How and when to collect petunia seeds: tips for 4 types

It’s hard to imagine a colorful summer flowerbed or recreation area on a personal plot without petunias. The culture has no equal in the brightness and splendor of flowering. Rarely gets sick. Caring for plantings gives the summer resident pleasure. A flowering perennial in the middle zone and cold climate zones, it is convenient to grow as an annual plant. If you know how to properly collect the seeds of your favorite variety of petunia yourself and how to store the material, you can admire the plant every year.

Is it worth collecting the seeds yourself?

In spring, flower growers think about what to do: buy seedlings, professional seeds, or sow grains collected and dried with their own hands. Although collecting small seeds causes a lot of trouble, gardening enthusiasts often lean towards the third option, explaining the decision by saying that:

• are fully responsible for the quality of their material;
• there is a chance to experiment with varieties - plant bushes of different varieties nearby, collect the fruits and see the result of cross-pollination in a year;
• ready-made seedlings and purchased goods are not cheap; A lot of seeds are consumed, and a standard package contains 5 - 10 pieces (0.1 - 0.2 g).

Additional Information! Experienced gardeners advise mixing tiny dark seeds with crushed chalk before sowing so that they do not merge with the soil. The contrast of shades will help to clearly maintain the distance between seedlings and not to bury the grains.

Drying and storage

Powdery mildew on petunia - how to fight

The collected seeds must not only be prepared, but also dried. Seed material, which contains excess moisture, is affected by diseases during flowering, rots and becomes unusable. To dry, the seeds are evenly distributed over the surface of a thin paper sheet and placed in a darkened room that should be sufficiently well ventilated. Usually 2-3 days are enough to completely dry the seed material.

Storing petunia seeds

The seeds are placed in strong small paper bags and placed in a dry room without any containers with moisture and room temperature. Each box must first be provided with a label on which the name of the variety must be indicated. If you store the seeds correctly, they will remain viable for 2-3 years.

What does planting material look like?

Petunia produces microscopic dark brown or black seeds, the color depends on the variety. The diameter of each is up to 0.45 mm (this is less than that of a poppy). One box with a diameter of 0.6 - 0.75 cm contains more than 100 seeds; in one gram there are up to 11,000 grains of medium- and small-flowered species or approximately 7,000 of large-flowered species. To grab the grain, use thin tweezers.

From what species are seeds collected?

The unpretentious flower is grown in gardens and on balconies, in flower beds and in flowerpots. The originality of the forms and the color of the inflorescences are impressive. Beginning gardeners sometimes doubt whether it is possible to collect seed material in order to grow a similar flower next year. When choosing a mother plant, you should carefully consider the varieties.

Hybrids

The variety of hybrids is amazing. Breeders have created varieties with memorable fantasy colors:

• striped;
• speckled;
• mesh;
• bordered;
• star-shaped.

The edges of the petals are also original: they can be fringed, terry, wavy, or corrugated. The seeds of hybrid varieties of petunia for spring sowing are collected according to the traditional scheme, but the grown seedlings often cause confusion: weak flowers grow that differ from the mother plants. To get beautiful f1 bushes, the crop is propagated by cuttings or bought professional seeds.

Reference! You can get original graceful summer flowers from your own grains if you plant a simple monochromatic flower next to a hybrid or double type. After cross-pollination, elegant buds with fringed or ruffled edges are formed.

Terry

The bright lush inflorescences of double species resemble roses. Flowering continues from the first ten days of June until the end of September and turns the recreation area into a beautiful, cozy corner. When they see unusual flowers, summer residents’ eyes light up, they think about how to correctly collect and sow terry petunia seeds to get lush bushes.

Having learned that in these spectacular varieties the generative organs are poorly developed and sometimes absent, summer residents are upset. Developed stamens and pistils are rarely formed. The stamens develop in the usual way, and the seeds are formed in the petals that emerge from the pistils. Therefore, some varieties do not form a seed fund, while seedlings grow from the grains of others, which rarely inherit the varietal characteristics of the mother plant. To get flowers with ruffled petals, it’s worth remembering: the double variety reproduces vegetatively.

