Content
Garden Pansies or Wittrock violets, cultivated as an annual and biennial plant, are used to decorate gardens and indoor spaces. The main propagation is from seeds. At home, violets can be grown from seeds all year round, but in open flower beds only in the summer season. There is another name for pansies - viola, which translated from Italian means violet. To avoid confusion when reading our article, we note: Pansy, violet and viola are unambiguous definitions of the same plant. How to properly grow these flowers from seeds, when to plant them, how to achieve abundant flowering: you will get answers to all these questions by reading the contents of our article.
Morphology
Violets Pansies do not have one generally accepted classification; some botanists divide plant species by the shape and size of the flower, others by flowering time or resistance to environmental influences.
The basis of the modern classification is the distribution of Pansies by flower size:
- 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).
- Medium flowered violets. The 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 the color and shape of the flowers. We will not give here a description of each variety of Pansy, this is simply impossible, their number is in the hundreds, we will only characterize the basic morphological data that unites all species and varieties of this plant:
- violet is a compact or slightly spreading annual plant, the height of the bush is from 15 to 40 centimeters, grown from seeds;
- viola roots are fibrous, that is, the main root does not have a clearly defined priority, there are many basal processes lying to a depth of no more than 15-20 cm;
- Pansy leaves are dark green (depending on the variety they may have a light green color), alternate, the leaf shape is oval or ovoid, tapering at the top, the edges are jagged;
- flowers are of different sizes (see above), the corolla is flat with five petals, one lower petal has a special hollow in which pollen is collected, all other petals are slightly raised upward, the shape is fan-shaped, the flowers are different in color: monochrome, that is, one-color, and also two and three colors;
- fruits are three-chambered seed pods, the seeds are small, smooth and shiny, up to 2 mm long, seed width less than 1 mm (see photo below).
Growing from seeds
In the video at the end of this page, an experienced gardener talks in detail about his method of growing Pansies from seeds to seedlings. For those who prefer to read the text, we write further.
Viola seeds begin to sow in Februaryso that by the time of planting in the ground you 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 indoor space. Pansy seedlings are grown from seeds in order to get flowering flower beds in the garden as early as possible in order to admire them all summer, and not at the beginning of autumn, which can happen if violets are planted in the ground too late.
Preparation
Pansy seeds are small (see photo below), working with them will require some work. Prepare small skewers or toothpicks, nail tweezers with blunt ends. You will also need a small container with soil or napkins with gauze. It depends on which method of growing from seeds you prefer, with or without substrate.
Sowing
Pansy seeds are soaked until the first sprouts emerge or planted dry in a moist substrate, several at a time.
The seeds take root in the ground, and tiny sprouts with cotyledon leaves rush upward, 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 planted in individual pots for each seedling. Another photo below shows Pansy seedlings ready for transplanting into the ground.From sowing violet seeds to obtaining normal seedlings with several true leaves takes 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 different crops from seeds: flowers, vegetables, berries and fruits, manufacturers have learned to produce modern materials that help reduce labor costs for preparing substrates. In stores you can buy everything for these purposes: peat and coconut tablets, complex earthen mixtures intended 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, but have a vegetable garden, as they say, “close by,” then in the fall make a supply of garden soil, compost, sand and peat. For the time being, they can be stored in a basement or shed. The earth mixture needs to be prepared 2-3 weeks before planting the seeds, bring it into a heated room (in the house or pantry) and warm it up properly. Violets are not very picky about the composition of the soil, but do not like soils that are too acidic or alkaline.
For growing from seeds, a soil mixture of the following composition is suitable: 1 part sand, 3 parts fertile soil from the garden and 1 part rotten light compost. Mix all components thoroughly, remove large debris: twigs, stones, large parts of remaining plants. Begin to moisten 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 soil acidification, follow the instructions included with the package.
Seedling care
During the time that the seedlings “keep up” with them, 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;
- maintaining a constant temperature regime, not less than +25° C;
- 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 lighting is needed).
2-3 weeks before planting in the ground, when daytime temperatures allow this, Pansy seedlings are hardened off by 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, you can start hardening as early as March, and in April-May, if this was planned, transplant them into boxes and leave them for the whole summer. Pansies will begin to bloom earlier if it is on the south or east side of the street.
Landing in the ground
Ready violet seedlings grown from seeds are planted in the ground in mid-May. At this time of year, citizens often observe how landscapers decorate city flower beds in parks and gardens, plant tulip bulbs, daffodils, seedlings of petunias and violets. A month later, they begin to bloom wildly, the summer season opens, the cities are transformed, acquiring a multi-colored outfit. Gardeners also rush to their summer cottages in order to have time to plant the “ripe” seedlings of pansies and other flowers.
For beginning gardeners, we recommend several rules for properly planting violet seedlings grown from seeds in open ground:
- Choose a place to plant the viola in advance. This should be a well-lit place away from tall plants, perhaps a separate garden flowerpot, a small flowerbed, or an area near the paths, an alpine slide.
- The soil required is fertile and light, with a neutral pH value, loose and clean from weed.
- Mark the area, make small holes for seedlings 15-25 cm deep. You can choose the distance between seedlings yourself, take into account the density of plantings and the future growth of bushes; if you want it denser, plant more often.
- Pour water into the holes when it is completely absorbed, spread the wet soil with a scoop with one hand, and with the other, drown the roots of the Pansy seedling in this crevice. Hold the sprout and 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 tug the seedlings by the leaf; they should not be pulled out of the ground. If you still have it in your hand, repeat it all over again. Gradually you will learn to do it correctly.
- We planted seedlings grown from seeds; now we need regular flower care and occasional fertilizing; water them once a month with complex fertilizers diluted in water. Find out the dosage from the instructions on the package.
Flower growers 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 what wonderful floral designs should look like with Pansies grown from seeds.
Seed collection
Biennial violet species produce seeds only in the second year. You can collect these seeds yourself. To do this, in the first year (July-August), 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 lump of earth. Store in winter in an unheated room: in the basement, barn, cold pantry. In early May, they are planted as ordinary seedlings. In the fall, after flowering, the viola forms seed pods containing many fresh seeds; flower growers collect them, place 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.
By growing flowers, we give their beauty not only to others, but first of all we ourselves receive pleasure and satisfaction. These feelings help us in life. Love flowers, they are our friends.
