Petunia pinching seedlings if she stretched out. How to pinch a petunia - useful tips

Volumetric multi-colored bushes of terry, ampelous, two-color and plain petunias have won the hearts of experienced gardeners and beginners. From mid-spring to the first frost, flowers, amazing in their variety and decorativeness, decorate not only summer cottages, but also balconies of multi-storey buildings, verandas of cottages, city flower beds, cafes and restaurants. Flowers are unpretentious, do not require professional maintenance and special conditions, but gratefully respond to the care of flower growers.

Necessary conditions for pinching petunias

Proper cultivation and formation is an important condition for obtaining a beautiful and healthy bush. In addition to timely sowing and diving, it is necessary to properly pinch the petunia. This means that at a certain stage of growth, she needs to remove the top shoots. Such a procedure will ensure the branching of the stems and the formation of many buds on bushy crowns.

To carry out this manipulation, you will need the following:

• convenient scissors or secateurs;
• strengthened seedlings with 4 - 5 large leaves at the top;
• container for collecting removed cuttings.

How should you pinch a petunia?

Before pinching a petunia, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the basic requirements for this procedure:

1. Observing the growth of seedlings, it is necessary to choose a period when it got a little stronger and began to grow up soon. It can have up to 5 - 6 leaves, but no more. If you miss this moment, the seedlings will stretch. Actually pinching petunias does not take much time. It is necessary to cut the stem over 5-6 leaves with your fingers or a pruner.
   This forms a new point of growth, from which several shoots will begin to grow in different directions at the same time. During this period, seedlings can slow down development, but at the same time get a little stronger. When the side shoots go, the bush will take on a more rounded appearance.
2. If you plan to plant seedlings in open ground, then pinching is best done after rooting. The sprout will take a few days to adapt. During this period, you need to try to create favorable conditions for the plants to take root:
   • it is necessary to plant seedlings loosely, observing the conditions of agricultural technology;
   • monitor the frequency of watering and spraying;
   • apply a specialized strengthening fertilizer under the root.

If development occurs in a greenhouse, you can pinch the petunia after diving.

1. If the cut shoots are not very small, they can be used as cuttings. In order for the cutting to take root, it is placed in a container of water. First you need to remove the extra leaves, leaving a few at the top. When the roots appear, they are transplanted into the soil. So you can get additional young seedlings.

• during pinching, try to injure the sprout as little as possible, use clean tools;
• a month after the event and the appearance of strong side branches, pinching the tops of petunias can be repeated;
• for laying large buds on new stepchildren, use suitable fertilizers, they will make the flowers brighter and larger.

In order for the formed decorative bush to please with its beautiful view for as long as possible, it will need constant care. From the moment of sowing, not a single transplant, pinching, spraying of sprouts will be required. Do not forget to water and feed well, remove dried flowers and shoots. In place of the cut off old flowers, new branches with buds will appear. Well-groomed colorful petunias will undoubtedly please you with abundant and long flowering in gratitude.

How to pinch a petunia (video)

Lush bright bushes of ordinary, terry and ampelous petunias delight with their multicolor. They begin to bloom in early May (in the southern regions of Russia, Ukraine), and delight the eye until the first frost. It is difficult to find a more common flower than the beautiful petunia. Its decorativeness is in place everywhere - in a modest flower bed, laid out near the entrance, in pots and containers on the loggia of a multi-storey building, on the verandas of country cottages, in city parks and squares. Hanging in beautiful planters in front of the entrance to a store or restaurant, bright flowers attract the attention of potential customers - you always want to go to a cozy place. Flowers are not only charming - they are relatively unpretentious, do not require constant care.

What kind of care do petunias need?

Proper soil (you can find out how to properly prepare the soil for sowing, seedlings and flower beds in a separate one), lighting, timely watering and occasionally fertilizing with mineral fertilizers. Often, novice flower growers have a question: is it necessary to pinch a petunia?

