Petunia: what kind of plant is it, its description and photo, how much and how does it live in a flowerpot on a balcony and in a pot on the street, and how do smaller flowers look like them?

The Petunia plant is familiar to almost everyone, because this flower pleases the eye in summer cottages and city beds all summer, suitable for balcony decor, and gardeners love it for its unpretentiousness and ease of care. I also like it for its huge variety of shapes, sizes, colors and shades, which allows you to successfully plant it on flower beds, in curbs, discounts, in pots, flowerpots and even with vertical gardening. From the article you will learn all about her, beloved by many Petunias: what it is, what similar flowers it is and how to distinguish it, how to care for it on the balcony and in the garden, and you will also see a photo.

Which family belongs to?

Petunia belongs to the Solanaceae family, to the genus of herbaceous or shrubby perennials, it appeared in South America. This is a “distant relative” of tomatoes and potatoes, which are also from the nightshade family.

Almost two centuries ago, hybrid forms of petunia were bred, which are successfully grown on balconies, as well as in gardens as annuals, now more than 30 species of this plant are known.

Reference! Bright, large and fragrant flowers are in perfect harmony with other colors and add color to any corner.

Varieties

Sometimes you wonder how to pronounce and write correctly: Petunia or Petunia? It turns out that there is no difference, but most often they call the flower Petunia, this is a more familiar name. Varieties of this wonderful flower are added every year, you can make a graduation of Petunias by variety:

Ampelic - these are creeping Petunias, hanging down, grow down, so they are great for growing in a cache-pot. Most popular: Waterfall, Pearl Surf, Lilac Surf, Wave of Fortune.
Bush - the most popular here: Highlight, Hit Parade, Picoti, Hulahup, Storm, Polaris, Deddy. They all have bright original colors of large colors (up to 12 cm in diameter).
Undersized - this is a variety of dwarf Petunias, they are also divided into cascading and terry, among the cascading are the most popular: Supercascade Niagara, Double Cascade Mix, Double Cascade Plume Wayne, and among the terry can be distinguished: Valentine, Artist, Angora, Pirouette, Sonata.
Multi-flowered - the flowers of this variety grow very densely to each other and, as a rule, cover the bush completely, bloom early, the most famous here: Charm, Mirage, Prime Time, Duo Summer, Fantasy, Plum Crystal.

Learn more about the types of petunias here.

What does an inflorescence and other parts look like?

Petunia, of course, can always be recognized by external signs, regardless of its variety:

Stem - the shape is round, the color is green, densely branched, the height ranges from 20 cm to 70 cm (depending on type and grade), can be erect or creeping.
Leaves - green colors are arranged alternately, often they simply are not visible from under the heading of flowers.
Flowers - look like small gramophone, single, grow from the axils of the leaves, the edges of the petals can be smooth or corrugated.

As for the color of the flowers, here literally all the shades of the rainbow are presented and even more, flowers can be the same color, and can be with contrasting veins, spots, fringes - a very rich variety.

Reference! Bush petunia often looks like a wonderful ball of fresh flowers, ampelous Petunias represent a whole fountain of flowers - incredibly beautiful.

Description of the plant structure

Let's see how the flower is arranged, what leaves it has - simple or complex, how the buds differ.

Petunia Leaves - Petunia's leaf is simple, green or dark green, slightly pubescent, can be small in size and large (depending on variety). The leaves are located on the stem one after another on a small cuttings or without them at all, that is, sessile.
Petunia Flowers - the flower is a corolla of five petals (fused), which stands on a cup of five sepals (very pubescent), the flowers can be simple or double, large, single, are released from the axils of the leaves on short pedicels, in shape resemble the structure of the funnel, anthers paired, elongated. All colors are present - from white to black, the duration of flowering of one flower is 5 days.
Bud of petunias - the bud on the plant is formed and opens within a week, it has an elongated elongated shape.
Roots - the root system of the plant is very highly developed, powerful, rod type with a large number of subordinate roots, so if you want to grow this flower on your balcony, you will need a fairly capacious capacity for the soil. For example, in a flower box 1 meter long, you can plant only two plants, otherwise their development and flowering will be very difficult.
Inflorescence of Petunia - It can be solid color, as well as with a variety of patterns - stars, dots, dashes, a border of a different color, even a double color.

