Pansies from the family Violet are an early flowering plant, known to many since childhood. In the scientific literature, this short flower up to 30 cm in height has the name viola.

Pansies - variety and varieties of culture

In the wild, violins amusing passers-by with colorful flowers have about 500 species.

Among them, the most popular in culture are:

  • The tricolor viola is a wild-growing one- or two-year-old herb, which is popularly called wild pansies. Compact bushes are represented by rounded rosette leaflets and flowers of white, blue, purple, yellow tones, forming on elongated peduncles. Flowering is noted from mid-spring to early autumn.
  • The horned viola is a perennial garden form of violet that does not lose its decorative qualities over a long period of time. Species varieties are distinguished by good winter hardiness. Flowers with different colors, pleasing to the eye from mid-spring to autumn frosts, have a rather large diameter of up to 5 cm and a pleasant aroma. Due to light dusting with other violets, which can threaten with the loss of varietal characters, one should not plant a species next to a tricolor viola or Wittrock viola. Famous varieties: Alba, Boughton Blue, Columbine, Hansa.
  • Viola Wittroka is the most common hybrid that can be easily purchased at a flower shop. He is the garden form of pansies. The bush of this type of viola is formed from erect shoots up to 30 cm high, covered with oval leaves with serrated edges. Irregularly shaped flowers with a diameter of up to 11 cm are painted in various, rarely monophonic, colors with strokes and specks. Some cultivars deserve special attention: “Swiss giants”, “Bambini”, “Rococo”.
  • Viola Sororia is a bush species with early flowering in April-May. Flowers of small diameter rise above the leaf-shaped heart-shaped plates. Popular varieties: Ruba, Albiflora, Freeckles.
  • Viola Altai - perennial up to 20 cm in height with flowers, the petals of which are painted in blue or white with blue stripes color, shaded with a bright yellow spot. A frost-resistant variety that can bloom from mid-spring to the very frosts.
  • Viola Williams is a brightly flowering hybrid with flowers of small diameter, which are distinguished by the absence of a characteristic “face”. In culture, the plant is represented by both bush and ampelous forms, which are often used in hanging planters or in flowerpots on the balcony. Famous varieties: Pearl Waterfall, Bengal Fire, Amber Kiss, Froze Chocolate.

Growing seedlings of flowers from seeds

In order for the flower grower to witness early and abundant flowering, in regions with a temperate climate, one should give preference to the seedling method of growing pansies.

Sowing quality seeds purchased at specialized points is carried out at the end of winter as follows:

  1. Seeds are soaked for half an hour in a fungicide solution for disinfection, and then for several hours in a growth stimulator.
  2. The seedling box is filled with a pre-calcined substrate from sheet earth and rotted compost.
  3. Seed is distributed over the moistened surface of the soil mixture.
  4. The container is covered with a film and moves to a warm, shaded place.
  5. 2 weeks after the emergence of seedlings, seedlings begin to gradually accustom themselves to life without a film.
  6. After a week, the protective film is completely removed.
  7. When 3 of these leaves are formed, the seedlings dive into a separate bowl, where they are grown before planting in open ground.

Outdoor viola planting

To ensure abundant and prolonged flowering of the viola, it is necessary to responsibly approach all the nuances of planting work, paying attention to the choice of place and soil.

Planting dates

Planting hardened seedlings in open ground, as a rule, is carried out in the second half of May, when the threat of return frosts passes.

Selection and preparation of the landing site

Pansies can grow both in sunny areas and in shady areas. However, the “golden mean" will be a well-lit area with slight shading, which will ensure the brightness of flowers and a long flowering period. Cute bushes with funny “faces” develop well on fertile, light soils with a loose structure. Before planting, the soil in the selected area is dug up with the simultaneous introduction of peat, humus and sand, which will help ensure all the required indicators of soil composition.

Important! Poor soils can cause a loss of plant decorativeness, which is manifested by fading, fading of flowers and is especially important for varietal hybrids.

