Violet cultivation

Viola spp.

HOW TO GROW VIOLETS

What are violets?

Violets are perennial or vivaceous plants that are grown in the garden for ornamental, medicinal or edible purposes.

These plants, generally small in size, are very decorative for their flowers, which can be of a wide variety of colors, depending on the type: red, yellow, violet, orange, white, … In recent years, these flowers are being used in haute cuisine to decorate dishes.

In addition to the violet that is known as a medicinal plant (Viola odorata), there are many other types of violets and congeneric plants. All of them have a similar flower, but they are clearly differentiated by the shape of the leaves and by the color of the flowers.

• Among the violets that can be found in gardening, one of the best known are pansies.

Next, we will see how to plant the violets in pots, and how to transplant them and take care of them according to their needs of water, nutrients and sunlight.

Characteristics of violets

These are perennial or vivaceous plants of the violet family (Violaceae) that can vary from 5 cm in height to 50 cm. Violet, white or yellow flowers with 5 petals. Leaves often heart-shaped.

There are approximately 500 species of violets that are found mainly in all the temperate regions of North America, Asia and Europe. Some species are found in the colder areas of Canada or Iceland.

Flowering of the violets: When do these plants bloom?

With suitable temperatures, violets can produce flowers throughout practically the whole year, except when it is very hot or in periods of frosts or persistent rain.

Irrigation and humidity of violets

• Violets need to always have a moist substrate. However we must avoid water stagnation which would produce root rot and the appearance of rust.
• In summer and in very dry climates, it should be observed that they always maintain the necessary humidity. This humidity must remain constant during the growing season.
• When the weather is cold or frost, watering should be spaced. It will only be watered once every two weeks or less in case of frost.

Violets: Utilization and varieties

Violets are grown mainly for their flowers. They are considered outdoor plant, although they can be grown indoors, in pots.

they do not benefit from stagnant air and excessive heat. Heating also spoils them quickly.

How to plant violets in the garden

A violet is an ideal flower to decorate parterres and in planters or large containers. They are used in flowerbeds for their ability to self-reproduce, covering the soil perfectly. They are very decorative, especially pansies, for borders in large gardens.

One way to use them very well is to combine them with roses, since they decorate the ground on which the stems of the same settle and their colors contrast with those of the rose. They can also be combined with tulips, daffodils or grape hyacinths, as they are plants that require similar care.

They can be planted under the trees as ground plants although, in this case, it is best to do it under the deciduous trees so that they can take advantage of the sun and light during winter and spring. Some of these plants have very outstanding fragrances that can be used to aromatize the garden.

Indoor violets

As mentioned, violets do not grow well indoors. If you prefer to use violets for indoors, you must use two species of plants that do not belong to the same family but are also commonly known as violets:

• African violet or Saintpaulia (Saintpaulia ionantha): Plant widely used in gardening, if you look at the flowers and leaves, it is clearly not a violet, but it has the same size and there are many varieties and very showy colors, which makes use with the same decorative purposes. It belongs to the Gesneriaceae family and comes from Africa.
• Persian violet (Exacum affine): It is actually a plant of the gentian family (Gentianaceae). It has a very small size, reaches a maximum of 30 cm in height and is very ramified from the base, acquiring a rounded shape.

Varieties of violets

There are many varieties of violets in gardening, as it is one of the favorite plants for the decoration of flowerbeds. Among all we have:

