To maintain the beauty of hanging petunia baskets, follow these best practices:
Choose a suitable basket with enough room for your petunias. Petunias are perfect for locations exposed to full sunlight and are ideal for hanging pots. Look for cascading petunias, which produce flowers on long, flowing stems.
Plant petunias in hanging baskets in a pot that has well-draining potting soil. This will help ensure the plants last and bloom all summer.
Ensure petunia flower baskets receive full sunlight, regular water, fertilizer, and pruning. Water the baskets once a day, especially on hot days, twice a day. If the plants start to wilt or look droopy, they probably need water.
Hang the basket in full or partial sun. Keep it moist. Dose the basket once a month with an organic plant food, such as Schultz All.
Provide at least 6 hours of full sun per day for petunias to thrive. Hang the basket in full or partial sun and keep it moist. Dose the basket with organic plant food once a month.
Water petunias daily during the summer, and possibly twice during periods of extreme heat. Water deeply and let the plants grow.
In summary, maintaining the beauty of hanging petunia baskets requires careful planning, proper watering, and proper care. By following these best practices, you can ensure your petunias continue to thrive and provide stunning displays.
📹 How To Keep Your Petunias Full And Flowering | Pruning Petunias For Beginners
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How do you keep hanging baskets blooming all summer?
To maintain healthy hanging baskets filled with flowers, check them daily and water them if needed. Water early in the morning to help plants cope with hot days, and in a heatwave, water again in the evening. If the flowers wilt, the roots will shrivel, making it harder for them to absorb water. Give the baskets a thorough soak, but catch the run-off in a bucket and return it with the nutrients it contains. Feed summer bedding plants every 10-14 days from April to September, using a slow and steady supply of nutrients.
Deadhead spent flowers regularly to keep the plants blooming, trim back leggy growth, and carefully remove any thriving plants and replace them with new ones. If the basket fails, rethink your plant choice, as plants that appreciate shade will not thrive in full sun, while those that need warmth will dislike a cool or windy spot. If the basket wilts and cannot be recovered, swap in a pre-planted hanging basket for a quick and easy replacement.
How to prune petunias to keep them blooming?
The objective is to encourage the plant to create new stems and more blooms by trimming the leggy stems flush with the plant.
Should I cut back my petunia hanging basket?
To maintain the blooming of petunia flowers throughout the summer season, it is recommended that the plant be pruned approximately three times, with the removal of an appropriate amount to ensure the continued enjoyment of the plant and the stimulation of new growth. During the pruning process, it is advisable to administer a fertilizer that is soluble in water, in order to facilitate the creation of new growth. Such maintenance will ensure the continued health of the plant and allow it to flourish with renewed vigor.
How do you keep hanging petunias blooming?
Petunias require at least 6 hours of full sun per day to thrive. To maintain their blooms, ensure they get enough sunlight, keep the soil moist but not soggy, apply a controlled-release fertilizer regularly, and give them a trim. The sun provides energy for the plants to grow and flower, and if they receive less than six hours of light a day, moving them to a sunnier location may encourage more blooms. Proper care and attention to these details will ensure your petunias continue to bloom throughout summer.
Where do you cut when deadheading petunias?
To optimize plant growth and reduce seed production, it is recommended that dead flowers be removed by pinching them between the forefinger and thumbnail.
How long do petunias last in hanging baskets?
Provided that they are properly cared for, petunias have the potential to survive from the time of planting until the arrival of frost in hanging baskets. Given the accelerated leaching of water and nutrients, these plants necessitate more frequent care. To maintain optimal visual appeal, petunia flower baskets should be positioned in full sunlight, provided with regular irrigation, fertilized, and pruned as needed. Such practices will help to maintain the optimal appearance and vitality of the plants.
How to care for petunia hanging plants?
Petunias are a popular annual flower due to their low maintenance and variety of colors. They thrive in various locations, including landscapes, flower beds, vegetable gardens, pots, and hanging baskets. To ensure their beauty all season long, gardeners should choose the right varieties, choose a larger hanging container, use the right soil, provide adequate sunlight, water more frequently, fertilize as needed, prune and deadhead when necessary, and don’t crowd the basket. To keep petunias reblooming continuously and healthy, follow these tips:
- Choose the right varieties: Choose the right variety for your hanging basket.
- Choose the right soil: Use the right soil for your basket.
- Provide adequate sunlight: Provide adequate sunlight.
- Water more frequently: Water your basket more frequently.
