- Bring the petunias to a suitable winter quarters in good time
- Before moving into the winter quarters: check for pests
- The optimal care during the winter months
The petunias, which are often cultivated in balcony boxes in this country, originally come from South America and are extremely sensitive to frosty temperatures. Therefore, the plants are often only grown once a year and are purchased annually from specialist retailers, although they could also be overwintered in a frost-free location.
Petunias should be brought indoors before the first frost
Bring the petunias to a suitable winter quarters in good time
You should bring the petunias (if there is enough space in the winter quarters also directly in the flower box) into the house in late autumn before the first night frosts. However, the winter quarters should only have a temperature of around 5 to 10 degrees Celsius, which is why normal living spaces are not suitable. A storage or basement room is usually the better choice if it has sufficient daylight.
Before moving into the winter quarters: check for pests
Since petunias are watered very little during the winter months, pests introduced into the room may be able to multiply unhindered. Therefore, you should check the petunias for possible pest infestation with aphids or whiteflies as soon as they are wintered. If an excessive pest infestation is not combated accordingly, the survival of the plants can be seriously endangered, despite otherwise good care.
The optimal care during the winter months
Petunia specimens that have successfully overwintered can ensure a particularly early abundance of flowers in spring due to their stronger starting position. But they should be overwintered under suitable conditions:
- with as much daylight as possible (but no direct sunlight is necessary)
- at temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius
- with moderately moist soil in the pot (too frequent watering can lead to root rot)
- when wintering, all shoots should be shortened to a maximum of 15 to 20 centimeters in length
- no fertilizer application during the winter phase
It can be a bit tricky to find the right balance when watering petunias in winter quarters. You should always water again when the soil that has dried out on the surface can be easily removed from the edge of the pot.
tips
Blossoms can also form on the petunias in the winter quarters. If the petunias are only in a storage room anyway and have no decorative value in the house, flowering shoots should be removed early. In this way, the plants can save energy and be wintered out vigorously in the spring immediately after the ice saints.