Pansy flowers: planting, care
Pansy flowers are the popular name for tricolor viola. Bright small flowers cover the garden area with a dense carpet, fit perfectly into different styles of landscape design.
Only sunny areas of the garden are suitable for growing viola. In the shade, it will grow slowly, and the flowers will turn out to be small. The planting site should be free from dampness and stagnation of water. Loamy, fertile, acid-neutral soil is best suited.
Pansy flowers will cover your garden with a dense carpet
You can grow these flowers from seeds or seedlings. Seeds are planted closer to the middle of summer. The plant will bloom next spring. The seeds must be sown in rows in the nursery. After two leaves appear at the seedlings, they dive.
If you decide to grow seedlings first, do so in early March. The day before planting, water the pots with earth with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. On the day of planting, spread the seeds on the surface, spray them with water from a spray bottle and cover with glass. Move the pots to a dark place. As soon as shoots appear, move the pots to the windowsill.
Make sure that the seedlings do not overlap under glass
After the appearance of two leaves, dive the seedlings. Towards the end of April, start hardening it: expose the pots to fresh air for a short time. Plant the seedlings in the ground in late April or early May, depending on the weather. Flowers will appear shortly after planting.
Care instructions:
- Watering is needed moderate. Viola will quickly rot from excessive moisture. During the peak of the summer heat, water the flowers every other day.
- Loosen the soil the next day after watering.
- Destroy pests in time. Most of all, various larvae living in the soil harm the plant. The larvae of the May beetle are especially dangerous; they quickly destroy bush after bush.
- Apply mineral fertilizers periodically. During the flowering period, phosphate and potassium dressing is best suited. Fresh manure as a fertilizer for viola is strictly contraindicated.
If you live in cold climates, always dig up flower bushes for the winter and move them to a greenhouse. In other regions, before the onset of frost, cover the flowers with sawdust or any covering material.
Brighten up your garden with pansies. These adorable flowers, when properly cared for, will grow in the same spot year after year.