Petunia: pinching seedlings

Pinching (pinching, pinching) the tops of petunias– removal of the growth point of the main stem for development.

In order for the bush to grow beautiful and healthy, it needs help. In addition to timely diving, the flower must be pinched. What does this mean in practice? We will have to remove the grown upper shoots. What is the use of these actions for flowers? When the petunia grows up, pinching the seedlings will contribute to the branching of the stems, a lot of buds will form on the bushy crowns that will decorate the garden plot or bloom in a flower pot.

Pinching petunias: what you need

1) Strengthened seedlings of petunias (these include a plant that already has several leaves at the top).

2) Secateurs (if it is not at hand, then large kitchen scissors will do).

3) Container for cut leaves.

How to pinch a petunia

Petunia needs pinching - this manipulation will have to be repeated 2-3 times (depending on the variety that you decide to grow) per season.

For the first time, pinching is done at the stage when 2-3 pairs of formed leaves and a pronounced stem appear.

For example, on photo 2 there are already a lot of leaves, but there is no stem and it is dangerous to pinch the growth point (you can just destroy the whole plant) - it is still too early to pinch.

On photo 3 it can be seen that there are already both leaves and a trunk, and the growth point is clearly visible - the place from where new leaves begin to grow.

It is this point of growth that is pinched - the easiest way is with nails (hence the name "pinching").

In order not to make a mistake, you can pinch the two already formed upper leaves - just cut the trunk right below them to form a "stump".

After pinching, the side branches of the petunia begin to actively develop, resulting in a beautiful bush.

Some varieties (especially ampelous) petunias do not need re-pinching. But in most varieties, sometimes one of the branches begins to grow rapidly, taking away the strength of all the others. And sometimes it even forms an ovary ( photo 4).

Then you need to urgently pinch this particular branch - the easiest way is to cut it with pruners or scissors “under the leaf” (on photo 5 red shows possible cut points - between the leaves, just above the place where the bush is formed, that is, new branches appear).

The third pinch is rarely needed, but sometimes in some plants the branches begin to grow too intensively again, for example, when they want to pull themselves closer to the light ( photo 6).

In this case, the longest, strongest and most powerful branches must also be removed - cut closer to the base of the branch, and not just the top! Yes, of course, it's a pity. But if you want lush petunia bushes, abundantly strewn with flowers, to delight you all summer long, then this must be done!

Is it possible to pinch a flowering petunia? In principle, it is possible if there is evidence for this - you missed the moment of pinching and the bush began to develop not as you would like. But be prepared for the fact that flowering slows down a little, the plant will take time to survive the stress that causes pinching.

If you plan to plant seedlings in open ground in a flower bed, then experienced gardeners recommend that the first pinching of a petunia be done only after the flowers are planted in a permanent place. Therefore, you should not sow seeds too early - this advice is relevant for central Russia, the Urals and Siberia, where frosts are still possible in April. Be sure to count - pinned seedlings will be hard to take root in a new place. Plants need to be given a few days to adapt, flowers should get used to new conditions due to changes in lighting and soil composition. Do not forget to water and spray - water will help plants survive stress. And only after a few days, carry out the procedure - you already know how to pinch a petunia to stimulate its further growth.

Do not throw away the plucked shoots - with their help you can get additional petunia seedlings, and much faster than seeds. Put them in a glass of settled water. After a few days, the shoots will give roots. After that, fill the pots and transplant the cuttings there.

Attention: before transplanting, it is necessary to remove the leaves, leaving no more than 3 top ones.

Another advantage of petunia, which simply needs to be mentioned, is the ability to save shoots until the next season. This requires a glazed loggia or veranda (the temperature in the room should not be higher than + 10-12 degrees C). Petunia will not survive in an apartment in winter, it easily gets sick from excess heat and dryness, mites will appear on the leaves, which will destroy the plant.

