Petunia Opera: description and photos of varieties Suprim, Blue F1, Purple, as well as plant care

Ampelic petunia Opera is an ornamental plant that today actively decorates balconies and terraces. The petunia is distinguished by lush and abundant flowering.

It needs to be grown in an open and sunny place, since in the shade the flower poorly develops and grows.

And so that flowering is long, add fertilizer containing potassium to the water for irrigation.

From the article you will learn more about the ampelous petunia Opera, how its varieties look, what care is needed.

Botanical Description and History

Flowers were brought to Europe in 1820. Since that time, breeders began to actively work on improving varieties, creating other varieties, among which was the petunia Opera. This is a variety of ampel varieties of Japanese selection. Features of the variety in its unpretentiousness to long-term lighting.

It is very simple and easy to grow a plant, since it is picky in a caretaker. Adult culture forms flexible loops, the height of which reaches 1 m. They effectively hang, creating a charming landscape.

Reference! This type of petunia gives not too large flowers. Their color can be white, pink, purple and purple.

Varieties of varieties, their features and photos

Supreme Raspberry Ice F1

Suprim forms flexible lashes, the length of which is 100 cm. They grow it in a cache-pot or in balcony drawers. If planted in open ground, the petunia forms a continuous carpet, the area of which is 1.2 m2. It is not picky about the soil, it just needs regular top dressing and removal of wilted inflorescences so that the flowering is plentiful and lush.

Blue f1

This is one of the most attractive opera series. The flowers are bright, blue. The plant itself is low, less demanding on daylight hours. One flower takes 1.6 m2 of area. Blossoming is long, thanks to which it is possible to plant petunia in a cache-pot or in the open ground.

Purple

This plant is characterized by abundant flowering, compact size. The bush is dome-shaped, and flowers are formed along the entire length of the shoots. Petunia looks great in the ground, in drawers on the balcony, floor flowerpots. The length of the shoot reaches 90-120 cm. In order for the plant to fully develop, it is necessary to prepare for its growth containers of 6-7 liters per petunia. You will also need to make complex fertilizers.

Where and how to plant her?

The process of planting petunias Opera is a responsible matter. The following recommendations are important here:

Before planting, combine the seeds with sand. Squeezing them into the ground is not worth it, but just sowing it on the surface of the earth.
After planting, level the soil, spray with water, and cover the container itself with a film.
The container with seedlings should be at a temperature of 20-23 degrees.
After 7 days, shoots should appear. They have to spray 2 times a day and ventilate the greenhouse.
A very important step is the regulation of humidity, otherwise the seedling will hit the black leg. As soon as condensation drops form on the film, wipe them.
As soon as the first leaf is formed in the seedlings, then do not cover the greenhouse. And when the number of plants reaches 3-4, then dive into separate cups. Just before that, thoroughly moisten the soil.
When replanting, carefully remove the seedling from the container so that an earthen lump is preserved on the roots.

Soil requirements

Petunia Opera needs nutritious and loose soil. It’s best to cook it yourself. To do this, take sheet land, humus, peat and sand in the proportion: 2: 2: 2: 1. Sift the soil composition, and water the day before sowing.

Lighting and location

Petunia Opera is not demanding on daylight hours. It grows and develops well in sunny places, although it can withstand minor shading. Optimum grow it on the windows facing east.

How to care?

Watering

Petunia Opera tolerates drought, but with a prolonged absence of water, sparse flowering occurs. Watering is done by the root so that the water does not penetrate the delicate petals. The next day, clear the soil near the flower of weeds and loosen to form a crust.

Advice! Moisturize 1-2 times a week.

Fertilizer

To achieve lush and prolonged flowering, subject to the application of fertilizing. Do this every 10 days using potassium-rich formulations. The plant responds positively to organic dressing: humic acids, mullein infusion.

To obtain a more saturated shade of flowers, you will have to use "Aquarin Floral" for top dressing. Contribute once every 10 days. You can prepare a solution consisting of 10 liters of water and 2 tsp. fertilizers.

Pruning

After planting in open ground, you need to pinch a couple of leaves at the top. This will allow the main stem to branch, and the plant itself becomes lush. Only to achieve this result is real only when growing bush petunias. But Opera, which refers to ampelous one, can only grow, its main stem, even after plucking, does not want to branch.

Common Diseases and Pests

Petunia Opera is an unpretentious plantso pests and diseases infect it extremely rarely. Most often they arise as a result of improper care.

Common fungal diseases of petunias include:

black leg;
gray rot;
white rot;
wet rot;
brown spotting;
late blight.

Important! If the stalk of a plant has black, gray and white spots, they fade, rot, then these are symptoms of a fungal infection. This can be affected by high humidity, high temperature, lack of light or heavy watering.

Also, bacterial and viral diseases can affect petunia:

leaf galls;
cucumber mosaic virus;
tobacco mosaic virus;
Y and X potato viruses;
tomato aspermia virus;
tobacco necrosis virus.

All these diseases are not so common, but they tend to spread rapidly from plant to plant. Also, the transmission of the virus and bacteria is carried out through the seeds. In the case of damage to the flower by viruses or bacteria, its appearance changes greatly. Spots form on the leaves, their shape and appearance change. Flowering also decreases sharply, and the inflorescences themselves become small and stained. There is no treatment, so the affected plant must be destroyed immediately.

The following pests can infect Opera Petunia:

aphid;
whitefly;
thrips;
spider mites;
slugs.

The flower is vulnerable to parasites when it is in the seedling state. The defeat can be recognized by the withering and yellowing of the leaves, the presence of pests on the stems and leaves. for the fight using various chemicals.

Breeding

For propagation of the Opera variety, seeds and cuttings are used.. Sow seeds in boxes at the end of February. To do this, use light and loose soil, which includes peat and sand. Sow seeds over the ground without sprinkling. Then cover the container with foil. The daylight hours should be 18 hours. After a week, the grown sprouts dive into separate containers. Carry out this procedure with extreme caution, since the stems are very thin and easy to damage.

Cuttings petunia Opera is best propagated in the spring. To do this, cut several shoots from a healthy plant. Their length should be at least 5 cm. Then plant the cuttings in cups filled with peat soil. Place the container in a bag or cover with a transparent cup. Using this method, the plant will take root quickly and will give new flowers in 3-4 weeks.

Possible problems

Sometimes it happens that the petunia does not have flowering, or it is, but rather scarce. This problem occurs for the following reasons:

Close pot. If the capacity is small, then the development of petunia stops.
Lack of side shoots. With a lack of branching, you can pinch the top. This will allow the development of new buds.
Lack of light.
Lack of nutrition.
Retrained earthen com.
Viral diseases.

Important! Correction of all errors in the care guarantees full flowering. When a plant is sick, it will have to be isolated from everyone else.

Petunia Opera is an ampel bush, which fascinates with the beauty of its flowering and not picky care. Even a beginner will be able to cope with all agricultural techniques. The main thing is to closely monitor the growth and development of the flower, as well as regularly inspect it for damage by diseases or pests.