Landing technology

Planting flowers in open ground is carried out according to the standard scheme:

  1. In the prepared area, holes are dug up taking into account the root system of seedlings and a distance of 10 cm from each other.
  2. Sand pit is added to each pit, which acts as a drainage.
  3. Then the bushes of pansies are placed on it and sprinkled with earth.
  4. Plants are watered, and the soil around them is mulched.

Pansies: Outdoor Care

Flowers of pansies are unpretentious and it is a pleasure to take care of them.

The correct watering schedule

A moisture-loving plant does not tolerate stagnation of water, so you need to set the correct watering schedule. In the summer heat, for the viola root system, which is located in the arable layer (up to 20 cm), it will be sufficient to receive a small portion of water with an interval of one day.

Attention! Moisture deficiency negatively affects the decorative state of the culture: the shoots decay on the ground to retain moisture on the surface of the leaf plates, and the flowers turn pale.

How to care for the soil?

In order for the soil to maintain a loose structure that provides free air access to the roots, after frequent water procedures, it is required to loosen it slightly, breaking the upper, airtight crust. Also, to prevent the rapid evaporation of moisture, you can cover the soil around the bushes with a layer of mulch from peat or sawdust.

Fertilizing and fertilizing flowers

Since pansies prefer fertile soils, they also respond perfectly to systematic top dressing.

Additional nutrition is carried out both by the root and extra-root method:

  • At the beginning of the growing season, plants are fed with complex mineral fertilizers with a nitrogen content.
  • To prolong the abundant flowering, superphosphate is introduced under the bushes, which can also be applied during soil preparation.

Caution! You can not use manure as a fertilizer for a viola, which does not like the increased fat content of the soil.

Wintering Pansies

The relatively winter-hardy winter, which is characteristic of risky farming zones in the Middle Strip, is not always able to survive a relatively winter-hardy culture without outside help.

To cultivate pansies as a perennial, you must:

  • avoid lowlands with a high occurrence of groundwater during planting;
  • protect plants for the winter with cover material;
  • carry out snow retention on the beds.

Protection against diseases and pests

Among the main enemies that often attack and destroy culture, the following stand out:

  • Spider mite. When a microscopic insect appears, the plants are treated with an insecticide solution.
  • Gall Nematode. Pre-planting tillage by adding sodium nitrate will help protect the bushes from being infected by the pest.
  • Smut. You can prevent the development of the disease using presowing seed treatment.
  • Leaf spotting. At the first manifestations of the disease, plantings are sprayed with a copper-containing fungicide.
  • Gray rot. In the initial stages of the disease, normalization of the irrigation regimen will help to suspend its development.

Breeding Pansies

Growing pansies is possible not only from seeds. Culture can also propagate by vegetative methods.

Cuttings

The procedure is performed in early summer:

  1. Cuttings with 2 to 3 internodes are cut.
  2. In the shaded area, beds are prepared.
  3. Fresh planting material is placed tightly to each other and deepened by 5 mm.
  4. After planting, the cuttings are watered.
  5. Rooting occurs in 20 to 30 days, depending on the variety and growing conditions.
  6. In late summer, young plants are transplanted to a permanent place.

Propagation by layering

This method of reproduction is also a fairly popular technique:

  1. Long shoots bend to the soil and fit into a pre-prepared groove.
  2. Layers are fixed in the groove with brackets and sprinkled with soil.
  3. A month later, roots begin to develop from the internodes.
  4. After complete rooting, the shoots are separated from the maternal specimen and planted in a permanent place.

Garden decoration - where is it better to plant Pansies?

Early flowering compact bushes have found their application in the design of landscape gardening compositions.

They are often used when decorating:

  • garden paths;
  • hanging flower pots;
  • alpine slides;
  • lawn lawns with bright greenery;
  • flowerbeds and a fence, where with the help of flowers luxurious ornaments are created.

Thus, pansies, distinguished by beauty and early flowering, will be a wonderful decoration of the garden. Moreover, planting and caring for such an elegant and bright pet will not cause much trouble for the grower.

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