Petunias from seed

never grown them FC but I think the seed is very very minute. No morning after the night before pricking out. Neurosurgeon skills come to mind....

 

Yes they're easy to grow FC. I haven't grown them for a few years, but they will be fine in trays of multi-purpose compost.

 

I grow all my annuals in straight multi-purpose, nothing added, except water of course.

 

Yes very easy but two things I would bare in mind,

1) worth it for trailing petunia's (surfinia's)
2) normal petunia's are easy to grow from seed but they are so cheap to buy from b&q it's probably not worth it.

 

Hmmm ... not sure I would class them as easy.

The seed is very fine, so fiddly to sow. They grow very slowly initially, so stay a while in the seed tray before pricking out. Important therefore that they are not sown too thickly (see point about the seed being small above!!)

I personally would not sow them on anything at all rough, like multi-purpose, because as they take a while before pricking out they will form more extensive root systems than other, faster, seedlings and the lumps etc. in rougher compost will mean more root damage when separating them for pricking out.

There are two varieties I particularly like to grow, and thus grow them from seed, but I have had variable results some years and, with the delay before germination, it can get late to sow-again if they don't make it. Of course you can still, then, decide to buy some plants, but I'm thinking that from next year I'll just buy Petunia plugs

Can you get seed of Surfinias? I haven't looked carefully, but I thought the seed people have that sown up (Sorry!) and only sold plants? I definitely think Surfinias are the best solution for hanging baskets and containers on pedestals etc

 

Hi.

I've grown them from seed a few times, and whilst they're easy enough, they are very susceptible to problems. They need plenty of light, but not direct sunlight. At the start they are very slow growing, so care needs to be taken with watering. Extremes in temperature need to be avoided. One needs to be very careful when pricking them out as the roots are very fragile. They also 'damp off' very easily, so it might be worth thinking about something like Chestnut Compound. I've not used it myself, but could be useful? Hang on, didn't I say "....they're easy enough"? As Kristen said, use of 'regular' compost should probably be avoided. In the past I've used JA Bowers seed compost, or Levingtons seed compost, both of which were ok, but whatever you use needs to be fine. It helps if you have a garden sieve. Hope this helps

Cheers...Freddy

 

I buy my compost in the Autumn when the garden centre does 4-for-3 to shift the stock. Its always gone up in price by the following Spring (well, this year it didn't, but the bag got smaller instead :( )

Means also that if the quality is OK this Autumn I don't have to worry about shopping-around in the Spring, but I still have that option if I can't find good quality in the Autumn.

I think (but purely subjective) that compost is better quality in the Autumn. Maybe harvested during the Summer when there was more suitable material and/or the Peat bogs were drier, or for some other reason it broken down better in the manufacturing process.

 

FC there are petunias and petunias and petunias.
A good trailer are Surfinias which to my knowledge cannot be grown from seed.
The lower cost packet of seeds are quite easy to grow - but you may as well buy from B n Q et al in the spring. In my opinion these do not perform very well in wet weather.
The specialist seed types , I find difficult to grow. I have grown "Shock wave ®" for 4 years with succes rates from 80% to 0%. They are a great trailing petunia though , 2" flowers no dead heading flower through to October. The photo below is a Shock wave coconut - one plant taken on Nov 5th . I buy the seeds on Ebay from the USA , they are very expensive from Nickies seeds.

 

I may try Avalanche Mulitflora ( these are 2" blooms ) next year. From Moles at £0.15 a pelleted seed, dont know what P and P is yet
http://www.molesseeds.co.uk/flower_...ore_uk/Products_F1_Avalanche_Series_1680.html
This is where I buy my Shock wave seeds from , I do find them difficult to grow though.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHOCK-WAV...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item2eb30aafbf