I Need a 'Professional' AV Growing in Fort Laud.

16 years ago

Are there any professional African Violet growers in the N.E. Fort Lauderdale Fla. area? you know, I mean a REAL intense grower that has been growing them and or showing them for years and years,and have next to no deaths in your collection?

I am not going to risk these 'operations'...so I am willing to hire a 'pro' to do them. I need my 'Winnie The Pooh' repotted and lower by nearly 3 inches into a nice new pot. It has a 3in 'turkey neck',and now it is putting out many suckers at the top growth point that need to be removed. I dont want to loose this plant. I love my Winnie The Pooh, it just got away from me. I did try lowering my last one,it died within days! I found this one and have been growing it for over 2 years. I know it needs to be repotted and lowered A LOT. I cant do it.

The second one is a HUGE Rebels Splatter Kake, that is tilted severely to the side,no matter how many times I turned it,I missed 1 week and now it wont turn back and go straight up. It needs work!, and also has a 2-3 in neck, PLUS a ring of suckers on the neck that might be able to be saved and planted?? I have been taking off the giant leaves of this plant, to make it stay on the window ledge, but it is so big I have to remove leaves as they get just to big!! and it is blooming, and it is THE splatter Kake I want!. I dont want to loose this one either. I cant find any plant anywhere near this size or quality, and have grown it from a 2 in Solo cup to this size for the past 2-3 years. It is over a foot from side to side and in bloom and full of suckers now.

I give up trying to get rid of turkey necks and do things like this. SO...I am willing to pay someone to do it for me. If they dont make it, I won't hold you responsable. But I thank they will have a better chance in a 'pros' hands. PLEASE...is there anyone here in the N.E. Ft.Laud.area? I need help ASAP. My email is on here, drop me a line and let me know how to reach you and bring you my plants. I hope this posting is allowed. If it isnt, someone tell me before it is deleted,if anyone runs the forum???

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (17)

bspofford
16 years ago
Floridabear,

Get thee to the AVSA website and check out the listings for all the Florida clubs. There are at least two 'close' to you in Boynton Beach and Miami. Not knowing all the geography of the state you may find something even closer. Go to a meeting and take your two plants and potting supplies, and they will gladly help you properly repot them. Then join the club! Tons of information, lots of nice people, and some clubs have very active leaf and plantlet exchanges. I would rather see you learn how to do it than try to 'hire' someone, especially since that someone will probably teach you for free!

Good luck, and let us know how it turned out.