- Fertilize as needed: Fertilize as needed.
- Prune and deadhead when necessary: Prune and deadhead when necessary.
- Don’t crowd the basket: Avoid crowding the basket to ensure the best results.
What do overwatered petunias look like?
Overwatering your Petunias can lead to issues such as yellow, swollen leaves, swampy soil, root rot, and a despairing appearance. To rescue overwatered plants, stop watering immediately and let the soil dry out. Consider repotting with fresh, well-draining soil and replacing heavy pots with lighter, breathable ones. Underwatering can also cause issues, with leaves crisper than a fresh salad and soil drier than a stand-up comedian’s wit. New growth turning yellow and wilting is a sign of thirstiness.
Can you overwater petunias in hanging baskets?
To maintain the health and vibrancy of your petunia/calibrachoa hanging basket, it’s crucial to use the right type of fertilizer. Understanding the differences between different types of fertilizers is essential to select the right one for your petunias/calibrachoas. A slow-release fertilizer is the best choice for petunia/calibrachoa hanging baskets, as it helps maintain their vibrant appearance.
How do you keep petunias full and bushy?
Petunias are a great addition to any garden, and they can be rejuvenated by giving them a trim in midsummer. It’s important to avoid cutting off more than 20 of the plant, and if some stems have grown longer than others, trim them to align with the others. If growing in the ground, cut back the ends of the branches by 20 to encourage new growth. Trimming the ends of the stems may cause the petunias to be out of bloom for a few days, but they quickly bounce back and look better.
Repeat this process in late summer or early fall to keep the plants blooming well into the fall months. If your petunias stop blooming, it’s likely due to insufficient sun, water, and fertilizer. Trimming them can stimulate new growth and flowers. Petunias bloom from planting to hard frost, with a growing season of two or three times as long in warmer areas.
Should I water petunias every day?
Petunias are a popular genus of flowering annuals, exhibiting a bloom period that extends from spring until the onset of frost and displaying a range of vibrant colors. In the majority of climatic conditions, a single weekly watering is sufficient for most varieties of petunia. The soil should be allowed to soak to a depth of between 6 and 8 inches when using sprinklers. These flowers are bright, lively, and fragrant, which contributes to their popularity as a choice for home and garden gardens.
📹 How to Keep your Petunias Looking Full and Flowering
As you asked for it.. Here is an instructional video on keeping your Petunias lush and Flowering… They can be stunning plants …
Years ago, I found the ultimate way to grow petunias whether in pots or, more to my experience, in beds. I have to say that I owe this all to two people, a gardener at the Sunset Gardens in Menlo Park, CA, and a Japanese gardener at a local nursery. The first rule is that whatever annual flower you plant, crowd it. If the directions say to plant 8 inches apart, plant 6 – 7 inches apart (6 would be better). The next thing is that when the plant is about 6 inches high, pinch it back by hand or use small scissors to clip the center of the crowns growing from the plant. Do this at least twice over the first couple of weeks after planting and the plant will respond by becoming more “shrubby” and producing more foliage, and in the end will not become “leggy.” This practice will also allow the plant to produce three to four times the number of blooms than otherwise. I have also used the clipping back or pinching back for other types of plants and the result is always the same, a shrubby appearance rather than sparse foliage that just doesn’t look very nice. This practice gets rid of the leggy appearance that some annuals often develop later in the season.
Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing! What I’ve learned to do over the years is to break every dead flowers off halfway down the stem instead of breaking it at the flower, so then it gets thicker at that lower spot. So instead of breaking it at the flower and seed, and then trimming 1/3 of them back at a later time, you can break the flower at a lower spot every time and then your plant will get bushy overall instead of one section at a time.
Thank you. I’ve just been given a tray of petunias. About a week ago and yes, I now see that I need to trim them back as you advise. So today, I am going to plant them out into some pots and enjoy them. Great tip about putting the trimmings into water to root and make more plants- I do this with my Vietnamese coriander and then once they have rooted I plant them into pots and after a few weeks, put them on my wall in the front garden with a little sign about them and people take them and enjoy them. Engenders a good community spirit- people have left me notes, seeds, seedlings in return…….Make someone’s day, give something beautiful away!
