Top dressing of petunias for abundant flowering
Content:
Petunia is a culture that blooms very beautifully and elegantly. For this reason, it is chosen by many gardeners, designers, decorators in order to refine this or that territory. Many people think that this plant is not at all demanding in its care, however, it is necessary to know about some features and rules. Only if these rules are followed can you get the desired result in the form of a beautiful and abundant flowering. An important factor that directly affects the quality of flowering is the regularity of introducing the correct nutrients for plants and feeding petunias.
It is difficult for a novice summer resident to understand all the intricacies and nuances of petunia agricultural technology. In order for a plant to please your eyes with its beautiful flowers, you need to give it strength in the form of moisture and additional nutrition in the form of fertilizers. These stages of petunia agrotechnics and will be discussed in this material.
Feeding petunias: what are the fertilizers
Often, flower lovers buy ready-made products in garden stores that are used as fertilizers for flowers. As a rule, such preparations contain a high degree of concentration of various essential substances for the plant. Before introducing such a drug into the soil, it must be diluted with water in a certain proportion. It is up to you how to use the drug, depending on what result you expect to receive. For a crop such as petunia, many growers buy liquid fertilizer. Most often they use Ideal, Agricola, Garden of Wonders, Uniflor. The Bona Forte remedy is also very popular.
In addition, other forms of fertilizing can be purchased, such as dry fertilizers. Also, feeding in the form of granules is in great demand. Usually they also need to be diluted with a certain amount.
It is very important to observe the correct ratio, you can learn about this from the instructions that are always attached to any preparation for certain crops. Among fertilizers in the form of powders, gardeners usually use Kemira Lux, Master or Plantofol.
There are also dressings with a prolonged effect, for example, capsule Agricola, Etisso, nitroammofoska and various superphosphates can be added to this group. The soil does not receive nutritional supplements abruptly. Fertilizers enter the ground together with watering the flowers with water. These granular fertilizers are often applied to the soil just before the plants are planted. This is quite convenient, because in this way you have made the feeding rate for the whole year. But at the same time, some flower lovers say that such fertilization alone is too little for petunias to delight the eye with lush, abundant flowering.
If you see that the plant begins to change its color, for example, the leaf plates turn from green to purple, and you also observe that the buds are getting smaller, then this definitely means: your plants are experiencing a phosphorus deficiency. This problem can be easily eradicated by using liquid products. You just need to change this or that remedy for one that contains a larger amount of phosphorus. If you see that the plants look better, then you have identified the problem correctly. If the plant does not change its appearance for the better, then you need to look for reasons elsewhere.
Do not use drugs exclusively with a prolonging effect, as this can easily lead to the death of the flower.It is easy to overdo it with such fertilizers, and there is a risk that too much phosphorus will enter the soil. Because of this, the plant can wither away altogether. This is due to the fact that this chemical composition will remain in the soil for a long time.
Usually gardeners hardly use such fertilizers. And if it is used, then the dosage indicated on the drug label is reduced by two to three times.
The first feeding of petunias
The first time the plants need to be fed a couple of weeks after the seeds have been sown. So, your petunias will grow greens much more intensively and the formation of a bush will take place in a lightweight version. For these purposes, fertilizing is most often used in a complex, which have in their chemical composition the proper amount of nitrogen and phosphorus. To do this, you can use special mixtures that dissolve, for example, the Garden of Wonders, Bona Forte or Ideal. When your petunias have just begun to develop, you can use dry dressings, for example, Plantofol or Master.
It is worth noting that top dressing, which contains quite a lot of iron, can prevent the appearance of yellow foliage in petunias. For this, ammonium nitrate or Feronit is most often used.
The seedlings of this culture are fed, as a rule, in three passes:
1) When the first sprouts appeared. In this case, it is necessary to halve the concentration of solutions or mixtures than indicated on the reverse side of the product.
2) The second application of dressings is carried out after hardening the seedlings. Plants need to get a little stronger and get used to the environment.
3) The third time the seedlings are treated just before planting the plants in their permanent habitat.
Second feeding of petunias
After you have found the first flower buds, the plants can be treated with Planfotol. It contains the required amount of potassium. It is best to use a fine spray gun for this purpose.
