I am hoping that someone around here enjoys growing these as a hobby and can maybe help me out.
I’m not much of a plant person, being of the sort that sees something pretty, takes it home, and then if it lives, great!
Anyway, I do like the African Violet I bought a few weeks ago and now keep in my bathroom (lots of “diffuse daylight”)
It is growing little buds but they don’t open, they just kind of wither away and get brown.
Now I know not to overwater, and not to get the leaves wet when I water it.
I know the plant cost me little more than 4 bucks, but I kind of like it.
Is there anything else I should do?
It may help to know that my boss says his wife has one that hasn’t bloomed in 2 years
I’m interested to see if an African Violet lover responds. I have had to adopt numerous of my daughter’s plants when she left for college–meaning they moved from her room to the kitchen so as not to die of neglect. The African violet seems to be enjoying its new southern exposure from a foliage pov, but has declined to blossom.
Hi Mary! African violets can be tricky. They don’t like to be moved, and actually seem to go through an adjustment period when you first bring them home (or if you move them to a new spot in your home or repot them)-- flowering can be inhibited by that. You say that there is diffuse light in your bathroom, you may need brighter light as a lack of flowers can mean it’s not getting enough light. They like humidity, but not too high of a temperature too. They make special pots for African Violets, mine always do better when I use those instead of a regular pot.
Oh,yeah, be sure to remove dead leaves and flowers (stems too) in a timely fashion. And if you do repot, be sure to use a good African Violet potting soil.
I love African violets but have no place in my house with appropriate light for them at the moment. In the past I’ve grown tons of them. I read something just the other day that I thought was a good rule: the daylight in the room must be bright enough to read by. If it’s not that bright in your bathroom, the plant probably needs more light. I found that some of my violets responded well to bottom watering…set the plant pot on some gravel or small rocks in a shallow container and keep that container filled with water. The plant pulls up what it needs. The pot shouldn’t be sitting in the water, just barely touching it. This keeps you from over- or under-watering. They also don’t like drafts - you don’t want to put them where they’re in direct line of a heat or air conditioning vent.
I went to an African violet show a few years ago and was dismayed by the size of the plants - I thought I must be doing something wrong. I spoke to the specialist who was there to answer questions and he said the violets in the shown are grown under lights and pampered. Then he asked if my violets bloomed regularly. When I said they did, he told me they were perfectly fine. As long as they’re blooming, they’re happy.
This makes me want to go out and buy one or two or three…
Definately get the special pots - they are cheap, and simplify care quite a bit.
There is an unglazed inner pot that fits inside an outer, watertight pot. You fiill the outer pot half-full with water, add a few drops of african violet food, and put the inner pot in place. Doing it this way, they always have the right amount of water and nutrients, and you only need to water every week or so. I keep mine in our laundry room, next to a window that gets an hour or two of early-morning sun, with shear curtains to filter the light a bit (not a special provision for the plants - I just found a place that suited them.) As long as I keep them watered and remove the dead leaves they do just fine.
My grandmother used to keep hers in her bathroom, on ledges above the tub, but it had a large west-facing window (again, with shear curtains). Hers got big enough the room looked like a jungle pool. I tried the same in my house, but our bathroom windows are a lot smaller and a tree outside blocks the direct sun. They survived, but had the same issues you describe. After the move to the laundry room they really improved - the extra light there gave them a real boost.
Give them adequate filtered light and keep them fed - do that, and they’re very forgiving plants. Sort of the indoor-plant equivalent of geraniums or petunias.
Many years ago I visited a friend whose father loved African violets. They were incredibly pampered, kept in a closed room with humidity control and timers for the grow lights, special pots and special food. They were little things and only a small fraction of them were blooming when I saw them.
My mother has about half a dozen assorted African violets in assorted pots that live in her kitchen/dining room. There’s a big window so they do get lots of light. She waters them by placing each pot in a dish of water – I didn’t pay attention to how long she leaves them in the water and how often she does it, but she doesn’t leave them sitting in the water all the time. The plants are big and healthy-looking, and every time I go to visit, they are always blooming. I was so impressed that I asked her what her secret is. She said if they don’t bloom, she throws them away. I don’t know if violets respond to threats, or if it’s just natural selection at work, but she’s had the same plants for years on end, so she’s found some that just bloom. Maybe the secret is to find someone with a plant that blooms all the time and ask for a cutting of that one. (My mom’s in eastern Washington State if you’re near there!)
All good advice, except for the special pots and watering from the bottom.
I used to be in the plant business and would visit a commerical african violet grower in CT. Tens of thousands of violets set on tables in the green houses and they watered them with a hose.
Any 3/4 pot (3/4 as high as a standard pot at the same diameter) will do. They have no tap root and a shallow set of fine roots, thus they don’t require (or like) a standard shaped pot. You’ll almost never need a pot larger than 4" in diameter. Only report if the roots are crammed in and only go up 1".
I let mine get almost completely dry between waterings and just water it like any other plant. If it dries out all the way, it’s not the end. It probably happens to me 1 time in 3. Might even be good for it. Cold tap water may cause leaf discoloration. If I’m watering from the tap, I make it very lukewarm.
