PANSIES FROM SEED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 82, 7 April 1934, Page 13

PANSIES FROM SEED

CARE IN SOWING. The day has gone when pansy seed was something in the nature of a speculation and the best of modern strains are little if anything inferior to named varieties, both in colour and markings. Th e habit of most of them has changed for the better. Many years of vigorous culling have produced a pansy with infinitely greater merits as a bedding plant than many of the other exhibition sorts. Good quality strains do not produce seed abundantly, and as a result pansy seed is, comparatively speaking, expensive. Do not be tempted, if requiring good pansies, to purchase cheap seed of mediocre strains. The difference in quality of the plants and flowers themselves is many times greater than the trifle added to the initial outlay. This piinviple applies not only to pansies but other flower and vegetable seeds. Good strains have much time, labour and money expended on them, to ensure good quality and also a good percentage of germination, and therefore the cost is higher than mediocre strains in which the same meticulous care has not been taken. Not only is it an annoyance to the grower to find little or no germination, but there is the loss of time in having to sow again, which may perhaps result in missing the season altogether. , The Excelsior, Empress and Covent Gardea strains of pansies - are three examples which conform closely tu exhibitors’ ideals of the fancy variety and produce enormous flowers, Engel mann’s and Roggli’s giants ar e also good both in size and markings. The last-named is one of the Continental | types which has found favour. In addition to the mixed strains there arc quite a number of named varieties, which can be relied upon to come true to colour. The main point to be watched in the actual sowing is the oid maxim “sow thinly. ’ Just how much harm can be caused by thick sowing, with the inevitable result of overcrowded seedlings, is a point seldom appreciated. Even a day or two of overcrowding can injure the constitution of the | plants, and once they are allowed to become drawn and weakened there is little indeed which can b e done to restore their energies. Pansies are precocious bloomers and will generally develop at least one flower whil e the plant is still little more than a tuft of leaves. These early flowers should always be nipped out, giving the plants a chance to develop size and strength. Once they have started blooming in earnest see that they do not waste their energies in the production of seed pods. Removing spent flowers may seem a tedious task but unless it is carried out, blooming will come to an end, and it is difficult to induce a fresh start.