• Horned pansy or horned violet ( Viola cornuta): It is the violet from which most modern varieties come. It reaches about 15 cm. It has small flowers but very resistant to hot and cold temperatures and diseases. Flowers from spring to summer
• Australian violet (Viola hederacea): It is not as resistant as the previous one. It has reddish petals. It is a very suitable species as a cover of sandy soils. Can not stand the direct sun.
• Common violet (Viola odorata): As its scientific name indicates, it is a plant that produces very aromatic flowers in blue, white, yellow or pink in spring. Very common on the edges of forests and hedges. It reaches about 20 cm in height. It has heart-shaped leaves. It needs soils with a lot of humus and constant humidity. It is self-produced easily with stolons. It is the variety most used in natural medicine, for example for the preparation of violet cough syrup.
• Alpine violet (Viola labradorica): As the previous one reproduces by roots that are born from stolons. It is very suitable for parterres.
• Heath dog-violet or heath violet (Viola canina): From 15 to 30 cm, it produces violet blue flowers with white spur in spring. It grows mainly in sandy soils and semi-shady or shady places.
• Common blue violet (Viola papilionacea): Plant of 5 to 12 cm. Heart-shaped leaves and violet flowers in basal rosette. Very abundant east of the United States and Canada
• Heartsease, pansy (Viola tricolor, Viola wittrockiana): Hybrid species of four petals derived from Viola cornuta.

List of species of the viola genus (species of violets):

Viola aetolica Viola affinis Viola alba Viola allchariensis Viola alpina Viola altaica Viola appalachiensis Viola arborescens Viola arsenica Viola arvensis Viola bakeri Viola banksii Viola beckwithii Viola bertolonii Viola bicolor Viola biflora Viola blanda Viola brevistipulata Viola brittoniana Viola calaminaria Viola calcarata Viola californica Viola canadensis Viola canina Viola cazorlensis Viola cenisia Viola chaerophylloides Viola chamissoniana Viola charlestonensis Viola chinensis Viola collina Viola comollia Viola conspersa Viola cornuta Viola corsica Viola crassa Viola cucullata Viola cuneata Viola cunninghamii Viola declinata Viola delphinantha Viola diffusa Viola dissecta Viola douglasii Viola dubyana Viola egglestonii Viola elatior Viola elegantula Viola epipsila Viola eugeniae Viola fimbriatula Viola flettii Viola frank-smithii Viola glabella Viola gracilis Viola grisebachiana Viola grypoceras Viola guadalupensis Viola guestphalica Viola hallii Viola hastata Viola hederacea Viola helenae

Viola hirsutula Viola hirta Viola hispida Viola howellii Viola incognita Viola japonica Viola jooi Viola kauaensis Viola keiskei Viola kitaibeliana Viola kosaninii Viola labradorica Viola lactea Viola lanaiensis Viola langsdorfii Viola lithion Viola lobata Viola lovelliana Viola lutea Viola macloskeyi Viola mandschurica Viola maviensis Viola mirabilis Viola missouriensis Viola munbyana Viola nephrophylla Viola novae-angliae Viola nuttallii Viola oahuensis Viola obliqua Viola obtusa Viola ocellata Viola odorata Viola orbiculata Viola orientalis Viola orphanidis Viola palmata Viola palustris Viola patrinii Viola pedata Viola pedatifida Viola pedunculata Viola persicifolia Viola pinetorum Viola pinnata Viola praemorsa Viola primulifolia Viola prionantha Viola psychodes Viola pubescens Viola pumila Viola purpurea Viola rafinesquii Viola reichanbachiana Viola renifolia Viola riviniana Viola rostrata Viola rotundifolia Viola rupestris Viola sagittata Viola selkirkii Viola sempervirens Viola septemloba Viola septentrionalis Viola sheltonii

Viola sororia Viola stojanowii Viola striata Viola suavis Viola subsinuata Viola tokubuchiana Viola tomentosa Viola tricolor Viola triloba Viola trinervata Viola tripartita Viola uliginosa Viola umbraticola Viola utahensis Viola vaginata Viola valderia Viola vallicola Viola variegata Viola verecunda Viola viarum Viola villosa Viola violacea Viola wailenalenae Viola walteri Viola yesoensis Viola acuminata Viola acuminata Viola adunca Viola biflora Viola brevistipulata Viola canadensis Viola canina Viola collina Viola cornuta Viola cucullata Viola diffusa Viola epipsela Viola esculenta Viola glabella Viola grypoceras Viola japonica Viola keiskei Viola labradorica Viola lanceolata Viola langsdorffii Viola mandschurica Viola mirabilis Viola obliqua Viola obtusa Viola odorata Viola palmata Viola patrinii Viola pedata Viola pedunculata Viola pinnata Viola prionantha Viola reichanbachiana Viola riviniana Viola sempervirens Viola sororia Viola sylvestris Viola tokubuchiana Viola tricolor Viola vaginata Viola variegata Viola verecunda Viola violacea Viola x wittrockiana Viola yezoensis

