Petunias! [4/7/24]

[lynnee]

Finally I got the petunia garden planted! I may have to replant it, because the pelleted seeds mostly went deep into the sponges. I tried to sprinkle them in--next time I'll use a wet toothpick to pick up and place the seeds atop the sponges.

I set the pump to "always on" because of the pelleted seeds. scarfguy found that pelleted seeds tend to dry out of you use the AG settings for x minutes on, x minutes off. My pelleted seeds all germinated last time with the "always on" setting.

These will be transplanted to pots outdoors when they're large enough. All but one are from Harris Seeds, which doesn't put photos on the seed envelopes.

Baker Creek Petunia
"Lace Veil"

Harris Seeds Petunia
"Easy Wave Blue"
"Easy Wave Velour Burgundy"
"Shock Wave Coral Crush"
"Easy Wave Coral"
"Double Cascade Mix"
"Double Cascade Burgundy"
"Dreams Picotee Red"
"Double Pirouette Rose"

The pod covers were removed for the photos so the labels could be read.

[swimmom500]

Keep us posted. I planted pelleted seeds in my bounty and set the pump to always on and only 2 germinated. Out of 3 packs of Petunia seeds I have a total of 6 plants! 😕 I am starting to think I am a jinx with flowers. I struggled with my Lavender too. Finally read somewhere to cold stratify the seeds so maybe there is hope for the lavender.

[scarfguy]

Apr 8, 2024 14:15:07 GMT -5 swimmom500 said:

Keep us posted. I planted pelleted seeds in my bounty and set the pump to always on and only 2 germinated. Out of 3 packs of Petunia seeds I have a total of 6 plants! 😕 I am starting to think I am a jinx with flowers. I struggled with my Lavender too. Finally read somewhere to cold stratify the seeds so maybe there is hope for the lavender.

Pelleted seeds! 

1. put them in a shot glass with a few drops of water. (everybody has a shot glass, don't they?).

2. swirl it around until the pellet dissolves leaving you a bunch of little tiny seeds.

3. suck up the seeds with an eye dropper and squirt them into the AG sponge.

Your welcome!

[lynnee]

Thanks for posting those instructions again, scarfguy! I knew you'd mentioned using an eyedropper, but couldn't remember where.

Today there are little water droplets on most of the seed covers. That usually means that something is germinating. Fingers crossed!

[lynnee]

Apr 8, 2024 14:15:07 GMT -5 swimmom500 said:

Keep us posted. I planted pelleted seeds in my bounty and set the pump to always on and only 2 germinated. Out of 3 packs of Petunia seeds I have a total of 6 plants! 😕 I am starting to think I am a jinx with flowers. I struggled with my Lavender too. Finally read somewhere to cold stratify the seeds so maybe there is hope for the lavender.

Lavender is slow to grow. You have to be patient. FWIW, I had some success with lavender in a Kratky jar.

[swimmom500]

I have been messing with this lavender since the first of the year. Planted my Harvest seed starter twice with it. I have 3 plants total for my effort! I was trying to grow a bunch to put along my back fence to attract some bees. We moved last year and while in Atlanta my blueberry plants would be covered with bees when they were blooming. Down here I have never seen more than 1 bee at a time. I am worried about pollination for both my berry plants and my veggies. Everything I read said Lavender attracts bees so I was hopeful. My lavender seeds that have been in the refrigerator in paper towels are showing signs of sprouting now that I took them out and placed them on top of the light hood. The rest of that pack of seeds are in my freezer. Next thing you know I will be overrun with lavender! LOL!

I didn’t have much luck with Petunia seeds either in spite of setting my bounty pump to 24 hours on. I am waiting to see how yours do. My seeds were from Parks Seed.

[lynnee]

4/11/24. Pelleted petunia seeds have germinated in all 9 pods! Nothing is showing above the deck, so no photos yet.

However, I do have a photo of one Superbissima Giant Alba petunia that stayed alive through the California winter and is starting to bloom. This gal was planted in early 2023, March or April.

I thought that petunias were annuals, but apparently they are "tender perennials" that don't tolerate frost. I guess that some top-dressing of the soil would be a good idea! And I should pull that weed.



