Pansy

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

, Spider mites

Spider mites

Tetranychidae

Fine pale stippling in hot, dusty, dry weather. Visible webbing means you are already late.

, Caterpillars

Caterpillars

Lepidoptera larvae

Holes, droppings, and a pest you can simply pick off by hand.

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Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

, Parasitic wasps

Parasitic wasps

Braconidae, Ichneumonidae and relatives

Pinhead-sized, stingless, and lethal to aphids and caterpillars from the inside.

, Predatory mites

Predatory mites

Phytoseiidae

Too small to see without a hand lens, and the main thing holding spider mites down.

, Minute pirate bugs

Minute pirate bugs

Anthocoridae

Two to three millimetres, and both stages hunt — thrips and spider mites, thirty a day.

to keep them in check — plant CosmosGreat, GoldenrodGreat and African MarigoldGood nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Pansy indoors about 14 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in cooler soil (around 10–18 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 14 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in partial sun, spaced about 20 cm apart. Expect the first blooms in roughly 70 days.

Pansy seed rarely stays viable beyond a year — track what's still worth sowing.

Companion Planting

• 
  Winged bean
  

  Winged beanExcellent pair

  • ❧Winged bean fixes nitrogen in the soil that Pansy feeds on
  • ❧Pansy draws Bees and Bumblebees and more that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Winged bean roots deep while Pansy feeds near the surface — no competition
• 
  round leaf lavender
  

  round leaf lavenderExcellent pair

  • ❧round leaf lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids and Caterpillars that attack Pansy
  • ❧Pansy draws Bees and Bumblebees and more that improve pollination for both
  • ❧round leaf lavender roots deep while Pansy feeds near the surface — no competition
• 
  Spanish lavender
  

  Spanish lavenderExcellent pair

  • ❧Spanish lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids and Caterpillars that attack Pansy
  • ❧Pansy draws Bees and Bumblebees and more that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Spanish lavender roots deep while Pansy feeds near the surface — no competition

How to grow Pansy

1. Sow14 weeks before frost
2. Germinates14 days
3. Space20 cm apart
4. GrowPartial sun
5. Harvest~70 days

Water: Medium · Height: 20 cm · Soil: Moist, well-draining, rich