When I was a minuscule babe gardener , examine my deal at maturate plants in my mom ’s garden , I started out with a cheap little petunia that I base in the bargain bin at a grocery memory board .
That year and for many years to follow , my petunia plants would grow blithely and proceed to blossom all summer , but they almost always turned into a leggy mess .
They stopped looking like the bushy , colorful plants we know and love and started to bet scraggly and flimsy midway through the grow season .
I knew theycouldlook beautiful . The ones in the hanging green goddess lining our Main Street always await phenomenal . What was I doing wrong ?
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Now , gather ‘ round , tike . Auntie Kristine is going to tell you about a sentence long , long ago , before the cyberspace was useable in your pocket .
Back then I could n’t just burn up the family computer and do a quick lookup to figure out the problem . I had to ask around . I checked out books at the library , and I babble out to a friendly expert at the local baby’s room .
That ’s how I first learned why these plant become straggly and how to avoid it .
I even learn how to pay back the problem if the industrial plant became a long-legged mess . Once I learned the way of the petunia , I never had to parcel out with an ugly , lanky pile of stems ever again .
All these years after , I ’ll do across a home with a pot full of leggy flowers , and I want to share the good word . That would be a moment nervy , so I ’ll just share it with you , instead .
While we ’re at it , if you need a speedy summing up ofhow to best grow and care for petunia , visit our guide . Then , we ’ll dive into uprise bushier , happy plants .
Coming right up , here ’s what we ’re cash in one’s chips to go over :
What You’ll Learn
Why Do Petunias Become Leggy ?
Preventing Legginess
How to Fix Leggy Growth
Leggy petunia are exceptionally common because these plants naturally take on a scraggly , lengthy growth habit as they senesce . So to keep this , we have to fight against the plant ’s born increment .
Before we talk about prevention or mending , permit ’s talk about why this kind of growth pass off .
Petunias naturally have a tracking , drooping , or mounding use .
As each flower grow and fades , the plant life institutionalise out longer halt with new peak bud . It ’s not too far a stretch to go from trailing to leggy and it can happen quickly .
Throughout its growth cycle , the flora forever sends out young emergence .
Whether this growth is buddy-buddy and profuse or farseeing and sparse depend on several factors , including the amount of moisture , sun , and nutrients the plant receives .
There are self - head form out there and these will typically keep a much more compact habit without any treatment from you .
Even if you are growing one of these , it still facilitate to have it away what to do to prevent legginess .
Petunias provided with the right amount of weewee are less likely to become highly leggy .
The amount of water a plant require depends on the species or hybrid you are growing , locating , time of yr , and whether or not it ’s growing in a container .
Many hybrids do adept if the soil is allowed to just barely dry out between waterings , while some need a bit more consistent wet .
As the summer progresses and the conditions becomes blistering and siccative , the plants will inescapably ask more wet .
The trick is to keep the moisture point consistent . Do n’t let the flora dry out and wilt one week and then keep it overly wet the next , petunias do beneficial with consistency .
Sunlight is also a factor . A plant that receive too small sunshine is travel to try and load and reach to find the amount of light it needs .
They perform well in at least six hours of sunshine , but even more is better . A prompt way to bring on a leggy plant is to put it in too picayune sunlight !
Finally , soil nutriment is a important factor , particularly forpetunias growing in containers . When a plant is in a pot , it has limited access to nutrients . It relies on you to give it what it needs .
Most type will do well when fed every other week with a mild , balanced fertilizer .
I think Down to Earth ’s Starter Mix is perfect , because not only does it have the right balance of nutrient with alfalfa meal , fish bone meal , oyster shell , and help meal , but it also incorporate good endomycorrhizal fungus , which is often lacking in pot soil .
Down to Earth Starter Mix
Arbico Organics carriesthis fertiliser in one- or five - pound container .
When you provide the stark conditions for your heyday , all that ’s left to do isdeadhead the fatigued flowers .
Anytime you spot a flower that has melt in color , looks a fiddling ragged , or has close up , pinch it or switch off it off just in front of the nearest leaf node or the leaf node behind it .
This boost the genus Petunia to send out new , branching increment and peak buds , help to hold the bushy use .
So let ’s say , despite your crusade at right cultivation , your petunia became all long-legged and gangly , like a colt that has n’t grown into its peg . Not to worry , these plants can be pay off mightily up .
Just cut the stem back . Remove the goal two inches or so on the leggy branches , make the cut just in front of a foliage node , whether it has leaves or not . If the industrial plant is super long-legged , you may cut the offset back by two - tierce .
These plants can handle a mickle of pruning , so do n’t be shy . Go before and give them the hard chopper if they ’ve gotten specially leggy .
Now , stick on top of deadheading and make certain you ’re allow for the right amount of body of water , nutrients , and sunlight .
Leg It From Legginess
I do n’t think it ’s too much to ask to have big , bushy Petunia with piles of semblance without having to suffer straggly stems . You do n’t have to .
raise these flowers does n’t mean you have to administer with ugly , leggy growing .
And formore data about growing petunias , assure out these guides next :
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About
Kristine Lofgren
