The pretty Petunia is an all-time favourite in most gardens. This versatile showy flower thrives in most climates and doesn’t need particularly rich soil to flourish. It is the perfect plant for the gardener who does not have much time to spend in the garden.
Greenside Nursery’s cold and frost hardy Petunia varieties will cover your soil in a show of brilliant colour. Greenside Nursery stocks a wide variety of petunias that will reward you with masses of blooms with the minimum work.
Planting petunias
Petunias can be planted all year round in most parts of South Africa. They are cold and frost hardy and love sunny spots. These rewarding plants are easy to grow and bloom for months on end. They come in a wide range of colours and flower forms.
Whether you plant them in beds or containers, mix a balanced organic fertiliser with some well-rotted compost into the soil before planting. Petunias love any fertile soil with good drainage. Many varieties can be successfully grown from seed, or you can start with nursery seedling that will provide you with instant colour.
When choosing your seedlings, avoid those with yellow leaves which indicate damping in the seed trays. Choose healthy, stocky plants. Plant seedlings approximately 30 cm apart.
Never plant Petunias in a bed or container from where you have just removed old petunias. Give the soil some time as Petunia roots that stay behind are inclined to build up organisms that will affect new plants.
In pots, good drainage is important. Ensure drainage holes in the container are not clogged. River sand can be added to improve drainage.
Plant cascading varieties in pots and the compact varieties in garden beds.
Watering
Petunias are subject to root and crown rot. Too much water will ruin your Petunias.
After planting, water regularly until they are established. After this a weekly or two-weekly deep-watering is needed. Allowing the soil to dry out a bit between watering, encourage more profuse flowering.
Too much water will cause Petunias to become ‘leggy’ with few flowers.
Feeding
To keep your petunias blooming, feed them monthly with a fertiliser or a foliar spray. Greenside Nursery will advise you on the correct fertiliser when you choose your plants.
Caring for Petunias
Deadhead regularly to encourage more flowers. If the plant is scraggly, nip growing tips to encourage branching. Few pests bother petunias, but keep an eye out for snails, mites and budworms. Ask Greenside Nursery for the best remedies to keep your plants pest-free.
Kinds of Petunias
Greenside Nursery offers a wide variety of Petunias to suit the area you want to plant them in. Our Petunia varieties will cover your soil in a show of brilliant colour all year round.
Our Petunia ‘Bingo Nautica, Magma red, purple and Petunia Crazytunia® Blue Ice are all bushy annuals that will reward you with large flowers throughout the year. They all need full sun and are cold and frost hardy.
Visit Greenside Nursery for a variety of Petunia seedlings and advice on how to plant and care for them.