Gotta tell you, after 40 yrs of growing red petunias for the humming birds, I found out that when I do the heavy pruning, the flowers make fantastic cut flowers!!!! The blooms that only last one day “on the vine” lasted 10 days!!! So I am going to put a small vase or rocks glass in the middle of my pruned petunias and fill it with the blooming trimmings! I could not believe my trimmings never wilted! And the buds slowly bloomed also, so it was GORGEOUS!!! Try it! I hated clipping major blooming chunks of my plants off, until I got to put them in a vase and not lose the beauty! Just strip the leaves off the bottom of the stem and change the water every couple of days. What you got to lose?!? Also, try lining your flower pots with overnight strength diapers. They absorb and hold the water but don’t drown the roots. And the water doesn’t wash out the nutrients and dirt!
On Sundays before I had to leave the cottage for the week I would pluck every single flower and made sure I got the stem as well. No one would believe that my flowers were really petunias. They were like shrubs, huge, colorful and beautiful by the time I returned. Not doable in most cases but taught me what the dead heading can do. Lol
I watched this last summer and followed your advice. I couldn’t bear chopping them all back at once, I don’t have much company over so all the flower beauty is for me …so I would cut back part of the plant weekly. And instead of just deadheading old flowers, removed the “green chocolate chip “. And watered at least once a day, and used Miracle Grow. My petunias were SPECTACULAR. I got so much pleasure from them. Thank you for your advice!
Last year, I bought 2 six packs, planted them in 2 pots, enjoyed them for 2 months, then they looked dead, but I kept one pot, they survive and have been blooming again, so they are perennial in Southern California! So glad I just learn how to care to remove the “chocolate chips” and trim them, thank you for great article and tips from everyone 🙏
Thank you so much for this article! I just made a huge purchase at my neighborhood nursery much of which was petunias, I love them! Unfortunately they always end up looking “leggy” and bare. Now I know that it’s because I haven’t been caring for them properly! I have asked at the nursery how I should deadhead and they always say just pull off the dead flowers, I never new about the “green chocolate chip”. I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow morning and go to town! Thanks again Bill, great article!!!
I saved one of my petunia cuttings last fall and the plant survived all winter long inside the house in a jar and became the mother of all the petunias that I have all around the house. I continued to make cuttings and had them in vases and glass jars near a window. I eventually put the plant in starting soil and treated it like a house plant and continued to make cuttings. I didn’t need to start from seeds again ( bought the seeds from WM for .20 cents). Thanks for the info on keeping them looking sharp and full. Petunias are a great plant. I wonder if I can do that with a vinca?
This article helped my very first ever petunias survive through the summer. Gave me a boost in confidence to continue attempting to garden. As someone else here said, the nursery doesn’t tell you how to keep them alive and flowering through the season. It’s extremely demoralizing to a new gardener when the plants don’t last. Thanks for your articles.
I kill just about everything I try to grow. Your article was extremely helpful!!! I had no idea they required so much watering. I’ve been underwatering!! Also your demonstration on cutting them back and not just pulling off that yucky bud. I’m going to try one type of plant at a time …master it.. then go onto another. Will return to your articles for tutoring! Thx!
I do this with my petunias, but I don’t wait until they look “scraggly” before I do it. I find that I can cut them back two or three times and they come back looking like new plants. I also pinch off dead blooms every day, not just when cutting them back. This makes them bloom like crazy! Don’t forget the fertilizer. Great article.
I stumbled across you article last year when my mom gave me several pots of petunia last April. With the tips you gave me, I managed to get them to blood until late November. I had a good 7-8 months of good active blooms. The pinching and pruning is the secret to it all. First time I hacked the leaves off, I almost had a heart attack. LOL My neighbors thought I cared for the plants like the boss.
I do this with my petunias, but I don’t wait until they look “scraggly” before I do it. I cut them back when they start to get leggy. I find that I can cut them back two or three times a season and they come back looking like new plants every time until it gets too hot for them. I also pinch off dead blooms every day, not just when cutting them back. This makes them bloom like crazy! Don’t forget the fertilizer. Great article.
Thank you so much for this simple article. I wish I saw this early summer! I am a Landscaper and was tasked to take care and water plants. My company left me on my own and I didnt know very much how to care for plants. We had a client that had 4 massive pots full of petunias! Its was overwhelming! They even had aphids that I didnt know how to get rid of the whole summer!!! I shook the plants like hair and so much came off and bugs everywhere! I eventually learned to cut them back but I felt like it was too late for the season. I hope for a better year for them next year!
Thank you so much for your article. I knew about deadheading but not taking off the seed pod the flower grew out of and pruning it. We have only had our basket for two weeks so I immediately went and cut off as many of the pods as possible. I have subscribed to your articles because I have just started getting serious about gardening since I retired last June. Thank you again for such great info.
