LOVE PETUNIAS? Me too. And that's why I hope you'll propagate your plants in August, just as I do. Three stem cuttings in a 6-inch pot will quickly form roots. Brought indoors well before frost, and placed under lights or in a sunny window garden, the young, heavenly-scented plants will bloom and bloom for you from December on.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking.
Kevin, can't I simply bring my big container-grown petunia indoors in for winter?
Yes, you can. But you should prepare yourself for a cannonade of leaf-drop. And a dead plant. For a petunia which has matured outdoors is bound to fail when introduced to less-than-ideal conditions in the average home.
On the contrary, fresh, young plants -- those acquired from the cuttings I mentioned earlier -- are itching to grow! They have youth on their side, and can easily adapt to less-than-perfect conditions inside four walls and a roof.
Before you take stem cuttings, make sure your plant has been well-fed and watered. I feed the pink petunia you see pictured above with every watering. And I water daily during summer, and twice a day during periods of high heat or drought. Consequently it is a healthy petunia. It is a happy petunia, too, because it has the honor of residing atop my Satyr's flat head.
I'm not sure if my Satyr is happy with this arrangement.
Cut stems approximately 3 inches in length.
Then remove the lower half of leaves. Remove all flowers, buds, and seed-pods, too. Otherwise, the cutting will focus its energy on flowering and seed-ripening -- not growing roots.
Now grab a perfectly clean, 6-inch-diameter clay pot.
Okay, my clay pot isn't the least bit clean. But I'm not worried that disease will be transferred to my cuttings. The pot's previous occupant was the very picture of health.
Grab a piece of broken pottery, and place it over the pot's drainage hole. This maneuver, known as "crocking a pot," will keep soil from washing out when the plant is watered.
Bobble-head that I am, I forgot to take a picture of this next step: Fill the pot with damp, soil-less potting mix. A commercial peat-moss and perlite blend will work well. As always, be sure to allow a 1-inch opening between the surface of the soil and the rim of the pot to allow for water.
Then grab a pencil...
And plunge it into the soil, to a depth that approximates the length of your cutting.
You'll need to make 3 such insertions to accommodate the 3 stems. I arranged mine at equal distance, and in a "V" formation.
Take a cutting, and lower it into a hole, right up to its lower leaves. Then press firmly around the stem, so that soil and cutting make good contact.
Proceed as above with the remaining 2 stems.
Now gently water the cuttings, until excess drips through the drainage hole.
Keep the stems moist, but not saturated, throughout the rooting process.
Now step back and admire your professional potting-job. I say "professional," because your arrangement includes a 1-inch reservoir for water. Amateurs usually pile the soil too high, which results in water spilling over the side of the pot.
While they are busy making roots, the cuttings will need to reside in a bright but sunless location outdoors. I set mine on the semi-shaded stand that holds my vacationing philodendron, ferns, and other shade-loving houseplants.
Alternatively, you could root the cuttings indoors. Give them a bright window or a position under fluorescent lights. Be sure to provide plentiful fresh, humid air by opening all of the windows in your home.
Roots will form in about 6 weeks. You won't need to tug at the plants (as some gardeners recommend), in order to discover that roots have developed. Just look for signs of new growth.
In mid-September, and well-before the first frost, bring the rooted youngsters to full sun. If you don't have a sunny window, set the pot under fluorescents. As mentioned before, open windows to provide a pleasant atmosphere. Water whenever the top inch of soil feels dry (stick your finger into the soil). And then water thoroughly, until excess drips out the drainage hole.
My own young petunias reside either beneath the fluorescents that light my kitchen counter (as above), or on the fluorescent-lit shelves in my Writing Room. Plants under lights require more food and water than their window-grown colleagues. These I feed with every watering, at the rate of one 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of room-temperature water. I reduce the food to one 1/4 teaspoon for window subjects. I've had great results with Jack's Classic Blossom Booster (10-30-20) -- the same formula that encourages my African violets to bloom and bloom.
When they are grown in a sunny window or a light garden, the plants will form buds in early December. These will open as sweetly-scented, pink, purple or white trumpets by month's end. And with regularly deadheading, the flower-show will continue until late May, when the plants go on holiday outdoors.
In the winter window garden, purple petunias associate well with flowering bulbs and African violets (pictured above is my Music Room window; the petunia is on the broad sill on the left).
Here is the same plant, at close-range.
Meanwhile, a white petunia (shown here in my upstairs bath) positively dazzles in a setting of rabbit's foot ferns and pink azaleas.
Well. I hope this petunia-as-wintertime-houseplant tutorial was useful to you in some small measure. Perhaps you'll let me know by leaving a comment. As always, an angel rings a bell whenever someone posts on this site.
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Other posts you might enjoy:
How to Design a Window Garden with Brackets and Glass Shelves
The Window Garden in February
The Window Garden in November
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