Growing seedlings of pansies at home. Viola: growing from seed to seedlings

Ornamental plantings of extraordinary beauty called "viola tricolor", better known as pansies, can often be seen both in household plots and in summer cottages. What is the reason for their popularity? Undoubtedly, in abundant, long-lasting bloom, which delights the eye of both owners and casual passers-by. However, not only because of the extraordinary beauty, many plant such ornamental plants as a decoration for their personal plot. The popularity of tricolor viola is due to the fact that planting and growing beautiful flowers is quite simple. How to plant pansies in open ground so that the flowering is abundant and bright, we will consider more carefully later in the article.

Planting seedlings

Most often, tricolor viola is grown by seedlings. Growing seedlings is not a difficult process if you follow the recommendations of experienced gardeners:

In the spring, containers should be prepared for future seedlings, which are filled with fertile soil. It is best to use a substrate that will consist of the following components:

turf soil;
leafy soil;
compost.

Both sod and leafy soil must be taken in the same proportions, compost must be used in a 1: 5 proportion.

If it is planned to obtain an annual planting from the grown seedlings, then the seeds, of course, should be of high quality, sown in the ground no later than March. With early sowing, it will be possible to admire the beautiful flowering already in the summer. If you want a two-year crop, the seeds should be sown in the ground at the end of the first summer month.
Depressions are made in the seedling containers, about 1.5-1.7 cm.
A seed is placed in each recess, keeping a distance of approximately 1.5 cm.
After sowing the seeds, the planting material is carefully covered with fertile soil, slightly compacted by hand.
To speed up the germination process, it is recommended to use an additional cover in the form of glass or plastic wrap.
The first shoots will appear in 10-15 days. As soon as 3 leaves are formed on the seedlings, the seedlings should be carefully planted in separate containers, for example, in disposable cups. A pick is necessary in order to accelerate the growth of development of each individual seedling.
Viola tricolor seedlings are planted on a permanent germination site only after the weather has stabilized, no night frosts will be observed.

Landing in the soil

In order for the seedlings to take root perfectly in the personal plot, experts recommend carrying out the so-called hardening before planting the seedlings in the ground. To do this, it is enough just to take your seedlings out into the street, at least for 7-10 days, so that the young plantings can better adapt to new living conditions. For the first time, the seedlings are taken out for about 20-30 minutes, the subsequent "hardening" processes are increased up to several hours.

The glued plantings are planted on previously prepared beds, always in fertile soil. The distance between each planting should be at least 20-25 cm. After planting the seedlings in the beds around the horse system, it is recommended to pour a layer of peat, about 5-7 cm, so that the roots can retain a sufficient amount of moisture. A layer of peat will help to protect young roots from sudden temperature changes, which are quite often observed in our regions in the spring. However, it is not recommended to use a lot of peat as a powder, since its excessive use, especially in a snowy winter, can contribute to the death of the plant. The fact is that a large layer of peat will not allow enough oxygen to penetrate, so the decorative flower can, as they say, suffocate.

Sowing seeds in the ground

Viola tricolor seeds can be sown immediately in open ground in the following sequence:

in a well-lit place, grooves are made in fertile soil, at least 0.5 cm deep;
the distance between the grooves should be approximately 1.5-2 cm;
the gap between the seeds is 1-2 cm;
grooves moisten well and gently sow planting material;
from above, the seeds are sprinkled with fertile soil, lightly tamped by hand;
in order for the seedlings to rise faster, the sown area is covered with transparent glass or polyethylene film.

Pansies are scientifically called the violet Vitrokka. They are grown in summer cottages, decorating flower beds, and also on balconies. The plant is unpretentious: it can be transplanted even during the flowering period and planted in early spring, as soon as the snow disappears. Pansies bloom early and bloom profusely. If done correctly, their colorful flowers will delight the eye from spring to late autumn.

Varieties of Pansies

Small-flowered. The diameter of small varieties of flowers usually does not exceed 4 cm. These include such types of viola as Little Red Riding Hood with bright red flowers or Blue Boy with delicate blue flowers.

Large-flowered. Viola bushes of a large-flowered variety reach a height of up to 20 cm. Their flowers are usually quite large, in average 5 cm in diameter. They are located on long pedicels from 8 to 11 cm high.This variety includes such species as the Heavenly Queen, Evening Heat, Winter Sun, Jupiter and many others.

