Contents
Garden pansies or Wittrock violets, cultivated as an annual and biennial plant, are used to decorate gardens and indoor spaces. The main reproduction is from seeds. At home, violets can be grown from seeds all year round, and in open flower beds only in the summer season. There is another name for Pansies – viola, which means violet in Italian. To avoid confusion when reading our article, we note: Pansies, violet and viola are unambiguous definitions of the same plant. How to properly grow these flowers from seeds, when to plant, how to achieve abundant flowering: you will receive answers to all these questions by reading the contents of our article.
Morphology
Violets Pansies do not have one generally accepted classification, some botanists separate plant species according to the shape and size of the flower, others – according to flowering time or environmental resistance.
The basis of the modern classification is the distribution of Pansies according to the size of the flowers:
- Super giant violets. The diameter of the flowers reaches 11 centimeters.
- Giant violas. Flower size 9-10 cm.
- Large-flowered Eyes (flowers up to 8-9 cm in diameter).
- Mid-flowered violets. Flowers grow from 6 to 8 centimeters.
- Small-flowered violas. The average size of flowers is 5-6 cm.
All groups are further divided into many varietal subgroups, which are characterized by color and shape of flowers. We will not give here a description of each variety of Pansies, it is simply impossible, their number is in the hundreds, we will only characterize the main morphological data that unite all the species and varieties of this plant:
- violet – a compact or slightly spreading annual plant, bush height from 15 to 40 centimeters, grown from seeds;
- viola roots are fibrous, that is, the main root does not have a pronounced priority, there are many basal processes occurring to a depth of no more than 15-20 cm;
- the leaves of the Pansies are dark green (depending on the variety, they may have a light green color), alternate, the shape of the leaf is oval or ovoid, tapering at the top, the edges are serrated;
- flowers are of different sizes (see above), the corolla is flat with five petals, one lower petal has a special hollow into which pollen is collected, all other petals are slightly raised upwards, the shape is fan-shaped, the flowers are different in color: monochrome, that is, one-color, and also two and three-color;
- fruits – three-chamber seed boxes, seeds are small, smooth and shiny, up to 2 mm long, seed width – less than 1 mm (see photo below).
Cultivation from seeds
In the video at the end of this page, an experienced florist talks in detail about his method of growing Pansies from seeds for seedlings. For those who prefer to read the text, we write further.
Viola seeds begin to be sown in February, so that by the time they are planted in the ground, they have sufficiently developed seedlings. The resulting plants can be planted in garden pots, in containers on the balcony or in ordinary pots that are placed in any room. Pansy seedlings are grown from seeds in order to get blooming flower beds in the garden as early as possible to admire them all summer, and not in early autumn, which can happen if violets are planted in the ground too late.
Prepare
Pansy seeds are small (see photo below), working with them will have to work hard. Prepare small skewers or toothpicks, manicure tweezers with blunt ends. You will also need a small container with earth or napkins with gauze. It depends on which method of growing from seed you prefer, with or without a substrate.
Sowing
Seeds of Pansies are soaked until the first sprouting sprouts are obtained, or they are planted dry in a moist substrate in several pieces.
In the ground, the seeds take root, and tiny sprouts with cotyledon leaves rush up, this is shown in the photo below. Seeds germinate in 7-10 days.
They can be left in this position until full-fledged seedlings grow, or they can be dived into separate pots for each seedling. Another photo below shows Pansies seedlings ready for transplanting into the ground. From sowing violet seeds to obtaining normal seedlings with a few true leaves, it takes from 3 to 4 months. Pansy seedlings grown from seeds are transplanted into open ground depending on the time of spring warming, in the south this can be done as early as April-May, in cool areas – in May-June.
substrate for flowers
Trying to make the work of gardeners easier when growing from seeds of different crops: flowers, vegetables, berries and fruits, manufacturers have learned how to produce modern materials that help reduce labor costs for the preparation of substrates. In stores, you can buy everything for these purposes: peat and coconut tablets, complex earth mixtures designed separately for a particular plant, special containers with lids and all kinds of devices for such work.
