Expert: C.L. Fornari - 8/30/2009

Question
In your answer to Donna in June of 08: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Annuals-706/2008/6/PETUNIA.htm
you stated that wave petunias do not have seeds.  I am very interested in trying to harvest some seeds from the masses of
wave petunias my wife has on our property. Are the seeds that seem to be forming sterile? If they are viable will the resulting plants be identical to the parents? How do the commercial seed companies produce wave petunia seeds?

Answer
Joe,
Wave petunias occasionally make seeds but you can't grow new Wave petunias from those - they will produce other petunias that aren't as large and flower-filled as the Wave. Most hybrids don't come true from seed. Other long-blooming petunias that don't require deadheading, such as Super Petunias, don't usually make seeds at all and are grown from cuttings. The growers either propagate them using tissue culture or by taking cuttings off of parent plants.

You can order Wave seeds through mail order catalogs. THere is a good list of those on the official Wave website: http://www.wave-rave.com/OrderWave.aspx   

I hope this helps,
C.L.