Gigantic. The height of the bush of pansies of gigantic varieties can reach 25 cm. Their flowers are large, sometimes more than 6 cm in diameter. Pedicels are as long as in large-flowered varieties. Although sometimes they can reach 12 cm. The gigantic varieties include Viola Blue, Golden-yellow and White.

Perennials or annuals?

Pansies can be grown as annual and perennial flowers. It all depends on the climatic conditions in which the plants are grown and the labor that you are willing to put in.

These flowers are quite frost-hardy, but even in central Russia they are not always able to survive the cold winter. - - Plants that were planted late, did not grow much and left weakened before winter are especially vulnerable. Viola does not tolerate wintering well in winters with little snow; spring thaws with subsequent night frosts are especially dangerous for flowers.

In order for the viola not to freeze, it is necessary to avoid low damp places for planting, cover the flowers for the winter with material, and in winter carry out snow retention in a flower bed with pansies. In order for the viola to bloom earlier, it is better to close the flower bed with foil in early spring. Growing an annual viola is a more predictable process.

Pansy landing

Before sowing, it is recommended to soak viola seeds for a day in a solution of "Zircon" or "Epin". The substrate is suitable ready-made, intended for growing violets, you can easily buy it at any flower shop. The further procedure is as follows:

Pour the soil mixture into a container and level thoroughly.
Cut grooves in the soil, spread the viola seeds in them and sprinkle them with ground rubbed in the palms of the earth. Water the crops gently.
Cover the container with foil or glass and store in a cool (about + 15 ° C) place.

The first shoots will appear in 7-10 days. When the viola germinates, the box with crops, freed from the shelter, is placed under diffused lighting and the ambient temperature is lowered to +10 ° C. Seedling care involves regular moderate watering and feeding with a weak solution of mineral fertilizers every 15 days. In the phase of the first pair of true leaves, the grown bushes dive into separate pots, and after 2-3 weeks are transferred to a permanent place of growth.

In open ground, the plants are planted in pre-prepared shallow holes, dripped with earth and watered. In order to avoid thickening of the plantings between adjacent specimens, it is recommended to maintain a distance of 15–20 cm. The culture transfers the transplant painlessly and takes root in a new place in just a couple of days. Pansies grown through seedlings bloom in late May - early June.

Choosing a place for pansies

I choose light partial shade for my viols. In the shade, the flowers quickly become smaller and stop blooming, and in the bright sun, and even with our sultry and dry summer, they are hot, then the plants are sluggish, and the tips of the leaves begin to turn yellow.

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Even funny eyes do not like too wet soil, they do not tolerate dampness, so it is better not to plant them in lowlands.

Sandy, clayey, heavy soil is not suitable for these flowers. On fertile, loose and moisture-absorbing viols will bloom longer and require less maintenance.

Preparing the soil for pansies

Viola grows well on loose, drained, organic-rich soils. The distance between seedlings should be within 15 - 20 cm for compact and 25 - 30 cm for other varieties. When placed in containers and hanging baskets for pansies, any ready-made garden soil with a small pinch of extended-release compound fertilizer will do. When planting seedlings, make sure that the top level of the earthy coma of each plant coincides with the level of the ground at the planting site.

Sowing pansy seeds

In conditions of the middle lane, pansies are best grown as a biennial.

The seeds should be sown in the summer of the previous year. The best sowing date is early July. With a later sowing, the seedlings turn out to be a little bushy and do not have time to get stronger before winter. At early sowing dates, the seedlings outgrow, bloom in the fall and go into overwintering weakened, often weakened. Seeds can be sown on ridges in rows, sparsely.

Seedlings appear in 6-12 days. They should be unpacked. In this state, seedlings overwinter. In spring, plants can be transplanted into flower beds. Feeding area 25 × 25 cm.

Pansies can also be used as an annual crop. To do this, the seeds must be sown in March in a room or greenhouse, the seedlings are picked in April, and planted in the ground in May.

With this method, the plants bloom longer, but less abundantly, the flowers become smaller. For autumn flowering, seeds must be sown in April May.

