Petunias always wilt and die

[brekehan]

I've tried several varieties, soils, in the ground, out of the ground, lots of water, less water, lots of sun, shade, and everything else I can think of. My petunias always start turning brown, drying out, and dieing. What can I do?

I am in austin texas and it is about 90 degrees here. I read that they like the sun and could tolerate heat.

I just recently read about dead heading and started that. Could that be the reason they die? Do they die after too many flowers?

[rainbowgardener]

They don't die after too many flowers, but they do die (or at least tend to wither and slow down) after setting seed. Once they have completed that cycle they are pretty done. The point of deadheading is to prevent them from setting seed. To do that you don't want to just pull the flower, you want to pinch out the calyx behind it, which is where the seed production occurs.

Eventually even with deadheading they can get a little tired, especially when it is really hot. It helps to cut the stems back then. They will bush out more and come back refreshed and be ready to go again once the heat breaks.

I grow mine, which thrive and are beautiful all summer, in part sun areas. I'm thinking in your TX climate they probably would like part sun or at least a little protection in the heat of the day.

[bullthistle]

Water them in the evening with a fine spray so they can recoup their energy especially on hot sunny days.

[Daniellenerik]

I was going to post a similar thread. I havea hanging petunia plant in my backyard. I live in Florida and my plant get's lots of sun! I water it daily, but it got very leggy. I just decided to cut back all the stems as I read that is something to try to get the plant to be a little fuller. I hope it helps! Good luck to you and your plants!