Content
Petunia is a wonderful flower that is gaining popularity every year. This is mainly due to the hard work of breeders to create more and more new, more attractive and, at times, completely irresistible varieties and hybrids of petunias. And most importantly, the overwhelming majority of modern varieties are distinguished by great vitality and unpretentiousness. This is especially true for multi-flowered, lush blooming varieties. Flowers with complex, double and rimmed petals are a little more capricious, but they are also of extraordinary beauty.
Therefore, flower growers are tempted to this beauty, they cannot pass by the bags with seeds, which depict new, hitherto unseen colors and shapes of this flower, familiar to many from childhood. But growing good, strong petunia seedlings on your own is not a very simple matter, even for an experienced florist. So what should beginners do then? After all, the seeds are quite expensive, so I want at least something to work out the first time. This is where peat tablets come to the aid of beginners and experienced flower growers. After all growing petunias in peat tablets simplifies many procedures for the care of seedlings so much that it can not but rejoice even fans of these flowers with extensive experience. They get the opportunity to easily grow many of even the most valuable and rare varieties, which are not always possible to grow with ordinary sowing.
Peat tablets: what they are and what they are
Peat tablets are cylindrical discs made from several types of peat by pressing. A starter set of microelements and growth regulators is usually added to their contents to improve seed germination and provide young shoots with everything they need for the first time. Each tablet is packed on the outside in a special cellulose mesh, which is impregnated with antibacterial substances to protect the seeds from various infections. In addition, it helps the tablet to retain its barrel-like shape when moisturized and swollen.
As it is easy to understand from the above, the main advantage of peat tablets is the fact that in one person they play the role of both a planting container for the development of seedlings, and a sterile completely ready-made breathable soil, with a full set of elements that can help plants at the beginning of their life and development. ... This is the secret of peat tablets - why it is possible to grow and preserve even the most capricious and demanding crops in them.
In addition, the use of tablets is very simple, they save a lot of time and, which is important for the conditions of small apartments, do not bring any garbage or dirt with them. Finally, the undoubted advantage of using them is the fact that the seedlings can grow in them for a relatively long time - depending on the size of the tablets and the type of culture planted - up to one to two months. And no picking or transplanting is required.
At the moment when the roots begin to go beyond the paper mesh, the seedlings are either placed directly with the tablet in a permanent place, or placed in a larger container, covered with additional earth and grown further. There is no trauma to the root system, no stress and, as a result, no growth retardation.
The main disadvantage, significant for many, is the cost of the tablets.When growing large volumes of seedlings, the use of peat pellets can be very expensive. But if we are talking about valuable and rare plant species, for example, the same pelleted seeds of terry varieties of petunias, have a price quite comparable to the cost of a tablet, then, of course, the use of tablets for sowing petunias is more than justified, especially for beginners. There is one more drawback with peat tablets - they can dry out very quickly and easily, therefore, when growing seedlings, you cannot leave it unattended for a long time.
Peat tablets come in various sizes from 24 to 90 mm. For growing petunia seedlings, even the smallest of them 24 or 33 mm are quite suitable for you. When choosing pills, be sure to study all the information indicated on the package. You should not take tablets without packaging or without protective nets, they can be cheaper, but savings can result in a complete loss of useful properties. It is necessary to choose those made from low acidity peat. It so happens that the tablets contain coconut fiber, in principle, they are also suitable for planting petunia seeds, they only require even more attention and control over humidity.
Description of the process of planting petunias in peat tablets
Beginners are most worried about the problem, and how to plant petunia into peat tablets correctly. The procedure itself is quite simple and should not cause difficulties even for beginners.
It is necessary to prepare some kind of deep container, preferably with a lid, or without it. Transparent cake or pastry boxes are ideal. On sale you can also find ready-made kits for growing seedlings in peat tablets, which are a tray with cells for the size of tablets and a lid.
- Place the required number of peat tablets on the bottom of the container or in special cells so that the depression is on the upper side.
- Gradually moisten the tablets with warm, standing water, so that the water covers them over your head. Do not use cold or chlorinated water to moisten the tablets. Do not suddenly pour water into the tray with tablets in order to avoid the dilution of nutrients.
- It is necessary to wait about 20-30 minutes, the tablets should swell, increase in height by 6-8 times, in width the size remains practically the same.