Live and artificial replicas and analogues

In summer houses and on the streets you can often see flowers similar to petunias., only smaller, with different names. The most famous are Surfinia and Frillitunia, below we will consider what is the difference between them and Petunia.

Surfinia and Petunia - how do they differ from Petunia? Surfinia, in fact, is a hybrid subspecies of ampelous Petunia, they can be easily confused, since there are a lot of similar features, but there are differences - Surfinia has a very powerful and long stem, capable of reaching three meters, it also has more magnificent bloom than Petunia , therefore, it is often Surfinia that is used to decorate vertical compositions or in hanging flowerpots.
There are not so many analogues of Petunias, but nevertheless they are: this is Mirabilis - a very similar bush with the same bright colors, Calibrachoa - so this is practically an exact copy, very similar to Minitunia, you can add Pelargonium here, some of its varieties also strongly resemble Petunia.
Very similar to Petunia, but with smaller flowers - this is Calibrachoa. You can notice the difference only by carefully considering this plant:
- stems lignified, covered with hard pubescence;
- the leaves are small and also covered with hard fluff;
- flowers like Petunia are small, but their number is huge.
The most famous cultivar of Calibrachoa is called "Million Bells", it is an ampel plant that loves a lot of sunlight, light fertile soil, frequent watering and spraying, and heat. The flowers are very delicate and can easily suffer from rain or strong winds, this must be considered when choosing a place for it.
Artificial Petunias - far from always our desires coincide with our capabilities, what to do if a person wants to plant flowers, but there are no suitable conditions for this - artificial flowers can be a great option.Recommendation! Now on sale are offered such beautiful, high-quality made Petunias, they simply can not be distinguished from the living, and such a flower will delight all year round.

Useful and harmful properties

As for the properties - the researchers proved the beneficial effect of the Petunia fragrance on humans - the work of the circulatory, cardiovascular, central nervous and digestive systems improves, it takes a little time to sit near the flowers and the aroma starts to work. Also, the scent of Petunias helps to get rid of headaches. It should also be noted that it is also able to deter mosquitoes; harmful properties of this remarkable plant were not found.
Allergy to Petunia - among the huge number of annuals grown in garden plots, of course, there are flowers that can cause an allergic reaction in humans and flowers that are absolutely “clean”, that is, safe in this regard, just Petunia refers to flowers that do not cause allergies, you can also add forget-me-not, pansies, snapdragon and some others to this list.

Photo

The photo below shows Petunia and plants that are similar to it, only smaller ones - you can find out what they are called and what they look like in pots and flowerpots, in the garden and on the balcony.

Petunia

Surfinia

Mirabilis

Calibrachoa

Minitunia

How much lives and how does it grow?

In general, Petunia belongs to perennials, but lovers grow it on balconies, garden plots, flower beds as an annual plant (for how to care for perennial and annual petunia, read here). After sowing seeds, seedlings begin to appear in about 7 to 10 days, after another week the first leaf will appear. When 6 real leaves appear, (it will take another 2 to 3 weeks), then the plant is ready to move to a permanent place of residence.

After a short adaptation period, Petunia will grow and in about a month will release the first buds. Buds will evolve within a week and then the most amazing period will begin - flowering.

IMPORTANT! With careful care, Petunia blooms from June to the very frosts.

Care Features

Petunia is often called the "princess of flowers" for its rich palette of colors and a variety of shapes. No wonder it is so popular, because caring for it is not difficult, it is a very unpretentious plant. But some features still need to be noted:

How to achieve that Petunia grows in a magnificent ball - such a ball looks insanely beautiful, and to make it is very simple, you just need to do pinching in a timely manner. The first pinch must be done at the moment when the fifth leaf begins to form, carefully cut it off with a sharp knife, then after about a month, when the plant forgets about stress, you will need to pinch it again, that's all - now you can admire your ball.
Petunia in August - to prolong the abundant flowering, there are also simple tricks, when the first wave of flowering takes place (the second one is usually not so lush), you need to cut the bush by about a third, make the procedure with a clean sharp knife and try to make the cut smooth, not torn , then the plant will quickly recover and in August you will again have the same abundant flowering as in June.
Petunias in flowerpots - since the amount of soil in flowerpots is limited, then, accordingly, care should be more thorough: you must not allow the soil to dry out, you will have to pinch the shoots and stems constantly, only in this case the plant will look beautiful. Be sure to remove wilted flowers once a week, you will need to fertilize 2 times a month.

