How to pinch a petunia for lush flowering

Petunia is loved for its unpretentious care, rapid growth and abundant flowering. A wide selection of bell flowers of various colors also adds only pluses to it. A cherry on the cake is a wonderful aroma, which in the evening becomes only sweeter. Each owner of an exotic beauty needs to know what care and growing petunias should be like. Pinching is part of a set of procedures and involves cutting off the top of a young shoot. The first time is carried out on seedlings (called pincing). The further procedure is the foundation of the future form of the plant in the open ground. The third provokes abundant flowering with larger flowers, evenly spaced along all shoots.

Why pinch a petunia

There are many reasons for pinching:

• the shoot begins to awaken the sleeping buds in the axils of the leaves and release new twigs from them. Soon it becomes densely covered with shoots that will bloom in the future;
• the decorativeness of the plant increases not only due to the side branches, the stems after pinching become thicker, young shoots will be densely dotted with leaves;

Petunia is able to decorate any flower bed

• the cropped shoot will quickly become stiff, which will provide additional support and support during flowering;
• after the third pinching, additional flower buds wake up along the entire length of the lateral and main shoots;
• with the help of pinching, you can give the plant any shape, make it spherical, elongated to the top or mundane. Ampelic petunias will not have a bare crown. Cascading will launch their lashes in steps. Beautiful shrub varieties will begin to cluster correctly;
• depending on the growth conditions, it is also possible to adjust the formation of the bush. If the landing site for the petunia is not too successful, for example, too windy, you can land the bush more so that the plant does not feel discomfort;

Seedlings after proper pinching

• in cold and humid summers in too thick bushes, fungus, pests and diseases can start. Therefore, in order to prevent, you need to pinch the petunias to thin out the bottom of the bush;
• late pinching serves to update the bush. Pruning 1/3 of the shoot length provides a powerful incentive for the growth and flowering of petunias in the autumn.

How to pinch a petunia so that it blooms elegantly

When to pinch

When a small sprout grows stronger, the pruning of the shoot will become an incentive for its branching. But this procedure cannot be put into a clear framework: the presence of a certain number of leaves on the shoot or its length. The shoot is ready for pincing if:

• the stem went into active growth;
• there are at least six true sheets on it;
• shoot length of ampelous varieties exceeds 10 cm;
• the shoot began to stretch noticeably and thin out;
• the distance between the new leaves began to increase;
• the leaves are smaller and dimmer.

Tweezers need all young shoots grown from seeds or cuttings

Visually, it will look like an escape stretches up, but it lacks the strength to grow so quickly. If the young stalk is plump, thick and round leaves grow densely on it, it is not in a hurry with rapid growth, it needs to be paused with a pinch. You can not only spoil the future appearance, but also destroy the flower at all. Do not pinch off the top if:

• the plant looks sick, lethargic;
• if the flower is damaged by pests and diseases;
• the flower is improperly maintained, and the shoots are drawn out only due to a lack of light or nutrients;
• if the shoot is late and the shoot length is more than 20 cm. In this case, the plant can be harmed, since it has put a lot of effort into the growth of the shoot of this length and laying sleeping buds in them. Trimming this length is not worth it.

The growth of lateral shoots after the procedure

The second pinching is done after a minimum of 30 days, when more than six leaf blades will already grow on the new side shoots. This procedure may not affect all the shoots, depending on the shape that you need to give the flower. Shoots are chosen according to the same principle as during pincing.

Most often, the second pinching falls on a transplant in open ground or a cache-pot. Both procedures cannot be performed on the same day. It is necessary to give time a flower to take root and get used to new conditions. The addictive period takes from 3 to 14 days. It’s hard to say what period a particular plant has. The signal for pinching will be active growth and a healthy look of rooted seedlings.

How to pinch petunias correctly so that they bloom elegantly

The third pinching is carried out another month after the second. By this time, there is an active development of flower buds, which means that this procedure will only add new buds on the stems. Due to the economy of power and nutrition, petunia forms a greater number of colors. You need to pinch off the withered flower along with the peduncle.

Proper care and timely pinching will provide the most beautiful look of a flowering beauty

The last pinching of the petunia to renew the bush is carried out when the flower has lost its decorative effect. The bush managed to bloom and thinned its green hat. Usually this is the end of August - the beginning of September. If the petunia looks completely unimportant by the end of summer, there is one way to revive the bush:

• shoots should be trimmed to 1/3 of the length;
• pull the bush out of the pot, cut off the lower half of the root system;
• replace the soil in the pot.

During the third procedure, you can also adjust the shape of the bush, cutting off excess shoots

The result will be an active build-up of the root system and greenery.

Able to delight flowering until the first snow

Preparing the sprout for pinching

So, the main reason why it is time to pluck the stem is its healthy appearance and dynamic growth. So that the bush does not die after this procedure, you need to provide him with proper care at the preparatory stage.

