Lush bushes of petunias with bright colors delight the eye throughout the warm season. And although it is generally accepted that this plant is unpretentious, it still needs timely and proper care. In particular, because of how well the fertilizers will be selected for feeding petunias, the profusion of their flowering will depend.
If you are a beginner florist, then you probably have repeatedly wondered how to feed petunia for abundant flowering in order to achieve a lasting effect. There are several secrets that we will tell you in this article.
Varieties of fertilizers
At home amateur growers usually use liquid preparations for top dressing. These can be solutions with a high concentration of nutrients. Before fertilizing the soil in which the petunia grows, they must be diluted with water. Depending on what result you want to achieve, you can purchase one of the most popular petunia preparations: Garden of Miracles, Ideal, Uniflor, Bona Forte, Agricola.
In addition, in specialized stores you can buy a variety of dry mixes in the form of powder or granular fertilizers. They, as a rule, are also diluted with water in proportion, which is indicated in the instructions for the use of fertilizers for flowering plants. Some of the most common types of dry mixes are Plantofol, Master and Kemira Lux.
There are also long-lasting fertilizers on sale. Among them are superphosphates, Agricola capsules, nitroammophoska, Etisso, etc. The soil with these compounds is filled with useful substances gradually under the action of water during watering the plant. The granules of the long-playing dressing are added to the soil before planting the petunia. This is very convenient, since the fertilizer is applied once per season. However, some growers noticed that this kind of top dressing is not enough for the development of a lush flowering plant.
Suppose a petunia bush changes the color of the leaves from green to purple and the number of buds has decreased. These are sure signs that the flower lacks phosphorus. With the use of liquid preparations for feeding, this problem is quickly solved. To do this, one drug is changed to another, which includes more phosphorus and that's all. If the petunia is restored, then the disease was determined correctly. And if not, then you need to continue to look for the cause.
But if you use only long-playing formulations, then, most likely, the flower will die very quickly. If you overdo it and add more phosphorus to the substrate than you need, which can happen when applying long-lasting fertilizers, the flower will die. This is due to the fact that the nutrient will be in the pot for a long time.
Experienced growers, as a rule, do not use long-playing fertilizers. But even if they are used in their practice, then less than the normalized dose of 2 or 3 times.
Primary fertilization
The first petunia dressing is carried out approximately 2 weeks after sowing the seeds. Thus, the plants will quickly gain green mass, making it easier to form a bush. In this case, complex fertilizers saturated with phosphorus and nitrogen are well suited.
Soluble blends such as Ideal, Garden of Miracles and Bona Forte are excellent for primary processing. In addition, at this stage of development of petunias, you can use dry mixes, such as Master and Plantfol.
Tip! Fertilizers rich in iron will prevent yellowing of petunia leaves. Feronite or ammonium nitrate is excellent for this purpose.Feeding seedlings of petunia is performed in 3 stages:
- When the first shoots. Fertilizer concentration should be two times less than what is written in the instructions.
- Repeat feeding is necessary after the seedlings are hardened and get stronger.
- Last treatment - before landing in the ground.
Secondary dressing
After the appearance of the first buds, petunia should be sprayed with Planfotole, which contains potassium. At the same time it is necessary to use a spray with a small spray.
For the formation of a lush bush also suitable water-soluble fertilizer "Crystal Green". They are treated seedlings. One teaspoon of greenish powder is dissolved in 5 liters of water. Petunia is sprayed with this solution every 3-4 days. It is not recommended to spray the plant during the flowering period.
Important! During the flowering period, fertilizers should be applied to the soil, such as Camera, Akvarin, Skotts, Crystal. The frequency of application - 1 time in 10 days.Abundant flowering of petunia is also achieved through fertilizers, which include calcium in large quantities.
To make the buds larger, petunias can be fertilized with Epin or Zircon. New shoots are formed due to fertilizers saturated with calcium. The flowering period can be extended if you feed the petunia with pink or brown Crystalone.
If the soil in the flowerbed is fertile, then the petunia practically does not need additional feeding. All that is needed is to tear off the faded buds in time. Do not overdo it with fertilizers, apply them strictly according to the instructions or make a weaker solution than stated in it. This is the only way you can grow beautiful petunia bushes. Otherwise, the plant will die.
Feeding methods
There are several methods of feeding petunias. Consider each of them separately and in detail. It will be a question of top dressing of a soil, fertilizer of seeds, fertilizer of seedlings and adult plants, extra root top dressing.
Top dressing
The quality of the soil is a guarantee of good appearance of the petunia. In view of this, we can conclude that the soil needs to be fed. The soil for petunias should not be saturated with large amounts of nutrients. Usually for successful cultivation of seedlings it is enough to add peat into the soil, which provides high-quality drainage.
Before planting seeds, the ground can be poured with a fungicide that protects the seedlings from the development of the black leg. If you do not have a fungicide, then soil can be disinfected with ordinary potassium permanganate.
Seed fertilizer
The quality and strength of the seed depends on the growth and development of petunias, the number of buds and even the duration of flowering. The pelleted seeds do not require any fertilizer, but they are more expensive than ordinary seeds. In order to eventually grow healthy petunias, fertilizer must be applied from the seed stage, if we are talking about cheap varieties.
So, the dried soil should be fed succinic acid after sowing seeds. Thus, high germination of seedlings is achieved.
Fertilizer seedlings and adult petunias
2 weeks after the dive of the seedlings, the following feeding can be carried out. Nitrogen fertilizers, as mentioned in the article above, stimulate the growth of bushes, and phosphate and potash fertilizers contribute to the development of buds.
Ferovit contains iron chelate, which prevents the manifestation of chlorosis or yellowness of petunia leaves. You need to use the drug 3-4 times with an interval of several days. It is worth noting that root feeding should be alternated with foliar.
Foliar feedings
Spraying leaves is the discharge of foliar feeding. It is worth noting that almost all fertilizers sold in liquid form, can be used for spraying the leaves. For this, more water is added to the preparation than indicated in the instructions for use. So, you can recycle petunia disease at an early stage. This approach allows you to achieve a positive result very quickly.
Timely watering
It cannot be said that the successful cultivation of beautiful petunias depends only on the timely application of fertilizers. Timely watering is also one of the keys to success in growing this flowering plant. It is obvious that all ingenious is simple!
Flowers need to be watered in the morning and evening. The best water for irrigation is snow or rain. The water temperature should be 3-4ºС above the ground temperature. Water must be of high quality. This is due to the fact that due to bad water, the soil structure is destroyed, toxic ions accumulate, the pH changes, fertilizer digestibility deteriorates, the growth and development of petunias slows down, and diseases of the root system develop. Watering should be done carefully, pour water under the root, so as not to damage the flowers.
So, for the flowering to be abundant and long-lasting, it is better to use complex fertilizers, rather than formulations containing individual nutrients. In addition, it is important to water the flowers in time, using quality water for this purpose.
We bring to your attention video materials which will expand your knowledge in the field of fertilizer petunias:
