Exactly. When’s the last time you’ve seen normal petunias being invasive.
Firefly petunias need a lot of light. The entire plant (roots too) are literally burning precious energy 24/7 for the glowing. There seems to be a direct correlation between the light they receive and how long the internodes are from what I’ve seen putting them under grow lights. More light, shorter internodes.
Here in the Pacific Northwest various worm (caterpillar) larvae also love shredding them and eating through seed pods, and they are susceptible to downy mildew complexes which seem to become persistent within the plant.
They also are finicky about warmth, water and fertilizer.
They are a princess of a plant, not the next kochia or pigweed.
Honestly it would be more viable to take invasive weeds and hamper them by introducing glow genes.
A bit of a tangent, one thing I observed is that petunias are fairly sticky to the touch, even if it's not really visible. While larger insect like loopers and cutworms are fine, small weak flying insects can get caught. Both harmful fungus gnats and helpful parasitic wasps (which would normally attack worm larvae) can get caught on the leaves.
Firefly petunias need a lot of light. The entire plant (roots too) are literally burning precious energy 24/7 for the glowing. There seems to be a direct correlation between the light they receive and how long the internodes are from what I’ve seen putting them under grow lights. More light, shorter internodes.
Here in the Pacific Northwest various worm (caterpillar) larvae also love shredding them and eating through seed pods, and they are susceptible to downy mildew complexes which seem to become persistent within the plant.
They also are finicky about warmth, water and fertilizer.
They are a princess of a plant, not the next kochia or pigweed.
Honestly it would be more viable to take invasive weeds and hamper them by introducing glow genes.