Pinching (German pinzieren - remove the end) - pinching, removing the top of a young shoot. This is done in order to grow side shoots, otherwise all growth will go first to 1-3 shoots and the plant will become ugly, will fall under the weight of these shoots. The process is laborious and painstaking - but worth it. In the photo above, the petunia is already two weeks after pinching.

When and how to pinch Petunia seedlings?

Pinching must be done when the Petunia seedlings look like in the photo. The optimal time for pinching is the beginning of the appearance of the third pair of true leaves. With nail scissors, it is necessary to cut the upper kidney as deep as possible to make it look like in the photo.

Do all varieties of Petunias need to be pinched??

Petunias from cheap seeds in amateur packages need to be pinched 100%. Pinching is a laborious process, so the efforts of breeders are aimed at creating such Petunia varieties that would normally develop without pinching. I must say that the breeders succeed. Earlier, I gave comparative photos of petunias from cheap and professional seeds, from where it was clear that it was not necessary to pinch normal varieties.

Modern varieties of Petunias for professional cultivation do not require pinching.

Why pinch those varieties of Petunias that do not need to be pinched?

Last season on some plants from professional seeds I tried to pinch and it turned out that such plants quickly acquire a normal look. I think if I had placed Petunia wide enough at once, pinching might not have been required. But the place needs to be saved, the seedlings are dense and therefore stretch up. Now I will try to pinch as many plants as possible.

The result of pinching (pinching) seedlings of Petunia.

An alternative to pinching seedlings.

To prevent seedlings from stretching, many seedlings use Athlete, which shortens the length of the internodes. However, Athlete is an insidious drug and its effect is unpredictable. Below is a photo of a petunia treated with Athlete three times. The delay in flowering of such a petunia, in relation to the pinched one, was 2 weeks.

How to pinch a petunia?

Petunia has become very popular because of the variety of varieties and its decorative effect. It is grown at home, in suburban areas and city flower beds are planted from varietal plants. In order for a petunia to please you with a lush color, you need to properly care for it. Do not forget to pinch the petunia in a timely manner - remove its upper regrown shoots.

You will need

Fortified petunia bush
The presence of a high upper shoot and at least 4-5 large leaves

Instruction

1 Calculate the time for the first pinching of the petunia. Flower growers do this after the seedlings are transplanted into open ground. It is important that the plant has time to acclimatize and grow stronger. In order not to destroy a young petunia, take care of it properly.
Plant seedlings fairly densely.
Water it often and spray it with water (in the heat - up to 3 times a day).
Feed once a week with sprayers and root corks.
If the petunia does not grow, use growth stimulants (such as "Cykron").
Plant it in open ground in the second half of May. It must be humus and soddy ground (2:1).

2 Start pinching the petunia when the plant "goes into the stem" (that is, it begins to grow rapidly upwards). Count 3-5 leaves from the bottom of the stem and pinch off the top shoot above them with your fingers - the growth point of the petunia. Now the flowering of the bush will slow down a little, but the rapid growth of lateral shoots will begin. As a result, the petunia will produce more large buds. A month later, you need to re-pinch the petunia.

3 Put the removed shoot in a jar of water and wait for it to give small roots. Now it can be used as a cutting to grow a new petunia. Before planting the plant in a container with earth, cut off all the leaves from it, leaving only a couple of the top ones.

Helpful Hints

Keep a close eye on a flowering petunia bush. Remove all faded and wilted flowers. This will encourage the formation of new buds. In addition, dried petals spoil the appearance of a decorative bush, especially in terry petunias and in varieties with large flowers.

This flower fascinates, conquers with simplicity and grace, flowers of different shades, fragile branches are plentifully strewn and delight with their appearance from May to autumn cold. Those who once grew a petunia and fell in love with it will be interested to know why petunia pinching is important, the features of this manipulation in different species and when to do it when growing a plant from seeds at home.