Additional Information! To propagate a bush with double flowers by cuttings, choose a healthy bush. In the fall, they are dug up and transferred to a cool, illuminated place. Keep until spring at a temperature of +12℃, periodically watering. At the beginning of spring, cuttings 0.1 m long with two internodes are cut. Leave 2 leaves on top of the pieces. The tips are dusted with Kornevin and placed in moist, loose soil. The plantings are moved to a brighter place, the temperature is increased to +23℃. After 7–12 days, roots will appear. The seedlings are cared for like bushes grown from seeds.

Plain

Such species produce a lot of grains that are easy to collect and sow. In the new season, flowers will grow from this material on flower beds and balconies, repeating the color and shape of the corollas of the “gramophones” that grew on the mother bushes. The simpler the inherited characteristics, the greater the chances of growing a similar crop next season. Monochromatic simple variety forms do not degenerate.

Reference! Flowers that are most accurately reproduced are those that are white, lilac, pink, or purple in color. Red, golden, dark purple shades often change.

Ampelous

Long shoots of ampelous petunia, densely covered with bright “gramophone” flowers, are directed downwards. Plants that resemble the flow of a waterfall cause delight, but there is a lot of hassle with the ampels. To make the plantings look lush and elegant, you need to correctly form the bush, pinch the stems in time, and feed them. Flower growers, delighted with the beauty, turn a blind eye to the capriciousness of flowers, sometimes even collecting material for sowing. But bushes grown from amateur grains do not live up to the expectations of summer residents: new generations of ampelous varieties do not resemble their “parents.” The size, shape and color of the corollas, the height of the stems of the resulting plantings are far from the characteristics of the queen cells.

Seed storage

Ripe seeds are placed in paper bags and stored in a dry place. The grains can be left in the seed boxes, but this is not entirely convenient.

If the seed was collected from several different bushes, the grains must be laid out in several piles, depending on the variety. In the future, paper bags with seeds must be signed so that there is no confusion later.

The seed storage process is influenced by a number of factors:

• Purity of seed material. Grains should not be mixed with various small debris, especially of organic origin. This can lead to the establishment of insect pests or the development of mold and mildew. Such seed material will be spoiled and unsuitable for use.
• Air access. Containers for storing grains should not be airtight. The flow of air helps to increase the duration of their storage. For this reason, plastic bags cannot be used for storage, because the grains will not be able to breathe, and if condensation accumulates, they will rot.
• Humidity. Before packing the grains, they must be well dried. Do not allow increased humidity, which could cause the seed to rot.
• Temperature - should be in the range from +20 °C to +22 °C degrees.

You can send grains for storage from healthy bushes that have not suffered from fungal diseases.
Given the low germination of petunia seeds, it is recommended to carry out a stratification procedure for them before planting. The seed material is mixed with fine, sifted sand. In this case, there should not be too much sand so that it can then be easily separated from the grains.

Mixed sand with grains is placed in a box or box made of natural, breathable material and placed in the refrigerator. The seed is kept there for 2 months.

12 hours before planting, the grains are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. This procedure will help reduce the risk of any diseases in seedlings.

Planting seeds is a simple process, but the grower will need to pay maximum attention to the seed to get a positive result. Algorithm of actions:

• A container is prepared for planting - it can be one large box. A drainage layer is laid at its bottom, and fertile soil is poured on top of it, which is well moistened.
• The seeds, mixed with sand for convenience, are evenly distributed over the soil and covered with a thin layer of earth on top.
• The soil with the seeds is moistened with a spray bottle.
• The top of the box is covered with film or glass. This is necessary in order to create a greenhouse effect, which promotes rapid germination.

The process of disinfecting seed material, which is soaked for 15-20 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate, is mandatory.
Care of crops:

• remove the film daily for 15-20 minutes for ventilation;
• watering - regular, carried out as the soil dries, a spray bottle is used for watering;
• optimal temperature - about +20 °C;
• lighting is plentiful.

The film or glass is removed only after 1-2 leaves appear on the emerging seedlings.