Pansy care

The most important thing is watering. Its intensity depends on the type of flower. Plants with large, strongly colored flowers need a lot of moisture, so you need to water more often and abundantly. But you can water only when the soil is slightly dry. If the soil remains wet, even if the flowers have not been watered for a long time, you do not need to do this - the roots are guaranteed to rot from stagnant water. In the summer, so that the pansies do not suffer from the heat, it is useful to spray them every morning.

Experienced flower growers say that it is not necessary to water the viola every day (except in very hot weather), but every other day. After watering or rain, be sure to loosen the soil in the area with the viola. Pansies do not like sudden changes in temperature. If there is little snow in winter, the plants will freeze at very low temperatures. Flowers can also die in the spring - in those days when there are frosts at night, and the sun is very hot during the day.

In order to prevent the death of flowers in winter, you can additionally cover them with snow, in the spring you can protect plants from frost using ordinary plastic wrap, equipping a kind of greenhouse from it for the night. When the pansies begin to bloom profusely, the faded buds must be removed from the bushes in a timely manner. This will help to appear and bloom new faster and will not allow fruiting - after it the pansies no longer bloom.

Caring for pansies during the flowering period

Pansies will actively develop and bloom if fed periodically. Complex mineral fertilizers are used to feed these flowers. Fertilizing these flowers with organic ingredients is strictly prohibited. During the period of abundant flowering, in summer, on the bushes, it is necessary to remove faded buds in a timely manner in order to allow new ones to bloom. In addition, this procedure will prevent the fruiting of plants, after which the pansies stop blooming.

To successfully grow them, planting seedlings at home is carried out in nutrient soil. On a poor and sandy land, plants will become smaller, losing their decorative effect. You can improve the composition of such a soil using plant compost. Five kilograms of the substance are introduced per 1m2. Pansies are very fond of the sun, so they can only be grown in a well-lit place. Under this condition, the plants will bloom for a long time and profusely. In a shaded place, due to lack of light, the bushes become pale, and the flowers on them become small. After the end of the flowering period, spring varieties are dug up, and summer species are planted in their place.

To obtain seeds, healthy and compact spring bushes are selected at home. They are planted in a seedbed and watered periodically. Since pansies are cross-pollinated plants, a certain space must be observed when planting different varieties. This allows you to get seeds with all the characteristics of the mother bush.

After the seed pod turns yellow, the seeds are collected. It is very important not to be late here, because after ripening, the capsule cracks, and the seeds fall into the ground.

Feeding Pansies

Top dressing for pansies must be applied regularly, namely, they should be carried out at least twice a season. The main feeding is carried out when the plant is gaining buds, with fertilizers such as nitrophoska and Agricolka. Subsequent feeding is done during the rapid flowering of the plant, using a fertilizer called Agricolka-7.

To feed pansies, you need mineral fertilizers with potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus and other trace elements included in their composition. After planting, the seedlings need to be fertilized with superphosphate, nitrate. It is forbidden to apply fresh manure to the soil where pansies live.

From the moment the temperatures drop, the amount of dressing is reduced and, preparing the plant for wintering, the flowerbed is covered with sawdust, peat or other insulation.

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Reproduction of pansies

Propagation by cuttings is important to preserve the variety you like for the next year. Also, from one mother plant, you can get many young Anyutoks from cuttings.

For cutting pansies, take apical cuttings with 2-3 nodes. Planted in a dark place with moist soil. Planting depth 0.5 cm, planting cuttings should be dense. 1 m? 400 cuttings. Pansy cuttings root perfectly in water and soil. Cover with cellophane to maintain high humidity. Rooting occurs after 3-4 weeks.

If cuttings are made in May and June, such plants bloom in August of the same year. When they are cuttings later, then the annihilation from the cuttings bloom next year. Such plants are covered and left in the garden to winter.

Cutting helps not only to propagate the hybrid, but also to rejuvenate the planting. Since at the age of 3 years, Pansies tend to overgrow to the detriment of flowering.

What problems may arise

If you notice that the flowers have begun to shrink, then the reason is in depleted soil. Apply organic fertilizer at the rate of 5 kg per sq. M.

