Why does my purple petunia grandiflora produce different flowers?

11 years ago

Okay so last year I bought a gorgeous and vigorous purple grandiflora petunia plant. It was a great plant but it was killed by the frosts that came along with the start of autumn. The pot in which my plant resided was left outside during the winter (which was pretty mild than usual). So this spring resulted in what I call a "reseeding frenzy" because little petunia seedlings started to pop up. Eventually I got these seedlings and potted them up and they went into flower (all very healthy by the way).

Well the thing is that I got all these wonderful shades of purple, different shapes, and many of these petunias produced flowers with small stripes towards the inside. Now I'm noticing that a few petunia plants are now producing different tones of purple and flowers with more noticeable white patterns. Well now I'm curious is this some kind of floribunda or multiflora?

Any suggestions will be appreciated, thanks.

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Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
the short answer is:

they do NOT come true from seed ...

if you want the specific HYBRID.. you have to buy the seed for that HYBRID.. or the plant

and not rely on the open pollinated spawn of that hybrid

more in depth.. your 'purple' might not be the base true color of petunia.. so as the genes start breaking down.. thru open pollination .. you will start seeing.. ma .. . and pa.. and grandma.. and grandpa ... and not only as to color.. but type ...

all the genes.. in all the generations .. have the potential to surface ... not unlike how i ended up with a red head boy.. two generations since the last.. lol ..

and if you achieve the same OP seeds over the next few years.. they will all degenerate to that base color ... and form ...

bet you didnt expect a crash course on genetics.. lol

ken
dowlinggram
11 years ago
Ken is right as usual

A hybrid Petunia--or any hybrid plant-- comes from many cross pollinations with different varieties of that same species. If left to go to seed not only does the ancesters of your plant come into play but also the plant the bee visited to pollinate your plant.

There is only a very slim chance that you'll get the same plant from a hybrid plant's seed
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The plants look fine to me, so you must be doing something right. The size of the leaves depend on the variety of petunia. I'm going to list the different kinds of petunias this does not include the million bells or other offshoot varieties of petunia-- Multiflora--The oldest variety of Petunia it has a smaller flower than the Grandiflora and is the cheapest seed to buy--hybrids of it includes the 10 inch ones called Fantasy or Piccobello. These 2 are the smallest plant and flower. The multiflora also includes the waves and ramblers. Grandiflora--These have the largest flowers often 3 to 4 inches across. Then there's the doubles and florabundas. Florabundas have a smaller flower than the Grandifloras too. Your petunias look like multifloras In fact the white one looks like Fantasy. and yes they do have smaller leaves. See that long stem off to the right. Clip it down to where the stem is for the flower below and do the same all over the plant as it gets long stems. Remove any seed pods. The seed pod is a little ball directly behimd the flower. Removing seed pods keeps them flowering and clipping them back makes them bush out. No need to remove the pods on the waves but an odd clipping will keep them bushy. As for watering use the finger method. Stick your finger in the soil to just past the knuckle--second joint on your finger--If it feels wet the plant is ok--if not then water
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Hi grny28, I am going to refer to The Ortho Problem Solver, seventh edition on this, because I am no expert on Petunias (zinnias are my "thing"). The book's coverage on Petunia problems starts on page 262 and continues onto page 264. It has articles on Gray Mold (everywhere in the US), Smog Damage (limited to relatively small coastal areas), Caterpillars, Cutworm Damage, and the last article on Crown and Root Rot (everywhere in the US) seems the most likely culprit. Crown and Root Rot is caused by Phytophthora (I don't think you can say that without spitting a little), a fungus that lives in the soil. It initially attacks the roots or stem at or just below the soil level. The dark dry decay of the lower stem tissue and roots reduces the flow of water to the leaves and flowers, causing the petunia to wilt and die. Crown and Root Rot is common in heavy poorly drained wet soils. The fungus (Phytophthora) is spread by contaminated soil, transplants, and tools. The solution is to remove and destroy infected plants and all the soil within 6 inches of their roots. How do you destroy soil? Well, I guess you could throw it into an incinerator, but I would just put it a plastic bag and send it to the landfill with the rest of the garbage. To prevent a recurrence of Crown and Root Rot, you should improve your soil drainage and drench it with a fungicide containing Captan. That's what the Ortho book says. Repeat the drench monthly during the growing season and let the soil dry out between waterings. I try to avoid problems of this sort with my zinnias by adding a lot of sand to my garden soil to create a sandy loam, and I add Perlite to my indoor growing medium to increase its drainage. "They were planted in larger containers along with other plants that are fine, What are the chances of a disease from so many different nurseries?" Many plants aren't susceptible to Phytophthora, and the problem is in your soil or growing medium, and not at the different nurseries. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)
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Francios11
Original Author
11 years ago
That explains.....Well thanks Ken and Dowling I think I feel much better and enlightened by your guys' wisdom. I think I'll collect some seeds from these petunias and plant them next spring, I'm kinda liking this hybridizing thing.
eahamel
11 years ago
I have a petunia like that. It has those stripes, but some don't have as many, they are very variable, and on one plant. I'm definitely saving seeds from it.

A couple of years ago I had a small bloom petunia, don't remember what it was (Barbara Bush?). This year, seeds came up in the basket it had been in, and they grew and were the same thing.
calliope
11 years ago
I saved the seeds from several types of trailing petunias last year and sowed them in my greenhouse this spring. I knew they would be all shapes and sizes, but ended up with over 240 free petunias and all of them were worthy of planting. I let them come to bloom in pots so I'd have a clue what they'd look like before I set them out or put them in baskets. Many still have a trailing habit, many were various shades of purple from the softest lavender to the darkest burgundy. Some were a lovely plum, a few white, lots of pinks, and a few reds..... and I got a few variegated ones as well. I surely didn't have to buy any this year and sitting out in their urns, baskets and in the ground, sorted as to what I wanted where, they look just as nice in a more old-fashioned and slightly blowsy way as the pricey ones they replaced from last year.
HU-128679261
last year
I have some amazing colours from my reseeded petunias. These were just purple last year

Why does my purple petunia grandiflora produce different flowers?

Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

dowlinggram

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Why does my purple petunia grandiflora produce different flowers?

Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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