Petunias ( Petuniaspp . andPetunia x hybrida ) are simple - to - grow , colourful additions to a flowerbed . They ’re also favorites on the menu of several kinds of animals , with coney and cervid topping the list of undesirable diner . One insect in particular is infamous for its attraction topetunias . Petunia works are tender perennial , with hybrid sort intrepid in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant life hardiness zones 9 through 10 .
Rabbits
If your new Petunia vanish overnight , the first among the usual suspect should be the rabbit . rabbit patently call up of petunias as a salad component . You have six options of varying degrees of effectiveness to keep rabbits from your genus Petunia :
most in force method is to block rabbits from petunias by using a crybaby wire fence with 1 - in - diam or smaller holes . The fence should be least 2 ft high and buried at least 3 inches deep .
patch of widow’s weeds , piles of brush and stones or other debris that rabbits might employ to hide . This is especially effective in city and suburban area .
ancestry of blood meal in a perimeter around your petunias .
pitter-patter chili powder , cayenne pepper pepper , priming black pepper , new ground limestone , talcum pulverization or woods ashes on your genus Petunia when they are cockeyed .
put them out of rabbits ' reach .
Deer
Whether they ’re white - tailed deer in the U.S. East or mule cervid in the West , deer browse on flowers , including petunia blooms .
you may draw a barrier ofblack polynettingaround your petunias . It may be less visually less distracting than a telegram fence .
For a simplerepellentthat La Planta County , Colorado , call " Not Tonite , Deer , " blend one raw egg in 2 dry quart of water . Spray the mixture on the parting of your genus Petunia . With sentence , the genus Petunia will have the odor of rotten eggs to deer , which will leave the plants alone . Humans notice the odor for only several minutes after the spray is apply . Repeat the program every several days or after it rains .
A more complicated but more powerful variation requires blending one egg , 1 tablespoon of lemon - sweet-smelling dish - washing liquid ecstasy , 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and two dashes of hot sauce with 1/2 cup of whole Milk River . conflate those ingredients with 1 gal of water , and spray the mixture on petunia leaf once every 10 to 12 days .
Tobacco Budworm
An insect called the tobacco budworm can be devastating to petunias . Studies conducted by entomologists at the University of California found thatBacillus thuringiensis , or Bt , a biologic dominance agent , is in force in controllingtobacco budworm . That animal ’s attractive feature to petunias has made the plant less popular than they previously were for home nurseryman .
The cat , or larva , of the tobacco budworm moth , found principally in the U.S. Southwest and East , bores into buds and efflorescence , hence its name . It also rust and parting and stems .
yellow-bellied or dark-green - yellow with a lateral brownish stripe on both sides of its body , a tobacco budworm caterpillar grows up to 2 inches long and has a toothlike projection on its jaws . The caterpillar emerge and start run through plant in spring , grow into into a brown moth tinged with fleeceable . The moth ’s front wings are traverse with three dark band that have pick - colored or white edge .
Bt is derived from a course occurring bacteria found in soil and in the guts of moths and butterflies . It is approved for constitutive horticulture .
Ready - to - useBt spraysare sold in aerosol cans at many garden - provision midpoint and plant nurseries . Tobacco budworm cat have to eat Bt for it to work . Spray the caterpillars , not the moths , with Bt . Spray Bt when you first see them on your petunias . Shake a can of the spray before using it , and then spray both the tops and bottoms of infested leaves . reduplicate the program once every five to seven days until they ’re fit .
Warning
If you get Bt in your eyes , harbour the them opened and rinse off them with water gently and slow for 15 to 20 minutes . take away any contact lens after five minutes and continue rinsing . Call a physician or the 24/7 hotline of the American Association of Poison Control Centers for advice ; the hotline routine is 1 - 800 - 222 - 1222 .
Chickens
scrounge volaille have many benefits in a flower garden . They eat louse . Their manure enrich the soil . They also peck at at petunias .
There is a rationality for the term " chicken wire . “Chicken wirefences are used to keep foxes out of and chickens in the fence areas . If you have free - range chickens , then blocking them out with chicken wire is about all you may do to protect your petunias . you’re able to gird your petunias with chicken telegram or build a crybaby conducting wire fence .
A fence that is 24 column inch high may block rabbits , but not chicken . volaille have offstage , and the fencing demand to be at least 40 inch mellow .
Mice
and Squirrels
Although they are not on the top of the list of usual genus Petunia - eating suspects , mice and squirrels may get hold genus Petunia attractive .
Mice and squirrels hatecastor fossil oil . To deter them , combine 1 tablespoonful of liquid soap and 1 tablespoonful of caster with 1 gallon of water , and pour the solvent over the soil around your petunias . Rain may wash the solution off , pressure you to reapply it .
