How to Plant Petunias from Seed

I’ve been growing petunias from seed for years now and just noticed I don’t have a seed starting tutorial about them on the blog. How can that be? And since I happen to have a flat of them growing in a sunny window in my family room right now, I thought this would be the perfect time to tell you how insanely easy petunias are to start from seed. 

Petunia seeds are notoriously slow to germinate {and knowing this ahead of time is the key to your success}, so start them ahead indoors {now}  in order to have seedlings ready when warm planting weather arrives. 

Petunia seeds are also very tiny, so get out your old lady glasses so you can see them! 

Eight to ten weeks before the date of the last expected frost in your area, fill a 2-inch deep flat with a moist seed starter mix or moisten Jiffy pellets with water. {I love Jiffy pellets, it’s like they’re little pots of possibility and joy!}

Gently lay 3-5 seeds on the top of the moisten soil {or Jiffy pellets} and lightly press the seeds into the soil.  Resist the urge to cover the seeds with soil, petunia seeds need light to germinate. I repeat DO NOT COVER YOUR SEEDS WITH SOIL!

Keep the soil moist by watering the seeds from below so the seeds are not disturbed. Petunias will germinate in 10 to 25 days at normal indoor house temperatures. {I really hope it doesn’t take you 25 days for the seed to emerge, because that’s just torture, but know it does happen.}

For optimum growth, place new seedlings under grow lights for 12 hours daily to help simulate late spring light conditions. {I have a sunny window at our current house, so I am able to grow petunias without the aid of grow lights.} 

Harden seedlings off before transplanting them outside once evening temperatures are above freezing and the weather has warmed {around mid to late May here in Mid-Coast Maine, probably earlier for you since you don’t live in the frozen tundra}. 

Petunias are an incredibly forgiving and hardy plant once established in the garden. Just keep them well watered and deadheaded and you’ll do great! Most years, I’ll plant petunias out in the garden in late spring, and they will still be alive and kicking well into late September or early October.

They are like the Energizer bunny of annual flowers. 

Petunias truly are one of the best bangs for your bucks when it comes to flower seeds in my opinion. 

Are you ready to start your garden but you’re not sure when you should plant your seeds or set out your transplants? Head on over HERE and you’ll be taken to a handy dandy chart that is broken down into what vegetables should be planted {or transplanted} each month in your area.

Anyone can do this. Dirt + Seeds+ Water = Food!

~Mavis

Gardening books hold kind of a special place in my heart. I wouldn’t be the gardener I am today {or maybe not a gardener at all} if it weren’t for a few gardening books I picked up years ago. I spent almost the entire winter of 2008/2009 reading up on gardening. I found some incredible reads that taught me so much and made me realize how much I didn’t know. So I’ve never stopped reading gardening books.

Here are just a few of my favorites, and narrowing this list down was virtually impossible. 

My Favorite Garden Books:

• Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting
• The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
• Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre
• Sugar Snaps and Strawberries 
• The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food
• The Kitchen Gardener’s Handbook