breeding, this can be done throughout the year. It is necessary to begin the propagation of petunia by cuttings in the spring in early March. Planting a plant during this period will allow you to admire the flowering of petunias in May. It must be remembered that the period from the beginning of the cuttings to flowering is 2 months.
Be sure to feed the uterine bush of petunias with fertilizers. Propagation by cuttings under such conditions will be even faster, and the number of sprouts obtained will be much larger. Choose large dishes for cuttings, then the sprouted bushes will be more magnificent, and in the case of ampelous petunia, longer lashes. At the bottom of the tank, it is best to make a hole and cover it with drainage.
At the time of rooting, petunia does not need additional feeding.
Propagation by cuttings in water
One of the methods of breeding is the propagation of petunias by cuttings in water. It is necessary to prepare apical cuttings, their length should be from 10 to 12 centimeters. Remove the lower leaves so that they do not rot in the water. You can leave 3-4 leaves at the very top. After that, they must immediately be immersed in water, since the longer they remain without food, the less likely they are to root. The first roots appear in a week, after which the plant can be safely planted in the ground.
Propagation of petunias by cuttings: basic rules
- The capacity in which the plant will be located must be opaque.
- When evaporating water, it is necessary to add new, but not completely change.
- To create a greenhouse effect, cover the dishes with a plastic bag.
- Terry hybrids are better to root in the ground than in the water.
Useful tips from professional gardeners
- Most gardeners are still of the opinion that it is most rational to carry out the propagation of petunia by cuttings in the spring. In such conditions, it is easier to maintain the temperature, and artificial lighting can not be installed, which means that in general seedlings will require less time for care. Also, by the summer, new bushes will please with their varied flowering.
- Do not be afraid to damage young seedlings by cuttings, after which it will begin to grow and develop only better and faster, especially if you fertilize it correctly.
- If the uterine bush grows in open ground, then the deadline when it can be transplanted into an artificial tank is mid-August. If you postpone this procedure until September, then there is a high probability that petunia will not take root.
- One of the most moody varieties is ampelous petunia. Propagation by cuttings is much easier if the uterine bushes were originally planted in separate pots, and not in open ground, but with the onset of the first cold weather brought into the room.
- Cuttings, cut in late July - early August, easier to tolerate wintering in apartment conditions.
- Better not root apical shoots, but lateral ones.
- In order to make it easier for plants to survive in the winter, they need to be trimmed in the fall. Thus, you will reduce the area of the deciduous component, and the plant will expend its energy to maintain the root system.
- The lower the temperature in the room where the petunias winter, the less light they need.
- In winter, the seedlings can be sluggish and pale, there is no need to be afraid of this and additionally fertilize the plant, in spring everything normalizes by itself.
- You can not use the same mixture for vegetative cuttings twice in a row.
- The substrate must be disinfected, for example, with a fungicide.
A great way to grow this plant on its site is the propagation of petunia by cuttings. The photos above will assess the beauty of this flower.