Many hostesses dream of beautiful and admirable flower beds or flowerpots on windows and balconies. Petunia is perfect for this. All over the world this beautiful flower ranks among the top ten most popular flyers. Interesting fact: Petunia is a distant relative of the tomato and potato, because it belongs to the genus Solanaceae. Petunia is a perennial, but in our harsh winters root system the plant dies, so it is grown as an annual.
Petunia tolerates heat well, but it requires constant watering. In cool weather, it continues to grow, but blooms reluctantly. There are several hundred types of petunias and only 4 groups: multi-flowered, large-flowered, ampelous and floribunda.
The conversation will be about because it is simply indispensable in decorating balconies, windows, flower beds, planters and hanging baskets. Many tried to grow a beautiful flower on their own, but not everyone managed to achieve lush flowering. The main secret- pinching ampelous petunias. Now we will figure out how and when to do this.
The easiest way, of course, is to buy seedlings, but since we are not looking for easy ways, we will grow them ourselves. Seeds should be sown from February to the end of March. Use containers 6-7 cm deep. Since they are very small, they need to be sown on the surface and lightly sprinkled with fine sand. It is better to water with a sprayer so as not to move them. Shoots will appear in 5-9 days. Under favorable conditions, after about 3 weeks, petunias can already be dived and transplanted into separate containers. Many people use plastic cups for this.
When to prepare for pinching ampelous petunias?
In order to achieve maximum flowering, pinching the ampelous petunia should be done twice. The first time it is recommended to do this after the seedlings are planted in open ground, but not at once. Give the plant time to mature. Now watch: the shoots will begin to actively grow and stretch - the moment has come (approximately the month of May). Count 3-5 full-fledged leaves from the bottom of the stem (this is the growth point of the plant), and everything on top needs to be pinched off or cut off. Do not be alarmed if the growth of the flower slows down a little, but it will start to sprout side shoots. The result of this will be abundant flowering and large buds.
Do not throw away the cut stems, they can be put in water and they will take root. Before planting, leave only a couple of leaves, and cut off everything else, as in the first case.
Do not forget to do the second ampelous one a month later.
How nice it will be to admire such a flowering plant as ampelous petunia. Pinching will form lush bushes strewn with bright, beautiful flowers.
However, plant care does not end there. As wilted flowers appear on the petunia, they must be removed immediately. Remember to water and fertilize your plants regularly. Then the whole summer and autumn will delight you with its colors ampelous petunia. The photos presented in the article give an idea of \u200b\u200bhow beautiful plants can grow and how they can decorate your life and cause admiring glances of passers-by.
Grow flowers - give joy!
Volumetric multi-colored bushes of terry, ampelous, two-color and plain petunias won hearts experienced gardeners and newcomers. From mid-spring to the first frosts, flowers, amazing in their diversity and decorativeness, adorn not only summer cottages, but also balconies of high-rise buildings, verandas of cottages, city flower beds, cafe and restaurant areas. Flowers are unpretentious, do not require professional maintenance and special conditions, but gratefully respond for the care of flower growers.
Necessary conditions for pinching petunias
Proper cultivation and shaping is important condition to get a beautiful and healthy bush. In addition to timely sowing and diving, it is necessary to properly pinch the petunia. This means that at a certain stage of growth, she needs to remove the top shoots. Such a procedure will ensure the branching of the stems and the formation of many buds on bushy crowns.
To carry out this manipulation, you will need the following:
- convenient scissors or secateurs;
- strengthened seedlings with 4 - 5 large leaves at the top;
- container for collecting removed cuttings.
How should you pinch a petunia?
Before pinching a petunia, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the basic requirements for this procedure:
- Observing the growth of seedlings, it is necessary to choose a period when it got a little stronger and began to grow up soon. It can have up to 5 - 6 leaves, but no more. If you miss this moment, the seedlings will stretch. Actually pinching petunias does not take much time. It is necessary to cut the stem over 5-6 leaves with your fingers or a pruner.
