The viola plant, better known to us as pansies, is a member of the Violet family, which now has more than five hundred plant species. In the wild, this flower is common in mountainous areas. Viola flowers have been known for quite some time. Even ancient peoples adorned their homes and woven into holiday wreaths. The beginning of the selection of this plant dates back to 1693. Then various hybrids of this flower appeared. We’ll talk about planting a viola and caring for it.
Description
Viola - these are small plants, the height of which, sometimes, does not exceed thirty centimeters. They can be either annual, biennial, or perennial plants. From the fibrous root system , the main erect shoot rises. On it are leaflets of various shapes. Flowers in inflorescences are not collected, but are single. Their diameter is very small - only seven centimeters. It’s probably not worth talking about the variety of shades, because they simply can’t be counted. The flowering of the viola is plentiful. Depending on when the plants were planted, the beginning of flowering, as well as its completion, changes. Some varieties can bloom even twice a year.
Viola tolerates frosts well and can grow in the shade, however, the lack of sunlight leaves its mark. The buds are becoming much smaller, and the flowering itself is not so plentiful. These plants are very popular. For example, in the city of Tambov, viola flowers have become a real inspiration for entrepreneurs. They opened a whole network of flower shops with the same name. In them you can buy, even with home delivery, a wide variety of bouquets and flower and candy compositions.
Seed cultivation
Growing viola flowers from seeds is quite acceptable, but the seedling method is much more reliable. Therefore, it is better to devote a little time to planting seeds for germinating seedlings. If you want the viola to please you with its flowering this year, it is recommended to start sowing seeds at the end of February. You should not spend time on your own preparing the soil. Simply go to a flower shop and buy there a ready-made substrate, designed specifically for planting violets. And also purchase Zircon or Epin to soak planting material in its solution for a day.
In the ground, make small grooves in which to place the seeds. From above, it is necessary to sprinkle them with earth, but not in huge pieces, but in loose, best rubbed soil between the fingers. After this, the seeds must be watered using a sprayer. The container with them must be covered with glass and put in a bright room with a temperature of at least fifteen degrees.
Seedlings
Viola flower seeds will begin to emerge a week after planting. With their appearance, it is necessary to immediately remove the glass from the container and transfer it to another place where there will be a lot of sunlight, but without direct rays, and the air temperature should be reduced to ten degrees. Now, no special care for seedlings of viola flowers is required. It is enough just to ensure that the soil does not dry out, and to apply complex mineral fertilizer twice a month. It is within the power of any gardener.
How to dive
There are two opinions regarding the viola pick and both can be considered correct. Some experienced flower growers insist that it is carried out twice. The first, according to tradition, when there are two true leaves on the seedlings and the second two or three weeks after the first. As for another opinion, there is a version about the need for one dive, and the second is the landing in open ground itself. Choose exclusively for you. But you should know that the viola can be transplanted even during the flowering period and this will not affect its survival in any way. You will be able to admire the first flowers already at the end of spring.
Disembarkation time
You can determine the time of planting seedlings yourself. Much depends on the climate in your area. Usually this process falls on April-May. Pick up a well-lit area for the viola in advance, but without direct sunlight. Here should be the optimal composition of the soil. But before landing, some additions to it will be required. It will be necessary to add 2 parts of crushed coal to one part of the earth. This is required for drainage. It is also recommended to add the same amount of dry bird droppings or humus. You can try to make the soil with the necessary composition yourself. For this you need to mix:
- two parts of humus;
- two parts of turf land;
- two parts of peat;
- one piece of sand.
Every gardener should know that it is impossible to plant a viola in a lowland, since groundwater can stagnate in the roots, and this often leads to the formation of various diseases and rot.
How to plant
Planting viola flowers is absolutely not difficult and even a beginner gardener can master it. The main thing is to prepare the wells in advance at a distance of fifteen centimeters from each other. After preparation, ready-made seedlings are placed in them and sprinkled with earth a little, slightly compacting it. After landing, watering is necessary. It is necessary to remember those who do not know: every three years the viola is transplanted to a new place and at the same time they are dividing the bush. Otherwise, the plant grows very much and the flowers become much smaller. As a result, the decorative appearance of the species may be completely lost. As you can see, now the division of the bush has also been added to the seed method of reproduction, and in some species even cuttings are allowed.
Care Rules
Besides planting viola flowers, caring for them also requires some attention. Please note that the fibrous root system of the viola is located at a depth of only twenty centimeters from the surface of the earth. This suggests that the soil here should always be moist. After each watering, it is necessary to loosen and remove weeds, but very carefully so as not to damage the roots.
It is not necessary to fill the plot with the viola. Water is only required as needed. If summer is not too hot and occasionally pampers with rains, then this may be enough. But in a particularly hot summer, watering can not be avoided. Be sure to remove the weeds, as they can strangle the already small bushes. And also control the process of withering flowers. Such buds must be removed immediately so that new ones can appear in their place.
As for feeding, once a month you need to make twenty-five grams of superphosphate or ammonium nitrate per square meter of beds.
Diseases and Pests
Unfortunately, in the world there is no plant that would be completely insured against various diseases and insect visits. Viola, if she is provided with proper care, will not bother you with diseases too much. And since planting and growing it is not so difficult, it is quite possible to ensure a healthy life for the plant. But if you have not completed this task, then be prepared for a white coating to appear on the leaves, stems, buds and even flowers. This is how powdery mildew manifests itself. The disease is quite common among garden plants. In this case, it can be caused by the fact that the gardener chose only nitrogen fertilizers for dressing or carried out dressing when the days were especially sultry, and in the morning, plentiful dew lay on the plants. Powdery mildew can be cured. To do this, spraying with foundationazole or ground sulfur is carried out. After processing the plants, monitor their condition, if the disease does not recede, then after two weeks you can conduct another treatment.
Also, violation of the viola care rules can lead to the appearance of a black leg or gray rot. Especially often this happens with improper watering. There are no drugs for these diseases. The gardener’s task is to quickly find the cause of the disease and eliminate it, as well as remove all affected plants from the garden to prevent the spread of the virus. The soil after the diseased plant is treated with foundationazole.
Rarely, but still, spotting occurs on the viola. This is a disease from which the plants begin to fade and dry the leaves. There is no cure for it either. Sick specimens are not only removed from the beds, but also burned immediately so that the infection does not scale. It is possible to prevent spraying with Bordeaux liquid once every two weeks.
As for insects, the danger is two kinds of caterpillars: violet nacre and clover scoop. Both caterpillars can completely eat leaves on your plant. You can destroy them. It is enough to carry out several sprayings with infusion of tobacco or chlorophos.
How to collect seeds
Seeds are collected from viola flowers from August to mid-September. Finding them is easy. Immediately after flowering, a seed box forms in place of the flower. To understand that they have already matured is also quite simple: the box just turns up. The collected seeds must be dried already in the room, and then put in the refrigerator until the next season. The main thing is to collect the seeds in time, since the viola has a tendency to self-sowing. If this happens, then seedlings may appear in the fall or next spring. But there will be quite a lot of them, and a transplant will need to be done. This is a good way to make your life easier on the issue of growing viola flowers from seeds.
If you have chosen a long-term grade of viola, then for the winter it will need to be covered so as not to freeze. But do not worry: the viola is able to withstand frosts to minus thirty degrees. Annual plants are removed from the beds immediately after the end of the flowering period.