Aphids can overcome pansies, but they are easy to fight. The store has special means for this, and such a folk remedy as soap solution is still relevant in the fight against this pest. In a sunny place, the flowers of pansies are larger and brighter, but the flowering period is shorter than that of pansies, which grow in partial shade. Although their flowers will be smaller, the flowering period is longer.

If you want to collect seeds from your own plants, then transplant the strongest bushes into a separate (seed) bed and do not forget to water it. Let me remind you that pansies are a self-pollinating plant, so if you don't want to mix varieties, plant them far from each other. Seed boxes are considered ripe when they turn yellow and turn upward (in August). But do not be late, these boxes have one feature - they crack arbitrarily.

When the boxes are collected, take out the seeds, dry them and send them to be stored in the refrigerator.

That's all the wisdom of growing this gentle, touching flower. If you have anything to add or dispute, welcome to the comments. And do not forget to click one or more social media buttons where you are registered. Share information with your friends and family.

Good afternoon, dear readers!

An invariable inhabitant of all summer cottages, viola conquers with its variety of colors, collected in one flower. And this makes it a favorite of many gardeners. Pansies, garden violet, Vittrock violet - these are the names of the same flower.

And, undoubtedly, every gardener wants to have this charm in his flower garden.

Having decided to grow a viola for the first time to decorate a garden plot, work should begin at the end of February. The sowing period can last until mid-March. This will give you the opportunity to see blooming pansies in early summer.

This option is also most common because bright colors of flowers are simply necessary during this period to create the mood and attractiveness of the garden.

If the sowing date was missed in early spring, then doing this work in May will give the gardener the pleasure of flowering in August, and it will last until the very cold.

Planting viola seeds - seedlings of pansies

First, prepare a potting soil suitable for sowing. Would need:

3 pieces of leafy land
2 parts river sand
1 part turf land

The soil must be moisture-permeable (viola does not like waterlogging). To improve the structure of the soil, charcoal is best suited, which can be added to the mixture.

Seedling containers can be small cups, or general boxes. The containers are filled with soil in advance, giving the soil an opportunity to settle. Manganese solution is used for soil disinfection. After a day, seeds are laid out on the surface, which have been pre-treated with growth stimulants. It can be "Epin", "Zircon", etc.

You need to put 2-3 grains in separate cups. In the boxes, a distance of 1-2 cm is left between the seeds, and the rows of 0.5 cm should be at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other.

Close up seeds shallow. The minimum layer of soil, which is moistened, strictly, from a spray bottle, so that the seeds do not become exposed.

On a note! The greater the distance between the seeds, and later between the individual shoots, the later it will be possible to start diving of viola seedlings.

To protect crops from drying out, they are covered with glass, film. For the emergence of seedlings, a temperature of 15-20 ° C is sufficient. Do not forget about daily ventilation. Seedlings will appear in 7-10 days. The shelter is removed and conditions are created for the normal development of seedlings. The best option would be t \u003d 10 ° C, a bright place and watering, without waterlogging.

From the boxes, the grown plants dive into a more voluminous container. Deepening is carried out to the cotyledonous leaves. The containers are shaded until the flowers take root.

Weaker sprouts should be removed from the cups and tablets from peat, leaving one. They also need to be provided with a larger area of \u200b\u200bfood. It is most convenient to work with peat containers. Enough for the bottom of a 250 ml glass. pour a small layer of fertile soil, put a tablet with a sprout on it, cover it with earth and water.

Site selection for planting

The garden violet is not a capricious plant. Compliance with the minimum comfortable conditions will allow you to create magnificent flower arrangements.

A favorite place to grow is sunny areas, but the sun is not desirable. If at noon, the planting of pansies will be covered with diffused shadow from garden trees and shrubs, then she will gratefully wiggle colorful, purple and yellow flowers, not drooping from the heat.

Soil requirements are also low. Loose, sufficiently nutritious, with good drainage properties, moderately humid lands will be a good option for arranging flower beds with violets.

The addition of charcoal, when crushed, does a good job of drainage. In addition, having the properties of absorbing water, it will absorb its surplus, and as needed, give water to the roots of the plant. Having created such a content, in the future it will be enough to weed the weeds, loosen the ground, and combine irrigation with rare fertilizing with mineral fertilizers.

It should also be remembered that viola can grow in the shade. But in this case, the flowers will be smaller, and their color will be paler than shown on the package with seeds.