It is necessary to distinguish pinching from pruning. They are carried out at different times using different technologies. If seedlings are bought, the first pinching has already been done. The importance of subsequent pinching and pruning will depend on the variety. The modern varieties of some bush and cascade petunias bred by breeders do not particularly need pinching, since the ability to branch is inherent in them through many years of selection. But most varieties still require pinching.

In the process of growth, a subsequent pinching is carried out if it is necessary to give the plant a certain shape or grow a uniformly developed bush. When performing repeated pinching, only branches that are very elongated compared to others are cut.

This cascading petunia needs some cardinal pruning

Re-pinching is sometimes called pruning. With poor formation, the plants do not pinch, namely pruning. Branches are cut, leaving two or three internodes from the ground. New branches begin to grow from them, after three weeks the plant takes the form of a beautiful lush bush dotted with many flowers.

What is the pinching process

Pinching seedlings is carried out to form a petunia due to an increase in the number of lateral processes. Neglecting this operation, you can get an elongated plant of a miserable appearance. Pinching the bushes for the first time is done when the top of the seedlings grows up to eight centimeters long.

Properly formed petunia bush

When planting plants in the ground or containers in a permanent place, it is necessary to fertilize and water in time. When the side branches grow ten centimeters, it is advisable to re-pinch the petunia. It is just as important as the first one for the following reasons:

1. an increase in the number of lateral shoots gives an increase in the number of flowers;
2. by pinching, you can correct errors in the initial formation of the bush: make the bush more fluffy.

The first pinch when growing petunias from seeds

When grown from seeds, interesting varieties can be obtained that are rarely sold as seedlings. It will take extra effort, to show maximum attention and care to get healthy plants.

After germination, the plant, under normal development, is ready to bloom in about twelve weeks. The initial formation of a petunia bush (pinching) must be done when the first six leaves appear, after picking seedlings. This is a very important step in growing a plant from seed.

Petunia seedlings stretch upward with one shoot. It must be pinned over the fourth or fifth leaf, with a clean blade or sterile scissors, carefully cutting off the growing point. The cut can be sprinkled with activated carbon powder or wood ash.

The growth of the plant will go to the lateral sinuses near the leaves. After a short period of time, several side branches will grow. This is how the proper formation of seedlings begins. If a petunia has many branches, it will form many flower buds. With good care and sufficient lighting, such a plant blooms profusely for a long time.

Further formation is carried out monthly, planting the petunia in a permanent place, pinching or cutting off the branches. Some flower growers who pinch the petunia correctly manage to grow it like a perennial at home and achieve flowering all year round. This also requires a special temperature regime and artificial illumination of plants in winter.

Features of different types

There are many hybrid varieties. They are grown to decorate balconies, to decorate alpine slides and flower beds, or as a houseplant. Varieties of petunias differ in the direction of growth of the stem, the shape of the flower, have their own characteristics of growing and pinching. Knowing the varietal characteristics, you can plan how a loggia or a flower bed will look like.

According to the shape of the stem, petunias are:

• bush,
• ampelous,
• cascading.

Bush petunia is used to decorate flower beds. The growth of branches is directed upwards, forming a compact bush dotted with flowers. It can grow without repeated pinching if the seedlings are formed correctly.

In a cascading petunia, branches grow, hanging from a flower pot. Cascading varieties are great for decorating balconies, loggias, alpine slides. You can get a “flower carpet” from one plant, decorating the wall of the house under the window or the flower bed in front of the house with many flowers. The correct pinching of a cascading petunia consists in the initial formation of a bush at the seedling stage. Of course, the appearance of the plant depends on its variety. For example, Typhoon Wave is a fundamentally new, unparalleled series of hybrids. A powerful spectacular plant with shoots 1-1.5 m long. The total area of ​​\u200b\u200ba flowering plant is more than 2 square meters. meters! Flowers about 5 cm cover the plant with a continuous cover.

