December 2014 Culture

Crop Culture Report: Success! Petunia Series By Jennifer Calhoun

The dazzling colors and diversity of petunia blooms have made them a consumer favorite and one of the top-selling annuals. Most growers know how to grow them, but admit they often struggle with "series" that don't have the same timing, PGR requirements or germination rates. The result is a very complicated program of scheduling multiple sow dates, double sowing some colors, and grouping colors with "like" lighting and PGR needs all in an effort to be able to ship an entire program on the same ship date. Miss one detail and the entire program could be a failure.

Well not anymore! Now you can expect success in the greenhouse, at retail and in the garden! Benary's new Success! petunia series is bred to have the most uniform flower timing and be the fastest to finish. Reduced lighting needs and consistent PGR requirements across all colors means that you can treat every plant the same. The mounded, spreading habit shows off more color at retail, and in the garden.

Growing Guidelines

To grow Success! petunias, we recommend using a well-drained media mix with a pH between 5.5 and 5.8. Keeping the pH below 6.0 will help to keep boron and iron available. EC should be kept between 0.75 and 1.0.

Sow one seed per plug and apply enough water to ensure that the pellet is disolved. Do not allow the pellets to dry back before moving them to a germination chamber or bench. Maintain saturated soil for three to four days or until the radicle emerges. From days five to nine reduce moisture to wet, then to reduce it to medium on days 10 to 11. For the rest of production you can alternate between wet and medium. Humidity should be kept between 90 to 100 percent until day five, then reduce it to 40 to 60 percent.

We recommend the pH be kept at 5.5 to 5.8 at 72 to 76û F until radicle emergence and then reduce to 68 to 70û F. The temperature can be lowered on approximately day five. Once the cotyledons have expanded, lower the temperature further to 65 to 68û F. Plugs in a 288 tray will be ready for transplanting about four to five weeks after sowing.

After transplanting maintain the night temperature at 55¡ F for the first six weeks to initiate flower bud development; then the night temperature can be lowered further to 50¡ F to encourage basal branching and compactness. However, lower temperatures may substantially decrease the number of flowers initiated. An ADT (average daily temperature) of 67û F will give the fastest finished crop.

Feed at 100- to 200-ppm nitrogen. Maintain an EC lower than 1.0. Under high light conditions, apply an ammonium-based feed (17-5-17). To prevent stretching under low light conditions apply a calcium-based feed (14-4-14). Under high light and long days an ammonium-based feed (20-10-20) is preferred.

Available Colors

Success! Burgundy. Now the earliest burgundy on the market and times perfectly with the other Success! colors for on-time premium basket programs every time.

Success! Blue. Early to finish, Success! Blue has the same reduced lighting needs as all the other Success! colors.

Success! Pink. An intense pink with the ultimate mounded, trailing habit for incredible flower power.

Success! Red. An extremely strong, true red color that is seven to 10 days faster to finish than other popular reds. Success! Red also has the highest quality seed of any trailing red petunia on the market. Now you can schedule your red, white and blue containers with confidence!

Success! Rose. Like the entire series, Success! Rose has extremely good pack performance. It holds in the pot without getting leggy, but will also size up in larger containers.

Success! Salmon. The number one favorite color in our grower trials, Success! Salmon is the earliest of the series, but only by two to three days. The entire Success! Series blooms within three to four days of each other.

Success! Violet. No need for extra PGRs on this color. It's tight, mounded habit fits right in with the series.

Success! White. Less vigorous than other whites, this clean white has a mounded, trailing habit, which shows more color on the bench, at retail and in the garden. Times within days of Success! Red and Blue for patriotic baskets that ship in full color every time.

Crop Culture Report: Success! Petunia Series