To provide this beautiful flower with optimal development conditions, picking is carried out twice - 3 weeks after sowing the seeds and then after another 4 weeks.
Competent picking in compliance with certain rules is one of the most significant events in the entire process of growing petunia seedlings.
Choosing the right time
Many gardeners ignore the first pick, allowing the sprouts to get stronger. In principle, you can wait if the seeds were initially placed quite spaciously - at a distance of 3-4 cm from one another. But more often they are sown much closer together.
The time for the second and obligatory picking comes after the formation of 3-4 true leaves. But it is important not to confuse them with cotyledons, which appear as soon as the sprout emerges from the ground.
Soil characteristics
Ideally, the chemical composition of the soil in which the petunia vegetation cycle will take place should be the same everywhere - in the open-air flower garden and in containers for seedlings. In this case, petunia will not expend extra energy on adaptation.
The culture is especially demanding of two soil qualities:
- Acidity - should vary between 5.5-7 pH, deviations from the norm contribute to the elongation of seedlings.
- Air permeability - to increase looseness, agroperlite, vermiculite or coconut substrate is mixed into it.
If these conditions are met, the seedlings will take root perfectly after picking.
Inspection of sprouts
Only healthy sprouts should be moved to the new “home”, which requires inspection. If the above-ground part is significantly affected, then it is recommended to mercilessly discard the plant, and if the underground part is affected, the affected area of the root system can simply be shortened. The condition of the roots often deteriorates due to excessive watering, but a young plant has a good chance of recovery.
Gentle transfer
Seedlings of any plants, in principle, require careful handling, but petunia in particular is distinguished by its painful sensitivity to mechanical damage.
Therefore, during the picking process, it is recommended to use a miniature scoop or a small wooden peg to dig up the seedlings from all sides and remove them, which should look from the outside not like a rough jerk from the bottom up, but like a smooth loosening, during which the plant is simultaneously lifted. Just before picking, water the seedlings so that the soil remains in a lump around the roots. It is allowed to hold the seedlings with your hands, grasping them with your fingers at the base of the above-ground part.
Topping
During the diving process, it is necessary to shorten excessively overgrown roots that are abnormally larger than the rest. You can also regularly pinch the tip of the main root of all seedlings - this stimulates the growth of lateral adventitious roots.
As for pinching the above-ground part of the plant, it is not combined with picking for the reason that for this procedure the petunia must form 5-6 leaves.
Conditions for adaptation
Picking any seedlings should be done on a cloudy day or in the evening - excessive sunlight can weaken the plants.
The first two days after picking, petunia should be shaded, and then it should be moved under the diffused rays of the sun, including phytolamps, to extend daylight hours to 14-16 hours a day.
The air temperature must be maintained within +20...22 °C. Drafts are contraindicated for seedlings, and there are no specific requirements for air humidity.
Picked seedlings are watered as the top layer of soil dries to 1-1.5 cm with settled water at room temperature. And water must be poured generously until it begins to leak out of the drainage holes. The excess is naturally drained from the pan.
The importance of fertilizers
If initially the petunia seeds fell into a good substrate, and the young seedlings were provided with favorable conditions, then nothing can be added before picking. However, if the plants are weakened, then so that they do not suffer from transplantation, it is necessary to treat them with some kind of immunostimulant about a week before picking:
- Epin.
- Zircon.
- NV-101.
The next day after picking, arranged after 3-4 leaves, it is recommended to water the seedlings with universal fertilizer containing phosphorus. After a week, if it is clear that the petunias have taken root, it is advisable to apply nitrogen-containing fertilizer on the leaf, that is, the solution is sprayed onto the plant from a spray bottle. After another 2 weeks, you can apply any potash fertilizer for petunias from a flower shop.
In conclusion, we can say that picking petunia is a serious, but not so labor-intensive task that even a novice gardener can handle.
