PETUNIAS

[hasnain]

Hello Friends,

I'm from Lahore and am new to gardening.
I want to plant lots and lots of petunias for this spring in my garden. I have a few questions:

1-The area where i'll be planting receives around 3 hours of full sun. Is this good enough?
2- If i plant the paneeri now when will the plants start blooming?
3-Till which month the bloom lasts?
4-Should i ask the nursery waala for any specific paneeri (i want to plant the best type)
5-Which is the best place in Lahore to buy Petunia Paneeri?
6-what is the avearge price per pot of Petunia paneeri?

Kindly help by answering / suggesting.

Looking forward.

Thank you.

Muhammad Hasnain

[Farhan Ahmed]

Welcome to the Forum!

1) Petunias require Full Sun up to minimum six hours, if you give less it is bound to under perform meaning by lanky plant and lesser blooms......Endeavor to give plant its recommended exposure or choose a plant which suits the exposure of your garden which is the best bet.

2 & 3) Petunias have started to bloom and will continue till May provided you feed and water them regularly. If you buy paneeri now, it is advisable that the size of plant should be reasonable otherwise plant would not be able grow to its full size.

4) Generally F-1 variety is available in nurseries which is good to go. Falcon, hullahoop are some good cultivars.

5) Lahore people can advise better

6) Price per pot of paneeri(20-30 seedlings) ranges from Rs.100-150.

I would suggest that you buy established plug plant(in cups) as you are new to gardening. It would save you the hassle of transplant damage etc (Plug plant is Rs.10/piece)

[khabbab]

For only 3 hours sun, i will not advise petunia. My soil bed also gets 3 hours morning sun in winter and petunias do not grow/flower good (though i could not resist planting few petunia there )

Go for pansy or cineraria, they tolerate semi shade. Try model town nurseries in E block. Kalma chowk nurseries is a mess these days due to underpass.

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

Yes Farhan & Khabbab are right.if your site receives 3 hours sun then Petunias are not for you.Pansy & Mimulas will do good.Even cineraria does not do good in 3 hrs sun light.if the soil is wet & moist then Mimulus is excellent choice.if the location receives three hours sun currently & you know it will extend up to five to six hours after a month then yes you can plant petunias.some locations receive sun light for short time in winters but in spring the sun time extends.if not then don,t go for Petunias.

[saqib]

Umer you are right i,m growing petunia from last 3 years at a place where they get less than 3 hours sun in dec-jan but in later months when days become longer they will receive enough sun ,flowering would be delayed but will last till end of may

[UMARKHANMARDAN]

Exactly you got my point Saqib.they will just start when Pansies are saying good bye.i even grow some roses in the same way to extend the blooming time.when many roses are past they start to bloom.so i get roses even up to May.sorry this thread is not meant for roses.but i wanted to clear my point of view.

[Izhar]

Salvia and impatiens are other very good options for the shadier spot and will provide you blooms till June...

[hasnain]

Thank you very much friends for the valuable input.
You guys have saved me from major disappointment as i was only going to plant petunia (and lots of it) this spring.
So pensy and cinereria are the ones i'll be looking for now.
Kindly suggest a few more plants which can grow and bloom profusely if they receive 3-4 hours direct sunlight daily.
Thank you.

[Izhar]

Begonia and Coleus are also shade plants..

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Salvia and impatiens are other very good options for the shadier spot and will provide you blooms till June...

I have not been able to grow impatiens to my satisfaction, they give the impression that I am managing to survive, the scarlet Salvia is a good performer.