- If there is not enough water, you need to carefully add more. After 30 minutes, when the tablets take their final shape, it is imperative to drain the excess water.
- Gently pick up a petunia seed with a moistened tip of a toothpick or match and place it in the center of the recess on top of the peat tablet. The pelleted seeds usually stick fairly easily to the tip of a wooden toothpick if it is wet.
- Pelleted seeds usually have a very dense shell and it is desirable to help it dissolve for accelerated and friendly germination of seeds. To do this, using a sprayer, or as a last resort with a pipette or syringe, lightly moisten the petunia seed using literally a few drops of water. After waiting a few seconds, use the end of a toothpick to gently press it to the surface of the peat and even slightly spread the shell over the surface. It is very important not to overdo it, all movements should be very light. In no case should you cover the seeds of petunia with soil. They only germinate in the light.
- Close the container with a lid, or in the absence of one, cover it with a transparent film and fix it on top with an elastic band or string.
- Place the entire mini-greenhouse in a bright and warm place with a temperature of + 20 ° C - + 25 ° C. At lower temperatures, petunia seeds may not germinate at all.
That's it, planting petunias in peat tablets is complete. In the near future, it is only necessary to open the greenhouse lid for a couple of minutes every day to ventilate and wipe the condensate accumulating on the lid.Petunia shoots under favorable circumstances can begin to appear within 5 days. But some seeds last longer, up to 10-15 days - this should not worry you.
Petunia seedling care after germination
An additional convenience of using peat tablets is that the seedlings can be sorted by rearranging the already emerged plants under brighter lighting. It is only important to move them into the same pallets with lids. It is advisable to supplement the emerging shoots of petunia during the first two weeks around the clock. This will keep them from stretching. Another technique to avoid stretching the seedlings is to lower the temperature slightly compared to the germination conditions. True, this is not really feasible for everyone, but it makes sense to try. It is only important not to overdo it in this, too.
During the first two weeks after germination, you should not remove the cover from the mini-greenhouse. Petunia shoots need only be aired daily, starting from 5-10 minutes, and every day the airing time should be increased by 20-30 minutes. After 2-3 weeks, the cover or film can be removed completely. It is possible to do this earlier, if the top of the seedlings began to abut against it.
There is no specific watering regime for petunia seedlings when grown in peat tablets.
In the first two weeks, hardly anything will happen under the lid, but later, when the lid is completely removed, you need to check the moisture content of the tablets every day.
Moistening them is very simple - you just need to add a little water to the pan and after about half an hour, carefully drain the excess water. To remove water, so as not to disturb the seedlings, it is quite convenient to use a large syringe or enema.
Transplanting seedlings
Seedlings of petunia grown in peat tablets do not need picking. For many novice florists, this fact is already a great advantage.
It is better not to postpone this procedure, since the young tender roots of petunia are very sensitive and in the air they will quickly dry out and die. Which, of course, will slow down the development of seedlings and delay their flowering.
For transplantation, it is necessary to prepare pots with a volume of at least twice the volume of peat tablets with seedlings, and loose fertile soil. It is advisable to treat it before planting with a solution of phytosporin or glyocladin for disinfection from any fungal infections.
A drainage layer, 1-2 cm high, is laid in the pot, a little soil is poured on top, then a peat tablet with seedlings is placed. A little earth is poured from the sides and from above, everything is slightly compacted and spilled with a small amount of water. In the first days after transplanting, it is advisable not to place petunia seedlings in direct sunlight.
Many more experienced growers, in order to save tablets, plant not one, but several petunia seeds in each. In principle, this is quite acceptable, and in this case, when the time comes, the plants can also be transplanted into large containers without picking.
You just need to take into account that when the leaves grow, they will be cramped in one pot, and they will fight with each other for light. Yes, and when planting in the ground, you will have to tear apart the roots that have grown together, which, of course, will delay flowering, but it can bring some savings. So the choice in this case is yours. It is only important not to overdo it and do not sow more than five plants in one small tablet.
Conclusion
As you can see, growing petunia seedlings in peat tablets is not at all difficult and will give you a lot of interesting and pleasant experiences. As a result, you are guaranteed to get luxurious, compact and flowering petunias of the desired varieties. According to gardeners, the yield of healthy flowering petunia seedlings from seeds when using peat tablets reaches 98-100%.
