Flower Power! My Wave Petunias

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

To all those who has been visiting my blog, I would like to wish you

Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir & Batin

My floral arrangement for Hari Raya. Simple combination of Pink anthrium, orchids
and Heliconia leaves, all freshly cut from my garden.

Enjoy the Red Hot bloom

Plant 2 red petunias in a large pot and just water and give them a good feeding of an all-purpose plant food and watch how fast the plant filled up the basket in just few weeks!!

Busy Week In The Garden

It has been raining intermittently day and night lately.. actually I wasn't keen to go out doing gardening in these wet weather. But it's great, in a way that i don't have to water the plants outside! hehe..

Anyway, whatever it is, still doesn't stop me from doing little gardening job inside and I would absolutely go nuts if I dont do any.... Here are little updates on whats going on ..

Today, I spent much of the day sowing marigold and impatiens seeds. I transplanted my petunia seedlings into a cell flat and medium size pots. 24 plants! enough... can't wait to see them fully grown. See also my zinnias started sprouting..

Photo on the right below was captured today showing the re-growth of my cut back petunias I posted last 2 weeks..

Below are my newly built raised garden bed. This was actually a pretty big garden project done last couple of weeks... Newspapers were laid over the entire area as a lining to stop weeds by preventing light from reaching the grass. Soil, manure, compost were added to amend the soil and fill the bed... Second picture shows one of the raised bed filled with ground orchids and impatiens with them. (ada lagi 4 batas kan di kerajakan... ngalih kali ah..)

What's blooming today? Asters! This is the first time I started Asters from seed...they are doing very well... sweet colour & beautiful blooms

Impatiens... this is also one of my favourite annuals, they are shade-loving plants. I planted several of the impatiens that were grown from seed in my flower beds outside which is in deep shade under pokok kelapa.


"It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness"

Reply to nature lover

Basically there are two types of petunias that I have planted. The standard garden petunias and the spreading petunias. Standard petunias branch from a main stem and their growth is upright. Spreading petunias are generally calssed as the new varieties, series of the most popular petunias. Spreading petunias grow outward, rather than upward, and they send stems up from the crown of the plant, creating new waves of flowering stems over the old. I love these varieties because they don’t need deadheading. Unfortunately, wave seeds are more expensive and hardly available at any local garden supply store. They are low-growing plants that reach only 6 to 12 inches in height, spreading and can be used as a flowering ground cover or as well as in hanging basket. Here is latest picture of my white wave petunias in basket looking its fullest

General tips to yield a good looking petunias
Petunias require a location where there is plenty of light. If they are getting spindly, they might not be getting enough direct-sun. I recommend you to expose the plant so that it receives 4-5 hours of morning sunlight. The plant will wilt and die if expose to excessive heat. Make sure you place them to a spot where they get some afternoon shade.

When sowing seeds, do not use garden soil as it will not yield good results. Sow them in a moist, well drained medium. Commercially prepared seed & potting mixes work best like HORTI seeds & potting mix, free from weed seeds and diseases. They can be easily obtained at our local supermarket dept store like Supasave, Hua Ho or Soon-Lee Megamart. It contains vermiculite and peat moss to prevent drying out. You may try ‘BVB peat moss soil for sowing seeds which is available at AE Enterprise at Sg Liang or Kilanas Branch.
If you grow the standard garden petunias which mostly grows upright, pinch them back when they are six inches tall, to encourage the formation of side shoots. Pinching helps to produce a well-branched, compact plant and bushy. Do not pinch wave or trailing petunias.

Standard petunias require diligent dead heading. Remove faded flowers, including the portion below each flower where seeds will develop to prevent seed maturation and encourage repeat blooming. In order to keep the plant look fresh and healthy you have to dead head to guarantee neat plant that flower profusely. I do these to my petunias! If they get really leggy, shear them back. Picture below shows my grandiflora has been sheared. It may take a couple of weeks for them to start looking good again!.

Do not allow the soil around the plants to remain excessively wet for several days, as this can lead to stunted growth and increase the risk of disease. Petunias don’t like wet feet nor do they like to dry out. Only water when needed. Hanging baskets dry quickly and need more frequent watering depending the volume or size of soil, wind and other conditions. You need to check your pots often to see if they need to be watered.

Fertilizing depends on the product you use, read the label direction. You may use organic fertilizers like ‘baja amina’ or inorganic chemical fertilizers – ‘baja biji merah or hijau’ according to the instruction lables, taking care not to place them close to the stems and avoid applying to the foliage. If used carelessly can burn the plants! I like to fertilize my petunias with with water soluble fertilizers, easy to handle and simple to apply, so keep them well fed. Finally, keep an eye out for whitefly and aphids, if they become a problem, use a recommended brand of insecticide. Usually I treat them with ‘‘malathaion 57’, apply when insects are present. Don’t forget to deadhead and removed any damaged flowers or leave, this will reduce the spread of any pest or diseases that may rise.

Okay, so that's it for now, if anyone has more finely-tuned tips specific to petunias, it would be great if you could aslo share them. I hope you enjoy reading these brief tips and happy gardening!!

NO PETUNIA IS CARE-FREE

New blooms after a week!

Now in bloom

Its time to transplant them up into a larger pot. I usually plant 3-4 seedlings per pot. Space the seedlings about 10 inches apart in a hanging basket or planter box and will make sure expose them sun light. These sun loving plants do their best when they get at least 4-6 hrs of direct sun each day, preferably direct morning sun I can't wait to see them display colourful bloom, will post the picture again next week.

Save Money and grow our own

These are young petunia plants ready for transplant to a bigger pots. I have been planting petunias for more than 5 years for my own pleasure.. I started them from seeds, much was learned through trial and error. You dont find them hard to grow, if you attend to their special needs and more over its amazing when i realised how much money I can save by growing on my own.















Where there is a will, there is a way

Showy blooms in my little garden

Its easy to see why petunias have been my favourite flower plant for their showy blooms in range of colours.. they really melt away my stress

one of my particular favourite is the wave petunia

My pink and white wave petunia bloom wonderfully