plantconnection blog: Winter Pansies

When it comes to sheer resilience, nothing much matches the staying power of winter pansies! Having been engrossed in plants and horticulture since a small child, it never ceases to amaze, how this plant can recover from almost anything Mother Nature throws at it. Even though winters are less severe than of old, not many plants, especially bedding plants have the ability to flower and provide colour upon emergence from a blanket of snow! As a child I always marvelled at how the bright coloured flowers, often with the characteristic dark blotches (or faces) exploded into colour when life seemed to have all but abandoned the garden.

As I discussed in my last article, I am currently preparing the autumn season production of young plants. Although as I write we are at the end of July and the summer bedding season is now reaching a crescendo, within the next month, garden centres will be heavily promoting autumn bedding. As you will be aware however, nature always seems to have its own plans regarding the timing of when autumn arrives, and with it, the first frosts. As a result, the summer bedding season often tends to go on a lot longer than expected.

What better way to fit into nature’s plan, than to grow your own winter pansies from plugs? This month I am growing Pansy Merit, which is a commercial variety produced for its wide colour range, reliability, and most importantly, low cost! These pansies will be ready for despatching at the start of September and are perfect for fitting into your autumn planting scheme.

Winter pansies are a hardy product and are just as at home when grown outside as they are in the greenhouse. On arrival, plug plants should be unpacked and set down, and given a little water if needed. Potting should take place as soon as possible to avoid the closely growing plants from becoming stretched, which affects the final quality and weather tolerance.

Pot so that the top of the plug is level with the compost in the destination pot / tray – the plug size we are looking at here would commercially go into modular trays, or an 8-9cm (3”) pot but not bigger. Any multipurpose compost will do, and I would whole-heartedly recommend one of the many peat free alternatives now on the market. Water, and set down somewhere cool and light.

When neighbouring plants start to touch, space the pots or trays if possible so air can get around the crop. This prevents disease due to humid air in the crown of the plant encouraging fungal pathogens. It is advisable for the first couple of weeks not to allow the compost to get too wet, especially in warm conditions as this can lead to root disorders such as Theviolopsis basicola or black root rot, as well as Downy Mildew and Grey Mould (Botrytis) . If under glass, give maximum ventilation where possible to keep the air dry.

After 4-6 weeks, knock out the plants and check the root development, you should by now have plenty of white root around the pot and your crop will be ready to plant. There are many uses for your pansies, and they will do well in tubs and containers, hanging baskets and bedded out in borders en masse.

Winter pansies are not that fussy about planting location although they do best in full sun or part shade as they will have chance to dry out in the short winter days. Be sure to prepare the ground before planting, forking over the soil and adding peat free organic matter to the soil to improve structure and remove compaction.

Slugs are one of the worst enemies of winter pansies but can be controlled using slug bait, picking off by hand or using nematodes. To avoid grey mould, remember to pick of dead flowers, this will also help to promote continued flowering!! Enjoy the display…

David.