The success of preparing seedlings depends on how high-quality the material was used and on the thoroughness of the gardener’s compliance with all agrotechnical measures.

Petunia seeds should not be exposed to direct sunlight because this may cause them to germinate prematurely. Packages with seed material should be kept in a dark place.

If all rules are followed, seeds can be stored for 5 years without losing their properties.

Collection time

The condition and beauty of future seedlings depends on the quality of the seed fund. It is worth starting the procedure by choosing the right time. To collect petunia seeds yourself, choose a healthy flowering bush. Strong ovaries are noted and the progress of development is observed. The summer plant goes through several stages of vegetation, after which they move on to the procedure. First, the buds ripen on the seedling (this takes 7–9 days), then:

• buds open and bloom in 3 – 3.5 weeks;
• flowers are pollinated;
• petals and sepals dry out;
• after 2.5 - 3 weeks, bicuspid dome-shaped boxes with seeds are formed;
• the grains ripen.

To ensure that petunia blooms for a long time and does not waste energy on the full ripening of the seeds, the collection is carried out 80 - 85 days after the start of flowering. The process covers the period from the second half of June to September.

Additional Information! The procedure is performed in calm, dry weather. In order not to spoil the appearance of the plant, the grains are collected from the flowers growing in the lower part of the bush. Here the fruits ripen faster.

Rules for collecting seeds

Collecting petunia seeds, as well as planting them, is difficult. The pinpoint grains are as light as dust. Due to the wind or awkward movement, they fly out of the box and scatter on the ground. It is pointless to pick up fallen small items; it is better to learn how to collect the seed step by step in order to preserve most of the contents of the fruit.

1. On healthy seedlings, the flowers that bloomed first are marked with a bright ribbon or thread. To maintain the decorative appearance of the bush, faded buds are regularly removed (the marked ones are not cut off, they are left until the pods ripen).
2. To prevent self-seeding, mini-covers made of breathable material (gauze, cambric, chintz) or a tea bag are put on the green seeds.
3. Ripe (brown) and slightly unripe (yellow) fruits and sepals are carefully cut off with pruning shears, sharp scissors or a knife. Green specimens are left in place until partially or fully ripened, otherwise the unripe seeds will not sprout.
4. The cut boxes are placed on white paper or cloth. Place in a dry, ventilated place and wait until it dries (opens). This usually takes 3 – 5 days. If a dried testicle has not opened within a week, this is done by hand.

Reference! The stem on which the selected flowers grow is tied to a support: contact with the ground creates a risk of fruit rotting and the quality of the seed will decrease.

How seeds are sowed

The first step is to prepare the ground. Petunias love soil with a slightly acidic or neutral environment . You can buy ready-made soil mixture at specialized garden stores or prepare it yourself. To do this you will need:

• peat and humus - 2 parts each;
• turf and coke substrate - 2 parts each;
• sand – 1 part;
• a little charcoal and/or lime (to improve the acidity of the soil mixture).

Having mixed all the components, the mixture is sifted, first into a coarse sieve, then into a fine sieve. After which, you need to heat it in the oven at low temperatures or pour boiling water over it.

It is better to choose containers for future seedlings of medium depth, but not less than 10 cm. There must be outlets for water in the form of holes. Ordinary expanded clay is used as drainage. Next, large screenings of soil are laid, and the last third of the container is replaced with small screenings.

There are three ways to directly sow seeds into the soil:

1. The earth is slightly pressed and moistened with warm water. Next, using a toothpick soaked in water, the petunia seeds are laid out in a row.

Method of sowing petunia seeds using a toothpick

2. If there is no time to “play” with spreading with a toothpick, then the seeds are mixed with a small amount of sand and sown in the usual way, that is, by hand.

3. You can also use a sheet of paper on which the fold is made. Having placed the seeds on the leaf, they are carefully sown in a row so as not to thicken the planting.

Important! The seeds are not covered with soil after planting. Only light pressure is allowed for better contact with the ground.

Peat tablets can also be used to germinate seeds. They are first soaked in hot water, cooled, and then the grains are planted in a convenient way. After this, the peat tablet is placed in a container for seedlings.

