When and how to plant Pansies on seedlings: rules for the care and cultivation of Viola at home

Many seasoned gardeners plant pansies directly in open ground, but the seedling method of growing pansies at home is no less common, which makes it possible to grow healthy plants that will bloom much earlier and most likely even more abundantly.

Caring for a viola is not so difficult and painstaking, therefore, summer residents with a great desire to grow this flower on their plots.

Popular types and varieties of viola

• Horned viola (Viola cornuta);
• Viola Wittrockiana;

• Viola Williams (Viola williamsii);

When to plant viola seedlings

The timing of viola planting differs from the breeding method. Thus, there are 3 ways to grow pansies:

• Spring planting with seeds for seedlings late February - early March... The advantage of this method is that the plants will start blooming early and will decorate your garden this summer. Part of the seedlings can not be planted in the garden, but transplanted into pots or balcony boxes.
• Viola can be planted with seeds and immediately in open ground in the summer. This is usually done in late spring - May or early June. Flowering should be expected by autumn or earlier (in August-September).
• Planting pansies with seeds is common in the fall or even late summer (usually in August - early September). After successful winter rooting, the seedlings will grow, and flowering will begin almost immediately after the onset of spring.

According to the lunar calendar in 2021

Choosing the optimal date for sowing seeds can help you Moon calendar.

Viola can be either an annual (annual) or a perennial plant, each of which has its own dates according to the lunar calendar. However, most often (in cold and harsh winters), it is grown as an annual plant.

So favorable days for sowing annual viola in 2021 according to the lunar calendar are:

• in February - 1-8, 10-20, 25-29;
• in March - 2-8, 10-14, 29-31;
• in April - 1, 2, 5-7, 9, 17-20, 24, 25;
• in May - 2-6, 15-17, 20, 21, 25-31;
• in June - 2-4, 7-9, 11-14, 16-19.

Favorable days for sowing perennial (two-year) viola in 2021 according to the lunar calendar are:

• in February - 1-8, 10-20, 25-29;
• in March - 4-6, 12-14, 26-31;
• in April - 1, 2, 5-7, 9, 13-15, 24, 25;
• in May - 2-6, 15-17, 20, 21, 25-31;
• in June - 2-4, 6-9, 11-14, 23-25;

Unfavorable days according to the lunar calendar for 2021 for sowing annual and perennial pansies, the following dates are (days of the Full Moon and New moons, as well as the period when the Moon is in Aquarius, because it is a barren and dry sign -italicized):

• in February -10-11, 27;
• in March -9-10, 13, 28;
• in April -5-6, 12, 27;
• in May -2-4, 11, 26, 30-31;
• in June -10, 24, 26-27.

How to plant pansies for seedlings: rules and methods

Capacity and potting mix

You can sow and grow viola seedlings in any planting containers, it can be plastic and wooden boxes, cardboard and peat cups, disposable plastic cups, special trays and cassettes for seedlings, peat tablets. You can make your own containers, for example, by cutting off plastic bottles or milk cartons and other food containers.

When you think about the choice of soil, there are always exactly 2 ways. Buy a ready-made mixture for flower seedlings in the store or make it yourself. There is no fundamental difference, everything depends on your time and opportunities.

To prepare substrate for growing seedlings of pansies do it yourself the following components will be required in equal proportions:

• sod land;
• humus;
• peat;
• sand.

Then the resulting soil mixture must be mixed well and preferably sieved. Disinfect the soil it is possible by steaming it and spilling it with a fungicide (for example, Fitosporin).

Do not forget! To successfully grow any seedlings, including viola, proper drainage is necessary.

Seed preparation for sowing (treatment)

To accelerate seed germination and increase their resistance to diseases, viola seeds are pre-planted before planting. treated with growth accelerators... The most popular means for soaking before sowing seedlings are "Zircon" and "Epin".

Direct sowing

A step-by-step guide to planting viola seeds for seedlings at home in the traditional way is as follows:

1. Moisten (for example, you can still spill 1% potassium permanganate solution or phytosporin to increase protection against rot and other dangerous diseases), and then lightly compact the soil in the planting container.
2. Sow pansy seeds over the surface (some growers plant in shallow, maximum 5 mm grooves, and then lightly sprinkle with earth). Try to distribute the flower seeds as evenly as possible, for example, use a small piece of white paper and slowly sow the seeds around the edge.
3. Use a spray bottle to thoroughly moisten the crops again.
4. Then cover or cover with plastic wrap.You can also shove the container directly into the bag or put shoe covers on it.
5. Place the container with plantings in a dark and warm place where the average air temperature is kept at 22 degrees.

Video: sowing viola seeds for seedlings and germination results

By the way! Viola can be sown and on the snow... To do this, lay a small layer of snow on top of the ground and spread the seeds on it. The snow will gradually melt and pull the seeds into the soil.

