u/Late_Hold7090

I ran into some huge hiccups on growth rates and was nearly going to drop this project in favor of petunias due to my limited growing space. Truly. It was looking like two generations/year MAYBE less. They're extremely slow to grow from seed. I was so close to dumping the seedlings.

I had been germinating seeds in rockwool in a tray with a humidity dome, and while that went well for the seedling stage, they did poorly once transferred to potting soil.

At first, I planted the rockwool cubes too shallow, and as the rockwool dried (while soil was still wet) the seedlings would dry out and die.

I added more soil, and that stopped death by dehydration, but they still grew extremely slowly, and looked terrible. (As shown in the second pic)

I was at my wits end.. Just waiting for something to happen with them. Nothing did.

I finally had the idea of adding soil beneath the rockwool after they've germinated and roots are sticking out from the rockwool, then letting them stay in the humidity dome for more time.

I also have them about an inch closer to the lights, and upped liquid nutrient additions. (Lights cant get any closer than they are!)

Boys.. night and day difference. The seedlings in rockwool are already larger than the vast majority of seedlings I transfered to pots ten weeks ago.

There's one exception, a plant that just TOOK OFF from the first lot (third pic) but most have been outclassed by this new experiment.

I'M STILL DOING THIS.

I followed the red blooms stem all the way to the central stem, and confirmed it js part of the parent plant, and not a second plant in the same pot.

I did not purchase it, as I have enough petunias going!

Flowers have started forming! u/The_Best_Jason... get ready to eat your words. I won't hold you to your comment until the flowers are *fully formed* ... but you should mentally prepare yourself.

(His comment is a screenshot, the last photo)

This is a mutant of either Black Krim or Cherokee Purple.

I've been shaking the pot side to side the last six days to simulate wind, as my small fan has seized up. There's a noticeable difference in stem thickness from the post I made on May 12th.

I plan to take several cuttings of this mutant and attempt to graft them onto healthy tomato seedlings, per the suggestions on r/plantbreeding, in order to give it the best chance at producing viable seeds.

Grafting clips were ordered, and seeds have been planted!

I found a greenhouse in the STL area who had some absolutely *phenomenal* petunias. (not pictured)

Genuinely, I had never seen healthier petunias. I was shocked, and sad I didn't have more money.

But I saw this tray with petunias and other plants in it. i marveled at how small the cells are.

And it got me wondering, can I grow petunias, from seed, in this tray long enough without needing to up-pot, to reach the flowering stage?

I have a 4x2 grow tent, so maximizing my space is an absolute must!

Has anyone seen this before in a plant? There seems to be enough photosynthetic tissue to keep it growing, but I'm unsure if flowers will even form if the leaves look like this.

It's either a cherokee purple or black krim.

I'm not home at the moment, but this was either Black Krim or Cherokee Purple.

We had some crazy wind a week or so ago that crimped the stem, so I buried the plant in a new pot with hopes of rooting, and put a humidity dome atop the pot.

I cant wait to see what the tomatoes look like, if it produces any!! I'd be happy with a *single* tomato.

Hello!

I purchased this Supertunia Giant Pink from a local garden center, specifically because it was so much larger than the others. These leaves are approximately twice the size of the other Supertunias present.

I'm trying to make sense of what I'm looking at.

Is this a mutation that occurred when this stem was first growing? Is it confined to this stem? There is new growth at the base that is much closer to what I'd expect to find in a petunia, underneath these massive leaves.

The larger growth is *ridiculously* fragile. I broke multile midribs getting it home and taking pictures. I haven't really tested the smaller growth at the base, as doing so risks breaking more leaves.

I haven't yet seen a flower, but the petals already seem thicker than the other petunias i have on the patio.