The viola plant, better known to us as pansies, is a member of the Violet family, which now has more than five hundred species of plants. In the wild, this flower is common in mountainous areas. Viola flowers have been known for a long time. Even the ancient peoples decorated their homes with them and wove them into festive wreaths. The beginning of the selection of this plant dates back to 1693. At the same time, various hybrids of this flower appeared. We'll talk about planting a viola and caring for it.
Description
Viola are small plants, the height of which, at times, does not exceed thirty centimeters. They can be annuals, biennials, or perennials. From the fibrous root system, the main upright shoot rises. It has leaves of various shapes. Flowers are not collected in inflorescences, but are single. Their diameter is very small - only seven centimeters. Talk about a variety of shades, perhaps notworth it, because they simply can not be counted. Viola blooms profusely. Depending on when the plants were planted, the beginning of flowering, as well as its completion, also changes. Some varieties can even bloom twice a year.
Viola tolerates frost well and can grow in the shade, but the lack of sunlight leaves its mark. The buds become 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 that name. In them you can buy, even with home delivery, a variety of bouquets and flower-candy arrangements.
Growing from seeds
Growing viola flowers from seeds is perfectly acceptable, but the seedling method is much more reliable. Therefore, it is better to allocate some time for planting seeds for germinating seedlings. If you want the viola to delight you with its flowering this year, then it is recommended to start sowing seeds at the end of February. Do not waste time preparing the soil yourself. It is enough just to go to a flower shop and buy a ready-made substrate there, designed specifically for planting violets. And also purchase Zircon or Epin to soak the planting material in its solution for a day.
In the soil, make small grooves into which you place the seeds. From above it is necessary to sprinkle them with earth, but not in huge pieces, but loose, best of all, ground between the fingers of the soil. Afterthis seed must be watered using a sprayer. The container with them must be covered with glass and placed in a bright room with a temperature of at least fifteen degrees.
Seedlings
Viola flower seeds will begin to sprout within a week after planting. With their appearance, it is necessary to immediately remove the glass from the container and move 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 is required for seedlings of viola flowers. It is enough just to make sure that the soil does not dry out, and apply complex mineral fertilizer twice a month. Any gardener can do it.
How to dive
There are two opinions regarding the picking of the viola and both can be considered correct. Some experienced flower growers insist that it is carried out twice. The first, according to tradition, when the seedlings have two true leaves and the second two or three weeks after the first. As for another opinion, there is a version about the need for one pick, and the second is the landing itself in open ground. The choice is yours alone. But it is worth knowing that the viola can be transplanted even during the flowering period and this will not affect its survival in any way. You can admire the first flowers already at the end of spring.
Drop-off time
You can determine the time for planting seedlings yourself. Much here depends onclimate in your area. Usually this process falls on April-May. Choose a well-lit area for the viola in advance, but without direct sunlight. There should be an 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 will need to mix:
- two parts of humus;
- two pieces of sod land;
- two pieces of peat;
- one piece of sand.
Every gardener should know that it is impossible to plant a viola in a lowland, because groundwater can stagnate in the roots, and this often leads to the formation of various diseases and rot.
How to plant correctly
Planting viola flowers is absolutely not difficult and even a novice gardener can master it. The main thing is to prepare the holes 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 planting, watering is necessary. It is necessary to remember for those who do not know: every three years the viola is transplanted to a new place and at the same time the bush is divided. Otherwise, the plant grows very strongly and the flowers become much smaller. As a result, the decorative look can be completely lost. As you can seenow the division of the bush has been added to the seed method of reproduction, and in some species even cuttings are allowed.
Rules of care
Besides planting viola flowers, taking care of them also requires some attention. 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 in the area with the viola. Water is required only as needed. If the summer is not too hot and periodically indulges in rain, then this may be enough. But in a particularly hot summer, watering cannot be avoided. Be sure to remove weeds, as they can suffocate already small bushes. And also control the process of wilting flowers. Such buds must be removed immediately so that new ones can appear in their place.
As for top dressing, once a month it is necessary to apply twenty-five grams of superphosphate or ammonium nitrate per square meter of beds.
Diseases and pests
Unfortunately, there is no plant in the world that would be completely insured against various diseases and insect visits. Viola, if she is properly cared for, will not bother you too much with diseases. And since planting and growing it is not so difficult, it is quite possible to ensure a he althy life for the plant. But if you don'tcoped with this task, then be prepared for the fact that a white coating will 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 may be due to the fact that the gardener chose exclusively nitrogen fertilizers for top dressing or carried out top dressing when the days were especially hot, and in the morning there was heavy dew 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 in two weeks you can carry out another treatment.
Also, violation of the rules for caring for the viola can lead to the appearance of black leg or gray rot. Especially often this happens with improper watering. There are no drugs for these diseases. The task of the gardener 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 a diseased plant is treated with foundationazole.
Rarely, but still spotting occurs in viola. This is a disease from which the leaves of the plant begin to wither and dry. There is no cure for it either. Sick specimens are not only removed from the garden, but also immediately burned so that the infection does not gain momentum. It is possible to carry out spraying with Bordeaux liquid once every two weeks for prevention.
As for insects, two types of caterpillars are dangerous: violet mother-of-pearl and clover scoop. Both caterpillars can completely eatleaves on your plant. You can destroy them. It is enough to spend a few sprays with tobacco infusion or chlorophos.
How to collect seeds
Seeds are harvested from viola flowers from August to mid-September. It's easy to find them. Immediately after the end of flowering, a seed box is formed in place of the flower. To understand that they are already ripe is also quite simple: the box simply turns up. The collected seeds must be dried already indoors, and then put in the refrigerator until the next season. The main thing is to collect the seeds in time, since the viola tends to self-sow. If this happens, then seedlings may appear in the fall or next spring. But there will be quite a lot of them, and you will need to do a transplant. This is a good way to make your life easier when it comes to growing viola flowers from seed.
If you have chosen a perennial variety 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 down to minus thirty degrees. Annual plants are removed from the beds immediately after the end of the flowering period.
