Three is the usual number in a ten inch basket, but that is so that they fill in quickly. One will fill if you pinch it and give it enough time.

They do wonderfully in the ground. I use at least a hundred of them in my beds and I also plant baskets of them in groups of three in the ground.

You did get a good price.

Yes, whack them back a bit to encourage fullness.

No, they don't usually look spidery. They fill in empty bed spaces very nicely and are not overly aggressive to the existing plantings.

You may or may not need to add nutrients. It just depends on how rich your soil is. You are correct, however, to assume they ran through the nutrient charge in their little containers.

Good luck, I think you'll be very pleased with the results.

Sometimes, late in the season you need some flowers with instant impact. IOW, can't wait for them to fill out themselves. I have access to hanging baskets and I just take a spade, dig large holes in the ground (easy, and fast) and slip the plants out of the basket with the soil balls intact and plop them in the holes.

Mary, I found so many different answers in catalog and growers guides this winter on just how far apart to plant wave petunias. Since wave seed is expensive, I wanted to know just how far apart they need be, so I knew how many seed to get. Some guides actually said to space 5 feet apart!! But, the more reputable guides say to space them 2 feet apart. And that is for almost all spreading petunias. Though, I think the Tidals could be spaced farther. Once those babies take off, the spread very rapidly and are amazing.

I took some great advice from a friend here on gardenweb about putting them in containers, and that is to cut every other stem back every week. I have been doing this and found that it is ESSENTIAL with waves in containers, as they grow very long and the centers will thin out. Cutting those stems back will help put more blooms back into the middle of the container. And, if you are going to put them in containers, you will need to fertilize every week.

Have fun with them, and wow, did you get a great deal!

Cut every other stem back?...Haven't tried that.
Am I the only one who can't grow Wave Petunias?...The ones in hanging baskets soon wilted...though I fed and watered them... I put others in the ground, looked pretty for about 2 weeks...I yanked them up and threw them out.
I used to have good luck with Petunias...is it me, or, maybe I'll just blame the change in climate...ha

I'm glad that I found this thread... my friend is growing petunias in window boxes, and I see someone suggested cutting back every other stem every week... this brings questions of how far back to you cut and is there a "joint" and certain place in the stem you should cut at? Her petunias are hanging a foot past the boxes now, and it is driving us both nuts!!!

Thanks,
Holly

I've also done the cutting every other stem or so back and it keeps them looking nice. I also plant a few that I keep out of site and cut back severly and only let them start to grow in late July to replace some of the ones that will start to croak or look ratty come the end of summer.

When I plant them in the ground I leave about 2 to 3 feet, but I also have other things in there. Where they are in beds by themselves though I usually do 2 feet or less. Maybe it's overkill but they sure look nice.

Crazy_Gardener, where are you?! I have been cutting my waves back ONLY IN CONTAINERS, not the ones in ground. I was cutting the container back to about 4 sets of leaves, just as you should do when you first plant your waves. Most people will not do this severe cut back, but I did and it was worth it. However, my containerized waves are beginning to "thin out" in the centers. I am at the point where cutting back stems to this 4 leaf stage does not encourage the new growth, in fact, that whole stem dies out. Now, this is only with certain containers that have been damaged by extensive aphid populations, and they are not getting plenty of sun. They are only getting about 4 1/2 hours full direct sun, and these waves are now getting kinda wimpy and leggy. I had thought this area was getting more sun, as we had a huge tree cut down, but it is not so. So, I do not know for sure whether it is still a good idea to continue cutting stems on these plants in particular.

However, my in ground, full sun waves, the plant centers are full and lush, and would not need the cut back, though, it would not hurt them at all. Mine do not need the cut back, but maybe some folks should try it (those that are not happy with theirs)? My in ground waves are absolutely loaded with stems, you would never notice the cut back.

