Petunia in Bloom

@cianoy (513)
Philippines
March 5, 2010 3:36am CST
Hi! Just sharing some gardening stories. Hope to hear your stories too! When I first bought my Petunias a couple of weeks ago, they held so much promise. They had beautiful flowers, lots of leaves and were allegedly easy to grow. I first placed them under indirect sunlight since my Poinsettia grew healthy in that area. Like my Mums though, they didn't look so vibrant after a couple of days. So I did my Google search on Petunia care and started spraying them with soap solution. The red and white Petunia, in particular, had a lot of ants! I'm not sure why. But I drowned the ants and sprayed with soap until they all died. At this time, it still looks delicate. I also moved both Petunias to a sunnier location. Supposedly, they grow wild with the sunlight. So far, the purple Petunia though is looking good. After learning that deadheading (plucking flowers) is a good thing for Petunias, I tried it with the leftover blooms. In about a week, the purple one bloomed again. True to my Google info, it had a lot more flowers than when I bought it. Mental note: deadheading works. Meanwhile, the red and white Petunia project continues. I'll water a lot in the morning then I will move it around within the day to ensure maximum sunlight exposure. Let's see if that kills the bugs and revives the plant.
1 response
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
16 Mar 10
hi cianoy here in southern California petunias do beautifully in full sunlight and in pots and hanging baskets. deadheading the old blooms will help them a lot too. Keep them moist but not soggy and in well draining soil too. that will keep them thriving for a long time. I think they are some of the most beautiful easier to grow plants agoing.
@cianoy (513)
• Philippines
16 Mar 10
Hello there fellow gardener! I've been wondering about keeping petunias as a hanging plant, but I haven't gotten around to doing it. If I do decide to do that, will it require a different kind of soil? I've been deadheading quite regularly too. Any propagation tips you might have?