This forms a new point of growth, from which several shoots will begin to grow in different directions at the same time. During this period, seedlings can slow down development, but at the same time get a little stronger. When the side shoots go, the bush will take on a more rounded appearance. - If you plan to plant seedlings in open ground, then pinching is best done after rooting. The sprout will take a few days to adapt. During this period, you need to try to create favorable conditions for the plants to take root:
- it is necessary to plant seedlings loosely, observing the conditions of agricultural technology;
- monitor the frequency of watering and spraying;
- apply a specialized strengthening fertilizer under the root.
If development occurs in a greenhouse, you can pinch the petunia after diving.
- If the pruned shoots are not very small size, they can be used as cuttings. In order for the cutting to take root, it is placed in a container of water. First you need to remove the extra leaves, leaving a few at the top. When the roots appear, they are transplanted into the soil. So you can get additional young seedlings.
- during pinching, try to injure the sprout as little as possible, use clean tools;
- a month after the event and the appearance of strong side branches, pinching the tops of petunias can be repeated;
- for laying large buds on new stepchildren, use suitable fertilizers, they will make the flowers brighter and larger.
In order for the formed decorative bush to please with its beautiful view for as long as possible, it will need constant care. From the moment of sowing, not a single transplant, pinching, spraying of sprouts will be required. Do not forget to water and feed well, remove dried flowers and shoots. In place of the cut off old flowers, new branches with buds will appear. Well-groomed colorful petunias will undoubtedly please you with abundant and long flowering in gratitude.
Spring is just around the corner, which means it's time to think about what we will plant in the garden and in the flower beds. In addition, fresh seeds have appeared on sale, new and interesting varieties and varieties have been added, but, despite the current variety of colors, many prefer petunias.
Yes, this person is very capricious when growing seedlings, but at the same time she grows well on almost any soil, looks great in a composition, with her help it is very easy to arrange any vertical flower bed. In addition, it quite easily tolerates short-term drought, which makes it indispensable for pot gardening (when planting a plant in pots or flowerpots).
But sometimes it happens like this: you look at the picture with the seeds, there is a lush beautiful bush with many buds, and there seems to be a good plant in the flower bed, but it lacks splendor, and buds would be added. It turns out that this is not difficult to do, it is enough to pinch our petunia in time and it will delight you with the splendor of the bush and large flowers. What happens as a result of pinching? The growth of the main shoot stops, and side shoots begin to gain strength from it, that is, as a result, instead of one shoot and buds, we will have several no less strong and beautiful shoots with buds. Thus, both the volume of the bush and the number of peduncles will increase. Petunia looks healthy, lush and beautiful. And it also increases the duration of flowering.
The first time the operation of pinching a petunia is carried out back in early period when petunia grows on the windowsill, waiting for landing in open ground. Pinching is carried out when 6-7 main leaves appear on the plant, not earlier. Count four or five main leaves from the bottom of the stem and carefully remove everything above the fourth or fifth leaf by pinching. Then continue to care for the petunia as usual: water, feed and highlight if necessary. Removing the top of the plant will awaken the lateral buds and new sprouts will emerge from them. By the way, you need to pinch both ordinary and ampelous petunias.
The second time the operation is carried out after the seedlings are planted in open ground and take root there. In no case do pinching during the period of adaptation of the plant to new conditions, as you can destroy the flower and get a weak and painful plant.
After the petunia has "accepted" in a new place and has begun to grow actively, you can re-pinching. To do this, select the longest (two or three possible) shoot, count the same 4-5 leaves from the growth point and carry out the operation in the same way as for the first time. We leave the plant alone and let it grow, after which it will be necessary to pinch some shoots again. Although, if you are satisfied with the size of the bush, you can get by with two pinching. But I still recommend doing this procedure a third time.
