5 secrets of growing viola seedlings from seeds

Low-rise viola will decorate any interior. It can be grown in boxes on balconies, flower pots, hanging pots, flowerpots. In summer cottages, pansies will decorate a flower bed, create a bright border along the paths. A few bushes will revive the boring patches of empty land. Breeders have bred many varieties of this plant - a wide variety of shades. If we consider that the petals of each flower have a different color, then using only pansies, you can create the most fantastic ornaments in the flower garden. Growing these flowers from seeds will not take much time and effort, they are unpretentious and hardy.

When is the best time to sow seeds?

Each grower finds his favorite methods of breeding ornamental plants. Growing viola from seeds can be done in three ways.

1. Planting seeds in open ground in early autumn. By winter, the grains will sprout, take root, the seedlings will overwinter under the snow and bloom in early spring.
2. Planting seeds in open ground in May. The first year of flowers will have to wait for a long time, they will bloom only by autumn. But next spring the plants will bloom again.
3. Growing seedlings at home. The method is good because no severe frosts and winters without snow will destroy the plants. Pansies will bloom early and will decorate the flower bed all summer. The remaining seedlings can be used for planting in boxes on the balcony and hanging planters.

The first option often happens spontaneously. After flowering, seeds are formed that fall to the ground, germinate, and bloom in spring. Unpretentious varieties that do not require special care can grow like this for years, renewing themselves from crumbling seeds, your only task is to feed and thin out the pansies. Use this method on empty patches of land, and effortlessly, you get green islands blooming all summer long.

To get early seedlings, start sowing seeds in late February. Purchase a special soil or other loose soil that retains moisture well. Viola will love growing in peat tablets... If you want to cook the soil yourself, mix equal parts of garden soil, humus and peat. Do not forget to spill the soil with a disinfectant so that no pathogenic fungi and bacteria remain in it.

For sprouts to hatch faster, hold the seed in a growth promoter. Moisten the soil and place the seeds on the surface with a distance of 1-2 cm between the grains. The tighter the seedlings grow, the earlier you will have to make a dive. You can sprinkle the sowing with a layer of soil about 0.5 cm, or you can leave it on the surface so that the sprouts do not have to break through the soil. In the second case, cover the container with an opaque material or put it in a dark place, because the light interferes with the growth of seedlings. Cover the container with plastic wrap and keep at 20-25⁰. Do not forget to remove the coating 2 times a day for a few minutes: long cultivation without airing favors the development of mold and pathogenic fungi.

Advice

You can sprinkle the seeds not with soil, but with loose snow and remove in a dark place. Melt water will moisten the earth, and under the influence of cold the embryos will wake up faster and begin to develop.

Care of young seedlings

On average, a week passes from sowing seeds to emergence. If after 10 days you have not waited for green shoots, do not rush to sow again. Some varieties take longer to wake up than others, and if you poured too thick a layer of soil or the soil is very dense, the weak growth will take a long time to look out into the light. Sometimes green stems appear after 20 days.As a safety net, if no shoots appear after 2 weeks, sow an additional portion in a separate container.

Further care for the seedlings will be quite simple, all work is reduced to 5 operations, they all begin with the letter P.

1. Backlight.
2. Watering.
3. Top dressing.
4. Picking.
5. Pinching.

As soon as you see the first shoots, move the seedlings into the light. Viola is not afraid of the sun, and in March the rays are not too scorching, let the seedlings enjoy the warmth on the southern windowsill. In early spring, daylight hours are too short, and many biological processes cannot take place in the dark. Install a lamp over the planting and keep the plants in the light for at least 14 hours, organize them more time for good development. For the first days, let the seedlings live in their usual conditions under the film, but every day increase the airing time in order to completely abandon the shelter in a week. Pansies can be hardened from an early age, at + 15⁰, start to take them out into the open air, and when the seedlings mature a little, growing even at + 8⁰ will not do harm, but only strengthen young plants.

Advice

Summer sowing can also be done with seedlings. Select a small area and sow seeds there in June, and transplant the seedlings into a permanent flower bed in August. Such a planting will help save space in the flower garden, and the next year you will receive lush, long unfading flowers.

Pansies are very demanding for proper watering. They love water, flowers need to be watered as soon as the topsoil begins to dry out. At the same time, cultivation in a constantly moist mass is also not to their liking - the roots will quickly begin to rot. Water abundantly and make sure excess moisture is drained from the soil. If the sump is dry all the time, check for clogged drain holes.

Picking

When the third true leaf appears, it's time for the seedlings to dive. Viola roots regenerate well, so don't be afraid if some of the roots come off. Of course, you should not specifically spoil the root system, but when you accidentally injure a seedling, do not discard it. With severe damage, the development of the plant may slow down for a while, but soon everything will be restored, and the flower will catch up with its peers. It is advisable to cultivate each flower in a separate container. The seedling cups should not be too small, but a diameter larger than 10 cm is also not suitable.

Often the stems of young viola seedlings are too stretched. When diving, bury the seedlings in the ground up to the cotyledonous leaves. A deep planting will encourage new roots to emerge from the buried stem. The plant's underground organs will become more powerful, and the upper part will be strengthened and will not tilt down. Pinch the top of the stem so that the seedlings do not stretch up, but become more lush.

Both planting seeds and growing seedlings after picking should take place only in fertile soil, so at an early age there will be enough nutrition for the plants. Feed the pansies for the first time 3 weeks after germination with complex fertilizer. Manure for viola is contraindicated; when applied, the stems can be affected by a black leg. The following dressings should be applied every month.

Output

Viola is a biennial plant, and in order for its flowers to decorate the flower bed for as long as possible, you need to sow seeds for seedlings at the end of February, and in May, after spring frosts, move to a permanent place. Already at the beginning of summer, the site will be decorated with tricolor pansies, their flowering will continue until autumn. The bushes will overwinter under the snow and will bloom again next spring. Even if too many seedlings grow from the seeds, it will not be superfluous: these flowers are suitable for decorating balconies, and for hanging pots, and for flowerpots.

A pick is useful for viola seedlings. Their root system recovers quickly and minor root injuries will not harm the plants.A deep planting, when the elongated stem is buried in the ground, will help the formation of additional root processes, the seedlings will receive more nutrition and develop better. To prevent the pansies from stretching out again, pinch the top of the stem. After that, all the forces will go not to grow in length, but to form a lush bush.

Viola is not afraid of sun rays or cool air. Seedlings can be kept on the south window and not shaded, and at + 15⁰ they can be taken outside. Growing in cool conditions will harden and strengthen the plants. Give the seedlings enough light, proper watering and regular feeding, and pansies will decorate your summer cottage all summer.