I will also be doing a severe cutback on these containerized ones, move them to a sunnier spot and see what happens. I used to do this regularly with regular petunias (non-waves) that were also planted in an area with less sunlight, and they would revive quickly, even the wimpiest looking plants. I have since smartened up and stopped planted petunias in this area :)

Crazy_Gardener, last year, you had your Tidal waves in hanging baskets that undoubtedly didnt get full sun in the centers of the pots, they must have been shaded from the overhang. I have noticed that many of my Tidals will stretch out about 10 inches in the centers before the blooms start, and the branching is massive. Since I have several Tidals planted together, the growth has covered the centers of each plant. However, when pulling weeds, I still notice the empty centers. It would make sense to me that this would make a Tidal unsuitable for containers, however, may be ideal for hanging baskets that are hanging up high, where the centers are not visible??? More like a "cascading" petunia?

I dont have any Tidals in containers, so I cannot monitor this myself. My question is, if the Tidals all have this habit of stems growing 6 or more inches before blooms begin, will cutting the stems back encourage the centers to fill in better?

This has really been a great post, thanks for sharing all that you do to keep your Waves looking good...they are a bit of work to keep nice, aren't they?
I've finally got my area where I plan to put them weeded, so they are going in tomorrow and I will cut them back to the 4 leaves.
I'm very excited about a 12 day trip out of town...but I sure hope I can get my husband to water the petunias while I'm gone!

Ellen, the hanging pots under the garage overhang gets about 6 hours of direct sun (8-2), they also get turned now and then.

I'm not sure why the cutting back every other stem method is not flourishing for you, works great for me, but then I don't do it every week, just when they need it, when they start to look straggy/leggy, is when I will cut them back to about 6-8" from the end of the stem.

Sharon

Hey Sharon, I have stopped cutting my stems back regularly, however, the effort was worth it! My pot centers have started new growth! I am surprised, the centers were extremely ucky looking, I didnt expect this area to regrow. Since cutting back the stems, the containers seem to maintain a better shape.

However, the ones I have in the ground have flourished without assistance in the ground. I wouldnt even bother with cutting those back.

I'm glad i found this thread as i was going to ask Sharon some similar questions at another forum. Some of my waves are leggy and i didn't realize that they should be cut back like regular petunias. So the cutting back will start tomorrow.

Did you know that you can root those cuttings? You all need MORE petunias, don't you? :)

I haven't heared anyone say they cut the old blooms off one by one thats what I've been doing to keep my pots full it take a lot of time though, this method of cutting the stems back seems to be easier since I cut my faded blooms off every or every other day, what about all the faded blooms in between that go to seed won't thay slow the growth and blooms?
any how do you root the cuttings I put mine in water and it took a very long time but it worked is there other ways?

thanks,
calla

Strip the bottom few leaves from the cutting, dip it in rooting hormone and stick it in some earth. In a couple of weeks you'll notice new growth. You'll probably need to pinch them to encourage branching, but within a month, you'll have yourself some new petunias. Good luck!

*frowns* according to my books wave petunias are trademarked- not that it really matters, tough.

Hi everyone, I planted new wave petunias in the ground about 3 weeks ago and they were doing great. But now I see one of the plants looks wilted. I've watered them and feed them all the same. What am I doing wrong? Should replace the wilted one or will it come back? Thanks, Debbie

Ok I am about to plant out a ton of wave and cascading petunias that I have started form seed. But now I am totally confused. Maybe it is because of a cold fogged head. But I did catch to where I do not need to trim the plants that I put in the ground. But I need to trim the ones in baskets. So where do I trim them from the very top or what I am just totally lost. Thanks

Paula

Don't trim anything....let 'em grow, grow grow !!!!Sit back and watch the floribunda show !!!

Paula, trim them so there's about 6" or 8" left of the stem. Here's what Sharon (crazy gardener) said: "I don't do it every week, just when they need it, when they start to look straggy/leggy, is when I will cut them back to about 6-8" from the end of the stem." I don't do them all at once, just some here and there until it gets fuller in the middle. After a week you'll notice new branch growth coming from those stems.
Debbie, when you planted yours did you spread the bottom out a little? This helps the roots to grow better. Also, there might be an air pocket. When I plant any plants, I gently push them down to make sure there won't be any air pockets. Make sure there aren't any bugs, like aphids, on the plant. If it's clean of bugs and is still looking bad, I'd replace it.

