from seed???

where did you get the seed .. are we sure they are true to type ...

a pic might help with an ID ... to make sure they are.. what they are supposed to be ...

all that said.. pinching should not hurt .. and if you dont like what it looks like now.. whats to lose ...

btw ... if you have them in more than one pot ... then just pinch one pot.. and see what happens in the next week or two ... if positive.. do the rest.. eh ...

i learned more by winging it.. than i ever did otherwise.. in the garden ...

ken

I sure hope I didn't get ripped off! I got the seeds from park seed website here http://parkseed.com/tidal-wave-silver-hybrid-petunia-seeds/p/03770-PK-P1/

I got silver and purple ones. Here are some pictures I just took. I thought that leaves were kind of big for tidal waves, or maybe that's just because there is not many flowers yet so they're visible.

I don't know why the pictures always upload rotated lol

Purchased seed is fine, they just won't come true from seed you collect. Tidal Wave is really best planted in the ground, not baskets. It's bred specifically to get BIG....from the breeders website: Choose a full sun location for Tidal Wave petunias – at
least 6 hours of direct sunlight is best. Keep Tidal
Wave petunias well-fed and don’t let them dry out
between waterings. Due to the vigorous growth of
Tidal Wave petunias, home gardeners will achieve
best results from feeding plants with an all-purpose
fertilizer every 10 to 14 days, especially when grown in
containers. Apply fertilizer at the recommended
package rates.
Tidal Wave plants exhibit an intriguing trait when it
comes to growth. The habit is based on how closely
the plants are spaced in the garden – the closer the
spacing, the taller the plants will grow because they
use each other as support.
• Spaced a minimum of 12 in. (30 cm) apart in the
garden, Tidal Wave petunias form a dense,
mounded hedge. The stiff stems help to maintain
this habit through the season. At a 12-in. (30-cm)
spacing, Tidal Wave plants reach a mounded
height of 16 to 22 in. (40 to 55 cm).
• Grown in a restricted space with additional support
such as a chain link fence or bush, these eyecatching
petunias will grow an extra 1 to 2 ft. (30 to
60 cm) upward like a vine!
• Spaced up to 24 in. (60 cm) apart in the garden,
Tidal Wave petunias perform more like a ground
cover, spreading 2.5 to 3 ft. (75 to 90 cm) per
plant. Silver and Hot Pink grow slightly taller, with
a height of 10 to 12 in. (25 to 30 cm), compared to
the 8 to 10-in. (20 to 25-cm) garden height of
Cherry and Purple.

I realized I should have planted in the ground after I planted in the baskets. But that's ok, because they are looking good, very tall and bushy. I think next time I'll try easy wave or shock wave for baskets. I'm fertilizing every two weeks right now with miracle grow. Here are some pics. I may also try to collect seeds later on and plant them next year to see how they will come out. I knew they wouldn't come out the same, but I'm wondering what they'll look like.

They will look weedy, trust me. Lol... I would stick with Easy Waves for baskets.

I think they look wonderful. Very nice.

I think these look beautiful too! Can you post pictures of them now or of what they looked like in July? This year was my 2nd year of planting 2 pots with tidal wave hot pink and 2 pots of purple wave petunias and I love them. I have them on double shepherd's hooks at the bottom of my backyard. I like that the vivid color and the bigness of the plant helps them to show up better. Just a week ago I missed some waterings and haven't fertilized in a while now (being the end of the summer slowed me down) so they are finally starting to show dead leaves towards the base of the stems. I learn as I go and hope to keep up with the watering and fertilizing better all the way through the fall!! I also plan to prune it once or twice during the summer.

Petunias respond very well to pruning...It's a 'must do' maintenance task to keep them full and blooming.

Wow! They look great! I grow tidal wave silver every year (from seed) for my containers. It always does well, maybe a little too well but I love it. It has a nice white and purple variation. I also started "improved purple" wave (not sure if it's tidal, easy or just wave) but am a little disappointed with the color. It seems a little too magenta for my taste. I rarely prune them, just kind of let them do their thing. I do feed them weekly. My photos are bad phone pics but hopefully will give you a good idea of what they can do in containers and windowboxes.

Wow, utahmama! I see the tidal silver wave, and the new wave purple- but what is that other color petunia and that plant in the back of both arrangements? These are gorgeous! what kind of fertilizer did you use? How many plants in each pot? Is that top picture a huge pot? Thanks for sharing!

Thank you maryjo! Yes, you can see the tidal wave silver has kind of taken over, especially the pot in the first pic. There is also a blue wave tucked in there and that is verbena bonariensis on the top-it is drooping a bit from the birds perching on the stems-they love it and so do the honey bees! I alternate weekly fertilizing with just plain miracle gro and fish fertilizer. The pot in the first pic, I made a "tower" using a tomato cage and lining with landscape fabric. I cut some holes in the sides and side-planted petunias as well as around the base. There are only 2 silvers, 2 blue waves and 2 purple improved in that pot (besides the verbena). I hope this helps. Thanks!

FYI, there is now Easy Wave Silver (same color as Tidal Wave Silver) and Easy Wave Yellow......

Utahmama, love the verbena bonariensis! Have never seen it in a pot yet, and will try it next year. I did try to ws it this year for in ground, but not sure where it ended up- obviously it didn't do as well as yours!! Will grow some seeds under lights this winter/spring!! Love the tomato cage idea lined with the landscape fabric - have wondered if that would work - I love the look! How big was your pot?

wow, utahmama, those look way better than mine do. Mine look very ratty right now, maryjo, so I don't have any pictures. I went on a vacation for three weeks and husband was supposed to water the plants, but when I came back they were almost dead. There were no flowers on them at all. I managed to bring them back somewhat but they are not looking very nice. Somehow they are not branching well and they just grow upwards and have one flower on end of each stalk. If I try them again, I will plant them in the ground or a larger pot with somewhere to climb.

maryjo, the only way I could ever get verbena b. to germinate was by winter sowing. I never had any luck under lights...if you have success I would love to hear how you did it! The pot with the tomato cage tower is roughly 30 inches in diameter. Thank you so much for the compliment. My neighbors think I'm crazy!

mk, I am wondering if maybe you have too many plants in each planter? I know that tidals when planted together will kind of push against each other and grow more upwards. To get the cascading effect I do a lot of side-planting. I cut holes in my coco liners (and even drill holes in my plastic pots). I know someone posted earlier that tidals should be planted in the ground....that may be true but I have had a lot of success in planters. They need a lot of room and a lot of regular fertilizing. They seem to take over but I kind of like that look. Sorry to hear that your hubby neglected your pots! If the flowers are gone and they are looking a little stressed I would for sure prune them way back like rhizo suggested. Maybe after a week of "love" give them some fertilizer at half strength or less. I hope they pop back!

I have two plants in 10 inch pots and 3 in 12 inch. I do think that my pots may be too small for them. I think next year I will try them in my larger pots. I fertilize them every year and now they have flowers, they just don't look nice haha. I just gave them a haircut and hopefully that will give them one last flush before we are ready to pack it up for winter.