This is hands down the most comprehensive schooling on petunias I have yet seen. Or heard, for that matter. Petunias are one of my favorite 3 season flowers, but I’ve never had 1 last all 3 seasons. I have to replace them throughout the growing season, which can be kind of pricey. I am going to try your methods starting today. Thank you so much!
This is definitely the best article for info about pruning petunias. I had researched so much when I first started planting them. I have come to fine that the my multiflora petunias always do so much better than the wave petunias I have. For some reason the wave petunias grow these stick-like sprouts and seem to die and dry out so fast.
The same is true of MOST annuals — deadhead the bejesus out of them, especially when you first plant them! Many beginners don’t understand that if your plant goes to seed, it has no need to flower anymore, so it will stop. My other trick is Miracle-Gro Ultra Bloom — they flower like mad if you given them a dose of that after deadheading. Thanks for posting this, there will be many more happy beginner gareners next year with gorgeous petunias of their own!
Thank you so much for this article! I feel stupid but I wasn’t sure if the flowers were ones that had bloomed already or were new so I was only removing the ones that I was sure were finished blooming. Now I will go out and finish the job. This is one of the only articles that really explained and showed a close-up of what I needed to look out for. 😀
Thanks for the great article. I planted Petunias for the first time this year and love the results. My growing season is nearing the end here in Ohio but the Petunias are still looking healthy and in full bloom while the rest of my plants are withering. I look forward to using your advise next year. Once again…Thanks
I haven’t read comments, sorry. I’m live in searing sun Texas. When I had a bunch of petunias, many, many, all in containers, the flowers I cut off did nicely for 2-3 days in a small vase, like a budding vase, even in 100F + temps. I kept them on my deck, in small vases, in shade. Be sure to strip the leaves off that will be sitting in water. I’m in an apartment now but I do have a small bit of ground I’m getting ready to plant some petunias in. Before, when I did deadheading about 2-3 times a week, I always had loads of cute flower “vases” around the deck, and the petunias were glorious and responded well to the small amount of attention. It only took a few minutes to deadhead a BUNCH but the rewards were well worth the little bit of effort. Time spent outside enjoying the plants; priceless.
Ah ha, I’ve been wondering why my petunias got so long and spindly and stopped flowering, despite my efforts to dead-head. Now I realise I haven’t been taking the seed pod bit out along with the dead flower. I also had never thought of cutting them back as hard as you have suggested. I’m heading out now to my baskets and window boxes to see what a good prune will do. Thank you from Ireland for your tips.
Finally got my answer as to what to do with the spent flowers and how to trim the plant. It’s May 2022 and I just had to pay $150 for 3 flats 3 different colors (30 containers total). $150!!!!!!! They’d better live and look gorgeous for that price!! So this article is very helpful. I grew Petunias for the first time in pots with other flowers and they drooped over the years beautifully. Don’t remember trimming them and they did great. This year I’m just growing Petunias. I have three 3-feet by 1-foot planters atop 3 feet long legs. Also have two 3-gallon pots on the ground. Hope I bought enough Petunias cuz can’t afford to get more! Plus got Miracle Grow ($35) to put them in. Wish me luck!!!!
Thank you for taking your time and sharing this info. I bought several petunias last year at Lowe’s on clearance. I planted them and they looked great for a few weeks when watered and fertilized regularly, then BOOM they all fell flat and stopped growing and then died. I told my husband don’t buy any petunias this year because it’s just a waste. Well of course he doesn’t listen and bought a few. So now I’ve watched this article and I’m going out to cut them back & hopefully they will last through summer.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, much appreciated. I had a greenhouse built last late year in the fall. Never had one. I put all my potted plants in there and watered when the first inch of soil started to feel dry and trimmed down my plants. Had about 20 geraniums – half of those made it and several mixed petunias and only one of those came back…the pink one. I think I lost some due to it getting to cold the time my green house got finished. I live outside the Seattle area. My neighbor threw her petunias away because they look almost dead from not watering, so I took it to try and bring it back to life, it still has green in the vines, however the leaves are severely wilted from not being watered. Any other tips you have for a severely stressed petunia?
Thank you for a clear explanation of precisely what and where to prune and cut. I don’t know much about gardening and find much of it perplexing, but still would like to know enough to at least keep three nice hanging plants looking nice throughout the summer! I invested in an auto irrigation system for when I went on vacation for a week and that worked great. Now I know enough to prune back my petunias which are looking lanky.