This is what the Alba petunias were like last year.

aerogardenaddicts.com/post/59726/thread

[swimmom500]

I guess I need to buy my Petunia seeds at Harris next time. 2 Burpee packs of seed and 1 pack from Park Seed and I have 5 plants. Since they aren’t blooming yet I can’t be sure but 1 plants has different leaves from the others so I am not 100% sure it’s even a Petunia.

[lynnee]

Apr 11, 2024 20:37:53 GMT -5 swimmom500 said:

I guess I need to buy my Petunia seeds at Harris next time. 2 Burpee packs of seed and 1 pack from Park Seed and I have 5 plants. Since they aren’t blooming yet I can’t be sure but 1 plants has different leaves from the others so I am not 100% sure it’s even a Petunia.

Could be that the Shock Wave and Easy Wave Petunias are easier to grow than whatever Burpee sent you. Burpee does make mistakes, though. Our favorite tomato vendor was very angry at Burpee for selling them something other than the Green Zebra seeds they ordered, for two years running. The vendor switched seed companies after that.

[lynnee]

Day 9. All the petunias are poking out of their pods! The Baker Creek "Lace Veil" (far left) has only one little plant, so I added 3 seeds a couple of days ago.

These are unpelleted seeds, and most of the seeds in the original planting went straight to the bottom of the sponge. No surprise then, that germination rate has been poor.

[lynnee]

A local nursery is advertising the "Crazytunia Black Mamba" petunia, which looked like it would be fun to try, but the only seeds available seem to be some dubious ones at Amazon. So I ordered a plant from an Etsy seller, and a pretty photo made me want a black and white "Supertunia Latte" plant too.

These arrived today, and are keeping last year's seed-grown "Superbissima Giant Alba" company until the AG petunia seedlings are ready to go outdoors. The Alba has three open blooms now.

[lynnee]

The "Black Mamba" petunia is rather astoundingly black! Dark purple on the outside, but deep black on the inside.

[scarfguy]

Wow, beautiful black flower, lynnee!

Black flowers are always so strangely mysterious!

[maskedsonnet]

Those are amazing! I may have to try that one

[lynnee]

The Black Mamba petunia looks exactly like black velveteen on the inside. The outside is a dark purple--not as pink as it looks in my photos.

I'm going to try to find a seed source. Here is a growing guide:

www.livelyroot.com/pages/black-mamba-petunia-care-guide

[lynnee]

Further research informs me that black petunia seeds are generally unavailable. The petunias are hybrids, of course, and that means the seeds won't consistently produce plants just like their parents.

In the case of the black petunias, even the patented ones like the Crazytunia Black Mamba are apparently propagated from cuttings. All of this explains the bad reviews for the black petunia seeds advertised on Amazon!

[swimmom500]

Have you ever propagated petunias from cuttings? If so, what method do you use?

[lynnee]

Apr 23, 2024 15:32:23 GMT -5 swimmom500 said:

Have you ever propagated petunias from cuttings? If so, what method do you use?

I haven't, but the guide at the link mentioned above says you use a stem piece with a growing tip, remove flowers and buds, dip the cut end in root hormone, plant it in a growing medium, keep it moist, and put it in indirect sunlight for 4-6 weeks. (Even more details in the growing guide.)

I have propagated brugmansia (Angel Trumpet) from cuttings, which is a piece of cake. You use root hormone, and put the stem in water until roots develop.

[swimmom500]

I just tried doing creeping phlox from cuttings and all but one look dead. I pulled off all the bottom leaves and used the rooting hormone. I was disappointed. For some reason creeping phlox have been hard to find. Neither Lowe’s or Home Depot have them this year and when I ask they try to steer me to regular phlox. I found a couple on clearance at Walmart which I tried the cuttings with no luck.

Maybe I will try petunias next. I also have some old seeds for black petunias which I need to bring out and see if they are still good too!

Your flowers look gorgeous!

[lynnee]

swimmom500, perhaps some of the cuttings were from the wrong part of the phlox plant? (With Angel's Trumpets, for example, you need to take a cutting from above a "Y" branch.)