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whitegarden

Is there a secret to prolific petunias???

I needed something trailing and white (of course) for my containers this year so I went with petunias (again). I am disappointed every time I try them. They were planted almost four weeks ago and are just sitting there. Is there a secret to prolific bloom/growth that I just don't know about? Other people seem to be able to get them to just SPILL out of containers!

Comments (10)

  • tree_oracle
    13 years ago

    I would give them a little more time. Just make sure that the container gets adequate moisture and feed them with a balanced fertilizer and they will explode in new growth and bloom very soon. The upcoming hot weather will give them a boost, too.

  • isabella__MA
    13 years ago

    One secret is not to plant them in my garden either, because they don't perform for me!

    This plant, my conditions, and my maintenance habits just don't see eyse to eye at all.

    Impatients and caladium see to be able to survive me.
    `

  • PRO
    Nancy Vargas Registered Architect
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks for your responses. Will Osmocote do it for fertilizer? I hate pumping Miracle Gro on everything.

  • Marie Tulin
    13 years ago

    Heat, heat to make you die, is necessary to get tropicals and semi tropicals, as well as some others to grow robustly.
    I don't think we've had an entire week where the heat stay8 5 or above. cold hot, hot cold, wet cold, wet hot, dry cold maybe one day of hot dry.

    It is not your fautlt

  • PRO
    Nancy Vargas Registered Architect
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks idabean. I will hope for heat, heat, heat.

  • extragalactic
    13 years ago

    Larry Hodgson, author of "Making the most of Shade," says that petunias are a good tool for measuring how much shade you have:

    "If it grows and blooms well, there's enough light to consider the spot full sun. If it does fairly well, the spot is partial shade. No blooms at all? That's shade!"

  • prairiemoon2 z6b MA
    13 years ago

    I had not heard that saying about petunias. I will be looking at petunias in a new way the next time I grow them. [g] I didn't realize they needed that much heat either, and I do have more part shade then full sun, so I feel better that they only do so-so for me.

    whitegarden, I have never tried Osmocote. I usually use seaweed/fish emulsion liquid when I water pots and lately I've been adding Tomato Tone to flower pots, as it is supposed to help produce fruit/flowers.

  • Richard Dollard
    13 years ago

    I can't do petunias in my yard, they get attacked by this little black dot of a bug and it just sucks the life out of them. Even in hanging baskets, they get them. I bought 2 hanging baskets this year and among the other plants there is one petunia in each basket. I'm just waiting for the creatures to attack them.

  • 2ajsmama
    13 years ago

    I bought 4 hanging baskets of Supertunias for Mother's Day, hung them in garage (which has windows) and tried putting them out for a few hours each afternoon while we were working on the porch (plus had cold nights in May). One basket died (3 plants), but that basket seems not to drain as well as the other 3. Now that they're on the porch all the survivors have new growth but are very leggy, and no flowers. I just fertilized for the first time this week (before that was afraid plants were too stressed, then last week it rained and the pots got soaked so had to wait to water).

    We have a west-facing porch, not sure what to put in pots by the front door (6+ft overhang), but don't you think the edge would be full sun? The petunias in pots on the edge seem to be OK, the lobelia is fine (though getting too tall for pots), but the vinca (not periwinkle, a white variety full sun I found at Home Depot) is getting yellow.