Viola care after planting seedlings

As practice shows, friendly seedlings will begin to appear after 1 week or one and a half. Now you need to move the container from a dark place to a sunny window (you can even directly to the south one).

It is important that the soil near the seedlings is always slightly moist. Therefore, do not forget to exercise regular watering.

Important! The soil must be kept just moderately moist, since excess moisture leads to plant disease black leg.

After 6-7 days after the formation of the first shoots - the shelter will need to be removed, but first it is necessary to begin to ventilate the soil gradually, increasing the duration over time.

Pansies need 15 hour (+ -1 hour) daylight hours, accordingly, due to early sowing, it is recommended to supplement young seedlings with phytolamps or ordinary LED lamps, otherwise it may stretch too much.

Picking

The time for picking pansies seedlings comes when it has 2 true leaves.

Note! I must admit that viola easily takes root after almost any transplant, even not the most accurate one. So, young seedlings, whose roots were slightly damaged during the pick, may at first slow down a little in development, but then go into confident growth. Howeveryou need to approach the procedure with all responsibility!

If possible, try to dive viola seedlings into separate planting containers (pots, cups), or into a common container according to the 5 by 5 centimeters pattern.

The requirements for the soil do not change, unless steaming is required this time. However, it is recommended to add a mineral fertilizer to the soil mixture, which can be used as nitrophoska or azofoska, at the rate of 2 tbsp. l. funds for 4 liters of land.

Important! The roots should be free to stir in the hole. They must not be bent when filling them. If, nevertheless, they do not fit, then they should be pinched.

Viola seedlings that are too elongated should be buried down to the cotyledon leaves.

After transplanting, watering is necessary. If after it the earth has settled excessively, then soil should be added.

Video: viola pick

That's all! Now you can put the seedlings back on the windowsill or any other bright place where the temperature will be kept at 16 (+ -1) degrees.

Once every 2 weeks you can feed pansies are complex mineral fertilizers for seedlings, which include nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

When about 2 weeks remain before planting, then viola seedlings should be started tempergradually bringing it out into the fresh air. Try to keep the pots out of direct sunlight, otherwise young and fragile leaves may burn.

If you did everything right when planting and grew pansy seedlings at home according to the recommendations, then in the second half of May the viols will bloom, and they can be planted in open ground or transplanted into hanging balcony containers, pots or a high flower bed.

Video: how to grow good viola seedlings

When and how to plant viola seedlings in open ground

You should start transferring the seedlings of pansies to the soil or to a flower bed when the weather is stable outside (no return frosts), that is, in the general case, this falls on May.

A place for disembarking viola, as a rule, it is required well illuminated (but not open, otherwise the planting will simply burn), however, it is possible to plant near trees, through the crowns of which diffused sunlight will fall.

Priming for planting pansies must be loose and airy, so any will do, and it is not at all necessary that it be the most fertile land on your garden plot. For example, if your soil is too heavy and clayey, then add peat with sand to it, as well as a complex mineral fertilizer (about 35 grams per 1 square meter). Then carefully dig up the bed.

Recommended landing pattern and distance seedlings of pansies - 20 cm from each other. If you want to plant flowers in 1 row, then the distance between flowers should be reduced to 15 cm.During direct planting of viola seedlings on the garden bed, it is necessary to slightly deepen the root collar, by about 1 cm.

If you transplant pansies into boxes on the balcony or pots, then their volume should be about 1.5 liters per 1 flower.

The final touch will be abundant soil moisture around the new plantings.

Further care of the viola outdoors

Pansy care consists of the following highlights:

• watering;
• loosening;
• top dressing.

Video: growing and caring for pansies

Most suitable fertilizers for pansies are complex mineral supplements containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, that is, it can be, for example, nitroammofosk.

Worth knowing!Viola should not be fed with fresh manure. Flowers do not tolerate such feeding at all.

Pansies are very fond of regular looseningwhich eliminates weeds from planting and allows air to better penetrate to the plant's root system. However, do this carefully so as not to damageroots.

Prolonged flowering of viola is a guarantee of constant moistening the soil. Accordingly, if there is not enough moisture, then you will not have to rely on stormy colors.

To increase the flowering time of viola grown in planters or balcony boxes, as well as in the garden, it is necessary monitor and get rid of the seeds that are setting in time.

By the way! Pansies give self seeding. So don't be surprised if many new flowers appear on the site next year.

Concerning trimming viola bushes, it is highly recommended. For example, after the pansies have faded, they should be cut to 4-5 cm. After half a month, fresh shoots will appear, and the flowers will open again. Moreover, this procedure will have a particularly positive effect on flowering next year.

Thus, plant viola with seeds on seedlings and in open ground correctly, take care of the seedlings according to the recommendations received, and pansies will delight you and decorate your garden plot from spring to autumn.

Video: how to grow pansies