Wave Petunias From Seed?

[barkeater]

Has anyone raised their own Wave petunias from seed before? I just got a pack of seed and wondering if I should sow them now for planting a bed of them June 1. I hear they start off pretty slow. Do I have to do anything different with them than with my tomatoes, like lighting, temperature, etc.? Thanks for any insight you can share.

[greyghost]

Ed, I love to grow Wave petunias from seed. I usually start mine March 1st,
give or take a few days. Seed is pelleted; I try to grow two together for a full
look. Seed of Waves is pelleted so easy to manage; other petunia seed is
very small-like tiny poppy seeds.

They need light to germinate, I do use a heating mat but have had good success without one at room temperature. Seed germinates in a week
(sometimes less), tiny, tiny plants at first but their saving grace is that they grow every day! Easily tranplanted and I make sure there are 2 in each 4"
pot. About the first or second week in May, I'll transplant into borders.
Many will be blooming at that time.

I think I actually have better success with non-pelleted seed so I don't see
pelleted petunia seed as much of an advantage except Wave seed is comparatively expensive and few seeds in a packet.

While growing, I'll generally use a weak soluable fertilizer of some sort-
usually the same that I use on the rest of my plants.

Darlene

[greyghost]

Ed, I should add that after the petunia plants germinate in the kitchen
(they are under under-cabinet mounted fl. lights), I'll move them to the
cooler garage (sixties?) under grow lights. As my tomato and pepper
plants take over that area, the petunias are put outside in a sunny area.
They are moved into the garage if the temperature should fall into the thirties
but I consider them a lot hardier than tomatoes and peppers-they're left out
in rain (but not allowed to soak) and lightly fertilized afterward. I do subject
them to sunlight gradually, though. I usually do about 200 plants, mostly
clumping varieties, as they are pretty deer resistant (although deer sometimes
pull them out of the ground-I'll simply replant). Mine can usually survive a
very light frost.

[barkeater]

Darlene,

Thanks for the great info. Looks like if I start them this week they should be in good shape to plant out the end of May, based on how you do yours. I'm growing the cherry Tidal Wave series, and they are pelleted. They are supposed to be the biggest spreaders of all the Wave series, so I'm wondering if I should put 2 in a pot or not. I guess that is how they came up with the name. What do you think?

[AprilMayJune]

I started some this year and while they had really good germination rates (and yes, they start out SUPER timy!), they haven't fared very well since then and for whatever reason mine have been REALLY slow to develop. I'm a very novice gardener though, so I'm guessing it was something I did rather than the seeds themselves...maybe next year I will tweak my plan of attack.

[Doug9345]

I've never grown waves, but I have a 2 year old generic petunia flowering under a light. I've found out that I had to cover the pots with clear plastic to keep them from drying out and I more losses after they germinated than I lost to not germinating.

[Mark0820]

I grew them 2 or 3 years ago, and had very good results. My seeds weren't pelleted, so they were very very small (probably the smallest seeds I have ever seen). If I recall correctly, I believe the seed packet said to just lay the seeds on top of the seed starter and wet (not to cover them with additional seed starter). That is the only thing I recall as being different, but I would do whatever it says on the package of seed.

[Mark0820]

I probably wasn't supposed to cover the seeds since they weren't pelleted. I believe you indicated your seeds are pelleted. I do remember the seeds were so tiny that once I dropped them on top of the seed starter, often times I couldn't even see the seed.

[Farmette]

I've grown them, seeds were pelleted and I did not cover them with extra medium. They grew fine and robust using methods similar to what overs have said.

[greyghost]

Ed, I almost always put 2 in a pot and it makes a very full plant. I've also
grown some as a single-not a lot of difference, but if you have sufficient seed
and can do 2, it'll be spectacular (if you're successful at all)! You can't even tell
that there's two there, the "arms" intertwine and it looks natural. Just more
arms radiating out from the center so the plant seems very full.

The Tidal series tends to be a bit taller also-I still do those 2 to a pot also. The only reason I wouldn't is if I had a small packet (fewer) seeds and wanted
more individual plants -not a whole lot of difference either way though, so if you prefer to plant singles, you'll still have a good show. I've been getting larger packets from Harris seeds-from their commercial side so I usually have
plenty of seed. If you're successful this year, you might want to check out
the "Fusables" at Harris or Jung--at Swallowtail, also, I'm sure. Some neat
combinations.

The downside of unpelleted seed is that it's easy to get a mass of tiny plants
growing together. It's tedious but they are easily separated. You can lift by
one of the little round leaves and the little bare rooted plant suffers no harm-
very easy to transplant. Some varieties are inexpensive and come 100 tiny, tiny seeds to the pack and it's difficult to get just a couple into a cell.

One of my favorites is a clumping variety, pale blue with dark blue veins
called Blue Daddy-extremely fragrant. There are also some veined spreaders
too-the Opera" series. I like Parks for petunia seed also-think I've gotten the
Operas there as well. I plant the clumping varieties 2 to a pot also. Home grown petunias with a large root system are great compared to 6 packs
(although the waves are almost always sold in a pot).

[tam91]

If I was wanting to grow hanging baskets, how many in a basket? And how early would they need to be started?
Can seeds be bought at nurseries generally, or must they be ordered?

[Mark0820]

My guess would be that you will have to order seeds. I'm not familiar with the nurseries in your area, but where I live most big box stores and nurseries sell packets of flower seeds that I would describe as "less desirable".

[sio2rocks]

Originally Posted by tam91

If I was wanting to grow hanging baskets, how many in a basket? And how early would they need to be started?
Can seeds be bought at nurseries generally, or must they be ordered?

Tam91,

Most better nurseries should have wave petunias at the right time of year for your zone. I'd look in the phone book/on the internet and call a few local plant nurseries. They will be able to tell you if they will have them later in the season.

[tam91]

Yes, it is easy to find the plants. Thank you, but I was wondering about buying the seeds.

[barkeater]

Tracy,

I've been to the big box stores and my local Agway that has a nice seed selection, but no Wave petunia seeds in any of them. It's probably because they are so much more expensive than the rest of the seed packs offered in the displays, so maybe the worry is shoplifting or ringing the wrong price at the register.

That said, I wish I ordered more than one pack of 15 when I placed my vegetable seed order. I didn't realize 2 to a pot was best, and also don't know how many years the seed stays viable.