I hope to have watched this in time for my petunias! Going out to trim a bit and pull the seed pods off. I went petunia crazy around my pond and 2 hanging baskets. I chose petunias for around my small pond as they are safe around animals. My dogs love the pond so that was really important to me. They plants are really filling in around it and blooming profusely so now to keep them that way. Thanks so much for the advice and clear explanation!
Thank you; this is a great article regarding petunias. Well; no wonder some of my petunias have had issues over time. I dead headed the spent flower “only”. I never knew how important it was to remove the star shape that tells the plant to go into seed mode. I immediately went outside this afternoon and properly dead headed my new petunia plants. ^×^
Thamks for shsring more great info. i never had the balz to cut dradticly lol. Most flowering plants built in function is to make seeds so correct, removing seed pods help lengthier, more robust flowering. this goes for geraniums and most others. I often use alkaline charged ionized water to carry 1/2 strength liquid fertilizerto the plant and roots.
Hi, Great article, I really enjoy perusal this article it has truly helped me understand Petunias. I like these plants and love to look at them when they flower, so beautiful!!!!! Thanks for letting us know about pinching the plant. I used to pull out the flowers which I now understand I was doing the wrong thing. I didn’t know I had to remove the spike…..amazing thanks so so much!!!!!!! Do more articles.
The greatest piece of advice for me was the dead head removal. I did not know you had to remove the ENTIRE DEAD FLOWER HEAD, and not just “pull” the dead flower out!! I will try and cut my petunia down a bit, to see if I can get more life out of it before Autumn. It’s now the first week in August, so I hope I haven’t left it too late to give them a good trimming to get more flowers. Thank you so much. I will see what other articles you have, as this one was straight to the point and very informative. I will know how to treat my Petunias next year!!
Although I do deadhead the stem head along with the flower, I’ve never given my petunias a big hack. I’ve kept them blooming all season by feeding them continuously (every watering!) with a half dose of root and bloom solution in my potted plants. Read the trick many years ago and it works well, since most pots lose nutrients through run-off. However, some do experience legginess. Going to give them the hack you suggest – Thanks!
Just to let you know that I followed your tips and can advise that I have the most glorious hanging basket with flowers by the plentiful. I remove all the dead heads as you have kindly shown – and trim back – it really is like a work of art!! And I feed every other day and water in the morning and evening. Also, another tip that youtubers might find interesting is that I spray the foliage with phostrogen ( out of direct sunlight), that it firms the plant and flowers even quicker!! Thank you from Ireland
I’ve had luck with taking the prune pieces, and sticking them in another pot of dirt, and they will start to grow after looking sickly for a short while. I also throw the dead blooms into the pot, or stick a hole in the soil and stick the dead bloom into the hole, and more plants start to grow by next spring.
I remember when I took my ailing petunia to my gardener neighbor for advice. My heart about stopped when he chopped off allllll the parts with the beautiful flowers 😂😂😂 he assured me they would come back much healthier. I wasn’t convinced lol. I had a wave petunia, so thought I didn’t need to prune or dead head it. I was wrong! Needless to say, about 2 weeks after my neighbor butchered my petunias, it grew back fuller, and much healthier. And it grew back FAST!!!!! I wrote this for anyone hesitant to cut back their petunias….don’t panic. And to just do it! You won’t regret it lol. My petunia basket lasted well into late fall. Though I did not get it as full as those huge, full round baskets you see on YouTube, I did get it trailing quite nicely! I was very happy! I just bought a basket of multi color petunias yesterday, but I think they are just the regular petunias, not the hybrid or wave ……I was wondering if they will still trail?
Thank you for the info. Learned a lot. I recently came back from a week long vacation and I don’t believe the young girl perusal the house watered as much as she should have. I have cut back A LOT of the brown and have fertilized and I am praying I can bring my Beautiful baskets back to life. Any other suggestions?