Ampelous petunias grow, hanging from the pots with long branches. They differ from cascading stems in more fragile stems and the direction of growth of branches down. This is the most demanding type of petunias for pinching, but even if this manipulation is performed correctly and in a timely manner, the plant will never please a very lush bush.

In the form of flowers, petunia happens:

• simple;
• terry;
• small-flowered;
• large-flowered.

Terry petunia, when propagated by seeds, does not preserve the doubleness of the flower. Therefore, it is propagated only by cuttings, with the help of seedlings. Cuttings are harvested during repeated pruning and rooted in a light nutrient substrate without covering with a film.

We wish you success in growing beautiful, lush petunias!

In contact with

Petunia is a perennial highly ornamental plant, grown as an annual in the conditions of the middle zone. The culture is loved by flower growers for its long flowering, accompanied by the formation of a large number of bright colorful buds, a variety of species and varieties that can satisfy the most demanding taste.

Petunias are grown from seed. In the southern regions, sowing is carried out immediately in open ground. In the middle - using seedlings. The growing process is characterized by the need to care for young plants, including pinching. Without this procedure, it is impossible to achieve long and abundant flowering.

How is pinching done?

In crop production, pinching is understood as the removal of the upper part of the shoot with several leaves. Manipulation is carried out by hand or using sharp instruments, including tweezers. For this reason, the procedure received another name - tweezing.

Pinching is carried out in the early stages of plant development, during active growth. Shoots prone to stretching are pinched repeatedly.

The step-by-step process of tweezing consists in performing 2 simple steps:

• choice of escape for pinching;
• removal of its upper part by hand or with a tool.

Why pinch petunias?

It is necessary to pinch a petunia, and regardless of its variety (bush, ampel, cascade). The shoots of this flower are prone to stretching. The consequence of this is their weakening, leading to the loss of the general decorativeness of the plant, an ugly crown forming in the form of long poorly branching shoots and weak flowering. Pinching will avoid this.

This is what young petunias grown without pinching look like

After removing the upper part, the shoot stops growing upwards and thickens due to the influx of nutrients. The plant becomes stronger. New leaves appear on it and already existing leaves grow stronger.

Petunia after the first tweezing done correctly

Buds wake up in the sinuses, from which lateral shoots develop, contributing to an increase in bushiness. The more such branches are formed, the more buds will be. Abundant and long flowering is another advantage of tweezing.

Pinching result

Are all varieties of petunias subject to tweezing?

Long-existing or simple varieties (cheap, sold in amateur packaging) must be pinched. By selection, new professional hybrids with high bushiness have been obtained. Their crown can not be formed.

When purchasing new varieties, pay attention to the instructions on the package.

Features of the procedure

Despite the simplicity of tweezing petunias, there are several important rules:

1. 1. Pinch only young specimens that have reached a height of more than 5 cm and have 6-8 leaves.
2. 2. The first pinching is carried out after the rooting of young plants when they are transplanted into open ground. In the case of growing seedlings at home - a few days after the first pick. Plants weakened by transplantation, as well as overgrown ones, painfully endure this procedure.
3. 3. It is important not to miss the timing of pinching. Tightening negatively affects the further development of plants. Adult petunias do not pinch, only faded buds are to be removed.
4. 4. Repeated pinching is carried out no earlier than a month after the first, when the shoots reach a length of 10-15 cm. During it, only the very tips of the shoots are removed.
5. 5. Most varieties are pinched 2 times. Ampelous petunias need regular adjustment of the shape of the bush. Therefore, they are pinched more often - once a month.
6. 6. After the procedure, the petunia needs good care:

• regular soil moisture;
• repeated (2-3 times a day) spraying of shoots with settled water at room temperature;
• constant, 1-2 times a week, top dressing with specialized fertilizers for flowering plants.

You should not abuse the pinching: each procedure delays the onset of flowering by 2-3 weeks.