What to do when petunias become leggy?
Petunias naturally look leggy or have sparse stems. New flowers emerge at the ends of stems, so as old blooms die back, the stems will look bare. Cutting a Petunia back in the middle of the season will allow the plant to push out new growth and appear more full. Dead or damaged growth can be removed at any time.
Petunias don't benefit from a hard pruning, so be sure to have a light touch as your prune, only removing long stems—especially the ones that are beginning to look leggy. Don't prune back more than one-third of the plant's stems.
Yes—you can cut leggy plants back to encourage new stems to sprout, restoring your plants to lushness. Trim any exceptionally long, lanky stems, removing a third of their length and snipping just above a node (the point where leaves grow from the stem).
To keep petunias tidy and flowering, we prune the shoots back to about half their length. This will encourage more branching and more flowers. After pruning, fertilize and water the plants well to force out new growth and flowers. The plants may look raggedy at first but they'll rebound with more color and blooms.
The good news is, leggy seedlings can usually be fixed before it's too late. I've transplanted hundreds of tall, floppy seedlings with success, most of which went on to recover and have normal, productive yields.
Petunias will naturally get leggy over time, especially when you don't deadhead them very often. Pinching will encourage them to brach out, and also promotes a healthier plant.
Poor light, insufficient soil nutrition and too little water can result in leggy petunias, especially with seedlings. Keep the soil moist and fertilize monthly while providing full sunlight to achieve the most compact plants.
Simply feed them every 1-2 weeks. The formula is safe for all plants, and is guaranteed not to burn when used as directed. Get beautiful results with Miracle-Gro®.
During cooler spring or fall months, you may not need to water your hanging basket every day. However, when the temperatures start climbing up in the 25-40'C range, you will not only have to water everyday, you might have to water twice a day! Every time you water, you should make sure to completely saturate the soil.
If a plant is overwatered, it will likely develop yellow or brown limp, droopy leaves as opposed to dry, crispy leaves (which are a sign of too little water). Wilting leaves combined with wet soil usually mean that root rot has set in and the roots can no longer absorb water.
How do I make my hanging plants bushy?
Encourage hanging plants simply by allowing them to do their thing. If you like these plants to be more bushy, trim back tendrils which allows the plant to build more bulk. Lots of plants are sold in hanging baskets, so all you have to do is hang them up in your home.
Over-fertilizing is often as much of a problem for plants as under-fertilizing. It gives plants a few moments of big blooming glory, only to have them become root-bound and overgrown within just a month or two. Even the best potting soil will eventually run out of nutrients for hanging baskets.
At the most basic level, leggy seedlings are caused by a lack of light. It could be that the window you are growing your seedlings in does not provide enough light or it could be that the lights you are using as grow lights are not close enough to the seedling. Either way, the seedlings will get leggy.
Put a small fan next to your seedlings on a timer so that the plants are blown in the breeze for a couple of hours a day and gently passing your hand over the tops of seedlings a few times every day to stimulate stronger growth. Some leggy seedlings can be saved with modified transplanting techniques.
Remove leaves.
Use pruners or snap off roots and healthy leaves from the bottom half of the succulent. Get as clean of a break as possible to encourage new growth. If your leaf tears, get rid of it. Remove leaves until you're a little more than half way to the top.
Petunias prefer full sunlight, so be aware, container plants may dry out more quickly during hot weather periods. During such periods the plants require two daily waterings. Bedded plants need water when the top 12-15 cm (5-6 inches) begin to dry. Bedded plants need once-a-week a deep watering.
How often to water petunias in a hanging basket? This is a common question, and the answer is simple: water whenever the top couple of inches of soil feels dry to the touch. Hanging petunia plants may need water daily during the summer, and maybe even twice during periods of extreme heat.
Petunias are subject to root and crown rot, a result of uneven watering. “Like pansies,” she says, “petunias must never be allowed to wilt, either from under- or overwatering. Once they wilt, it's all over.” She advises providing good soil conditions, including preparation with organic materials and ample mulching.
The tall and skinny plant is primarily due to a lack of light supply. Increased light intensity leads to a faster rate of photosynthesis. Along with water and minerals, light is essential for healthy plants because it aids in absorption by chlorophyll.
For hanging baskets the general rule is to use one plant per inch of basket diameter – so 12 plants per 12 inch basket. You'll only need 5 plants per 12 inch hanging basket for bigger plants like Geraniums (Pelargoniums), Surfinia Petunias, culinary herbs and Fuchsias.
Why do petunias stop blooming?
If your petunia plants have stopped flowering, it's likely they aren't happy. Make sure they are getting enough sun, water and fertilizer. You can also give them a trim to stimulate new growth and flowers.
Pinch out the growing tips of your plants during the early stages of growth, and do this two or three times before planting out to encourage side shooting. This will lead to much more compact plants with many more flowers. By mid-August, some petunia varieties may start to look a little tired and straggly.
The sign that you are overwatering your petunias would be seen by the yellowing of the leaves, and the brown and wet patches on the leaves. You will see root rots, wilting of flowers, and even fungi or mold around in the plant's substrate.
Inspect your plant for the following signs of water stress and find out which you're dealing with. Wilting: Plants will wilt when they're overwatered and when they're underwatered, so check the soil to determine which it is. If the soil is wet, it's overwatered - if it's dry, it's underwatered.
Leggy seedlings can sometimes be saved by gently brushing your fingers back and forth along the tops of the plants every day. This simple motion simulates an outdoor breeze and tricks the seedlings into thinking they need to grow thicker stems to hold up against windy conditions.
“Legginess, or stretched seedlings, occurs basically because they're not getting enough light exposure,” Graper said. “Cloudy weather has caused the seedlings to stretch or elongate more than they normally would.” Overcrowding in seedling pots will also cause legginess as the seedlings compete for light.
Repeat the pinching process when new leaves form.
Once these new stems have a few pairs of leaves, you may repeat the pinching process on them, which will force those branches to bush out even more. However, when pinching plants multiple times, avoid pinching branches below a point where you have already pinched.
In this situation, 'legginess' refers to a plant's appearance when its stem and/or petioles (the bits that connect the leaves to the stem) become unusually long. It leaves the plant looking a bit weird and ugly, like it probably needs an intervention.
The growth habit -- tall but not bushy -- may be natural for this variety or it may indicate that your plants are not getting enough light and are becoming leggy. Make sure they get 6-8 hours of direct sunlight a day.
