i dont know..

but i would suggest that a lot of these plants are in tune with the inclination/declination of the sun .. and it might be very tricky to pull it off in august ...

also ... in my MI.. i would question ... whether i could get them to mature in the 60 odd days before first frost..

so i think the first thing you need to figure out.. is number of days to germination.. plus days to maturity.. then how that all fits into your zone ... [and in my case that also means.. being planted early enough that they dont heave out of the soil ... which probably means nothing to you]

i am just discussing variables for you. its up to you to try.. and fail if need be.. and become the new resident expert on this type of thing ...

for the cost of a pack of seeds.. why not give it a go .. if you can find the seed this time of year ... whenever i got these bright ideas ... i usually found all the seed displays of spring.. were mysteriously missing from the stores in august ... [of course.. that was pre WWW]

go for it

ken

I am wondering this, too. I found several packs of pansy seeds at Dollar General for 17 cents, and they say to start as late as August. That worries me a little, so I'd love to hear what others have to say. :)

you have a 17 cent package of seeds.. and you are waiting for answer.. my God.. waste the 17 cents.. and plant them.. lol ...

all packs have dates on them.. start by checking to see how fresh the seeds are.. but dont let that stop you.. do it ...

ken

Because I'd still rather wait to get an idea of what others think the best time is...I do research before I experiment. :)

but you might have them germinated.. before you ever get a precise answer ..

in my world.. open a pack .. and plant 25% of them.. and see what happens in the next week ...

i never learned more than thru experimenting ... of course.. back then.. there was no WWW to fall back on ... but i tended to remember my experiments.. rather than what i read ...

so what is 25% of 17 cents.. lol ...4.25 cents.. lol ...

ken

Your biggest problem is going to be getting a combination of enough hours of sun with cool enough temperatures to avoid cooking the seedlings. Temperatures over about 85 degrees make pansy plants turn to mush. A sunny window can reach that temperature even in a house with the AC on. But without enough sun you will end up with very leggy weak plants.

Commercial growers use temperature controlled greenhouses to start their fall offered pansies. And they probably started them in May or June.

Pansy seeds germinate in 10 - 14 days at 65 -70 degrees and darkness if kept moist. They usually bloom 65-85 days after gemination. I'm in Maryland near DC and I've had a lot of pansies bloom until December; sometimes these are ones that made it through the summer with lots of watering, sometimes these are ones I've bought and planted out in the fall to have early winter through late spring.

So I'd go with Ken here. Try germinating 25-50 percent of your seeds now in the basement where it is cool and then move them under lights or in a window and see what happens with them. Then sow the rest outside in September when the heat of summer breaks.

I think you may all be overthinking this a bit. As long as you keep them consistently moist and out of direct sunlight you should be fine. Try a pot outside in the shade and see what you get. If there's some kind of burlap or reemay type fabric you can cover them with until they sprout, even better. Moisture and shade will be key.

I noticed some pansies sprouting just the other day under the dried remains of their parents, forget me nots are sprouting too btw. Reminded me that I should get some foxglove seeds started now too.

Zone 7 and south should be fine with these planted out in the open come fall..... North of that I would cover them well with branches or keep them in a coldframe until spring.

I have started hundreds of pansies from seed every year for ten years or so. I start them in mid August. The first thing you need to know is that I have a basement with shelves and flourescent lights over them. I have also started them in my air conditioned upstairs, but I really prefer to keep the mess downstairs. Here is how I will do it this year. It seems that every year I fine tune the system just a little bit more. Oh yes, you should know that my target plant out date is the last week of October.

I start with flat trays (the kind you carry plants from the nursery home in) of plain old Miracle Gro potting mix. You will see all kinds of suggestions on these forums for making your own superior types. I will give you no arguments, but I have used MG for years. It works extremely well in my system, and it is easy.

I fill the trays to the top with loose soil. Then sow the seed liberally but lightly over the top of the soil. (I start about 1000 seeds each year. For this, I use two flats.) Then I cover the seed with a good sprinkle of vermiculite. I put it on heavily enough that you cannot see much of the black mix beneath it. Then I firm it all down well with my hand and water thoroughly.

Let it drain for at least 30 minutes. You don't want there to be anymore water coming out the bottom of the trays. Then put the tray into a clear plastic rubbermaid box with lid (or a large clear plastic bag, etc. You just want the moisture sealed inside). You should see a "cloud" of moisture form inside, but you don't want it to be too drippy in there. The key is moist, not soppy. Yes, I have invested in 20 Rubbermaid boxes. I start this many seeds twice each year, so I feel that I have more than paid for them in savings. I keep them stacked in the basement in between seed starting times and they just make the process so easy.