I feed them (and everything) all the time.
As indicated, don’t move them. Don’t move any of your plants if you can help it. Think about it - roots have many purposes. Plants don’t walk around to follow the sun. They stay put and adjust. They expect normal, day/night and seasonal patterns.
The more light, the more flowers, the longer they flower. They belong to a group of plants that will flower almost constantly in the right conditions.
They also develop suckers. You can snip them off with a sharp knife, dust with rootone and stick them in a pot. Just water and leave them aone. In three or four months you’ll have new plants. Or they’ll be dead. Either way it will be obvious.
How about a mixture on the watering? Here’s the paragraph on watering from a book I have on African violets (by the publishers of Sunset magazine):
“Bottom watering–putting water in the saucer and letting the soil in the pot soak it up by capillary action–is advocated by many growers, primarily because it is easy and it avoids the possibility of getting water into a plant’s crown. However, top watering–if done carefully so that only the soil is moistened–is not only just as effective, it is sometimes necessary in a bottom-watered collection. When water is taken up into the soil by capillary action, any salts in the water (and the fertilizer salts in the liquid preparations) will gradually accumulate in the soil to the point that eventually they could damage the roots. In addition, accumulated salts on the soil surface can cause stem rot. The only way to get rid of these salts before they build up to damaging concentrations is to periodically leach them from the soil by applying water from the top and letting it run through the soil and out the pot’s drainage hole. If you regularly water your African violets from the bottom, a thorough once-a-month top watering should be sufficient.”
It’s been a long time since I had any violets, but reading this joggled my memory and is a clearer idea of how I always watered mine.
My attention span isn’t too pretty right now, so I admittedly haven’t read everything that everybody else has said, so I may be repeating others.
I used to have African violets…and I had some of that stuff that you put in the water, it’s made especially for African violets. It’s like Miracle Grow, but I think it’s in a purple or red box.
Also, get fish take gravel, fill up a bowl, then set the pot on top of the bowl and water it by pouring the water (and the food stuff I already talked about) into the gravel and letting it soak up. It helps humidity this way.
I like African violets, but paperwhites are my favorite kind of indoor flower this time of year. They smell so sugary.
I did this when I had one…but of course, I ONLY had dead leaves and flowers so the removing was easy I have no knack with plants, which is such a shame. I would love to have a houseful.
Get paperwhites. You don’t even need dirt to grow them, much less a green thumb. For foliage, some types of wandering Jew are gorgeous dark purple and green, and never die (like Cher). I love cacti and mother-in-law’s tongue, too, for being especially easy. There’s a plant called a Jesus plant because you can kill it and it comes back to life. It’s easy to grow, too.
I have this hanging cactus at home that needs very little water and it has fuzz instead of needles and doesn’t stick you. This has been the longest surviving houseplant in our household.
It propagates easy by putting a clipping in water and then in soil.
I didn’t know this about Paperwhites. You can just grow them indoors in a pot? I would love to have something growing that doesn’t require much care. I always feel badly when my plants die
You can buy kits at garden stores (or even walmart) where you get a glass bowl/pot and pebbles, and the bulbs and instructions. You don’t need dirt at all, but I’m sure you could grow them like that if you wanted.
I have also kept wandering Jew for months at a time in nothing but water and a teeny tiny solution of miracle grow (1/2 teaspoon per gallon).
In fact, with regards to wandering Jew, if you see some at a store or in a nursery, steal a piece about 6" long and bring it home in your purse. Take off the bottom couple leaves (cause they’ll rot if submerged), put it in water and it’ll sprout roots and grow that way for a long time.
Wandering Jew (cause I realised that it’s probably actually called something else by most people):
Wandering Jew is the only name I know for it. Thrives on neglect. Remember to water it a bit every week of so. The more full sun, the brighter the colors.
“You say that you know not to get the leaves wet when watering… but are you watering through the top of the pot? This could be the problem - you may still be creating conditions for fungus (resulting in brown withered buds) if you are doing this. Try standing your pot on pebbles in a tray filled with water. This way the plant can draw the moisture up through its roots and it is in an area of high humidity but without water on its foliage.”
Most places, if you ask them, will let you take a little piece home. It grows profusely and often they don’t care. If they say no, then I’m sure she won’t go to prison for stealing 6" off a very cheap very common plant, or just buying a giant pot that she’ll have to divide again and give away the next year.
Prison cells aren’t actually dark. I have a relative in one and he gets Fritos every day. He even gets to watch tv.
The best place to get pretty rocks is a pet store. You can get plain ones and every color of the rainbow, including neon colors and pretty little marbles and stuff, too.
I don’t know if violets respond to threats, or if it’s just natural selection at work, but she’s had the same plants for years on end, so she’s found some that just bloom. Maybe the secret is to find someone with a plant that blooms all the time and ask for a cutting of that one. (My mom’s in eastern Washington State if you’re near there!)
I have no knack with plants, which is such a shame. I would love to have a houseful.
