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Growing from Seed

Questions on growing pansies from seeds under lights

16 years ago

I want to grow some pansies under grow lights but should I keep the lights off till they actually germinate or keep lights on once I plant the seeds. Do they grow well and bloom under lights? I will post these on growing under lights forum as well. I didn't find anything that useful searching yahoo or google. Thanks in advance!

~mike

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
16 years ago
No light until they germinate and then they need the lights 16 hours a day. They won't all germinate at the same time so make sure you can move the individual containers to the lights as they do.

As to whether they will bloom or not - it depends on the amount and type of the available light. Blooming plants need broad (full) spectrum light to bloom. That usually means sunlight or halides which are quite expensive. Florescent light alone usually won't be enough. But you can get them to a good size for planting outdoors using just florescent light.

Here is a link to several previous discussions on growing pansies from seed with lots of info that may help.

Good luck! ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing pansies from seed
rokal
16 years ago
heavenlyfarm,

Pansies don't need light to germinate but light will not hurt germination. I germinate all my pansies under lights and have had very good results. I leave the lights on 24/7 until most have germinated. Thereafter, the lights are on for 16 hours per day. Having the lights on 24/7 provides consistent temperatures which is important for good germination.

It is not too early to start pansies. They need 10-12 weeks before planting out. I started mine last week.

Regards,

Rokal
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rokal
16 years ago
heavenlyfarm,

Here is a very good article on how to grow pansies from seed:

Starting with Seeds: Pansy

Regards,

Rokal
yuckadoo
12 years ago
Hi there!
I just got some pansy and viola seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds. I am wondering if anyone here can tell me when would be a good time to start them (approximate date) for planting them outdoors in the springtime...early spring. I am fairly certain I planted the ones I bought at Home Depot in early April last year. I plan to let them germinate in darkness, and then grow them under lights inside. Any advice on the process would be welcomed since I've never started pansies or violas before!
Thanks in advance :)

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