Crazytunia Collection Westflowers by Westhoff October 2013

Crazytunia CollectionWestflowers by Westhoff

October 2013

Petunia Crazytunia CollectionVarieties

Petunia Crazytunia – variety specifics

1 = low 5 = high

Variety Vigor Height Branching Habit Flower

Crazytunia Bitter Lemon 4 3 4 upright mounding very early

Crazytunia Black Mamba 3 4 3 upright mounding very early

Crazytunia Cherry Cheesecake 3 3 4 mounding late

Crazytunia Cloud 9 4 3 4 upright very early

Crazytunia Kermit Baby 3 3 4 mounding early

Crazytunia Kermit Rose 3 3 4 mounding early

Crazytunia Kermit Piggy 4 4 3 very upright very early

Crazytunia Knight Rider 2 2 2 upright compact early

Crazytunia Mahogany Queen 4 4 3 upright mounding quite early

Crazytunia Mandeville 5 5 1 upright early

Crazytunia Pulse 4 4 4 upright mounding early

Crazytunia Red Blues 4 3 4 upright mounding very early

Crazytunia Sparky 3 2 3 upright compact very early

Crazytunia Star Jubilee 3 4 3 upright mounding early

Crazytunia Starlight Blue 2 2 4 mounding early

Crazytunia Terracotta 4 3 4 upright mounding medium

Crazytunia Twilight Blue 4 4 5 upright mounding medium

Crazytunia Twilight Lime 4 4 5 upright mounding medium

Crazytunia Twilight Red 4 4 5 upright mounding medium

Petunia Crazytunia Bitter Lemon

Vigor : 4Height : 3

Branching : 4 Habit : upright

moundingFlower : very early

Petunia Crazytunia Black Mamba

Vigor : 3Height : 4


moundingFlower : very early

Petunia Crazytunia Cherry Cheesecake

Vigor : 3Height : 3

Branching : 4 Habit : mounding

Flower : late

Petunia Crazytunia Cloud 9

Vigor : 4Height : 3


Flower : very early

Petunia Crazytunia Kermit Baby

Vigor : 3Height : 3


Flower : early

Petunia Crazytunia Kermit Rose

Vigor : 3Height : 3


Flower : early

Petunia Crazytunia Kermit Piggy

Vigor : 4Height : 4

Branching : 3 Habit : very uprightFlower : very early

Petunia Crazytunia Knight Rider

Vigor : 2Height : 2


compactFlower : early

Petunia Crazytunia Mahagony Queen

Vigor : 4Height : 4


moundingFlower : quite early

Petunia Crazytunia Mandeville

Vigor : 5Height : 5

Branching : 1 Habit : uprightFlower : early

Petunia Crazytunia Pulse

Vigor : 4Height : 4


moundingFlower : early

Petunia Crazytunia Red Blues

Vigor : 4Height : 3



Petunia Crazytunia Sparky

Vigor : 3Height : 2


compactFlower : very early

Petunia Crazytunia Star Jubilee

Vigor : 3Height : 4



Petunia Crazytunia Starlight Blue

Vigor : 2Height : 2


Flower : early

Petunia Crazytunia Terracotta

Vigor : 4Height : 3



Petunia Crazytunia Twilight Blue

Vigor : 4Height : 4


moundingFlower : medium

Petunia Crazytunia Twilight Lime

Vigor : 4Height : 4



Petunia Crazytunia Twilight Red

Vigor : 4Height : 4



Petunia Crazytunia CollectionGrowth Techniques


Rooting and Transplant

Start with healthy, clean cuttings from a reliable URC supplier. For best results, stick cuttings as soon as possible and no later than 24 hours after arrival at your nursery. If cuttings cannot be stuck the same day of arrival, store immediately in refrigeration.

Use a well-drained soil mix with pH levels between 5.4 and 5.8 and mist for the first five days as needed; be careful not to drench liners. Remove from mist promptly and increase light levels as roots emerge. Early PGR and increased light levels with reduced mist volume will eliminate the need to pinch. Begin feeding with 200 ppm as roots emerge. Transplant after 21 to 24 days in propagation.

Transplant liners in a well-drained soil mix with a pH of 5.4-5.8.

Pinching

Crazytunia varieties may be pinched one to two times. Pinch 10-14 days after transplant only if B-Nine applications were missed or significant stretch occurred in propagation. Petunia Crazytunia Mandeville is more vigorous and requires two pinches.

Temperature and Lighting

Maintain night temperature between 52-62°F and day temperature 58-75°F.Crazytunias should be grown under high light levels (between 5,000 and 8,000 f.c. is ideal). Low light levels will cause stretching and reduced plant quality. They flower best under long days of spring and summer. Strongest flowering is April to September. Shorter day length causes longer crop times. Fastest flowering during short day length can be achieved by maintaining night temperatures at 58-60°F and using lighting to extend day length to 12.5 hours.


Water Supply and Fertilizer

Uniform water management is important; avoid plants standing in water or overwatering. Allow media to dry between watering. Avoid periods of continued wilting. Petunias are sensitive to both drying out and being too wet; manage water and humidity to reduce occurrences of Botrytis and root diseases. To help prevent foliar diseases, water early in the day, and avoid high humidity, constantly saturated media and wet foliage.

Crazytunias have a high feed requirement. Use constant feed with a balanced fertilizer at 250-300 ppm N with additional iron as needed. Provide a full complement of minor elements to the plant.


Plant Growth Regulation

Combination of high light levels and cool temperatures are the best growth regulator. One or more applications of B-Nine (1,500-2,500 ppm) starting 7-14 days after transplanting will control growth and improve flowering. To optimize flower size and avoid delay in flowering, avoid B-Nine applications in the final four weeks of crop time.

To slow vegetative growth while allowing flowering to continue of mature plants approaching shipping size, drench with Bonzi (0.25-1.0 ppm). Frequent applications of growth regulators at a lower concentration early in the crop cycle will produce best results.These recommendations for plant growth regulators are general guidelines. Growers must trial all chemicals under their particular conditions.


Crop Time

Starting from a URC: 10-12 weeks for a 1 Gallon pot with one plant per pot; 11-13 weeks for a 10”-12” basket with three plants per basket

Starting from a liners: 7-9 weeks for a 1 Gallon pot with one liner per pot, 8-10 weeks for a 10”-12” basket with three liners per basket.

Pests and Diseases

Keep an eye on: thrips, white fly, aphids, leaf miners and fungal gnats, as well as Botrytis, Rhizoctonia and Pythium. Avoid low temperatures, low light levels and overwatering.


Documents

Crazytunia Collection Westflowers by Westhoff October 2013