To form a lush flowering petunia bush, you can use a fertilizer that dissolves easily in water, Green Crystal. With the help of this preparation, seedlings of petunias are fed. For five liters of water, there is about one teaspoon of this product. Stir the solution well and then process your flowers once every three to four days. While the plant is in bloom, it is not worth spraying with this drug.
When the plant blooms, it is better to use other drugs, for example, Crystalon, Scotts, Kamera, Aquarin. This should be done no more than once every ten days.
In order for your petunias to bloom luxuriantly and abundantly, you need to use fertilizers that have a lot of calcium.
In order to apply fertilizers more often (for example, after one day), you need to make the degree of concentrate lower, about three to four times.
In order for the buds to be larger, petunia is fertilized with drugs such as Zircon and Epin. As for the new branches, they are formed thanks to calcium. If you want to make the flowering longer, then you can use top dressing such as brown or pink Kristalon.
If the soil on the site or in the pot where the petunia grows has a sufficient level of fertility, then additional fertilizing is practically not needed. The only moment, you need to remove buds that have wilted from time to time. You cannot add too much nutrients, they can be added to the soil only based on the proportions that are indicated in the instructions for use. Also, for reassurance, you can prepare a weaker concentration than indicated on the label. In this case, you will be able to get a decent result.
How can you feed petunia
Feeding petunias in various ways. We will tell you about the most popular ones.
1) Fertilizing the soil.A lot depends on how nutritious the soil in which petunia grows, in particular, its appearance. Therefore, it is necessary to apply fertilizer to the soil from time to time. The land must be fertile and contain all the elements and substances that are necessary for the normal growth and development of petunias. In order for the seedlings to feel good, a certain amount of peat is introduced into the soil. In addition, it is a good drainage system. Before sowing seeds in the ground, it is treated with fungicidal preparations. So you will save your young plants from such a disease as black leg. If such a tool was not at hand, then disinfect the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate.
2) Treatment of petunia seeds. Much depends on the quality of the seeds. Including how actively the plant will grow and develop, how many buds there will be, and how long the flowers will delight you. Often in garden stores they sell seeds already prepared for planting, they no longer need to be processed with anything on their own, but their price is usually higher. If you have the simplest seeds, then you need to process them before planting. After you have sowed the seeds, you need to add succinic acid to the slightly dry soil. So, there will be a chance that petunia sprouts will appear faster.
3) Top dressing of young and adult plants. A couple of weeks after the seedlings have been dived, the next feeding is carried out. In order for the petunia bushes to grow more intensively, a certain amount of nitrogen is needed, and in order for the buds to develop properly, potassium and phosphorus are needed.
In order to protect your flowers from such misfortunes as chlorosis or yellow leaves, you can treat the plants with Feorovit. Thanks to the iron chelate, which is in the composition of the drug, these problems will pass. Usually I use this remedy three to four times with an interval of five to six days. Best of all, when fertilizers under the root will be replaced with top dressing on the leaves.
In order to carry out foliar feeding, the leaves of the plant are often treated with various means. Note that almost all liquid feeds are used as foliar feeding. For this purpose, more water must be added to such products than indicated on the label. In this way, you can heal the plant for a particular disease, if it is not too neglected. The effect of such dressings comes in a short time.
How to properly water petunia
Correct feeding of petunias is only one of the stages of caring for petunias, but the correct agricultural technique does not end there. A very important component is the correct watering regime for the plants. This is to ensure that the plants feel comfortable to form beautiful flowers in large quantities.
Watering is carried out, as a rule, in the morning or evening hours. It is best to use melt or rainwater for these purposes. The water should be three to four degrees warmer than the soil itself. The water quality must be of a high level. If this does not happen, then the soil will collapse, the level of acidity of the soil will worsen, fertilizers will be less absorbed by the root system. As a result, the growth and development of petunia will be much worse, in addition, there will be a risk that the root system will "catch" the disease. Water the plants carefully, pour water under the root itself, do not allow moisture to get on the flowers.
In order for your petunias to bloom luxuriantly, abundantly and for a long time, it is recommended to use fertilizers in combination, and not separately. In addition, do not forget about the correct watering regime. The water must be of high quality.