Petunia seeds indoors

[RuHappy69]

Hi, I started these inside under lights in early February and they still have not sprouted. Do they always take this long???

[rainbowgardener]

Nope, I started mine the first of February. They took about a week to sprout and they are now healthy little plants. If they haven't sprouted yet, they aren't going to.

Did you remember petunia seeds need light to germinate? You don't cover them, just lightly press them so they are in contact with the soil. But then since they are just sitting there on top, they dry out easily, so they need to be gently sprinkled every day to stay moist until they root in to the soil.

Sorry, that was supposed to be an edit. I went back and looked to see when I planted them and when they sprouted. Didn't mean to duplicate the post.

Lots of my petunias have been potted up and some are out hardening off already.

[RuHappy69]

with a small layer of potting soil. They are right under the lights and I water all my plants every other day... That would suck if they are goners..

[rainbowgardener]

Sorry, but if they haven't sprouted in 6 weeks, they aren't going to.

For next time, don't cover them, they need light, and then sprinkle or mist them once or twice a day until sprouted.

You probably still have time to start over.

[skiingjeff]

I only got about 1/2 of my petunia seeds to sprout. Everyone tells me they are hard to grow. I put the pelted seeds on those Jiffy plant starting disks. RBG, What medium did you use to get such good results?

[rainbowgardener]

I grow hundreds of petunias every year. I just plant them in regular Miracle Gro potting soil. Sprinkle them on top of moist potting soil. Press them down VERY lightly, just to be sure they are in contact with the soil and don't cover them. Leave them under the lights and keep them moist until they sprout. I bottom water the soil, but I also mist / sprinkle the seeds until they sprout, to keep them moist.

[skiingjeff]

How long do you wait before you transplant into individual containers after they sprout? Until the first true leaves or longer?

I did some non-pelted super cascade petunia's the way you did your petunia's and I agree they are doing better than the wave petunia's on the Jiffy disks but they came in very crowded even though I mixed the seeds with some sand to assist in spreading them around the container.

We plant a lot of petunia's each year so I appreciate the advice!

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, those seeds like dust do come up crowded. When they are really crowded, I transplant as soon as they have true leaves. I usually spread them to one per cell and then later transplant to 3" pots. They don't seem to mind the transplanting, in fact jump up and spread themselves out more each time they are given more room.

[skiingjeff]

Good to know they don't seem to mind the transplanting. As this is my first year doing this, I'm pretty nervous about killing them by moving or doing something too soon.

Thanks again