Petúnias são plantas maravilhosas 🙂 Eu estava dizendo, basicamente, se você quer manter sua planta bonita e cheio de flores durante toda a temporada. Você precisa remover a flor eo caule que contém as sementes. a fábrica vai continuar florescendo para produzir mais sementes. e não se esqueça de cortar as plantas também 🙂
I’ve never been very diligent about cutting back my petunias and they show it every year. I haven’t cut them back this season because they were doing beautifully but I’ve noticed over the past couple of days it’s looking more and more lanky. I found your article and after posting this, I’m going to grab my pruners and give it a good cleaning out. Hopefully I’m not too late….there’s still plenty of growing season left! Thanks for the info! 🙂
A sincere thank you, for this valuable information! Would love to see these very same flowers after 3 weeks. I don’t think any gardening websites do a 3 to 6 week type follow up on the very same plant they’re talking about so viewers can see the difference. Maybe position the camera in the very-exact same spot and film the follow up? That’d be cool to see the flower’s growth progress. Again, thanks for sharing. 🙂
thank you. wow, its been a while since you made this article. I hope you have taken the time to have your flowers bloom for your own enjoyment as well as that of others. I love sitting on my deck early in the AM, listening to the birds and enjoying the beauty of the flowers. Anyway, I will give this a try. I popped up at the perfect time. The petunias my son gave me for mothers day are looking rather ratty and this explains why. Hopefully, this will work. Thank you. Enjoy your garden.
I just potted a dozen volunteer Petunias that sprout, believe it or not, in a seam in my driveway. Many years ago I had a planter full of Petunias sitting between my garage doors, The plants set seed in a driveway seam and I left the sprouts alone the first season. Those plants grew huge! I don’t know how they grew there in the hot asphalt, but they did and I let them set seed. Last year I had beautiful little green plants until January ( no blooms after frost in October ). Each spring I leave the volunteers that are in the seam near my planter and others I pot. There are still eight or ten sprouts in the seam that I will probably leave. I know that most people would cringe at having plants in a seam in their driveway but they are out of the way of the car and I’m just amazed that they are able to grow and reproduce there.
The first time I grew petunias was many years ago and all I did was plant and water and they flourished for most of the summer and died in late summer suddenly. I am growing them this year and having all the problems you point out-thanks for the info. Gonna cut them back tomorrow and dead head them right. I will see where it goes.
This was great to see! My Husband loves petunias but neither one of us knows anything about caring for them. They have gotten very “leggy” and look awful. Still growing but only flowering on the ends. Plant label says “no need to deadhead” so we haven’t. Going to cut back as you suggest and since we won’t be having company for awhile no one will miss the flowers except my husband and me… Thanks so much for this!
Hi I’m so happy I found your article bill my mum suggests only pulling the dead flower out but I have noticed the seed pods on my petunias,i think I need to show her your article but she is insisting on doing it her way and has done this for years 🙂 i have four hanging baskets on my rose arch they are beautiful but seem to take ages growing back new flowers also some of the stems are yellowing,your petunias look amazing love them.
for the last 15 years I’ve used red geraniums for accent throughout the yard. this year the big box stores never got THEE big shipment. I usually plant 60 to 70. So, I bought Easy Rider Petunias figuring they’d make a good substitute. geraniums, as you probable know, plant it and leave, no fuss, no muss. If not for you I would of pissed away close to $100.00. thank you so much for this!
My petunias are beautiful I usually kill them but I baby my impatient and petunia through winter my husband just cut them back just like you said here. I live on the gulf coast so winter is usually mild with a few freeze days I just brought them in. Actually they kept blooming and now it’s spring we cut them both back fertilizer with liquid miracle go and I usually have to water every other day also my petunia doesn’t like direct sun it gets Morning sun a little on my Apts patio I acquired two Boston ferns and am so happy that I haven’t killed them. I did same thing to fertilize and I water 💦 when the ferns are little light when I pick them up. Not hanging ferns just in same pot sitting on plant stands
I live in Arizona up toward Las vagus We have very hot summers (long hot summers ) ! I love 💕 plants and flowers 🌺 I have good luck with my plants and flowers ! You have given me some much needed ad vice on the care of Petunias 💕! Particular the seed pods,I didn’t know about cutting them back ! And I will have to force my self to cut anything from these beautiful flowers ! 🥺 “sigh” ! But alas We do what we have to do for our 💕 of Plants 🌱 Thank you for sharing your Information 👍🌺👵🏻😺🐶🖖👽
Thank you so much! My petunias are flowering but getting leggy and i didn’t know what to do. Also I didn’t know you pull the green part under off with the dead flower. I will start doing that Nd trimming my petunias tomorrow! Thank you again! I also going to save and share your article! Have a great day!
I watched this article and I was like “no I cant trim back my flowers” it hurt to think I had to do that, I continued watering, fertilizing once a week (because mine are large in a hanging basket), and trimming the ends where it was starting to droop.. after a few weeks I came back to your article and you were right you wanna trim exactly like you said and fertilizing makes such an amazing difference as well! Thank you so much, best advice about petunias ive gotten.