You can read more about caring for petunia in this article.

Breeding methods

There are two ways to propagate Petunias - cuttings and seeds. Seeds, by the way, you can collect your own, most importantly - do not miss the moment. After flowering, the fruit begins to form on the plant; it is a simple double-leaf box. When the seeds ripen, the box crackes and the seeds spill out.

Seed propagation method - seedlings need to be sown for seedlings from late February to late March, since they are very small, then they just need to be scattered (not densely) on the surface of the substrate and covered with a film or glass. The temperature must be set 23 - 25 degrees, about a week later shoots will appear. Water very carefully, the main thing here is not to overfill!
When the seedlings have already appeared, the temperature must be reduced to 20 degrees, the greenhouse must be periodically ventilated. It will be possible to dive in the presence of 3-4 leaves, when the young seedlings grow a little, you can begin to make top dressing (preferably complex). A permanent place in the ground can be planted when spring frosts end. The beautiful Petunia will bloom 2 or 3 months after germination - it depends on the variety.
The method of propagation by cuttings - it is best to propagate terry and ampoule Petunias in this way. From the bush intended for propagation, you need to cut off the top with 4 or 6 leaves, then we cut off the excess leaves - we leave only two, and cut them in half and plant them in a light breathable substrate and pour a 2 cm layer of perlite on top treated with a fungicide solution.
We maintain a distance between cuttings of about 1.5 - 2 cm. From above, cover the container with either film or glass, always keep the soil in this mini-greenhouse moist, it is best to spray the cuttings and not water the ground. The rooting process takes about 1 to 2 weeks. Then the seedlings are planted in separate pots and pinched over the 4th leaf, and after a month and a half they can already be planted in large pots.

You will find more information about breeding petunias in this material.

Diseases and Pests

First, you should pay attention to seedling diseases, the most dangerous disease for her is the black leg, this is a fungal disease when a small sprout (“leg”) begins to rot (at the surface of the earth), blackens and quickly dies. Such a sprout immediately needs to be removed from the greenhouse along with a lump of land. To avoid this problem, you must follow the rules:

Do not flood!
Maintain the distance between the shoots, do not thicken!

In addition to the black leg for Petunia, danger is represented by such diseases as:

chlorosis;
late blight;
gray rot.

Plants need to be treated urgently with Bordeaux liquid (1%), again, you must always remember that planting should not be thickened, it is harmful not only for seedlings, but also for adult plants.

Also, if the rules of agricultural technology and the care of Petunia are not observed, the following pests may appear:

aphid - if it is present, the leaves become sticky as in sugar syrup and deformed, it is necessary to spray Decis or Actara as quickly as possible;
thrips - on the upper side of the sheet appear black or green spools in bulk, you need to treat the plant with Intavir or Aktara;
spider mite - if a thin cobweb appeared on the leaves and stems, then a tick has settled here, in this case, the whole plant should be treated with Actellic or Akarin;
slugs - they are noticeable immediately, it is necessary to treat Petunia with Bordeaux liquid or Copper hydroxide;
whitefly - it is easy to see it with a light touch of the flower, the plant needs to be sprayed with Actellik or Confidor.

Read more about the diseases and pests of petunias here.

Conclusion

The result can be summarized as follows: absolutely anyone can grow Petunia, but how simple or complex this process will depend on the choice of variety. If you sow directly into the ground on a garden plot Petunia with small inflorescences (very unpretentious), then it will grow independently, it will only be necessary to water it sometimes. Well, if you deal with more spectacular decorative varieties, then more attention will be required.