The third time we “operate” our flowers, when they recover enough and grow after the previous operation, this is in a week or two. We select several long lateral processes (6-7 pieces) and shorten them according to the previously described scheme. You can no longer return to pinching, three times is enough to get a beautiful plant.
In addition, it is not at all necessary to throw away the removed shoots, you can put them in water, wait for the roots to appear - and plant them in a flower bed. This way you will increase the number of plants. The only thing is that the newcomer will bloom much later than the rest of the plants, but given that petunias bloom until frost, this is not scary. Please note that when planting a shoot in open ground, it will be necessary to remove all leaves, except for a couple of top ones.
By the way, please note that pinching (even the one that is carried out for the first time) pushes back the flowering time of petunias. On average, flowering is shifted by two to three weeks (this is taking into account all three pinching), but at the same time, the plant blooms more profusely, and the peduncles themselves are much larger than those of their counterparts who avoided this operation.
Let's figure it out! But before starting your short review, I want to warn you that I am not a "guru" in this area. I just want to tell you how I deal with petunias. What agricultural techniques do I use to make the petunia lush.
So! Usually, beginner flower growers (or those who still have their own difficulties with growing petunias from seeds) buy young seedlings - about this age.
It is at this age of the plant that I begin to make the first pinch. As you can see in the photo of the stems, the plant has very few 5-6 pieces.
In order to develop side shoots - you need to cut, and it is best to pinch the top of the shoot. The separated piece of the shoot should be at least 3-4 cm. Why exactly so much, and not less? If you remove only the tip of the shoot - (and this will be the thinnest place on the stem), then growing side shoots in this place will often break off when strong wind, bad weather.
Making a pinch in right place- you will provide strength to new shoots and then they will be resistant to mechanical damage. This is what a pinch should look like (see photo).
Next ... How many times per season should this procedure be carried out? Pinching is carried out as the lateral stems grow. So, as soon as the new side stems reach a length of about 10-15 (maybe a little more), the pinching can be repeated.
And so do until the bush acquires splendor. But, take into account the fact that with the constant shortening of the stems and the intensive growth of the plant, additional feeding is required. If this is not done, then there will be a lot of new stems, they will be thin. You will not see abundant flowering. Only when good care, timely watering can achieve full returns from the plant.
There is a special Belarusian fertilizer - "For petunias and surfinias", which I use. Composition: nitrogen -17%, phosphorus -32%, potassium - 22%. The composition of the yellow Crystal - NPK - 13-40-13 + trace elements.
Still very important point!
Remove all wilted flowers in time, they take a lot of strength from the plant - forming testes.
Volumetric multi-colored bushes of terry, ampelous, two-color and plain petunias have won the hearts of experienced gardeners and beginners. From mid-spring to the first frost, flowers, amazing in their variety and decorativeness, decorate not only summer cottages, but also balconies of multi-storey buildings, verandas of cottages, city flower beds, cafes and restaurants. Flowers are unpretentious, do not require professional maintenance and special conditions, but gratefully respond to the care of flower growers. The flower needs good care, which, in addition to traditional procedures, includes the formation of a bush by pinching or pinching it. Petunia, which is not pinched, but allowed to grow freely, can form an elongated bush that will tumble to one side. If you form the crown of the plant correctly, you can get a lush flower with many flowering shoots.
Why pinch a petunia?
Pinching (or tweezing) - breaking / pinching off the top of a plant shoot with your nails. After that, the remaining part of the stem becomes stiff and begins to thicken, the leaves become more saturated in color, and the buds in the axils increase in size. In horticulture, this process is done to obtain new strong shoots and a more beautiful appearance. However, this method works if the tweezing was done before the growing season ended.
It is not difficult to get a strong and eye-pleasing living decoration from a small sprout, the main thing is to know how to pinch a petunia correctly and strictly follow the rules.
Do all varieties of petunias need to be pinched?
Long-bred old amateur varieties or plants grown from seeds collected from their flowers must be pinched. As a rule, such a petunia in natural form far from compact and pompous.