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: AVSA website
fred_hill
16 years ago
Hi Florida Bear,
If you email me I can send you a few sheets I have written and pass out to clubs when I speak on AV's.
Fred in NJ
Related Discussions
Where to buy AV
Q
Comments (11)
Hi, Dianne, Like you, I have no vendors near me for named violets. I have purchased most of mine on e-bay. I don't know if it's the weather thing, supply and demand, or what, but there was stuff that sold today on e-bay that can be purchased for much less by going straight to the vendor. One example is Rhapsody in White, sold for 37.00, you can buy this for $6.50 in the spring from Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses. Good luck, and if you have an AV club near you, join it. A great way to meet people with your same interest, and a wealth of knowledge to be had. Check the AVSA website for any clubs in your area. Good luck, Barbara Here is a link that might be useful: AVSA website
...See More
AV Decline - Oyama Pots
Q
Comments (6)
Unless your perlite has a lot of small particles creating a "clay" like substance, it should have worked well in the oyama pot. It will "wick" the water up into the soil mix. If all you had was the soil in the bottom of the oyama pot, the soil would stay way too wet. Any time you think the soil mix is staying too wet, you should repot, adding more perlite into the mix...also I think 1/3 vermiculite is a bit too much too...there should be some in there, but probably not quite 1/3. Also keeping a little less water in the reserve might be helpful until your plant recovers. I use the regular sized perlite myself. The cold will slow down the blooming...plants do need a rest now and then too. I'm zone 7b and I grow plants in my windows, your area should be warmer than mine?...but all houses are different.
...See More
Just tossed 3 AV-s faster than you can say MITES!
Q
Comments (38)
has any one tried using praetor nematodes and praetor mites to control spider mite, broad mites and thrips. They are like little lions feeding on the pests, praetor nematodes live in the ground killing any thing they find and most of the pest live part of their live there. Thrips spend the first part of there live under ground. The praetor nematodes come in a little sponge that you cut 1/3 of put in a spray bottle of water and let it sit for a 1/2 hour, shake it up and spray the surface potting mixe and then water them in good. It cost $18.00and the 2/3 that you have not used put in the cooler and treat you plants ever 2 weeks till it is gone. They will live on the sponge in the cooler for 6 weeks. I also treat my plants with praetor mites at the same time , they like to find the bad mites and lay their egg among the spider mites and broad mites eggs . When the praetor mites they are hunger an the love to eat mite eggs. they come in several different ways praetor mites"NEOSEIULUS CUCUMERIS" come in quick release packets $1.99 and it is enough to treat 1-2 plant racks 4 shelves 48 in. long. You springily the product which looks (it is ) wood saw dust over the plants It is import to do these after dark. sun light kills praetor mites nematodes & praetor mites mites!!!! Praetor mites"NEOSEIULUS CUCUMERIS"also come in slow release pack $1.99, you but pack on each shelve and as they hatch they leave the pack ove 6 week periodAs a Added protection !!! They best thing is they very best Insecticides /Miticides likeForbid 4F Miticide, Avid EC Miticide and Marathon a systemic insecticides do not kill the praetor nematodes and praetor mites so you can still use them!!!! YOU CAN NOT USE NEEM OIL Why because it kills every thing even the good praetor bugs then you have nothing to keep spider mite, broad mites and thrips under control!!! The day beforetaking your plants to a show put NEOSEIULUS CUCUMERIS mites "in the slow release pack in your box with your warping- material and leave it there for the whole trip with your plants
...See More
Potting soil mix used when shipping AV's?
Q
Comments (8)
It is better to send an established plant than recently repotted. Any kind of soil will work if you pack the plant when it is barely moist, not dry and not soggy. Some sellers dry the plant a bit so it is less crunchy - and add a little bit of water to the pot before wrapping. Wrapping the pot in Saran wrap preserves the moisture and keeps them hydrated through the trip and prevents the plants popping out of their pots. Very important is make sure that is the plant is not moving and bouncing inside the box. I wrap them in 4 layers of a newspaper, sometimes more and secure it so it creates a wall. The newspaper or a cardboard should be secured to the pot, not to the plant. You need to fill empty space in the box with wads of paper, packing peanuts or air pillow type packing materials - so when you are done - you shake the box - nothing moves there. If the temperature is below 84F, you can risk sending plants without a special insulation -bubble wrap and layers of newspaper will work. If it is higher - you need insulation - styrofoam inserts you can cut to the size of the box - or fiber wall insulation. If it over 100F - it is probably worth to wait until the temperature goes down - or you can arrange the box to be picked up by your addressee from a post office instead of being delivered to the door. USPS.com has this option. Live plants should be sent priority, not first class. And there are some areas that give you shivers when you send the plants. Fayetteville NC is one of them. The plants come cooked to mush even when it is not that hot. My take - they keep the parcels for a day in these big trucks before they get to the rural post offices - the temperature gets to 130F inside. No amount of insulation is going to preserve them. Winter shipping is so unreliable - I do not risk it. Heat pads do fail both ways.
...See More
floridabear
Original Author
16 years ago
I'm not near either of those places,I am right in between,by MANY MANY miles, each way! I have written to you Fred. I dont know if any information will help me. I have killed all the violets I have tried to repot and get rid of the necks...and what about these big suckers on my Splatter Kake. Can I save them? How? what about the suckers around the crown on my Winnie The Pooh? Can I pull them off? Help!!!
m3rma1d
16 years ago
You can get off suckers with an X-Acto knife and/or tweezers.

What I've found helpful is to buy a coupla African Violets when they get discounted and sent to the clearance shelves at (like supermarkets, or big box stores like Wal*Mart or home imporovement stores like Home Depot or Lowe's) and then I have something to practice surgery and/or putting leaves down from, and I'm not out a really "beloved" plant or very much money if I mess up something. :-)
robitaillenancy1
16 years ago
Florida Bear,

With 3 inch necks, you or your expert will have to chop off the entire rootball, cut the neck to about one and one half inches, scrape it like a carrot and insert in really good AV soil less mix (1/3 peat moss, 1/3 pearlite, 1/3 vermiculite).

Then you will have to place a plastic bag or sack over the entire plant and leave it there for at least two weeks. This will provide enough humidity from the damp soil less mix to keep those bottom leaves from dying from the stress and shock it has received.

This is a pretty basic job for AV growers. Best advice is to find at least one AV club and join. You will soon be doing this just like the "pros."

Nancy
irina_co
16 years ago
FloridaBear - I found you the club pretty close - again - check AVSA local clubs for contact info.

(FL) - The Violet Patch of South Florida

Location: Broward County Extension Center
Location Address: 3245 College Ave
Location City: Davie
Location State: FL

Meeting Times: First Tuesday each month 7:30 p.m.

