Garden Care Guide

Petunia Care

Petunia × hybrida

One of the most popular annual flowers of summer gardens, known for its abundant, colorful trumpet-shaped flowers. It is ideal for pots, hanging baskets and borders. For abundant flowering it needs full sun, fertile, well-drained soil and regular fertilizing.

Frost-tender (protect from frost) · 0 °C / 32 °F

Monthly care calendar

Timings are for a temperate Northern Hemisphere climate. In warmer areas tasks start earlier, in colder areas later; in the Southern Hemisphere shift them by six months.

January
  • Watering: Not needed. The plant is not grown outdoors.
  • General care: Look through the seed catalogs for the new season and choose varieties.
  • Frost risk: If frost is expected, cover with frost fabric; if in a pot, move to a sheltered place. Damaged below approximately 0 °C.
February
  • General care: For an early start, you can begin sowing seeds indoors under light toward the end of the month.
  • Frost risk: If frost is expected, cover with frost fabric; if in a pot, move to a sheltered place. Damaged below approximately 0 °C.
March
  • Watering: For seedlings indoors, the soil must be kept moist.
  • Fertilizing: A very diluted (quarter-strength) general-purpose fertilizer may be applied to the seedlings.
  • General care: Prepare the garden bed by adding compost or well-rotted farmyard manure. Begin hardening off seedlings by gradually introducing them outdoors.
  • Pests & diseases: Be careful about damping-off disease in seedlings.
  • Frost risk: If frost is expected, cover with frost fabric; if in a pot, move to a sheltered place. Damaged below approximately 0 °C.
April
  • Watering: If there is no rainfall, water 1-2 times a week. Water newly planted plants more often than established plants during the first year; the root system is still shallow.
  • Fertilizing: Give liquid fertilizer once a month.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: Good time for planting and transplanting.
  • Pests & diseases: Look for aphids (green or black clusters of small insects) on fresh shoot tips. If there are only a few, you can knock them off with a strong jet of water.
  • Frost risk: At the start of the month there may still be a slight risk of frost.
May
  • Watering: Water 2-3 times a week. Water so that the soil is wetted 10-15 cm down from the surface. Water a newly planted specimen more often than established plants during the first year; its root system is still shallow.
  • Fertilizing: Give liquid fertilizer once a month.
  • Pruning: Regularly remove spent flowers at the base; this encourages new flowering. In midsummer, shorten shoots that have grown long and sparse by one third; within two weeks it blooms densely again.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: Suitable period for planting and transplanting. Flowering begins. Apply mulch 5-7 cm thick over the root zone; it conserves soil moisture and suppresses weeds. Do not press mulch against the stem.
  • Pests & diseases: Look for aphids (green or black clusters of small insects) on fresh shoot tips. If there are only a few, you can knock them off with a strong jet of water.
June
  • Watering: Water deeply 3-4 times a week, early in the morning. Water so that the soil is wetted 10-15 cm down from the surface. Frequent shallow watering pulls the roots to the surface.
  • Fertilizing: Give liquid fertilizer once a month.
  • Pruning: Regularly remove spent flowers at the base; this encourages new flowering.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: Flowering continues.
  • Pests & diseases: Check fresh shoot tips for aphids (small clusters of green or black insects). If there are few, you can knock them off with a strong spray of water. Check the undersides of the leaves for clusters of whiteflies. A yellow sticky trap is the easiest way to monitor their numbers. Look for white, powdery patches on the leaves (powdery mildew). Thinning dense branches to increase airflow slows its spread.
July
  • Watering: Water deeply 3-4 times a week, early in the morning. Water so that the soil is wetted 10-15 cm down from the surface. Frequent shallow watering pulls the roots to the surface.
  • Fertilizing: Give liquid fertilizer once a month.
  • Pruning: Regularly remove spent flowers at the base; this encourages new flowering.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: Flowering continues.
  • Pests & diseases: Check the undersides of the leaves for whitefly clusters. A yellow sticky trap is the easiest way to monitor density. Look for white, powdery spots on the leaves (powdery mildew). Thinning dense branches to increase airflow slows its spread.
August
  • Watering: Water deeply 3-4 times a week, early in the morning. Water so that the soil is wetted 10-15 cm down from the surface. Frequent shallow watering pulls the roots to the surface.
  • Fertilizing: Give liquid fertilizer once a month.
  • Pruning: Regularly remove spent flowers at the base; this encourages new flowering.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: Flowering continues.
  • Pests & diseases: Check the undersides of the leaves for whitefly clusters. A yellow sticky trap is the easiest way to monitor density. Look for white, powdery spots on the leaves (powdery mildew). Thinning dense branches to increase airflow slows its spread.
September
  • Watering: Water 2-3 times a week. Water so that the soil is wetted 10-15 cm down from the surface.
  • Fertilizing: Make this month's feeding the last of the season; afterward, the plant needs to prepare for winter.
  • Pruning: Regularly remove spent flowers at the base; this encourages new flowering.
  • Plant protection: If symptoms spread and treatment is needed, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
  • General care: Flowering continues.
  • Pests & diseases: Look for white, powdery spots on the leaves (powdery mildew). Thinning dense branches to increase airflow slows its spread.
October
  • Watering: If there is no rainfall, water 1-2 times a week.
  • Fertilizing: Reduce fertilizing to once every 15 days.
  • Pruning: Continue deadheading.
  • General care: Flowering continues. It is removed at the end of the season; it is replaced with a seasonal change of plants.
  • Pests & diseases: Powdery mildew (Erysiphales) or botrytis (gray mold) can occur in cool, humid weather.
  • Frost risk: At the end of the month, a light frost risk may occur.
November
  • Watering: Not needed. The plant completes its life cycle.
  • General care: With the first frosts, the plant dies. Pull up the plant debris and put it in the compost (if it is not diseased).
  • Frost risk: If frost is expected, cover with frost fabric; if in a pot, move to a sheltered place. Damaged below approximately 0 °C.
December
  • General care: Clean up the garden and containers for the new season.
  • Frost risk: If frost is expected, cover with frost fabric; if in a pot, move to a sheltered place. Damaged below approximately 0 °C.

The care advice on this page is general and for information only; it is not professional advice. Plant age, soil and your garden’s microclimate can change the outcome. Plant protection products are mentioned only as general information; they are regulated, and the choice, dose and timing must be decided by a qualified professional under local rules. Consult a landscape architect or agronomist before applying.

Want reminders for every plant in your garden? Our garden-care app with monthly task lists and frost alerts is currently available in Turkish; the English version is on the way.

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