The amazing flowers of Ramblin petunias: how to plant and care for this ampelous plant?

For a very long time, petunia has been a favorite plant of all gardeners and amateur gardeners. This beautiful flower can decorate not only gardens and summer cottages, but also looks great on balconies and outside the window in hanging pots. In addition to its striking appearance, this plant has a pleasant sweetish aroma.

An undoubted plus is the fact that it is not difficult to grow this flower, because it is an unpretentious plant. And we will talk about the features of caring for such a species as petunia Ramblin (Ramblin) in this article.

A bit of history

Brazil is considered the birthplace of petunia, although it grows in both Argentina and Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay. For the first time, a description of this genus was made by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and presented as tobacco, that is how the word petun is translated from Portuguese. Only later, after 10 years, this plant was isolated.

At the end of the 19th century, garden petunia or, as it is also called, hybrid petunia appeared in our gardens and parks. A little later, other varieties of this plant began to appear. In 1855, terry varieties of petunias saw the light, and after almost 30 years large-flowered varieties appeared. Thanks to cell hybridization, we are familiar with ampelous petunias. A vivid representative of this variety can rightfully be considered the petunia Ramblin.

Appearance

Ramblin hybrid petunia refers to cascading flowers, it is noteworthy that with a relatively small height, about 25-35 cm, this multi-colored beauty is able to grow up to 70 cm in width. At the same time, it forms an abundantly flowering dense bush. If you are interested in how ampelous petunia differs from cascading petunia, then you can find out about it here.

Petunia Ramblin blooms before other varieties and continues to delight with its bright colors until late autumn. Flowers of this species reach 7.5 cm in diameter.

Gardeners and summer residents love to decorate her site, because it looks spectacular not only in hanging flower pots, it is used in the vertical landscaping of any surfaces. She, as if with a colored carpet, covers the space allotted to her and turns an ordinary gazebo into a fabulous place to relax. Very often, landscape designers use it when creating a mix with other varieties of this species.

Characteristics

Petunia Ramblin has several characteristic differences:

• she has short and thick stems, which are very flexible at the same time;
• flowers of this species are larger in comparison with other ampel varieties;
• tolerates wind and rain, this variety was the most resistant to bad weather conditions in comparison with large-flowered shrub varieties.

Landing

As a rule, seedlings are used for planting these flowers, this is probably due to the fact that the cost of the finished planting material is quite high. Ramblin chooses a time for planting petunias from the end of February. The optimal conditions for the seeds to sprout - temperature +20 +23 degrees and high soil moisture.

Remember that in no case do you need to sprinkle the seeds with the earth when planting. Use a syringe for watering. After the seeds have sprouted, they set the temperature +16 +18 degrees, under such conditions, it is recommended to reduce the soil moisture. Petunia is transferred to a permanent place of residence already when the first 4-5 leaves appeared. To plant bush, pinch it during this period.

TIP: The method with seedlings is good for those who want to decorate a balcony and windows by planting a petunia in hanging flower pots, and for this purpose Ramblin petunia is ideal, which covers the pot with a spectacular "hat" of flowers.

Peat pills

There are peat tablets that were created, probably, specially for gardeners to help.. Thanks to these pills, which in dry form are only about 1 cm thick, it is easy to sow petunia for seedlings and in the garden on the site.

With swelling, peat tablets increase in size and turn into special columns. They are covered with a special shell that prevents them from crumbling. In a swollen tablet, deepenings are made in which gently (using tweezers) the seeds of petunia are placed.

Watch the video about sowing petunia in peat tablets:

Lighting and location

For this flower you need a well-lit place and plentiful watering. With insufficient moisture, the petunia begins to dry and turn yellow. This plant is not afraid of drafts and direct sunlight. With good lighting, Ramblin petunia grows much faster than other varieties.

If the Ramblin petunia is planted in a pot, then it must be borne in mind that one plant will need about 6-10 liters of fertile soil.

Seedling Care Rules

1. When choosing a place for planting petunias, special attention must be paid to a well-lit area. If you decide to grow the plant on the balcony, then pay attention to the southwest or south side.
2. It is necessary to provide petunia with regular and plentiful watering. Ideally, if you do this twice a day: morning and evening. Make sure that there is no stagnation of water, otherwise the roots of the plant will rot and it will disappear.
3. Prepare a special soil mixture for Ramblin petunias: peat, river sand and compost (stick to a 2: 1: 1 ratio). In no case should manure be added.
4. Do not forget to fertilize your flowers, as soon as the first leaves appear, you need to add calcium nitrate. For this period, you should forget about fertilizing with nitrogen and phosphorus.
5. After you perform the first transplant and decide on the place of constant growth of petunias, you can use complex fertilizers.
6. At the time when the petunia Ramblin began its abundant flowering, it needs fertilizer with a high content of potassium.
7. If your petunia is in the shade, then it will have few buds and many leaves.

Timely watering and a sufficient amount of sunlight is the main thing that petunias need. It is necessary to ensure that the soil of this plant does not dry out, and also that the old and faded buds are removed on time and do not delay the growth and development of the plant.

Watch a video about caring for seedlings of petunias:

Common Diseases and Pests

I must say that these beautiful flowers rarely get sick. But you should be aware of the existence of problems that sometimes arise.

Consider the most common diseases and pests of petunia:

• Wet and gray rot - is a problem in which spots of light brown color appear on the stems, flowers and leaves, in the future these places are covered with a fluffy gray coating. This is due to high humidity, low temperature and an excess of fertilizers with a high nitrogen content.
• Powdery mildew - This is a kind of white coating on the plant, which appears as a result of sudden changes in temperature. In order to get rid of this problem, the affected parts of the flowers are removed, and the plant itself is treated with sulfur.
• Aphid - this problem can be eliminated with a strong jet of water, and if there are many pests, then it should be treated with special drugs.

ATTENTION: You can reduce the risk of problems if you make sure that there is no stagnation of water and exclude the use of acidified soil.

Propagation by cuttings

Terry and ampelous petunias of Ramblin are propagated mainly by cuttings. Terry petunias should be cut at the end of winter, but for ampelous and petunias, Ramblin and caliberhoa are suitable at any time of the year, provided that the room temperature is in the range of 21-24 degrees.

IMPORTANT: For these purposes, the apical cuttings of uterine petunia are taken, on which about 4-6 leaves grow, while only two upper leaves are left. But even these two sheets need to be cut in half.

For planting cuttings, you can take the same soil as for seedlings, the difference is that perlite or sand is poured on top with a layer of 2-2.5 cm, which must be shed with a fungicide solution. The cuttings should be located at a distance of 1.5-2 cm from each other. Use only freshly cut cuttings.

For the success of the operation, you need to cover the planting site with a glass cap and constantly ensure that the soil is constantly moist in the greenhouse. For this purpose, it is recommended to spray the cuttings with water from the sprayer, but at the same time make sure that damp is not diluted under the hood.

Watch the video on the cuttings of petunias:

Possible problems

This plant rarely causes problems and troubles to its owners. To avoid troubles, it is necessary to monitor the growth of the plant and provide assistance in time, if necessary.

Conclusion

Petunia will certainly delight gardeners and summer residents with its beauty. With the right approach to care for these flowers, you won’t be aware of any problems with them.

Even the diseases that we talked about in this article do not happen often. It is worth trying once to plant a petunia in your own area, and it will forever become your favorite decoration in the country.