How To Grow Petunias From Cuttings For Success?

Grow petunias from seed in only four simple steps! It is one of the greatest ways to cultivate trumpet-shaped petunias by using cuttings. When it comes to seed germination, experienced gardeners prefer to use cuttings rather than seeds.

It takes a long time for seeds to germinate, especially from hybrid petunia varieties, as opposed to cuttings, which can bloom sooner. Instead of starting from seed, take cuttings and grow your garden from the ground up. After all, this method of propagation guarantees that you’ll have clones of the plant from which you’ve taken cuttings.

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Growing your plants in a greenhouse is an excellent idea if you plan to take cuttings from them. Cuttings should be taken from vigorous and healthy parent plants. In order to avoid stress and disease, they should be kept in an optimum environment such as a greenhouse.

How To Grow Petunias From Cuttings For Success

It is recommended that you use cuttings to propagate most trailing petunias and other varieties. Even if you cultivate petunias from seeds, you’ll still have to deal with concerns like using low-quality growing medium and too much humidity. Taking cuttings in the middle of spring for a good summer bloom is possible with careful care, so the benefit outweighs the risk.

Prepare mixture

The quality of your growing medium is an important first stage and may perhaps be the most important factor in your propagation’s success. Perlite and moss or potting soil, gritty sand, or vermiculite are excellent examples of a growing medium. This mixture can be placed in a plastic pot or cell pack and moistened completely.

You can sprinkle the medium or soak it in water to make it more wet. Drain for 15 minutes for the latter.

Gather cuttings

Cuttings should be taken from a healthy parent plant, as previously stated. Because you’ll be generating petunia clones from this plant in the future, you’ll want to use the greatest one you have. Ideally, the parent plant should have large, showy flowers on a compact stem.

When is the best time to gather cuttings? In the fall, before the first frost, is the perfect time to do so. To avoid frost issues, first determine your growing zone and then mark your calendar.

Cuttings can be taken from this point onward. Ideally, you want a stem that is 3 to 5 inches in length and has a lot of leaves but no buds or blooms. To prevent the spread of disease, the University of Maine advised that you use a sterilized, sharp cutting tool.

Take the cutting 1/8 inch below a mature set of leaves and remove the leaves from stem, leaving the lower one-third of the cutting naked. This is critical. Once you’ve planted the cutting, you can remove the buds and blooms to assist it focus on growth rather than reproduction. Make sure to use rooting hormone prior to planting to ensure healthy and strong roots..

Planting

Treatment with a rooting hormone before planting is recommended. Make sure you’re covering every nook and cranny with a cotton swab as you apply it. A separate container should be used to dip so that there is no chance of contamination.

The propagation process will be hampered if the medium is not wet but porous. You can use clear plastic bags or mist to keep the medium moist. The cuttings should be kept out of direct sunlight, and if you are using plastic bags, make sure that the moisture is evaporating and that the plastic does not touch them.

Maintenance

Place your petunia cuttings in a 75°F environment to encourage roots. Additional emphasis is required on the medium’s ability to maintain its moisture levels. Be careful not to overwater the medium by misting the cutting.

To avoid harming the roots, use diluted fertilizer when fertilizing petunia cuttings. You should also avoid watering the plants the week before or after a feeding. If the plant resists gentle tugging every three or four weeks, it has roots.

When your plants are ready to be moved outside, take sure to harden them off first. The plastic covering should be slowly removed for longer lengths of time. 8 hours of regular conditions should be enough time for your plants to resist.

Why Propagate Petunia Cuttings?

There are a few of issues with merely keeping the seeds and replanting them the next year if you want to reproduce petunias of the same variety. If you live in the northern portion of the United States, you may not see any flowers on your petunia plants until the middle of July. The second problem is that the seeds you collect will not germinate the following year if you grow and care for hybrid petunias. Rooting petunia cuttings is the best approach to expand your garden for the upcoming season.

How to Root Petunia Plants

How can petunias be rooted? You should start with the best specimen of the plant in your yard and work your way down from there. Choosing plants with compact growth and bright, huge flowers in the colors you like will ensure that you’ll be generating perfect clones. Harvest the plant’s cuttings in the fall, just before the ground freezes.

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Preparation is key when it comes to successfully rooting petunia flowers. Peat moss, sand, and plant food should all be mixed in equal parts. Mix up the mixture, then spritz it to ensure that it’s evenly moistened. Petunia plants have delicate, flexible leaves that can be clipped from the tops. Avoid collecting older, woody specimens. A damp paper towel can be used to keep the leaves fresh until you’re able to put them inside. Rooting hormone powder should be rubbed onto the leaf tips. Use a pencil to make a hole in the soil mixture, and then insert the powdered stem into it.

Place soil around the stem to keep it in place. Keep a distance of about 2 inches (5 cm.) between each of the leaves. For approximately three weeks, keep the tray in a dark, cool location. Check to see if roots have started growing on the stem by gently pulling on one leaf after this period has passed.