Peat tablets

When the sowing process is completed, regardless of its method, the containers with future seedlings are covered with glass or transparent film. It is important that the temperature in such a “greenhouse” averages 24 degrees. If it is significantly higher than this mark, the sprouts will sharply stretch upward, which leads to depletion of the plant and disease. At low temperatures, seedling germination will be in question.

Common mistakes

Beginning gardeners sometimes do not know how to correctly collect seeds of the petunia variety they like at home, so they make similar mistakes.

1. They are in a hurry to get the material and collect green boxes. In unripe fruits, the grains have not yet been saturated with useful elements; they do not have enough energy to germinate.
2. They miss good days for collecting. The valves of the ripened testes open and the contents scatter throughout the area.
3. Start collecting in rainy weather. The germination rate of seed obtained on a cold, damp day is reduced. Grown seedlings are easily affected by diseases and suffer from temperature stress.
4. The fruits formed in the upper part of the stem are cut off. At the top of the shoots, the seeds ripen later. While they are waiting for the upper fruits to ripen, the lower ones will dry out and open, and the seeds will fall to the ground.
5. They harvest a lot of seeds. The grains contained in 3 - 4 fruits are enough to grow plants for your flower beds for 2 - 3 years, and share the surplus with family and friends. If you cut off more bolls, the material will lose its viability.

Summer residents manage to turn 6 acres into a blooming garden every season. Collecting seeds yourself saves the family budget. When sowing seeds in the spring, you should not be upset that the flowers will not turn out lush and fancy, like double flowers or hybrids. With careful care, plants will thank you for your care with bright colors, abundant and long-lasting flowering.

What petunias can you collect seeds from?

Only all simple one-color varieties of petunias are suitable for collection. If you sow them regularly, collect them and sow them again, they will repeat the same color every year.

By the way! The seed pod of terry petunia cannot be found (it simply does not exist, there is an empty space), because... it does not form seeds. However, the successful experience of amateur flower growers suggests that you can propagate it by cuttings .

The same applies to hybrid varieties and varieties. Sometimes there are exceptions to this rule , so it’s still worth checking for the box with the coveted grains, but the coloring of the flowers will most likely change.

Description of the flower

Reference! Petunia is a perennial or annual herbaceous or subshrub plant of the Solanaceae family.

Petunia stems are erect or creeping. Depending on the species, plant height varies from 10 to 100 centimeters. The leaves are sessile, varied in shape and size, entire, covered with down. The flowers are mostly large, often solitary, simple or double. They are located on short stalks. The corolla of petunia has the shape of a funnel and consists of five petals.

Flower colors vary:

• plain white;
• cream;
• yellow;
• lilac;
• blue;
• blue;
• purple;
• red;
• pink;
• two-color with border;
• star;
• spot or stripes.

Petals may be fringed or corrugated. The fruit of petunia is a capsule. The plant comes from South America. Petunias are grown as annual garden or balcony ornamental plants and are usually used for potting.

All about petunia

The flowering plant called “petunia” has been known since the 18th century. According to the botanical description, it refers to one- and perennial herbs and shrubs. Selection work has been successfully carried out for more than a hundred years. Today the genus of petunias consists of 21 species and many hybrids.

All ornamental varieties are grown as annuals and are called garden petunia. They differ in the shape of the buds, their size, and doubleness. By type of growth: hanging, carpet, bush. They are divided into subgroups according to the color and quality of the petals:

• mesh;
• striped;
• edged;
• starry;
• speckled;
• terry;
• corrugated;
• fringed;
• with wavy edges.

In all species, seeds appear in the same way. This is a two-leaf seed capsule formed in place of a faded bud, size 8–10 mm.

0.5 mm

petunia seed diameter

Each contains 100 pieces of small seeds, the diameter of which does not exceed 0.5 mm.

When do they appear?

Petunia blooms usually last for several months: from late June to October.

1. Buds form within a week.
2. Next comes the flowering period and the buds open - this takes approximately 20-25 days.
3. The plants are then pollinated.
4. Petunia pistils ripen before the stamens; these are cross-pollinating flowers.
5. Seeds are sown for about a month.
6. In place of the withered flower, a box is formed in which planting material is formed.

