Petunias - Knowledgebase Question

Bulbs
Mundelein, IL (Zone 5A)
Question by askemom1
June 2, 2007
I love petunias and have many. I've been given two opinions on getting rid of the ones that have already bloomed. Some say to simply pluck the dead flower off and others say to pinch it back, stem and all. I'm going to the expert! Also, I seem to have a problem with petunias in my hanging baskets. They get


Image
Answer from NGA
June 2, 2007

0

 The answer to both your questions is pinch often and hard! Pinch off the spent flowers, before they begin to form seeds and the plant will put its energy into developing more flowers rather than developing seeds. If you take a few inches of stem when you pinch off the spent flowers, you'll encourage the plant to develop new flowering stems. In most cases, when you pinch off a few inches of stem, the plant will respond by producing two flowering stems where there once was only one!So, instead of getting leggy, they'll be bushy and full.

Best wishes with your petunias!

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