Petunias. Yes or No?

I have read tons of plant guides on Petunias. Some say that they are easy to start from seed. Others say it's very difficult. Petunias are my favorite flower and I keep an entire corner of the garden just for them. I would like to get some feedback on others on their personal expierences with growing them from seed. Thank you

I've never had a problem starting petunias. I use the peat pellets, many will say boo to that, but they work for me. I start mine in the kitchen under small florescent lights. They take awhile to come into bloom, they are the first seeds I start.

Thank you. This year I was able to get a six pack for under 3 dollars which is a good price. But this next year I want to plant alot more, and lets face it, seeds are much cheapier. Not to mention a larger variety. When do you start your pellets? Thank you again, Robyn

Robyn, we can't safely put out flowers until May 1, so I start my petunias late Feb and early March. From the pellets I have to pot up one time to get bigger plants and flowers. They will stop their growth when the fill the pellets.

I bottom water using the water/peroxide mix. Don't cover the seeds with dirt, they are tiny.

great advice. Thank you. If it doesn't work, I lost nothing. If it works I'm surrounded by flowers.

Robyn

There are several ways you can start petunias from seed. You can wintersow them, but you can also just throw down seed early in the Spring.

I threw petunia seeds into this planter in early May and added the callas.

That is a very beautiful arrangement. I'm going to try winter sowing. I'm not set up to do any growing inside because the house has the most horrible light and with two little ones trying to set up lights would be a nightmare. I'll put seed down in spring too. This years petunias are still blooming so I'm hoping that's a sign that they really love it here. Thank you for your advice and for sharing that beautiful arrangment. I love callas too. Robyn

I can get most seeds to germinate with little trouble, some are easier than others and in my climate, early sowing means I need to use a heated propagator which is fine and not expensive to run and also because we have a short growing season, then starting seeds here after April is a very poor show.
Petunia's are one of the bedding plants that I have had no luck with at all, tried lots of different ways and idea's but even after germination I find they collapse with damping off, most other seeds don't do this for me but those delightful Petunia's are a pain to me.
I love them so for the past 5-6 years I send off for what we call plug plants and I buy a tray of anything from 12-24-36-40, all depending on whether you want mixed flower colour, double or single flowers dictated the cost of those little plants. I have more success with these as they are past the damping off stage and have 3-4 sets of tiny leaves, I still keep them in the propagate but by then, without heat just the top on with air vents well open.
These types of seedlings plug plants are advertised from companies in magazines from Feb - March and here they are not delivered till end of march but your area will have them ready before this time, the cost woks out at about £10 pound GB for maybe 24 plants that is about $7 your money, as they will give you a great show all summer long, I don't find this a huge cost but remember you need to buy compost to pot them up a couple of times before they are large enough to plant outside but again you may be able to set them out much earlier, we don't put bedding plants outside till end May and the season CAN be over by end July - August if we have a cold wet summer.
Give it a try using a few methods and if you have a glut of plants I'm sure you could give them away to friends or keep as spare IF you have problems with slugs etc.
Good luck and happy gardening. WeeNel.

My neighbor about fainted when she saw me planting my six pack last summer. She thought they wouldn't grow here because she's never had any luck with them. Maybe they are just finicky sometimes. I put them in the ground and watered them. Thats it. Maybe that's why I love them. They are nice to me.