What Are the Tiny White Pods on Petunias?

Description

• Petunias are classic annual flowers with oval leaves in a medium green that have soft hairs. The stems are also lightly furred and sticky if pinched too hard. The flowers are soft petaled either single or double and trumpet shaped with frilled edges. They may be one hue or have white striping. Petunias have a bushy or trailing habit depending on the cultivar. Modern petunias are a cross of the wild form and a "color" parent. The seeds are labor intensive to collect in cultivation and are mostly provided by India and Central America.

Seed Pod

• Deadheading is a practice that will encourage more flowers. It is the removal of the spent flower and ovary below it. This fools the flower into thinking it failed to reproduce and had better create more seed producing flowers. The flower is held on a swollen green area called the calyx that houses the ovary. When the ovary is pollinated, the flower dies back but the calyx swells as the ovary grows seed. The calyx will turn lighter in color and crack open to release tiny black seeds.

Saving Petunia Seed

• The swollen seed pod will pop open in just over a week so you need to be quick to harvest the seeds. The pods split open when ripe into four sections and the seed bursts out. The flowers need to be watched carefully as they begin to fade. As soon as the calyx begins to swell and turn dry it is time to snap it off an harvest it. Put the seed pod in a paper bag to dry the rest of the way and it will split open and spill the seeds into the bag.

Planting Petunia Seed.

• Petunia seed is so tiny it is best to sow it mixed with fine sand. You can direct sow in warmer climates or start them indoors in March. Spread the seed on top of the surface of the soil and press them into the soil with your palm. Mist the seeds and cover the container with plastic. Keep the planted seeds where temperatures are 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit in a dimly lit location. Once the seeds germinate the plastic can be removed and the seed flat or container can be moved to a bright location with cooler 65 degree temperatures. Transplant when seedling have three or four true leaves.