Petunias are a favorite of gardeners for their versatility. They come in a wide variety of colors and growing habits, can withstand plenty of heat, and usually bloom from May until the first frost. So, if your easy-to-grow petunia variety has stopped flowering, you may be a bit mystified. These low-maintenance plants don’t usually demand much attention, but they do need some help to thrive.
As with any plant, you have to start with the right growing conditions. Petunias love full sun, and while they are drought-tolerant, you will get better results if you water them regularly to provide evenly moist soil. Checking the soil is the best way to know when your plants need water, as your ideal watering schedule will be impacted by everything from the soil you use to the amount of rain and sunshine you get. Additionally, petunias are often grown in containers, and nutrients are quickly flushed from the soil. Because of this, regularly fertilizing these heavy feeders is needed. You can do this as often as every third time you have to water, or add a time-release fertilizer once a month. If your petunias have enough sun and are getting plenty of water and fertilizer, but still aren’t blooming to their full potential, there’s one more trick you can try: cutting them back.
Tips for deadheading and trimming petunias
Deadheading your flowers is a garden must, and trimming back your plants will often encourage new blooms. That’s true of most plants, and this includes petunias. Removing spent blooms with a sharp pair of scissors or pruning shears is helpful and will hopefully keep your plants blooming without much hassle. For regular maintenance, snip just behind the spent blooms. However, if you start to see foliage turn brown and die, cut the stem back to a set of healthy, green leaves. Give the plant the help it needs to refocus its energy.
You can even give your petunias a preemptive haircut. In early July, cut back your petunias by about 20%. You can do this to reshape the plant as well as encourage more blooms. You can repeat the process at the end of the summer, too. You may have a few days without many blooms, but the plants should quickly bounce back better than ever. While petunias have a reputation as tough plants that won’t need much help from their garden hosts, they aren’t invincible. If you’ve got problems deeper than a minor slow-down in blooms, explore these surefire ways to bring your dying petunias back to life.