Breeders place strict requirements on the modern hybrid petunia not only for the beauty and splendor of flowering, but also for the simplification of plant care.
Petunia of modern varieties or hybrids does not require pinching or requires minimal intervention in the formation of the crown.
Nevertheless, even on modern varieties, pinching is indispensable. Often, when petunia seedlings are grown at home with a lack of light and in cramped conditions, at a temperature that is too high for it, the plants stretch.
In this case, you can shed the seedlings with the Athlete preparation or another similar agent (which is used in industrial greenhouses) or do pinching. Many gardeners do not support the use of excessive "chemistry" even on flowers and prefer to pinch the petunia.
The rapid formation of lateral shoots is facilitated by a decrease in night temperature.
What you need to pinch a petunia
To carry out this manipulation, you will need the following:
- convenient scissors or secateurs;
- strengthened seedlings with 4 - 5 large leaves at the top;
- container for collecting removed cuttings.
How and when to pinch a petunia
Pinching petunias should be done twice - at the seedling stage and after planting in open ground. If the second tweezing with a lack of time can be neglected, then pinching at the seedling stage is carried out without fail. It is carried out when a young seedling has 5-6 leaves, a little less, but not more than this amount. The algorithm is quite simple. With a miniature pruner, scissors or just your fingers, you need to pinch the stem young plant above the 5-6th leaf. In order for the seedling to recover faster after this procedure, you can water or spray it with a growth stimulator such as "Epin" or "Zircon".
A month later, when new side shoots begin to grow, you need to tweeze again. Now it is carried out not only on the central stem, but also on the side shoots, which, after this procedure, will sprout the third order. After repeated tweezing, foliar and root top dressing is carried out with complete mineral fertilizer and growth stimulant. Ampelous varieties are preferably tweezed every 3-4 weeks.
What to do after pinching a petunia
With regular shortening of shoots and increased growth of petunias, constant feeding with a growth stimulator and complete mineral fertilizer is required. Otherwise, many thin stems will develop. It is possible to achieve a return on the plant only with constant watering and proper care.
We remember that it is necessary to cut off wilted flowers in time (do not pull them out, but pinch off from a branch with a pedicel). Forming testes, they take strength from the plant.
Associated propagation of petunias by cuttings after pinching
The tops of the petunia shoots plucked or neatly cut with nail scissors are used as cuttings for further propagation of the plant.
The roots that have appeared on green cuttings placed in water serve as a signal that they can already be planted in the ground, having cleaned lower part stem from the leaves, leaving a couple of leaves at the top. Young plants can be planted quite densely, often watering and spraying them, feeding them, and also using a growth stimulator as necessary.
Petunia grown from seeds at home, as well as purchased in retail chains seedlings of inexpensive varieties must be subjected to regular pinching of shoots protruding from a common bush. Elite varieties grown in special nurseries can develop well without pinching, but they are more capricious, sensitive to sudden changes in humidity and temperature, and suffer from the effects of rain and wind.
- Do not use the operation for seedlings in boxes and young immature sprouts, do not mix different varieties and timely rid the soil of weeds and pests. Remember petunias need just like the rest decorative types, in constant attention and care;
- After pinching, the removed shoots (3-4 leaves) can be put in a jar of water and, after the appearance of small roots, use them to grow new petunia bushes;
- Throughout the season, it is necessary to remove wilted flowers in time, this will contribute to the formation of new buds on the plants.
Pinching is a simple and at the same time important manipulation that allows you to improve the quality of flowering and form certain form plants. To correct the shape of the plant, you need to pinch the petunia regularly, skipping a month between this procedure. If you follow these rules for the care of petunias, you will be able to grow beautiful bushes of this flowering plant, which will be no worse than in the photo given in this article. If petunias are allowed to grow on their own, then it will simply stretch out, and the flowers will be small. Petunia lovers are constantly finding new ways to decorate using unusual varieties and it just looks amazing.