Summer crops in June determine the original purpose of the viola - growing in a biennial culture. In this case, flowering will occur in the spring following the sowing year.

In a bed with light fertile soil, shallow grooves are cut, and seeds are sown. You can use the scatter method.

In both cases, sprinkle on top with a very thin layer of soil. Moistening is not required if the soil was well moistened before sowing. The bed is shaded to prevent rapid evaporation of moisture from the topsoil. Violet sprouts will appear in 10-14 days.

Care consists in gentle watering and neat hilling, which ensures the resistance of tiny plants. You can simply add fertile soil to the base of the stem.

Fortified seedlings dive to another bed, when they have at least five leaves, observing an interval of 5-7 cm.In August or September, a second transplant is carried out, using seedlings as a border for flower beds with perennials, or planting flowers in separate groups. Diluting monophonic dark varieties with bright and variegated violet flowers.

The distance for mature seedlings should be at least 15 cm.

By the end of September, the viola will have compact bushes with 5-6 leaves. Such plants will leave green in winter, and in spring their flowering will be early and abundant.

In case the violet seeds were sown earlier than the specified time, or during a prolonged autumn, flowering is possible in the autumn period. But this disadvantage will lead to a worse wintering of the flower.

In the spring, the viola is in danger of getting wet, so melt water must be removed from the site. The possibility of flooding should be excluded when choosing a place for planting in the autumn.

Flowering will come in mid-May. One flower retains its decorative effect for a week and withers. If you remove them in a timely manner, then the flowering period of the viola will significantly last.

Pansies - outdoor care

Feeding with full mineral fertilizers (nitrophoska - 50g / m2), in combination with watering, will also help to extend the flowering period. Bright islands of violets will adorn the garden for a month, then there will be a sharp decline in flowering, and it will resume in the second half of summer.

In the shaded corners of the summer cottage, pansies can bloom all season, with timely watering and feeding. Removal of wilted flowers and seed pods must also be carried out in a timely manner so that the plant does not have to spend energy on ripening the seeds.

The main work is weeding and loosening. Watering and feeding has already been discussed.

In addition to seed growing of violets, it is acceptable for her to divide the bush at all stages of its development. Even a flowering bush will not suffer significantly if disturbed by division. This is the advantage of the plant when it is necessary to fill in empty areas in any corner of the garden.

Layers

Mention should be made of the propagation of pansies by layering.

To do this, the selected plants are shaded, creating conditions under which the flower, striving for light, stretches the stems.
It is more convenient to bend it to the ground, pin it down and sprinkle it with fertile soil.
For the winter, it is advisable to cover with dry garden plant remains.
This work is carried out in the second decade of July. The flower should have enough time to root.
In the spring, young bushes are separated and planted in a flower bed or flower garden.

Self-seeding

The reproduction of garden violets by self-sowing is not bad. If for some reason the wilted flower was not removed, then the seed pod will ripen soon. It will open, and small seeds will fall in bulk near the plant. Under the shade of the mother bush, they quickly germinate and become a new planting material.

If they are not needed by the gardener for planting on the site, they should be removed from the flower garden. Thickened plantings are less decorative, more difficult to care for. In competition for nutrients, they lose flower size and brightness.

How to grow Pansies: video

Pansies are one of the first flowers that appear in a country flower bed. In spring, delicate bright flowers delight the gardener's eye with an exuberant variety of colors: from pure white to deep black with various shades of red, yellow and blue. In the center of the pansies there is always an unusual spot with a unique shape and color.

Since ancient times, various myths and legends have been associated with pansies. This flower is considered a symbol of love, fidelity and renewal of nature. However, gardeners love pansies not for beautiful stories, but for an unusual combination of colors and unpretentiousness. However, even such an undemanding flower has its own characteristics and secrets of cultivation.

First, let's figure out what we are going to grow: garden pansies, Wittrock's viola or garden violet?

Choosing between Viola and Violet to suit your needs

The affectionate name for pansies belongs to the flower viola, or, as it is also called, the tricolor violet, a herbaceous perennial plant from the violet family. There are 300 different varieties of garden violets, which are combined into 15 groups.