To fully ripen, petunia seeds need 3 months from the moment the flowers bloom . Ripening occurs unevenly: on one plant you can find absolutely dry opened boxes, strong hard and even unripe green fruits.

Shelf life of petunia seeds. How many years can petunia seeds be stored?

There are cheap petunia seeds, and there are expensive ones, and there are expensive ones that are packed five pieces per capsule, and they go in faster and grow better, and branch beautifully.

The shelf life of petunia seeds is four or five years without loss of germination.

All seeds should be stored in the refrigerator and then they will not lose their quality in the future.

And when you buy seeds, pay attention to the date of their release and packaging, as well as their expiration date. And you need to buy seeds in good specialized flower shops. And you need to buy seeds in good specialized flower shops

And you need to buy seeds in good specialized flower shops.

Petunias come in different types: hanging plants and bush ones.

It’s very beautiful when they bloom and entwine the veranda, for example.

Like ordinary seeds, petunia is stored for about 5 years, but, in my opinion, germination is still lost by several percent. There is a possibility that not all seeds will germinate.

Therefore, it is better to buy fresh seeds and not delay planting, then these beautiful flowers will delight you with their beauty!

The shelf life of petunias is about 5 years. It is clear that after 5 years the similarity of the seeds will not be 100%. Germination will also be affected by the storage of seeds and in what conditions they were stored.

It is best to plant seeds for next year.

Regarding seed storage, the main thing is that the seeds are stored at room temperature in a dry place. Store in an envelope or plastic container. It is better to label the variety and year the seeds were collected.

But if you find a bag of seeds with petunias, do not rush to throw them away, try to plant them, sometimes, even after 5 years, the seeds can sprout if given good care.

Of course, it is best to plant the seeds right away; we bought petunia seeds and planted them in the garden plot or flower bed that same year.

But it happens that the seeds remain, of course it’s a pity to throw them away, and you shouldn’t do it.

If the seeds remain in a closed bag, then let them lie there until next year. I put them in the locker.

If the bag is open, it is better to put them in a clean cloth, tie them and put them in a dark place.

Petunia seeds can be stored for up to 5 years, but it is worth considering that the longer they are stored, the worse the germination rate will be. Therefore, it is optimal to store petunia seeds for no more than two years.

I have a dacha and, of course, I plant a lot of flowers at the dacha. Petunia included. I sow the seeds myself for seedlings. Very often, many summer residents suffer from “greed” - I am no exception. We buy a lot of flower seeds in the colors we like, but we can’t plant them all at once. And the same for next year. This is how seeds accumulate and some even go past their expiration date. Usually, packets of petunia seeds do not have the packaging date written on them, but rather what month and time they are good for. And usually, from the moment the bag is released, the shelf life of the seeds is 2 - 3 years. Of course, petunia seeds can last longer, but the longer they are stored, the lower the percentage of seed germination. The optimal shelf life of petunia seeds is 3 years. If they are stored longer, then you can plant them, but don’t expect friendly shoots.

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How to get it at home?

When growing seeds yourself, you need to remember that the lion's share of seeds presented in stores are hybrids, and it is almost impossible to guess which flowers will be in the next generation. Secondly, petunia is a cross-pollinated plant, that is, it is pollinated with pollen from other plants. And thirdly, not all flowers (mostly double ones) set seeds.

And those seeds that appear practically do not carry the terry gene. And, therefore, the probability of preserving the plant variety that you love is extremely low and tends to zero.

Petunia, although an unpretentious plant, requires certain conditions to be met. Namely:

• The container in which the petunia seeds are planted must be covered with non-woven material. This helps create a microclimate more favorable for plant growth and development.
• Constant light is required to grow a viable flowering plant.
• Maintaining temperature conditions.
• Constant control of the soil, preventing the formation of a hard dry crust.
• If the plant stretches too much, it is necessary to add more.