Temperature and exposure for the cultivation of violets

• In temperate climates it should be left outside in semi-shade or shade. It can be exposed to the sun in spring, but summer sun spoils it.
• In cold climates during the winter it should be stored in a cold greenhouse or in a window eave with sunny exposure. It admits the possibility of being cultivated in mountain areas, taking into account that it will not flower in cold weather.
• Pansies can not stand cold as much as violets, and their time of flowering precedes them.

Reproduction of violets

Violets are very easy to reproduce because they reproduce themselves through seeds. Many violets reproduce by aerial roots that are born from the knots, extending along the terrain and carpeting it. If we want, we can also plant them (reproduce by division of rhizomes in spring or autumn).

When the flowering finishes, so that the plant grows again and produces flowers, the aerial part must be cut leaving some stems of about 8 cm. If you continue to leave the moist soil it will grow again the following year.

Care, types of soil and fertilizer for the cultivation of violets

They can be planted in any type of soil as long as it has a good drainage and does not remain waterlogged. If the land is fertile you do not need to use any type of fertilizer, although, to increase the flowering it will not be bad for them to use a little manure or garden soil.

It is also very easy to use solid fertilizer sticks that can keep the plant fertilized for 11 or 12 weeks.

Pests and diseases of violet crops

The main pests and diseases that affect the cultivation of violets are:

• Violet leaf midge (Dasineura affinis): It affects the leaves that do not manage to develop. You have to remove the affected leaves and spray the plant with a specific insecticide in late spring.
• Aphids and mealybugs: They develop especially at high temperatures. They need a specific treatment.
• Snails: Produce holes in the leaves. You can use some specific chemical or ecological traps such as put leaves of boiled lettuce to go to eat. When they are on it they can be caught. Another possibility is to surround the plants with some barrier so that the snails do not get close.
• Cavity Spot disease: It is caused by microscopic fungi (Phytium violae) that attack the stems, causing the yellowing of the plant and the fall of the petals. There is an infection of the soil that forces to plant the violets in another soil. It is convenient to remove the affected specimens, burn them and dig the earth to remove the affected roots. Other violets should not be planted in this field.
• Red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae): They are insects half a millimeter in length that produce degeneration of the buds on which they produce a kind of cottony cover that can equally affect the leaves or flowers when the infection is very important. They develop with very high temperatures. Requires a specific insecticide.
• Powdery mildew (Oidium spp): They are fungi that produce white spots on the leaves or buds. It requires that the affected leaves be quickly eliminated and a specific fungicidal treatment. It affects the thoughts a lot, especially when they do not receive adequate light.
• Gray mold : It is produced by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. It produces flowers with brown papyraceous spots that can sometimes affect the leaves. It is produced mainly by a lack of aeration and an excess of humidity between the plants as a result of having them too close together and spraying the leaves and flowers with water. The treatment must be done by removing the affected material and applying a general fungicide. Avoid spraying flowers when watering.
• Rusts: It is another disease caused by fungi Puccinia spp. It produces brown or reddish spots on the leaves. It occurs when the ambient temperature is very high. Its treatment includes the removal of the affected leaves.
• Ferric chlororis or Iron chlorosis: It is a disease caused by the inability of the plant to absorb iron from the substrate, which results in the leaves becoming yellow due to the lack of chlorophyll. It occurs mainly in limestone soil or with a high pH. It requires iron chelates to the ground. The incorporation of organic matter and the digging of the earth will allow the plant to be more capable of absorbing iron.

More information on violet.