Then put the box into a cool dark place. I put mine in the back of the basement away from windows. Upstairs, I would put them into a closet floor. You will get a far better and faster germination from you seeds if you put them in the dark.

Assuming you started with good seed (some varieties are definitely easier than others. Ultima Morpho is my favorite for a high and easy germination rate.), you can start checking them in about 4 days. You should have a very high number of seeds up by the seventh day.

Once you start seeing seedlings come up, don't wait. Take the trays out of the boxes and put the trays under your lights (still in a cool place). The other seeds will continue to come up over the next several days.

Let them continue to grow on for another week or two until the seedlings have their first or second set of true leaves. Keep them moist, but not soggy. Usually, a good watering once every 5 to 7 days will suffice.

Then, it's time to prick them out. Don't skip this part. You will have far healthier seedlings if they undergo the mild stress of transplanting. Rhizo told me this and she is RIGHT. I transplant my seedlings into 4 inch pots, two plants to a pot. The reason I do this is I have found that you get a lusher fuller look in your mass plantings of pansies if you put two plants in the same hole. So, I just start them out in the same pot and will plant each 4 inch pot into its own hole.

For the transplanting process, I use a long handled spoon that is used for iced tea as my "trowel". It scoops out just enough soil for the roots, but don't worry if you get the plant with little or no soil. Just ease it into the pot and firm the soil around the roots. They will do just fine.

Then I put all those four inch pots into flats and under lights which I run for 16 hours per day. I water once a week, usually giving them a drink of fish fertilizer every other week. This is another reason I like to do this in the basement. Fish fertilizer STINKS, but pansies love it like no other I have tried, and I have tried alot of stuff.

I keep an eye on the weather and when daytime highs cool into the mid eighties, I watch for a few days of cloudy, preferably rainy, weather. That's when I bring the trays outside and let them harden off. Last year, I got them outside a good month ahead of the usual time and it was great. The plants really do like sunshine alot better than flourescents. And it's easier to water outside too. The important thing to know, though, is if your daytime temps are too hot even for 2 or 3 days, the plants will get leggy and your display will suffer.

This is a bit of trouble, as you can see. So why do I do it? First, because I enjoy working with seeds and I love being able to get any variety I want as opposed to the few that the local nurseries carry. And, I can get 20 flats of one kind, which had become a major headache the year before I began doing this.

Also, it saves a ton of money. Pansies around here are typically $14 a flat in the nurseries. Twenty flats would cost $400. I buy my seeds from Hazzards and typically spend about $70. Add to this a $14 bag of miracle grow and you can see it's a nice savings. Not everyone has time or inclination, but I can tell you it's fun. In other words, I have more time than money.

Last year I grew the Fizzy Series of Pansies. They were lovely, though not as spectacular as I had hoped they would be. I am going back to Ultima Morphos again this year. I get close to 100% germination from them, I love the colors, they make a spectacular mass of color all winter (when there is nothing else) and well into spring. No other variety I have tried can top them. I am going to back them with a planting of Red Russian Kale this year which I think will echo their soft lavender and pink colors. The pansies also have lots of yellow in them, which makes them show well from a distance.

Thanks! I think I am going to start some of them in pots outside in the shadier areas....then transplant later.

I strongly encourage you to keep them inside in a/c until your daytime highs fall into the eighties. Pansy seed is expensive....

Whoops, thanks! We do not have any area for starting seeds indoors, unfortunately. We have been in the mid 80s recently, but I m not sure how consistent that may be past the next ten days. It sounds like I should wait a few more weeks. I love the setup and detailed explanation you gave. Maybe I will be able to put in a heated/AC porch one day to do those kinds of things. :) Thanks for your guidance!

You could try keeping them inside (in the cool dark) just until they germinate, then put them outside if your temps stay in the eighties. You could bring them inside on days in the nineties, assuming there won't be too many for too long and that you aren't starting too awfully many. I wish you the very best of luck!

You are a genius...THANK YOU! I will do that. AWESOME!! I only have 4 packs, and they are pelleted, so they are not many.

Do I need to do the same things with violas? I think they are tougher so I can do them straight in the ground, right?

THANKS! :):):):)

If you want violas to bloom through winter of you want them from earliest spring, treat them like the pansies. I have a patch of tricolor violas in one of my beds that I just allow to come back form seed each year. I don't ever get blooms until spring, but they come back reliably. Of course, our springs are very long.

Thanks! We planted them yesterday. I put them in the garage (which isn't used for the car, long story)...our goal is to stay out of it and not open the door for several days, to keep it dark. :)