Groups differ in color and flower size, flowering time, bush height and other characteristics. Such a variety of varieties will allow even the most demanding and sophisticated gardeners to choose the right type for planting!

The choice of a variety depends not only on your color preferences, but also on the region in which you plan to grow and care for the viola. In areas with a warm climate, violets can begin to bloom as early as April, for cold regions this period shifts to early summer.

Most pansies are heat-loving plants that like diffused sunshine, so if you live in cooler regions, be careful when choosing a variety.

There are two of the most famous varieties of Viola:

- an annual or biennial plant with small flowers. The tricolor violet reaches a height of 30 - 45 cm. This type of plant is excellently self-sowing. Thanks to its well-known proven medicinal properties, this tricolor violet is often used in traditional medicine.
Violet Wittrock Is a perennial herb. It is this variety that can often be found not only in garden beds, but also on summer balconies in flower pots and pots. The flowers of the Vittrok violet can grow up to 10 cm, the height of this plant is 40 cm.

Flowers can be smooth or corrugated at the edges, monochromatic or mix a wide variety of colors. The Vittrock violet has many varieties, among the most popular are Alpensee with large deep purple flowers, Bambini with small yellow flowers separated at the spot by dark stripes that look like cilia, pure White PureWhite, Skyline Orange and many others.

Preparing seeds for planting

After you have chosen the variety that suits you, you need to think about planting. Pansies are planted on a flower bed with seeds or seedlings. If you want to see early bright flowers in the flowerbed in the first year of planting, then grow viola using seedlings. In the second year, planting seeds in the ground in June of the previous year will help to achieve early flowering.

In the first year, viola is usually planted in early - mid-May. To do this, make small holes no deeper than 1 cm, at a distance of 5-7 cm, put 2-3 seeds in each. After that, lightly sprinkle the pansy seeds with earth, be sure to water it, and mulch the surface on top to retain moisture.

You will see the first flowers 20 days after planting, that is, at the beginning of summer. If you choose to grow viola seedlings, you will be able to see the first flowers earlier.

Growing seedlings without mistakes

Novice gardeners are sometimes afraid to grow pansies on their own at home and buy ready-made seedlings in the store. You should not buy unknown expensive seedlings when you can grow your own without any problems. It is worth doing this in early February.

For this you need:

Prepare seedling containers with a fertile, moist substrate, which should be half sod or leafy soil and the other half rotted compost.
Before planting pansies, it is imperative to disinfect the ground, for example, using a fungicide.
After the earth dries up, make shallow grooves in it, put the seeds there and sprinkle with soil. Place the seedling containers in a dark but warm place.
The first shoots can be seen in a couple of weeks. When they appear, you need to expose the pansies to the warm sun. In this place, the air temperature should not be colder than 10 degrees.
When more than two leaves appear on the plant, you need to transplant the plants into separate containers. After that, you can briefly expose and temper the pansies on the balcony.
Feed the plant with any flower fertilizer once a week, but choose one that is suitable for violets.
In early May, seedlings can be planted in a flower bed.

When growing seedlings indoors, you need to pick the pansies twice. It is best to do this the first time when more than two leaves appear on the plant about 14 days after planting.

After that, it is better to place the viola in individual containers. The second time the seedlings dive in two weeks - 20 days according to the 6 by 6 cm scheme.

Planting and care in the ground in the country and at home

We described planting seeds of pansies in open ground above. Seedlings of pansies are planted in a flower bed at a distance of 20-30 cm. This distance is enough for the full growth and development of plants.

Violets grow well on soil, which consists of turf, manure, peat and sand in a proportion where the sand will be half the amount of other components.

Pansies are a very unpretentious plant, however, care is required for it. It is necessary to systematically loosen the soil, remove wilted flowers, fertilize the plant with mineral fertilizers and water often.

But first, it is important to choose the right place for the plant on the site. Viola can die under the bright scorching rays of the sun, but in the shade its flowers will be small and faded, so choose a place with diffused light.

Leaving the viola in the garden for the winter, do not forget to cover the plant with spruce branches, and open it in the spring to avoid damping.

The same rules for caring for a plant will apply if you decide to grow viola on the balcony at home. If you have a southern balcony, then in order to avoid fading flowers in the bright sun, try to slightly shade the place where the container with pansies will be located.