ANNUALS > PETUNIA > LEGGINESS

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PETUNIA GUIDES

frilly pinky-purple petunia blooms growing from an overgrown shrub with dark green foliage

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If your petunias have become leggy and straggly with droopy stems and dying foliage , you might be wonder what to do with them .

The types of petunias that have a tendency to legginess will probably arise it as a result of the fall out causal agent and factors :

leggy petunia plant with wilting flowers and straggly green foliage growing from the ground

As such , seek to avoid legginess instead of make out with it later on by taking the follow preventative measures .

Preventive Measures

Water with the appropriate amount and relative frequency depending on the sort of petunias you have and whether your plant life are growing in the open land or in a container .

Under no setting should the soil be soaked and remain overly dampish .

Be sure to site petunias in a smirch in full sunlight that only receive a scrap of low-cal wraith .

gardener pinching the stem of an orange flowering petunia plant

“ Legginess is most often due to being sit in a position that is too louche , forcing the plant to hit for light , ” says Colin Skelly , a Horticultural Consultant .

“ Trim back the leggy stems move plants in lot to a shining localisation and they should respond with bushier outgrowth . ”

provender petunias judiciously .

a container full of pink flowers from a petunia plant with small leaves being cut back by some gardening scissors

Instead of a balanced formula , opt for a potassium - rich formula oriented to anthesis annuals .

at last , if you are growing the type of petunia that are known to break legginess or if you feel that yours could become leggy , proactively pinch the stem tips by a expert 7 - 8 cm in former June .

Doing so will trigger off side shoot and bushiness and will pre - empt legginess .

Trimming Leggy Petunias

If your genus Petunia are becoming leggy , there is a speedy and dim-witted answer – trim .

However , only grandiflora and multiflora rose types should be trim .

utilize a duo of sterilize mini - secateurs to cut back all the stalk on the plant by 30 - 50 % .

secure that each stem is left with some foliation , making the deletion just above a solidification of leaves .

After such a trim , water the plant and also fecundate it in moderation .

ensure you move in time , as trim petunias too late in the season is of no benefit .

If you act in a timely mode by mid - July , not only will you solve the legginess job , you will believably be rewarded with a second rush of blooms .