THE BRILLIANT PETUNIA.

Auckland Star, 2 September 1933, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE BRILLIANT PETUNIA.

USEFUL FOR GARDEN OR POTS. Petunias are very showy and popular plants, splendidly adapted for bedding . purposes, especially where a light soil and a hot aepect are obtainable. Tneir blooms are produced freely in a large ] number of beautiful colours, and many | varieties are blotched, striped or mottled. I Petunias are suitable for both town and ' country gardens, and in addition to being useful for bedding, make capital plants i for pot culture and hanging, baskets. Although plants are easily raised from seed, the double varieties of even the beet strains cannot be relied upon to .produce more than CO per cent of doubleflowered plants, so that propagation of choice varieties is best done from cuttings, which take root readily during the early months of the year. Petunia deed sown during August or September will produce plants ready for planting out early in December, and will provide a j display of bloom throughout the summer. A well-drained pan filled with compost of two parts loam, one part ; leaf soil and one part sand, passed through a fine seive, should be prepared and pressed quite even, for the seeds are very small. Care should bo taken not to sow them thickly or distribute _ them , unevenly, a good plan being to mi:s the ' seed with three or four timee the bulk of sand to facilitate even distribution. Instead of covering the seed with soil use fire silver eand, and if the pan can be plunged in gentle bottom heat, say about 00 degrees, the result will be all the better. The seedlings should, of course, bo pricked out into other pans or boxes as soon as large enough. The distance apart to space the plants depends upon whether they are required for pofc culture or for bedding purposes. If for the former, two inches apart will answer,; the plants subsequently being potted into small pots, whilst plante for bedding 1 should be spaced four inches apart, so that further transplanting will be_ un-, necessary until planting out time arrives, j A good compost for petunias grown in; pots consists of four parts loam, one' part leaf soil, one part thoroughly decayed manure, and one part eand. To induce a bushy habit the point of each plant should be pinched out. while fur-. ther occasional stopping will.be neces--1 sary to ensure a symmetrical form, j When tho flowering pots arc becoming filled with roots, weak liquid manure ' should bo given once or twice a week, and as growth is very brittle, tying and staking must be carefully attended to. Although petunias are not attacked by many insect peets, greenfly is frequently troublesome. It should be destroyed by syringing and fumigating. Light sandy compost should be used for cuttings, several of which may be inserted round the rim of a Cin pot. The pots should bo plunged in gentle bottom heat, and the cuttings kept well shaded until ■ rooted. Then tho pote should be removed from the plunging material, and after a time the young plants be potted singly I into 3in pots. '