Surfinia Petunias

Is it possible to buy seed of these? I seem to only be able to find plants - is there some magic to them? Only propagated vegetatively perhaps?

And are they really as spectacular at trailing as the catalogues would have me believe? I'm thinking of using them instead of trailing Lobelia for my tubs this year.

 

I bought seeds several years ago. I think they were pelleted and very expensive. 10 years ago each seed was about 50p, which was essentially the same price as a plug. The price of Surfina seeds was much greater than the non trailing Petunias. Because the plug business has grown enormously - they probably don't bother to sell Surfina seeds any more.

They can be really lovely. But I think you can have good years and bad years. I suspect that it may be related to how hot the summer is - as they are tender plants.

 

The big advantage of Surfinia petunias is that they don't require as much-dead heading to keep them flowering.
The usual method of propagating them is from cuttings which you overwinter inside.

 

Oooohhhhh! I can "keep" the ones I buy? That sounds excellent! I think I would prefer that to seed-sowing (but not 100% sure ...)

I took some cuttings of Iresine in the Autumn, got about a dozen in a couple of 4" pans. Now rather tall and just taken a fresh set of cuttings from those ... so should have a couple of dozen plants by May, at least, from two 4" pots that were over-wintered.

I'm thinking that a grow-room, in a cellar / garage, heavily insulated with suitable grow light might be a better "tool" than a greenhouse, over winter. Although the bugs I get under my Grow Lamp, over winter, are far FAR worse than the stuff that appears in the Summer in tehg reenhsoue :(

 

That is much the same as you would do with Surfinias. You can either take cuttings in the late Summer or Autumn or even overwinter the adult plant and take cuttings in the early Spring.
A reasonable sized growing box in the shed or cellar is a great is a great asset in this regard.

 

I have always preferred the Wave and Avalanche series of petunias , they seem to perform better than Surfinias. The pic below shows a Shock Wave Petunia Coconut , a single plant from seed - this was taken on November the fifth last year, so was past its best .
Nickies sell the seeds here , but I buy from the USA on Ebay . Germination of the pelleted seeds is not good , I got 7 out of 20 last year , this year looks like only 5 have germinated If anyone has any tips to improve petunia seed germination I am all ears !