I was wondering why mine were looking scraggly. The healthier ones I just plucked the pods off and others clipped back quite a bit. I can’t wait for the results! Im so excited! I never thought I would be that person who gets excited about plants. When I buy new plants for spring… its like Xmas for me!
Don’t be scared of the profile pic…it’s not really me lol. This is the second spring in a row I’ve watched your great teaching tool article. I tried everything you suggested but at no avail..my flowers died:( I’m better prepared this year. Paying extra close attention so I too can hopefully grow a beautiful petunia garden this year. Thank you for your wonderful articles..they are truly helpful. Happy gardening people!!!!!!
when I saw you cutting those beautiful flowers my heart was racing in agony 😰 !! But I see you point ! 😊 You know what I do to get my flower to keep blooming all summer long ? every day I go around them Drinking my coffee ( not a ritual😁) and take off all the dry petals without demaging the sprout behind it … I dont wait to fall out on its own because it weakens the plants growth…. so they bloom better and faster to me ! its works wonders !!! also I do move all the flowers from top of each other and try to get in a open space for the bottom ones to breath and come out ! they love it ! its works ! I don’t anything! and they go from looking frinzy to gorgeous cascade hangers ! and I use use some miracle grow every other week as well 🤪😘
I have a hanging planter of “self-dead heading” petunias. When I got it it was full, gorgeous and cascaded over and below the pot a good 2 feet, BUT after about a month and a half of being outside, the top was completely bare (all you saw was dirt and stems) and it got VERY leggy! It also drys out a lot, regardless of whether I water it every day, sometimes twice! I’m going to cut it back today, following your advice. I have two questions, however: First, I’m thinking this variety of petunia is a cascading type. That being true, will it grow long again if I cut back ever 10-14 days? Second, I thought the petunias liked full sun. Can they take partial sun and still bloom and grow well? Thank you for this article…😊🌺
good suggestion. i didn’t plant any petunias this year in the garden so i can’t make a new article on them but maybe next year i can do some before and afters in a timeline 🙂 I like to grow my petunias in full sun (making sure they are well watered ) they also enjoy being sheltered a bit from the sun during the hottest parts of the day.
Thank you for showing exactly where to cut back. Now what if you don’t cut at exactly the right place? Will it still grow back? Excuse the simple question but I’m not a pro and I usually grow easy flowers that take full sun like marigolds. I know this takes partial shade so I’m knowledgeable on that at least! lol
Learned so much on your article! Thanks. My biggest problem with my petunias is, I always get thes black specks,looks like pepper, then I begin seeing very small green little caterpillar type worms they eat the whole plant up eventually… Any idea what causes this? Is there something organic spray I can use????
Great information!! Petunias are my favorite in a hanging basket but last year ALL of my baskets were covered with aphids.I tried hosing,I tried soapy spray,and I did the neam oil.I ended up tossing them so other plant wouldn’t be effected.Please give me a tip for this year what would you do? Happy planting and thanks as always 🙂
I like that you mention when to cut back when you’re expecting company, I too think of things like that. I have a question though- I have petunias that don’t seem to produce as large of a flower. So I might have a different variety than what’s shown. The stems coming out of the dirt have never been green, they always look dark and crispy and brown. Is that ever normal? I’m wondering if it’s just how the plant is or if it’s something I’m doing wrong. It was flowering so nice when I bought it and the stems were always like that.
Very interesting info…………thank you………….just curious……..our city is a small town…but they plant Petunias in pots all over town………they do water every other day? just guessing? but I know they do not prune……my husband and I……..never have luck with ours…we are going to follow your suggestions..but wonder? why the “neglected” ones haha…up town………do so well..with no love? thanks…if you might have an idea we are just curious as I said…………….have a good day………..
Finally. The correct information. I bought my first 4 hanging petunias and looked after them all summer. Repotted them as soon as I bought them. Brought them in in heavy rain and hung them back when the sun was out. Sometimes daily. Watered daily. Fertilized. Pinched off most dead flowers. Its middle autumn here in Australia and they were looking stringy and tired. 75% trim ! I didn’t know how to selectively prune through summer. With 7-8hrs sun over winter, and minimums of about 5c, are they likely to flower throughout? Hoping so. Thanks
Idk what’s so hard about making THIS article! I watched 10 where they say “just cut it back”. I wanna know WHY and WHERE dang it! 😫 The more I’ve learned about gardening the more I can make educated guesses. Yesterday I spent a long time actually cutting the flower stems off instead of pulling the bloom because I FIGURED that was right and better 😅 I’m so happy to get confirmation.