Petunia seeds fully ripen 60-90 days after the start of flowering. A box appears in place of the flower. The number of seeds in a box can reach 10,000 pieces (extremely rare); as a rule, it ranges from 100 to 300, but most often the number does not exceed 100 pieces. Since complete ripening prevents further flowering of the plant, after the previously planned bud has faded, it must be picked.

You also need to know how to take seeds correctly. They must be collected only by hand and from the boxes located below everything. There the seeds set earlier, and therefore are more mature

When propagating seeds, it is important to collect them on time. It is necessary to ensure the maturity of the box itself.

It should be slightly dry and have a brown tint. Next, we open each collected box over a light surface so that the black peas and seeds are clearly visible.

Important! After opening the box, the seedlings need to be dried for several more days in a warm place.

Growing petunias from seeds

Petunia seeds are planted for seedlings after March 15th. In the 20th of April they can be planted in greenhouses, and after the first ten days of May - in open ground.

These plants love open sunny areas. The soil under them should be well-drained, preferably with a neutral pH (or close to it). You can mix peat, garden soil and coarse sand in equal proportions.

It is very convenient to plant petunias in pots or containers. They can be advantageously placed and moved if necessary. We lay a good layer of drainage on the bottom, and put the prepared loose substrate on top of it. Petunias love fertile soil, so don’t be afraid to add more compost or humus underneath them.

Petunias can be planted close to each other. On an area of ​​1 m2 you can easily place up to 50-70 plants. In order for petunias to bloom brightly, they need to be watered frequently. Moreover, in addition to traditional watering, spraying from a spray bottle is important. Also, do not forget to promptly remove faded flowers (except for those left for seeds). Fertilizing can be applied no more than once every 7 days. Alternate root feeding with foliar feeding to achieve the best results.

If the growth of petunias is slowing down, use any popular commercially available growth stimulant (Kornevin, Zircon, Epin, etc.).

Seed storage by groups

I store factory seeds at home in an Ikea chest of drawers, placing them in paper bags with silica gel to avoid excess moisture.

Rice. 1. I take silica gel from shoe boxes.

Rice. 2. I arrange the seeds in accordance with the sowing time, this is very convenient, in contrast to the arrangement by plant type.

In the bottom drawer I have bags that need to be sown directly into open ground or a greenhouse. I divide everything into three groups according to the sowing time, and when I go to the dacha, I don’t take the whole box, but only one group, and I have never forgotten to sow anything on time. You may ask, why don’t I take everything at once on my first visit to the dacha and leave it there? Because in May there are still possible sub-zero night temperatures at which seeds cannot be stored.

Here are the groups I divided my treasures into:

Rice. 3. “May Day” list.

Rice. 4. Flowers for sowing in open ground. I only grow unpretentious ones. This also includes decorative sunflowers.

Rice. 5. Cucumbers, zucchini and everything else that can be sown later, in mid-late May. They go to the dacha later.

In the middle box is everything that is grown through seedlings in February and March: petunias and lobelias, begonias and kobeas, violas and pelargonium, as well as those flowers and vegetables that are sown in April.

Rice. 6. “February” group of flowers.

Rice. 7. Wave shock, tornadoes and typhoons, explorers.

Rice. 8. Other ampelous and cascading petunias.

Rice. 9. Next is the “March” group of petunias, bushy and compact, including bacopa.

Rice. 10. In the same box is the “April” group of flowers.

Rice. 11. And the very last “April” group, sown for seedlings closer to mid-April. These are pumpkin herbs, herbs and corn.

In the two upper small drawers I store tomatoes separately, peppers and eggplants separately. If the latter can be sown on the same day, guided either by folk signs or by the lunar calendar, and therefore I do not divide them into groups, then it is more convenient for me to divide tomatoes according to sowing dates.

Rice. 12. There are only factory seeds here. I have collected about the same number of varieties of peppers myself.

Rice. 13. I sow late-ripening ones first. Moreover, I determine the ripening period not by packaging, but by my own experience.

Rice. 14. I bundle the mid-season ones into a separate bundle.

Rice. 15. Tomatoes for open ground and low-growing dwarfs - also separately.