Kat

I grew them in the ground last summer and cut them back once in July. They grew and tangled themselves throughout the garden. Some stems seemed to be 20ft long. At least you can't tell they are leggy. Enclosed is a pic taken late August when Petunias are usually finished and ugly. These held up. Forget the roses. The Japanese Beetles ate them to the bone!

{{gwi:15573}}

It's not illegal to take cuttings from a wave to start more for your garden. They are trademarked but not patented. You cannot gather seeds from waves and then sell them as "waves", but you DO NOT have to pay royalties on wave plugs. It's those plants on which a royalty is charged one must not vegetatively reproduce....for themselves or for sale.

Jane your garden looks beautiful! Is the silver plant dusty miller? It goes great with the waves.
Calliope, in other words it's the ones that are patented that you aren't supposed to vegetatively reproduce? Can you save seeds from patented ones? Just curious.

Kat

Yes, you can save seeds from patented varieties, because those varieties are usually vegetatively reproduced to insure a pure genetic line, and seed reproduction doesn't. Don't try to sell those, however, and use the name of the plant from which your took the seeds.

That is basically the difference between a plant patent and a seed trademark. A trademark is the proprietary "name" of a plant. A patent is the plant material itself. There are moves in the industry now to protect the trademarks and charge proprietary royalties on seed grown stock, but to my knowledge it hasn't flown yet. Exceptions are the huge market of agricultural seeds for food crops. Companies go to great lengths, even including soemtimes inserting a terminatior gene into the genetic line, to stop farmers from harvesting more seeds from the crops they grew for food and thus not have to buy more every year.

Thanks for the explanation Calliope. I don't save seed or sell anything, but if plants reseed in my gardens, I'll keep them. The past several years I've had some waves reseed, but they were different colors. I still enjoyed them though.

Kat

Well, I've never tried gardening until this summer, so I'm still learning a lot. In June, I planted two wave petunia plants each in two separate flower boxes (iron with cocunut fiber/coir lining). The gardener where I bought my flowers said to water them thoroughly as these boxes tend to dry out quickly. So, I watched them carefully and whenever the soil looked dry and felt dry a few inches deep, I would water them. They get approximately five hours of full sun everyday, however, it is afternoon sun.

The sad thing is that my petunias seem to be dying. Slowly, one by one, each petunia has done the same thing. First, the leaves appear to curl and feel sticky to the touch rather than stiff and rough like they did when I first planted them. The flowers appear to be okay, but then they begin to wilt as well.

It's strange because I also have marigolds sitting behind the petunias and they are flourishing. In the beginning, the petunias were doing beautifully, while the marigolds weren't, now it's the opposite.

Please let me know if this problem involves too much water/sun, too little water/sun, or bugs. I need all the help I can get.

Thank you for your time,
Corie
PS: I have photos if that would help identify the problem.

I had 2 very large wave petunia hanging baskets. While on vacation for a week, my neighbor boy was supposed to water. well, he didn't. They still have some green stems and some flowers, but a lot of the growth underneath is brown.
Can I save these flowers?
Thanks!

I am always amazed at the people who waste time worrying about patents and trademarks. Go ahead.....save the seeds...grow your own plants and save the money. I am now on some F5 generation seeds from Wave petunias. Most still wave as much as the original plants and I have some very nice variations in the original colors. Cull those few plants that look weak or seem to not have a prostrate growth habit and you will have excellent vining petunias for little or no cost. As for the trademarks and patents....worry about something more important.....like $4 a gallon gas..... ;) Enjoy the flowers.

And nip those petunias back when they get rangey in the pots and baskets....feed them well....and the centers will come right back.

I saved my seeds last year and want to sell
Them is it legal?