Transplant each leaf into a tiny pot once it has developed a stem. Place the pots under grow lights on shelves and continue to cultivate them through the winter. Petunias will be bloom-ready next spring, as soon as the frost has melted.

Why grow petunias from cuttings

Since I no longer have a source for inexpensive six-packs of annuals, I’ve been relying on grocery store options and even Wal-Mart for my petunias. Although my petunia seedlings didn’t grow this year, I plan on starting new seedlings shortly.

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As a result, I chose to get started with what I already had and build on that foundation. You won’t have lush plants in a hurry if you do this. You’ll have to wait until later in the season to see the flowers bloom (unless you start in February). It’s worth the wait, but it’s not easy.

When you prune or renovate your leggy petunias in the middle of the summer, you can start petunias from cuttings.

Prepare pots of soil

Filling up a six-pack container with potting soil and watering it thoroughly was all that was needed. Many times, I use the small 2 to 3 inch plastic pots that I bought on Amazon and have used for cuttings for over ten years now.

The 6 pack container was the closest thing to them, but I was in a rush and didn’t utilize them this time.

Choose Petunia to take cuttings from

One of my petunias will be trimmed down today. For $3, I purchased a 4-pack of these from Wal-Mart. Having bought them in the beginning of April, I potted them up and waited for them to reach a size where cuttings could be taken.

You’ll see another one of my sources in the video. There is a video at the end of this post that shows you how to do it.

Choose stem to cut

A long stem is what you’re looking for. The potting media should be able to accommodate a cutting that is 3 to 4 inches long. Here’s the recipe for the homemade potting soil I use.

This petunia’s longest stem is the one with the largest blossom. I don’t want to chop it off since it’s so beautiful, but it’s inevitable.

Find a location just below a leaf node and follow it all the way down.

Take your Cutting

Select your preferred cutting tool and trim slightly below the leaf node using bypass pruners.

Remove leaves from petunia cutting

Removing the petunia cutting’s leaves and side shoots is as simple as laying it flat or using a potting bench.

To remove the leaves from the stem, you can either pinch them off with your fingernail or use a sharp knife.

Soon this little cutting will be sprouting new growth, and then even more stunning blossoms, which makes it look a little depressing right now.

Rooting Hormone or not?

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Use rooting hormone on the lower end of the stick. Useful for petunia rooting hormone. (I’ve heard that petunias don’t require rooting hormone; I plan to test this theory and report back to you.)

Take a tiny container and put the rooting hormone in it instead of directly dipping your finger into the bottle. Rooting hormone is placed in the bottom of a little glass votive.

Get rid of the extra hormone.

Stick cutting into planting soil

Creating an indentation with a tool that is large enough all the way around. With a sharpie, I was able to create a large enough hole for the cutting.

When removing the sharpie, the dirt doesn’t cave in because it’s wet.

Insert the petunia cutting into the hole created by the Sharpie, and gently yet firmly press the earth around it.

Two plants yielded three cuttings so far. Because these were still small plants, I trimmed a piece from another petunia to finish.

Place in a cool place.

Because I don’t want the cuttings to dry out too much, I use these domed lids to cover the planters.

Others believe that this causes fungus and rot, and prefer a misting system over a sprinkler system. Only pros, on the other hand, have such a setup.

These lids have been fantastic for me, and they have airflow on the top, which I appreciate. This is a close match, but I couldn’t find an identical match on Amazon to provide as a link. I’ve had mine for at least a decade and they’ve been well worth the money. Mine started off crystal clear, but as time has passed, the ambering has become more pronounced.

Since it’s still cool outside, I put the cuttings in the greenhouse, but now it’s getting way too hot. In the summer, I’ll set them up on a table under my deck, where they’ll get plenty of light but won’t be baking in the sun.

In 3-4 weeks, you should start seeing roots. Your lovely petunias will be ready to be planted in a tub or container before you know it.

Plant propagation by this method might become compulsive. Be forewarned!

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Have a great time in the garden!

Conclusion

Petunias, with their trumpet-shaped blooms, are a wonderful addition to any garden. Learn how to propagate petunias from cuttings if you have a favorite variety and want to increase the number of plants in your collection. Preparation of the mixture, cutting, planting, and upkeep are all straightforward procedures.

Use a sanitized cutting instrument to collect 3-inch cuttings from the optimum medium, which is perlite and moss. Make sure the medium is moist before adding the plugs and dipping them in the rooting hormone. Grow your plants in a greenhouse until they are hardy enough to be transplanted outside.

To ensure that the seedlings are strong enough to be transplanted, start them in a greenhouse. No matter how unfavorable the climate is for petunia development, the greenhouse will allow you to grow as many as you want. You can also let your petunias to grow naturally so that they can withstand the elements without wilting.

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