OH and I LOVE your Shamrocks! How do you get them to grow so big? I have some indoors that have a REALLY hard time, especially this time of year — they’ll grow like mad, then all flop over & die off. I tried using houseplant fertilizer in the spring & it worked really well, but they’re all looking quite dead right now (it’s winter here, so not as much sun, we only get about 8hrs of daylight where I live). I would LOVE to be able to put them out into my outer flower beds, but I’m worried I’ll lose them entirely. I love all things Irish, (with a name like “Erin” of course I do, LOL!) and I love Shamrocks but I want perennial ones, darnit!
I saw the title to your article and thought . . He can’t possibly tell me anything that I already know . . Well ya got me ha! I knew tp pick of spent flower but FORGOT to pinch off the flower stalk. So let me apologize and also thank you for taking the time to remind us . . Hopefully by the end of the season, I will pass your coarse w/ flying colors! . . With that said, Im subscribing!
Mine continuously makes seeds and flowers and doesn’t die… I cut the seed pods off when they’re done and plant them. I love how bushy it gets after being cut back! I hate when my plants have no flowers when people come over, especially my plant friends, but that’s how to make them beautiful next time.
Thank you so much for your advice… I will definitely try pruning & deadheading the way you suggested. Could you please tell me the name of the purple shamrock shaped plant behind the petunias? I have that same plant, given to me years ago and I have it as a pretty indoor plant in my kitchen window. Periodically it develops cute little pink flowers all over it, and requires lots of watering. I call it a shamrock plant, but I’m not sure of the correct name, and people often ask me what it’s called. Thank you!
Fabulous and informative. thank you so much. I have always just pulled off dead flowers and never knew about cutting back…. just spent 20 minutes after perusal this searching like an idiot for all the little seed heads. off with their head sir!!!!! going to cut it back later in the week when not so hot.
Petunias and Geraniums are not annuals. They are grown as annuals in zones with harsh winters. However, they are perennials. If overwintered and given enough light they will bloom all year long. It is much easier to propagate them verses growing them from seeds. If you have geraniums or petunias simply over winter them. Tomato and pepper plants are also perennials grown as annuals.
I have always had great luck with mine but like you said it’s all about water and dead heading spent flower stems so I just hack the whole bloom clusters off . Have you tried the new plants that look like smaller petunias but they love bit more shade and water I love love them for the colors they have . My favorite flower color are green flowers especially if they have an accent color like purples or pinks and reds . So I am in love with the deep purple one that has has an edge green around each flower and they have a pink with the green and deep magenta with the green . They look beautiful in my containers next to my front door of my condo because I get morning sun and light shade in the afternoon. So they go crazy . But any who thank you for sharing your knowledge and Happy growing! 🙂
I got the Proven Winners brand of petunias last year.. what a show with zero maintenance. In the late fall I cut it back almost to the ground. I let it sit in a protected area of my yard. The winter wasn’t too hard, but there was some very chilly nights. In the spring I noticed that it was coming back and by March it was ridiculous so full of flowers like a giant mound. It got so huge again that I decided to cut it back again. I left just green leaves. It’s been two weeks and it’s already completely covered with flowers and looking gorgeous! For the small amount of money extra, there is nothing like this particular brand. And you don’t have to deadhead. They take care of the spent flowers itself. What a spectacular plant—I am beyond impressed!
I planted Petunias in my flower bed 3 years ago, this is the first year I will have to replant new ones!!!!! I guess that when we left the fall leaves on them it protected them from the weather, cause they would come back in the spring!!!! And one other thing one year it was hot and dry, mid 90’s my husband would water garden and flowers. We went on vacation, son watered just the garden forgot the flower bed. Well the Petunias went crazy blooming and neighbors took pictures of them!!!! How did they really come back????????
Thanks. I have petunias on my porch–some getting full Los Angeles light, some getting partial light. It’s my first time gardening and I’m learning on the fly. Bought a lot of petunias because they’re easy. It took me 2 weeks to realize I should be deadheading and not just be getting rid of the flower. I’m gonna take your advice and do an aggressive pruning next week. Do you think I should just prune once a week? I have about 8 large pots out.