How to choose and buy violets

HomeVioletsHow to choose and buy violets

Buying violets is a responsible business, because what plant you buy will determine how it will bloom in your apartment. Before choosing violets in a flower shop, read the recommendations offered on this page – they will help you make the right purchase. How to buy violets and when to transplant violets after purchase, you will learn below.

Currently, flower growers do not have a problem where to buy seeds or planting material for violas (unless, of course, we are talking about rare varieties or species little used in culture). You just need to figure out which species are suitable for the conditions of your garden, and which varieties will be most successfully combined in habit and color with other participants in a particular flower arrangement.

Buying perennial violets

Perennial violets can most often be purchased at large garden centers in the form of ready-made planting material: well-developed plants (often blooming) grown in plastic containers or pots. When buying perennial violets, pay attention to the label indicating the species and its basic requirements for growing conditions. In the absence of such data, contact the sellers for clarification or look at the catalog of this company or other reference literature.

When choosing plants, pay attention that they are not wilted, yellowed, that there are no spots or other signs of disease or pest damage on the leaves. If, after buying plants in containers, you do not have the opportunity to immediately plant them in a permanent place, then put them in a shady place and water moderately until planting.

When to transplant a perennial violet after purchase

Some types of perennial violets can be purchased from amateur flower growers, plant collectors, or in botanical gardens. In such cases, as a rule, bushes or delenki (part of a bush) with an open root system are purchased, so it is important to take into account the phase of plant development. For the most part, perennial violets perfectly tolerate the division of bushes and transplantation throughout the growing season, however, the most favorable for transplantation are the period when leaves begin to grow back in spring (mid-April) and the second half of summer, after flowering and seed ripening.

When acquiring such plants, it is necessary to ensure that the soil in which the dug-up plants sit is moist, and the leaves are not wilted. All shoots must have a well-developed root lobe. Delenki must be immediately packed in plastic bags or boxes and watered moderately, preventing the roots from drying out. Such planting material should be planted in the ground as soon as possible.

In some types of viola, a lot of time passes between sowing seeds and emergence of seedlings, so if you still have not sprouted a month after sowing, do not be discouraged and do not throw the soil out of the sowing box, but just be patient.

Sometimes in stores you can buy seeds of some species of violets. Carefully read the recommendations for their cultivation, since the seeds of some species, when sowing, need to create special conditions: stratification (freezing), scarification (violation of the seed coat), etc.

It is not uncommon for plant lovers to dig up their favorite plants straight from “nature”. Many ecologists and botanists categorically do not recommend doing this, so as not to impoverish wildlife.

If you still decide to transfer a plant from a forest or meadow to a garden, do it carefully, taking it in places of significant accumulation of this species, and in very small quantities, so as not to disturb the ecological system that has developed in this place.

Buying annual and biennial violets

Buying annual and biennial violets, such as Wittrock violet or horned violet, for example, currently does not present any difficulties. In any garden center, shop or stall you will be offered a whole set of seeds or already flowering plants of these species with all sorts of flower colors. What to choose?

First of all, decide what suits you best: buy seeds and grow seedlings from them yourself, or buy ready-made planting material. The first method is cheaper and more interesting for many amateurs, but rather laborious and requires certain skills and conditions.

If you do not have the ability or desire to grow pansy seedlings on your own, then you can purchase already flowering, ready-to-plant plants at almost any flower market. Of course, it is much better to purchase seedlings with a closed root system grown in pots or cassettes. Such seedlings take root more easily after transplanting into the soil, they are easier to transport and can be stored for a considerable time before planting in a cool, shaded place from direct sunlight. In addition, buying already flowering seedlings, you can immediately see its varietal qualities: plant habit, color and size of flowers.

When buying viola seedling cassettes, make sure that the plants are not stretched. Quality seedlings should look like a compact bush with one or more flowers or large buds. You should not buy plants with long shoots, at the ends of which there are relatively small flowers (unless, of course, this is a variety of ampelous violas) – you are unlikely to be able to create a beautiful flower garden from such plants.

