Petchoas - New to me ?

@strongylodon apparently they are not sticky,
Crop Culture Report: Petchoa SuperCal Series - Greenhouse Product News

 

Hi Harry, glad your back

 

Hi Strongy , KFF
as mazambo said the Petchoas are not sticky. So they are more of a big calli than a small petunia.
I do hope they do well. I don't want to show photos of my bare and straggly basket this July

 

Hello harry, we grow Petchoa, they have been gaining ground recently, you are correct,nthey are an intergeneric hybrid of Petunia and Calibrachoa, they can be grown cooler than petunias, but treat them the same, the trailing length is approx 60cm, with nice strong, albeit limited colour range, most people wont be alble to tell the difference between petchoa and petunia, that is until its deadheading time, they are not sticky like petunia, they stand up to rain and wind, and have a better resistance to mildew. Some in the industry beleive they will superceed petunias, not sure myself, with the increasing popularity of the Wave seed grown petunias, that out perform the likes of Surfinia, Fanfare, Verdana etc, the Petchoa, just needs more colours.

 

Hello @Cuttings , well that is all good news for the Petchoa The colours are limited, just 4 to my knowledge, red, vanilla, yellow and purple. I have grown the Wave series of petunia, you mentioned, from seed purchased from the USA. They are a lovely high performing small petunia, but I found the seed germination difficult and erratic, maybe just me.

 

I have 5 "caramel yellow" plugs ordered, to be delivered the week of 20th April, can't wait.

 

I imagine with genetic engineering it won't be too long before there will be all sorts of colour mixes like the current petunia ranges and doubles too.

 

There are several wave petunia, easy wave large flower, great performer, will trail approv 90cm, the smaller flowered shock wave similar trail length, and Tidal wave a parks and garden species, that can be trained to climb. And wave a small flowering with trails up to 120cm.
Seed needs to be stored at 5 degrees C, base heat of 22-24 C, so thinly, do not add vermiculite, and light is required to germinate, and should take no longer than 1-2 weeks to germinate, careful with the moisture levels at this stage, and its advisable to have a pre sowing fungicide.
Sowing to transplant 3-4 weeks. Dont let night or day temp fall below 16C until established.
Do not pinch, Wave petunias need more feed than other petunia, a balanced NPK every watering or every other watering, at the potted on stage, and let the soil dry in between watering, and dont allow the plants too wet over night, so best to water AM. These petunia are day length sensitive, and need 14 hours of day light to flower.
You are correct with the colours in Petchoa, but in the Proven winners range there is a Blue, and a neon rose, and Terracotta. And Ball Colgrave stockists have a Cinnamon whichbis a peachy red.

 

@Cuttings , now that is a complete set of seed planting instructions
Although I don't think I will grow Wave petunias from seed again. I have never seen Wave plugs or plants in GCs or on line. Don't know why

 

They are out there if you look in the right places, most who stock them, do not sell online, and those like T&M, only stock what they beleive will sell. We use the wave series in our hanging baskets, havent used Surfinia for some time, but do use the Fanfare series for great colours like Creme de casiss a pinky purple with dark almost black eye and black veins.

 

The first flower on the Petchoa ! The colour is called Cinnamon, quite nice, but possibly not for a mass basket planting. I think I'll mix it with the other colours yellow and white.

Petchoa - Cinnamon