Way too much fertilizer. You should only fertilize about every 3 weeks. Too much fertilizer cuts down on flower production

Sunlight duration and quality makes a difference, too. Are the half that are 'not growing' showing any particular symptoms? By 'not growing' do you mean stunted in some way?

oakleyoak:

Wave petunias don't grow tall they spread out horizontally.

Petunias thrive on neglect. Maybe you are giving then too much water or too much fertilizer. Petunias don't require too much fertilizer. They should go at least 3 weeks between fertilizing. If you give them more than that they won't bloom.

They also like to dry out between waterings. Give them too much water and they will collapse and die.

After I did the topic last night, I noticed the Waves were about 6 inches tall and the blooms were erect.

I read here they don't like to be dried out, so now I'm confused. I do water the ones in the pot more often. I use the Miracle Grow that you mix with water in a gallon jug.

I've been fertilizing every couple of weeks, so I'll cut down on that and the watering.

I just want those tall, bushy ones I see in flowerbeds. I have no idea what variety they are.

I have other Petunias that seem to be doing okay. I'm bound and determined not to kill these this summer! lol

oakleyok

I have been growing petunias from seed for more years than I care to remember. I have many flower beds and most years there are at least 200 of many varieties of petunia, so take it from me they thrive on neglect. Mine get fertilized when they are set out and once a month after that. When I water I water deeply and I don't water often. If there is no rain it will be about a week and a half before watering with average 70 + temperatures. If it's hotter it may be more often

Thanks for the info. I'll slow down on the watering then. I looked at the plants this morning and they really are doing good.

The particular Petunia I've been wanting to find for about ten years now is a very light, almost see thought purple, which gets very bushy, airy, and about 2 feet tall.

I've seen these Petunias and they are just gorgeous.

Do you have any idea which one's they are?

Tell me this. The Petunia in my pot doesn't seem to be growing very well, but it's blooming okay. I do water it almost every day because of the hot wind. Should I let the pot get completely dry before I water it? Today will be close to a 100 with high winds. I'm wondering if the potted plant needs fertilized more often?

I'll take some pictures for you so you can see what I'm talking about.

Thanks so much for helping me out!

Here's the one in the pot. I have no idea what kind of Petunia it is, it wasn't labeled. Maybe I'm expecting it to grow faster than it should? It's been in the pot for a good month now.

Do the leaves always stay this small?

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The striped are Waves, not sure about the purple. I have them on both sides of the flowerbed and they've grown the same.

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The plants look fine to me, so you must be doing something right.

The size of the leaves depend on the variety of petunia. I'm going to list the different kinds of petunias this does not include the million bells or other offshoot varieties of petunia--

Multiflora--The oldest variety of Petunia it has a smaller flower than the Grandiflora and is the cheapest seed to buy--hybrids of it includes the 10 inch ones called Fantasy or Piccobello. These 2 are the smallest plant and flower. The multiflora also includes the waves and ramblers.

Grandiflora--These have the largest flowers often 3 to 4 inches across. Then there's the doubles and florabundas. Florabundas have a smaller flower than the Grandifloras too.

Your petunias look like multifloras In fact the white one looks like Fantasy. and yes they do have smaller leaves. See that long stem off to the right. Clip it down to where the stem is for the flower below and do the same all over the plant as it gets long stems. Remove any seed pods. The seed pod is a little ball directly behimd the flower.

Removing seed pods keeps them flowering and clipping them back makes them bush out. No need to remove the pods on the waves but an odd clipping will keep them bushy.

As for watering use the finger method. Stick your finger in the soil to just past the knuckle--second joint on your finger--If it feels wet the plant is ok--if not then water

Clipped! Good to know I don't need to remove the pods from the Waves. You do think the purple and white striped are Waves, don't you?

I've been adament about going outside everyday and clipping the pods off all of them. Last year I was just pulling the flowers out thinking that was the proper way to deadhead. lol.

Should I fertilize the one in the pot more often or just do it every few weeks like the ones in the ground?

Grandifloras are the one's I think I see at some people's homes because they're very showy from the street.

How easy is it to grow Petunias from seed? If they're pretty easy I'd like to do a lot of pots next year for the porch. It's a good way to experiment!

I forgot, when I was clipping the Petunia in the pot, I noticed there are a few leaves turning light yellow. This is what they did last summer before they died, but I had them in the ground then.

Does this mean anything? It's super hot here now. I can't do anything about the plants in the ground, they get all day sun. But I can control how much sun the pot gets, how many hours do you recommend?

Sorry for all the questions. lol

Yellow leaves are a sign of overwatering or lack of fertilizer. I tend to think it's overwatering because you said they collapsed last year after they got those yellow leaves. The roots get waterlogged and can't take in any more water and die. Just cut back on the water. I plant won't recover from overwatering but it will recover in a couple of hours from a wilt from lack of water.

Petunias are a full sun flower but with those hot temps a bit of shade during the hottest hours wouldn't hurt. No you don't have to fertilize the pot more often. If you want to take the guesswork out of fertilizing use a time release fertilizer. You put it around your plants in spring and then forget about fertilizing for the rest of the season.

Petunias are fairly easy from seed if you have a light set up or some way to give them the light they need to grow. Many here use a plug in shop light with one 40 watt cool flourescent bulb and one warm.

Yes the purple and white are waves or ramblers or one of the trailing varieties

My petunia flowers are looking like they are loosing color. They litereally look as if the color is getting washed out of it. They are in direct sun most of the day so they get dried out in no time. If I don't water them, they will just dry up. Does anyone know what is going on with them?

Over the years I have had excellent luck with the wave. This year they were doing great up until about two weeks ago. I was watering daily (they're all in hanging baskets) and have total sun, fertilizing roughly every three weeks. I was considering cutting them back, or is it just too late in the season. Any advice appreciated.