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When purchasing a cassette with pansies, carefully inspect it. All plants in the cassette must be well developed, ie. be about the same size, be strong, not sluggish, with bright green leaves and buds or flowers and a moist earthy clod.

In addition, they must be free from disease (i.e. no rotting or dry spots, mold growth, blackened areas on leaves or stems) or pests (aphids or whiteflies can sometimes be seen on pedicels, buds or undersides of leaves). , and a whitish or cobweb coating on the leaves may indicate damage to plants by mites and thrips).

Also check that there are plants in all cells of the cassette. To do this, gently push the bushes in the middle of the cassette, and if you find empty cells or very weak, underdeveloped plants (which happens quite often), ask the seller to replace them.

In some flower markets in the spring, you can still find grandmothers selling viola seedlings with a bare root system, tied in bunches of several pieces and wrapped in damp newspaper or film, in the old fashioned way. The cost of such seedlings, as a rule, is much lower than that sold in cassettes, and the flowers look very large and attractive. If you decide to buy such planting material, then ask to open the bag and inspect the plants: the roots should be in a small lump of damp soil, and disease or pest damage should not be noticeable on the stems and leaves. Try to plant the plants in the ground as soon as possible, water them well when planting, and in sunny weather shade them with lutrasil or paper for a few days for better survival.

Propagation of violets by seeds (with photo)

Reproduction of violets by seeds is a more painstaking process that requires certain knowledge. When buying seeds, be sure to pay attention not only to the picture and the catchy advertising inscription on the bag, but also to the characteristics of this variety. Packages with seeds should indicate: the name of the crop (in Russian and Latin), variety (if it is a certain variety, and not specific plants), expiration date, germination, number of seeds in the package (in pieces or grams). Carefully read the description of the appearance of plants: their size, color of flowers, as it may not match the color of the flowers shown on the package.

When purchasing seeds, also pay attention to whether these are varieties or heterotic hybrids. The name of the latter must contain the symbol “F1”. From the seeds of such hybrids, the highest quality, aligned planting material is obtained, however, the price of hybrid seeds is much higher than that of ordinary varietal ones.

In order to prepare the seeds of Wittrock violet or similar species yourself, you need to know some of the biological characteristics of these plants. Violets seeds ripen unevenly, from mid-June to the first frost. When fully ripe, the seed pods crack, scattering the seeds with force over a considerable distance around. At the same time, the seeds of these species do not ripen well and have low germination. You can determine the time when you can pluck the seed pods by their size, color and position on the plant.

Only large ones should be plucked, in most varieties – brightened boxes.

As you can see in the photo: the violet seeds, which have already turned up on the stalk, are fully ripe.

If the boxes are directed downwards, the seeds in them are not yet ready for collection. During the mass ripening of seeds, boxes are harvested at least 2-3 times a week.

Dry the testicles in a dry room at a temperature of 25-30°C. The plucked boxes are laid out in a thin layer in linen or gauze bags or in boxes, necessarily covered with paper or cloth on top (when dried, the seed boxes crack, scattering the seeds far around). After complete drying, the heap is gently rubbed with hands and the crumbled seeds are sifted through a sieve, and then blown clean in the wind or rolled away on a plate.

In order to obtain high-quality varietal seeds of pansies, it must be borne in mind that this species is cross-pollinated, so the distance between different varieties should be at least 500 m. Of course, it is impossible to maintain such spatial isolation in a summer cottage, and this is not important if you want to get a population with different flower colors. But if you want to propagate a particular variety, then it is better to plant it in a separate area, if not 500 m from other varieties, then at least behind the house or garden. At the same time, one must also take into account the neighbors, who may also turn out to be lovers of pansies and land them on their plots. It is necessary to collect seeds only from healthy and most typical plants for this variety.

If you are going to harvest seeds from any sample, be sure to pay attention to whether it is a variety or a heterotic F1 hybrid. The latter often set seeds well, but you will not get high-quality, pure-grade material.

Many types of violas are well cross-pollinated among themselves. Therefore, when doing seed production, you need to carefully weed out the wild-growing field violets around and not plant varieties of other types of violets nearby.

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