If you don’t have similar specialized stores nearby, and the garden, as they say, is “at hand”, then in the fall make a supply of garden soil, compost, sand and peat. For the time being, they can be stored in the basement or shed. The earthen mixture must be prepared 2-3 weeks before planting the seeds, bring it into a heated room (in a house or pantry) and warm it up properly. Violets are not very picky about the composition of the soil, but do not like too acidic or alkaline soils.
For growing from seeds, a soil mixture of the following composition is suitable: 1 part of sand, 3 parts of fertile land from the garden and 1 part of rotted light compost. Mix all components thoroughly, remove large debris: twigs, pebbles, large parts of the remaining plants. Start moistening the soil little by little, closing the container with a lid so that the moisture does not evaporate longer.
To find out the degree of acidification of the soil, follow the Instructions attached to the package.
Care of seedlings
During that time, while the seedlings “keep pace” with it, it is necessary to carry out certain care, it consists of the following:
- in the implementation of regular watering, once a month you need to combine it with a chemical additive to stimulate growth;
- in maintaining a constant temperature regime, not less than + 25 ° С;
- in maintaining air humidity by spraying plants with warm water if necessary;
- in additional lighting, if the days are still short (in the first month after sowing, round-the-clock illumination is needed).
2-3 weeks before planting in the ground, when daytime temperatures allow it, the seedlings of Pansies are hardened, taking the containers outside or onto balconies for 1-3 hours. Start with 30 minutes, gradually adding time, bring it up to 4 hours. On glazed loggias, hardening can begin as early as March, and in April-May, if it was planned, transplanted into boxes and left for the whole summer. Pansies will start blooming earlier if it is on the south or east side of the street.
Landing in the ground
Ready seedlings of violets grown from seeds are planted in the ground in mid-May. At this time of the year, city dwellers often watch how gardeners arrange city flower beds in parks and gardens, plant tulip bulbs, daffodils, petunia and violet seedlings. A month later, their violent flowering begins, the summer season opens, cities are transformed, acquiring a multi-colored outfit. Gardeners are also rushing to their summer cottages in order to have time to plant seedlings of Pansies and other flowers that have arrived in time.
For beginner flower growers, we recommend a few rules for the correct planting of seedlings of violets grown from seeds in open ground:
- Choose a place to plant the viola in advance. This should be a lighted place away from tall plants, perhaps a separate garden pot, a small flower bed, or an area near paths, an alpine slide.
- The soil requires fertile and light, with a neutral pH, loose and free from weeds.
- Mark the site, make small holes for seedlings with a depth of 15-25 cm. You can choose the distance between the seedlings yourself, consider the planting density and the future growth of the bushes, if you want it thicker, plant more often.
- Water the holes with water when it is completely absorbed, with one hand push the wet soil apart with a scoop, with the other, drown the roots of the Pansy seedling in this crevice. While holding the sprout, carefully remove the spatula.
- Also gently, protecting the fragile seedling from breakage, sprinkle the surface of the hole with compost or peat (layer thickness 10-15 centimeters).
- Lightly pull the seedlings by the leaf, it should not be pulled out of the ground. If, nevertheless, he remained in your hand, repeat all over again. Gradually you will learn how to do it right.
- We planted seedlings grown from seeds, now we need the usual care of flowers and rare top dressing, once a month water them with complex fertilizers diluted in water. Find out the dosage from the Instructions on the package.
Florists note that Pansies are very sensitive to care, the more love and care you give to the plant, the longer and more abundantly they will bloom.
Look at the photo below. This is how wonderful flower ornaments with Pansies grown from seeds should look like.
Seed collection
Biennial species of violets produce seeds only in the second year. You can collect these seeds yourself. To do this, in the first year (in July-August), the available viola seeds are sown in the ground. At the end of September or October, seedlings are dug up (the plant does not bloom during this season) along with a clod of earth. Stored in winter in an unheated room: in the basement, shed, cold pantry. In early May, they are planted as ordinary seedlings. In autumn, after flowering, the viola forms seed pods, in which there are many fresh seeds, flower growers collect them, put them to dry and ripen. The seeds obtained in this way can be planted for seedlings at home in the same way as purchased ones.
Being engaged in the cultivation of flowers, we give their beauty not only to others, but first of all we ourselves get pleasure and satisfaction. These feelings help us in life. Love flowers, they are our friends.