• Sun protection. Petunia is sensitive to direct sunlight. Seedlings are doubly sensitive. The burnt leaves will sooner or later dry and fall off, and if you leave them below the pinch, it is unlikely that you will get good material for future tillering. New shoots will not appear from the sinuses of the damaged leaves.
• Providing lighting. If there is not enough light, the shoot will reach for it, and inexperienced flower growers can confuse this process with the beginning of active growth and pinch it. This entails not only a loss of decorativeness. When correcting a mistake in the care, young shoots will grow to normal thickness, and the main one will be too thin. Over time, it can break under the weight of the entire bush.
• Watering is plentiful, but not frequent. The roots of petunias are thin and quickly rot when the soil stagnates.
• Moisturizing provides additional nutrition to the flower through leaves and shoots. Regular spraying is important with proper care.
• If the seedlings grow in one box, it should be planted at a sufficient distance from each other. If the planting is too dense, the shoots will be dull and elongated, seedlings will clog each other. This also applies to further planting in open ground.

What is needed for the procedure:

• sharp scissors (manicure or garden);
• antiseptic for processing blades;
• charcoal or activated carbon (pre-ground);
• a cup for cuttings cut.

How to pinch a petunia

When the shoot is ready for pinching in all respects, the best time for this procedure is morning or evening.

The procedure is simple. With the processed tool, you need to make an oblique incision closer to the leaf, which will remain on the shoot. The slice must be treated with charcoal. Often, flower growers do pinching only the tip of the shoot - the first millimeters of the germ of a new leaf. At the first pinch, this will be wrong, since a small stalk may not have enough strength to develop lateral shoots. The shoot should go into active growth and release more than six leaves.

Depending on the variety, you need to know how to properly form a petunia with a pinch.

• Ampelic petunia will bush itself. This property is embedded in it by breeders. But the first pinch is necessary, since over time the crown of the hanging lashes will be naked. If you carry out the procedure at the seedling stage, the ampel beauty will let out new side shoots faster, and they will look like basal.
• Cascading petunia requires a minimum of two pinches. How to pinch a petunia so that flowering is a hat: you need to use all the shoots growing up. This will form the desired shape of the bush, as well as get large leaves and flowers.

The bush of ampelous petunia is evenly thickened

• Bush petunia, like terry, needs to be pinched, only based on its appearance. These varieties of petunias grow on their own. Sometimes it is necessary to adjust the shape of the bush or hide the disadvantages of improper care (extended with a lack of lighting or neglect of seedlings). Pinching bush varieties of petunia for bushiness is rare.
• Varieties of multi-flowered petunias need only plucking withered flowers. And you need to do this, not pulling the petals out of the bract, but removing along with the peduncle. If you remove only the petals, the petunia will form a seed box. It takes a lot of effort to harvest the seeds, it can thin out flowering or stop growing.

What petunias do not need to be pinched

Hybrid varieties of petunias are already equipped with a set of genes that provide active growth of lateral shoots. Such petunias begin to independently develop lateral stepsons at the seedling stage. Sometimes you can resort to this procedure only to adjust the shape of the bush.

Hybrid petunia is able to grow independently

Can I pinch during flowering

If timely pinching failed, you need to know how to pinch the petunia during flowering. The main thing is that the adult shoot has just begun to bloom. Shoots should be cut off, leaving 5-6 leaves on the stem. Flowers are also cut. After this procedure, you can notice some growth stop, and even more so flowering. But after a week, new shoots and buds will appear.

Nail care

Pruning young petunias to form a bush is stress for the plant. After all, it did not count on the fact that now he would have to actively release his shoots and flowers. Therefore, correct step-by-step care and additional recharge are important.

• Feeding after nipping. For these purposes, fertilizers for petunias and other growth stimulants are used. If pinching is done a second time, it is necessary to introduce nitrogen-containing preparations that will help the root system and the growth of greenery.
• In addition to fertilizers, petunia responds well to nutritional supplements made at home: banana water, ash, hydrogen peroxide, and yeast.
• You can feed not only the roots. Regular spraying with succinic acid or a well-diluted fertilizer will help harden the young buds and nourish the leaves.
• Proper watering. Not too plentiful watering is required in the morning and in the evening daily.
• To stimulate the growth of lateral shoots, daily temperature differences are important. At night, the temperature should decrease by at least 6-7 ° C.

What to do with cuttings

The plucked cuttings will fit for reproduction. If you cut the stem at least 2 cm, he is able to independently let the roots. After the first procedure, it is better to put such stems in water with root, which will give strength.

After the appearance of the first roots, the stalk is ready for rooting. You need to plant in a pot with fertile soil. Two parts of garden soil and one part of peat and sand will perfectly nourish the young sprout and not retain moisture in the soil. Cuttings can be placed in greenhouse conditions: in a bag or under glass.

To obtain a decorative bush or ampelous plant, you need to know a few secrets in caring for exotic petunia. One of these secrets is to correctly pinch the petunia so that it blooms elegantly. This procedure is aimed at the formation of a dense bush, uniform and abundant flowering. Also, the procedure will provide the petunia with thick shoots and buds, wide and fleshy leaves and large flowers of bright colors.