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23 Comments on "How to Prune Petunias"
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Marie on Fri, 25th Jul 2008 9:01 am
That was GREAT! I sort of knew what to do with petunias but I was mostly guessing. Now I know for sure. Sometimes I get impatient & pinch off the end of the stem. I know I’ll now do a better job. Thanks for another informative video.
Doug on Fri, 25th Jul 2008 9:13 am
@Marie -
Glad you enjoyed it. It’s something I never do enough myself even though I know I should be on top of that kind of thing.
prairiepetunia on Sat, 26th Jul 2008 4:32 pm
I use the third kind of petunia pruning. When the plant is tall enough and just about to fall over, I cut it back by half using scissor-type pruners. They look bad for 10 days to 2 weeks, but then come back better than before (after 1st prune); as good as before (after 2nd time); not as good (after 3rd time when days are getting shorter).
It takes some nerve to do because they are at their peak and are covered with blooms. I console myself by looking out at my now colorful compost pile.
Thanks for the video, Doug.
Jan
Doug on Sat, 26th Jul 2008 7:48 pm
@prairiepetunia -
Jan - the major difference is that your method stops blooming for that 2 weeks while mine doesn’t.
But to be fair, yours is a heck of a lot faster. In the nursery when we were renovating a basket, we’d whack it back using shears and then feed and pamper it for that 10 days until it thickened up and started throwing new blooms.
But if you want continuous blooming, you gotta take the time
Anonymous on Thu, 31st Jul 2008 9:44 am
Hi Doug,
I think that I am speaking for many of us, your videos on “how to” are so helpful,we can actually see how it is done rather than just a description on how to do it.
I still have 2 questions, I have located the tip but there are usually 2 buds, do you prune both?
Also, how often do you tip prune?
Thanks again for all you do!
Doug on Thu, 31st Jul 2008 1:05 pm
@Anonymous -
While it’s possible you have two, my guess is you have a growing point and a flower bud. But the same answer holds true - you can pinch them both off.
How often? It depends on how fast the plant is growng. Whenever it starts to look like there’s a branch heading out on its own too quickly. Those kinds of decisions are what gardening is about.
There is no hard and fast rule so you’ll wind up pinching something almost every week. Not all branches will require it every week or even every two or three. It depends on the plant.
Bob Green on Sat, 23rd Aug 2008 7:35 pm
Hi Doug. I was curious if Petunias xcan be kept inside for the winter, ( I live in southwest Michigan ), then survive and thrive again the next spring?.Bob
Doug on Sun, 24th Aug 2008 9:01 am
@Bob Green -
Yes, if you light them properly, you can easily keep them over.
cynflo on Sun, 15th Mar 2009 6:15 pm
thankyou Doug, for years i have had straggly petunia’s and I plan to prune like you showed in the video and hopefully things will look better. Otherwise I have been purching the smaller petunias so things don’t look so bad. thanks again for the video. appreciate it! cynflo
Cyndi on Sun, 3rd May 2009 4:41 pm
THANK YOU for this video Doug. I now know why mine are so spindle looking. I need to prune that new growth to thicken them up. I’ll be looking forward to pretty petunia this year!
Peggy on Tue, 5th May 2009 8:58 am
Thanks so much Doug! I recently tried to look up this info online and saw written instructions that didn’t make much sense, but this is such a clear video…I get it! I love petunias! Mine have looked so sad for the last few years though that I was going to maybe skip them this year. Now I can’t wait to go get some!! Thank you for another helpful video!!! You’re the best! No wonder your latest book is #!
Doug on Tue, 5th May 2009 9:51 am
@Peggy -
Just don’t forget that you have to feed and water them.
Dave_s on Sat, 23rd May 2009 11:13 am
Doug,
I have a petunia which has very long thin stems with many light brown dried dead leaves half way up the stem.
Blooms beautifully but the dried leaves do not look nice or healthy. Almost 3/4 of the live stems have dead leaves. What do you suggest? Should I cut those long stems with blossoms and dead leaves stems back to 12 inches? This would leave a stem with no dead leaves.
What can I do to prevent the dead leaves?
Thank you, Dave_S
Doug on Sat, 23rd May 2009 6:40 pm
@Dave_s -
Dead leaves are generally either because you water-stressed the plant, it’s old or stressed. They’ll tend to go a little brown if they don’t get light in crowded. Cutting it back works if the stem isn’t too woody - if too woody, cutting back just leaves it like a dead stem. If the buds are alive back there - they’ll sprout and thicken up - if not alive - cutting back is pretty much useless.
Can’t give you good advice from here. Sorry.
charity on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 4:08 am
thank you very much, I had my husband ask me why they were not growing to many flowers and I thought it was the brand. Hmmm, Thank you very much. That was bothering me and you helped me very much.Now I can’t wait to go out in the morning and check, I hope I didn’t ruin them.
Dave_s on Sun, 7th Jun 2009 8:15 pm
Doug, Thank you VERY MUCH for your comments about the many browning dry leaves. Possibly over crowding is my guess. I do see both some dead stems and others stems with 5 inches green growth at end of 18 inch stem with dead leaves. The dead leaves occur where most crowding occurs, near the ground. Found a tiny green worm on a stem.
This container is crowded with a huge number of green beautifully blooming long thick stems. Is it advisable to removing approximately 1/3 of the healthy long stems to lessen the over crowding?
Can I use the cuttings to make a few new petunia plants? What is the best way to use those cuttings to make new plants? Water rooting, cuttings in potting soil or something else?
Many thanks, Dave_s
Doug on Mon, 8th Jun 2009 7:05 am
@Dave_s -
You’re going to find a lot of these questions are answered (or can be asked) at the website where I handle annual flower questions. http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/annual-flowers.html
Lea Wolff on Wed, 10th Jun 2009 10:14 am
Thank you for the video on pruning petunias. It was to the point and very helpful.
paula on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 9:05 pm
so I had these beautiful hanging baskets - lush and green and flowering profusely. now the baskets look “tired” still green and flowering at the tips of the stems, but most of the stem looks yellow-green with barely and leaves. now that I have learned how to properly care for it - albeit a little too late - Can I prune it back to its former glory??
Doug on Fri, 12th Jun 2009 10:01 pm
@paula -
Sure you can prune it back but unless you water and feed properly with the right light - you’re just wasting your time. Your problem is cultural rather than pruning - sorry to have to tell you.
Chandra Brown on Wed, 17th Jun 2009 6:40 am
Doug, that helps tremendously! I am a visual person so your close up and specific demonstration was most appreciated! You will be glad to know that you saved 3 petunias today! Now on to my knockout rose tree…
Jim on Fri, 3rd Jul 2009 9:31 am
I’ll join the rest of the crowd with a big THANKS! and much appreciation.
Never thought much about pruning petunias… figured that it was just their nature to get spindly and ugly after awhile. We hacked them back a few times, but they never did as well after that.
We have great-looking petunias this year… and wondering if there was anything that could be done to keep them looking nice, I decided to log onto the computer and - here you are!
Thanks much!!!
Doug on Fri, 3rd Jul 2009 5:06 pm
@Jim -
Thanks for the kind words - glad that video worked so well for you