Not all flowering plants thrive in their best condition under sunlight, as some prefer shade to thrive well.
As a result, if you don’t know either sunny or shadowy, which condition is the most suitable for petunias, you may ask whether petunias like sun or shade the most to thrive well.
Therefore, keep reading the segments ahead containing detailed answers regarding this query.
Do Petunias Like Sun Or Shade?
Petunias prefer full and bright sunlight to thrive and blossom fully. Petunias like partial sun too and can grow somewhat well but they will bloom fewer flowers than usual. However, petunias absolutely don’t like shade because if petunias are planted in shadowy areas, they tend to fade away sooner.
Since both sunlight and shade are essential for any flowering plant to thrive and bloom, petunias are not any exception. Thus, whether they thrive the best in full or partial sun, or full or partial shade has been explained precisely below.
Full Sun:
Petunias being one of the most loved ornamental flowering plants are absolute worshippers of the sun.
Petunias do prefer and require an adequate amount of bright, direct, and full sunlight to keep producing an ample amount of enchanting colorful blooms and stay healthy throughout their average lifetime.
Partial Sun:
Although petunias are lovers of full sun, they somewhat prefer partial sun as well and will thrive by receiving partial sunlight too. However, if petunias are grown under the partial sun, their growth won’t be a satisfactory one.
Also, they will not bloom as many flowers as those petunias that get direct, full sunlight, which means the less sunlight petunias will get, the fewer petunia flowers they will bloom.
Full Shade:
Petunias absolutely despise the continuous presence of full shade during the whole of their average lifetime.
In fact, full shade can be considered hostile for petunias because if petunias are continued to be exposed to full shade, they for sure will wither sooner than expected. Also, their root can start rotting or can be affected by fungal diseases.
And even if somehow petunias manage to survive, they will produce very fewer flowers.
Partial Shade:
Petunias obviously aren’t fans of partial shade either but they partly can tolerate partial shade and grow. However, do not expect that petunias that are growing in partial shade will be as healthy as the ones that are in full sun spots.
Moreover, petunias growing in partial shade will flower much less than usual.
Do These Petunias Like Sun Or Shade?
Many of you may not know the Mexican petunias and wave petunias’ preference towards the sun and shade, thus below whether these petunias prefer sun or shade has been explained.
Mexican Petunias:
Mexican petunias just love receiving sunlight and they tend to grow in their best condition when they get full sun.
It’s because growing up in a spot with full bright sun, the Mexican petunias seem to have strong roots, upright purple stems, healthy foliage, and a lusciously fuller appearance.
Even they can bloom fully with a 5× times more capability of flowering. Mexican petunias require bright and full sun for at least 6-8 hours every day to grow and bloom at their full capacity.
Mexican petunias aren’t shade-tolerant plants which clearly means they don’t like shade, especially full shade.
However, partial shade is somewhat liked by Mexican petunias, and they can grow as well but partial shade will lessen their flower production drastically.
Wave Petunias:
Wave petunias also love full sun, in fact, the more bright and full sunlight wave petunias will receive, the better they will grow.
So while growing these wave petunias, you must plant them in a sunny spot where they will receive 6-8 hours of full sunlight every day to maximize their overall growth and speed up their blooming.
However, wave petunias also will withstand partial shade fairly well and they will grow as well as bloom too. But they aren’t tolerant to full shade.
Can Petunias Get Too Much Sun?
For most varieties of petunias, there actually isn’t a thing such as excessive sun. These ornamental annual flowering plants are heat tolerant, thereby, they can even soak up all the direct, bright, and full sunlight in the afternoon.
However, some risks may show up if the petunias continue getting excessive heat from the sun all day long on a daily basis in the summer, especially if the temperature exceeds 32°C (90°F) in the summer.
It may result in deceased flowers as well as brown leaves.
So even though petunias are heat tolerant, they must be properly mulched and watered more frequently than usual to prevent any heat-related effect.
Do Petunias Grow In Partial Sun Or Shady Areas?
Petunias can grow in partial sun or shady areas but they don’t tend to thrive well because petunias are full sun-loving plants.
As a result, if you plant petunias in a partially sunny spot they may grow over time but their growth will be slower than the petunias being grown under full sun. Also, they will grow much fewer flowers than the ones that are thriving by getting full sun.
And as far as it’s concerned about petunias growing in shady areas, they perhaps will grow but the chances are less as in shady areas, petunias fade away quickly or get affected by rotten roots, fungal disease, etc.
They even look leggy and all lanky if petunias are grown in shady spots.
What Happens When Petunias Don’t Have Enough Sunlight?
The possible consequences that petunias can face for not getting a sufficient amount of sunlight have been explained below.
Becomes Spindly:
When petunias are not receiving their required minimum amount of sunlight to thrive healthily, they start to thin out which means they begin to become spindly or leggy.
And when it will happen, you will right away notice that the petunias regardless of the variety are having stem “legs” rather than having luscious green foliage with lots of blooms.
Fewer Blooms:
Another noticeable consequence is that petunias will grow very few flowers than in compassion to usual when they are not getting a sufficient amount of sunlight.
It’s because the full blooming of petunias depends on the full sun, thereby, the less the sunlight, the fewer the petunia blooms.
Sometimes it’s also seen that petunias that are not having enough sunlight growing any flowers at all, or they are barely growing any flowers.
Yellow Leaves:
The leaves of petunias turning all yellow is also an outcome of petunias not receiving enough sunlight.
Petunia leaves turn yellow, especially when the petunias are planted in a partially sunny spot on the ground or when the potted petunias are in a shadowy sendnd need to be placed in a sunny spot.
Rotten Roots:
Due to not getting an adequate amount of sunlight, petunias also can start to have rotten roots. It’s because no water is being evaporated as the plants are not getting enough heat.
Rather, the water is staying in the soil making the soil watery and too much water is rotting the roots. Thereby, with rotten roots, these petunias will perish sooner.
Fungal Diseases:
An insufficient amount of sunlight can cause many fungal diseases to petunias as well which later may result in the early fading away of petunias.
How Many Hours Of Sunlight Do Petunias Need? How Much Sunlight Do Petunias Need?
Petunias require six-eight hours of bright and direct sunlight in a sunny spot every day. However, the hours of getting full sunlight don’t need to be constant.
The first 4 hours of full sun, petunias can receive in the morning, and the other 4 hours of sunlight they can get in late afternoon, this way petunias will be getting full bright sunlight.
In the case of bright but indirect sunlight, petunias will be needing eight-twelve hours of sunlight to survive.
And if the petunias are planted in a partial shadowy place, four-six hours of sunlight is a must for them to stay alive.
Should You Use Lights For Indoor Petunias?
It’s not inevitable to use artificial lights for growing petunias indoors as long as you can provide the plants with 6-8 hours of direct sunlight or 8-12 hours of indirect but bright sunlight by keeping the potted petunias near beside a sunny window.
However, if the climate is inappropriate and the harshness of winter months in your living area is too bad that might put the survival of indoor petunias at risk, you really should use artificial lights for indoor petunias. Artificial lighting will provide the petunias with extra lights to survive well.
Keep the indoor petunias under artificial lights for at least 14 hours every day.
Final Thoughts
Petunias like direct and bright sunlight to grow well with healthy foliage and bloom to the fullest. Partly, petunias can survive in the partial sun too but they don’t like growing in partial sun. However, petunias don’t like shade at all, even partial shade isn’t well accepted by petunias to grow.