African Violets

at the Violet Patch of South Florida

 

HOME AVSA CALENDAR HYBRIDIZING VIOLETS GESNERIADS

 

MINIATURE
VIOLETS

Click here to learn how to care for mini violets (pdf)courtesy of Lynn Wallach

 

Some African Violets need more light than others. The supermarket varieties are hardy and grow well in window light. Generally speaking, the darker the blossoms or leaves, the more light they require. Pale colored blossoms and lighter green leaves take less light. Variegated plants need more light, but cooler temperature to maintain variegation. Place these plants in the middle of a lower shelf on your plant stand.

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Buckeye Seductress

 

 

DISH GARDENS

Want to learn how to create and design a dish garden? click here (pdf)

Click here for samples of good dish garden plants. (pdf)

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Commercial Floral
Cart Light Stand

 

 

REPOTTING & WICKING

Rob's Gundaroo

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Violets growing tips...

                            Recycling Pots...

Now that you have bought your new plants home, it is time
to repot them. Actually, repotting never ends. Experienced
African violet growers will not let six months go by without repotting their plants, and some do it even more often! But
does this mean they have to be spending a fortune on pots?

No you don't, you never replant a violet in the same
soilless mixture it has been growing in, but you can re-use
the pots. However, they must be clean, clean, clean! Once
you knock off most of the old potting mixture, soak the pots
in soapy water. I add some Clorox bleach to the soaking
solution, and then rise thoroughly after a couple of hours or
more have gone by. Let them dry, and you now have a new
batch of pots for your violets.

Rob's Little Pueblo, Miniature African violet

     Window Light

When you grow a violet by window light,be sure
to give it a 1/4 turn each day so all parts of the
plant get light.

This variegated violet should go in the center
of the bottom shelf.  Make sure there is
room for it, the leaves should not
touch neighboring plants.

Violet Growing Tip

Should a rooting compound be used on cut
African violet leaves to help them grow? Some
people use them every time they start a leaf,
putting the compound on the cut end of the
leaf. Others think that these compounds are
unnecessary because African violet leaves root
so easily. Not always fast, but easily. The
rooting compounds may be intended for
sturdier, woodier cuttings, and not for the
softer leaves of violets, which find the
compounds too “hot”.

Instead, some violet growers use the “Super-
Thrive” mixture which is sold in many stores.
This is not a rooting compound, but is a mixture
of vitamins which have been pulverized into a
dark, thick liquid. All these vitamins are supposed
to give the leaf a boost. Some growers who use
Super-Thrive when repotting violets plantlets find that these plants often sucker more than usual.
      
by Peggy Madison

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