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Re: Waiting for the Fall

> to start pansies inside and transfer them into the garden
> but don't know which month to start the seeds.  In October
> I see such nice big plants with plenty of flowers at the
> nurseries:  so when did they start their plants?

They are *very* difficult to start from seeds in the South.  They
must be started around *September* and must be started in darkness.
Then they need cool growing on temperatures or they will become leggy.
By cool I mean 55-60 degrees.  It doesn't even get that cool at night in
September / October, much less anyplace that averages that.  It's warmer
than one would keep a refrigerator, and setting up a light rack in a
refrigerator for them seems weird.  Perhaps a fan over some ice?

I discussed this on GARDENS last year and didn't really come up with
anything definitive.  My pansies grew but were not the huge monsters the
transplants are -- which are largely grown in Colorado and other cool
places, or in greenhouses with air-conditioning.  Also, pansies are
regularly dwarfed with chemicals, something I did not wish to do.

My advice would be to buy pansies you like, and only start from seed
those you cannot find commercially and to which you are willing to go to
great lengths to start.

-- 
Amy Moseley Rupp
amyr@austx.tandem.com, Austin, TX, USDA zone 8b, Sunset zone 30
*or* amyr@mpd.tandem.com
Jill O. *Trades, Mistress O. {}
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