Question
dear Long Island Gardener,

What is the different between wave petunia grown from seed and grown from rooted cutting. Do you think wave petunia that grown from seed will show a better performance than the one grown from cutting.

Thanks you!
Hoa

Answer
Contrary to popular opinion -- and I include my own flawed advice on this matter -- there is nothing repeat nothing illegal about rooting cuttings for your Wave Petunias.

I made this mistake last year and boy did I get an earful from the gardening intellectual property lawyers.  Waves are trademarked.  They are not patented.

Who knew?

So for those Wave lovers who have taken cuttings over the years and grew them over and over, you are not un-convicted felons.  You are law abiding gardeners who love Wave Petunias.

Selling your offspring as "Wave" is a horse of a different color, but what gardener has time to do this anyway?  There is already too much to do, sunrise to sunset.

That said: "Waves" grown from seed, provided they are the same plant, are identical to rooted Wave cuttings. I have not tried this at home.  But I have it on good authority from those who have.

This is assuming the seeds are legitimate, purchased from the Ball Horticultural Company, which in the U.S. owns, as it has for at least a dozen years, rights to sell the Wave seeds.

Wave was invented by Tokyo-based Kirin Agribio Company, best known for its beer-brewing parent, Kirin.  Researcher Daigaku Takeshita, Kirin's Chief Breeder, took trophies for the cutting edge Purple Wave seed-grown Petunia trailers, including the first AAS 'Breeder's Cup,' created to honor a flowers or vegetables breeder for significant contributions to scientific advancements.

Flower cuttings wholesaler Kirin Agribio is now the Hamamatsu-based Japan Agribio, and owned by a Dutch company.  How's that for globalization?

Japan is incredibly dedicated to science-driven agriculture.  After all, the esthetic advances in farming and horticulture are driven by DNA and genes.  It all boils down to molecules.

I have from time to time tried to talk with Mr Takeshita, who will surely be on someone's short list for a Nobel prize if he keeps up the good work.  He would be able to respond with authority on this subject.  So far, unfortunately, he has no time for The Long Island Gardener.

And so while I opine on this with a "yes these will bloom the same," I want to explain exactly why they might not, and why Waves are different.

We must wait for word from Mr Takeshita-san for this information.

Meantime, you tell me!

L.I.G.