An experienced gardener grows his own pansies. The effort required is not great, but the result is even more remarkable: the home-grown pansies are more robust than the purchased plants. They also bloom longer and more luxuriantly.
How do I grow pansies myself?
To grow pansies yourself, choose nutrient-rich seeds and a shady location. Sow the seeds in summer and cover them lightly with soil. Keep the soil evenly moist and transplant the seedlings to their final location after 4-6 weeks.
You can sow pansies in the summer of the previous year so that the cheerful, colorful flowers decorate the garden and balcony next spring. If you manage to sow seeds by the end of June, you can expect flowers in the fall. If you plant the seeds in August/September, the plants will bloom in the spring of the following year. You can also grow the pansies for summer flowering indoors in winter.
Seeds and location
Since most pansy breeds are F1 hybrids, the plants purchased are hardly suitable for obtaining seeds. However, there is such a large selection of garden pansies and horned violets available in stores that deciding on a specific color is not easy:
- Classic colors: white, yellow or purple,
- Strong colors: brown-red, midnight blue or orange,
- Pastel colors: pink, light blue, vanilla,
- spotted, striped, flamed, edged, filled,
- with or without a black eye in the middle.
The location should not be too sunny for sowing. A nutrient-rich garden soil is suitable as soil. Germination takes about two weeks.
Sowing
When sowing, please note that pansies are dark germinators. A shady place is optimal. Cover the seeds lightly with soil and keep the soil evenly moist. After about 4 to 6 weeks after sowing, the seedlings can be separated. When the plants are about 5 cm tall, they can be transplanted to their final location in the garden.
Tips & Tricks
With staggered multiple sowing, you can ensure that the pansies bloom continuously from April to October in your garden or on the balcony.