This place should be the closest to you. You can check with the contact person - may be somebody even lives next door to you and can help you personally.

Good luck

Irina
floridabear
Original Author
16 years ago
I tried to find the phone number of that violet society and couldnt find one. So I could hopefully find a member to do this for me or to help me do it. But I didnt even find the listing,now i have your listing...I will have to write to them and hope someone replys.
m3rma1d
16 years ago
I found this as the contact info for the Violet Patch club:

Jennifer Kellum
15831 SW 54 Place
Davie, FL 33331

Email: jskellum@aol.com

Phone: 954-434-4550

Maybe you've already tried her, don't know, wanted to post it just in case.
floridabear
Original Author
16 years ago
This J Kellum is unreachable...the email comes back as undeliverable..and calling the number, i get no one. I give up. I am going to hack away at my violets,and watch them die in plastic bags this time. no one goes into details on how to do it. Wet soil? Damp soil? Tightly closed bag? Open it daily? Keep it closed? No information. 'Just jump in and do it'. EVERY THIME I HAVE DONE IT, THEY HAVE ALL DIED! All i wanted to do was pay someone to do it. Someone must live near me and know all about violets and could do it and if they die, then I know it isnt just me! But no one will tell me if anyone is near me..i have told you all where I am at..reccommend someone PLEASE!!!!! Commercial Blvd and Andrews Ave. ANYONE KNOW ANYONE NEAR ME???? That would like the challange. What do I do with teh huge suckers on my Splatter Kake? I might be throwing out 5-6 plants. But no one says how to take care of them, what do to with them. So I will pull them off and throw them out, and probably loose 5-6 perfectly good plants! IF I only knew how to plant them up...IF it is possible, they are as big as the Splatter Kake was when I got it! But no one will help. So Tomorrow is beheading day. I give up. They die, I will buy new ones and do it all over again! What a waste of 2 great plants!
irina_co
16 years ago
FloridaBear -

regarding your questions:

soil should be moist, not wet. You can keep the bag closed, or you can let a small hole - the idea is to have close to 100% humidity. If you wet your soil too much - you will have the condensate on your baggie - you need to open the baggie a bit to let it dry. If you do not have condensate in your bag - you can keep it close. Plastic container with cover - like an angel cake box - is even better. You just keep your suckers inside and you can see what's going on.

Good luck - and keep trying, never give up.

Irina
bspofford
16 years ago
Floridabear,

Please check the AVSA website and Rachels Reflections website, they both have fairly detailed information that may help you.

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: AVSA
Randy Ritchie
16 years ago
Hi Floridabear and all AV lovers here,

Floridabear, I'm new to AVs myself, so cannot even begin to confidently perform surgery on your AVs. But what I can offer is this. I live in Ft Lauderdale also, off 17st Causeway, west. If you haven't linked up to a pro and have any interest, maybe we can learn together? If this interests you at all, you can pack up your printed directions off the AVSA website and Rachels Reflections website, or the ones kindly offered by Fred in NJ, and we can try it together at my place. I've got a big kitchen table and we can make a cuppa coffee or whatever you like, and just get our feet wet together. :-)

I am also new to AVs, precisely I'm trying the mini AVs. I do have a couple that don't look too happy right now (just arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago). Even tho this is Floridabear's thread it's helping me alot. I'm going to put the two laggers in baggies this morning to see if I can perk them up.

As for the AV club in Davie, sounds like fun! I checked Mapquest, and that one is less than 8 miles from here, very do-able.

Best wishes! Oh and Fred, if it's OK, may I mail you for copies of those handouts too?

Thanks everybody!
Girlsaylor
bspofford
16 years ago
Girlsaylor,

Yeah, this is what it's all about, doing and learning together. Thanks for stepping up.

I believe you posted elsewhere you did a liveaboard in Wash. state. I lived there for 40 years and still have some property up in the San Juans. Where were you?

Welcome to the forum.

Barbara
vall3fam
16 years ago
I will take on this project of repotting your violets. Please supply the following:

1. Round trip airline ticket San Francisco to Ft. Lauderdale (Jet Blue $457.00)

2 Two nights stay at Holiday Inn-Ft. Lauderdale Airport
($185.99 per night)

3. Per diem for meals and necessities ($100.00 per day)

4. Hourly rate for horticultural expertise ($75.00 per hour - 8 hour minimum)

5. I can be there as soon as next Friday.

Hope this works for you.
Randy Ritchie
16 years ago
Hi peoples!

First off, I never intended to hijack the thread. I'm learning alot, and even maintaining my sense of humor with the maternal concerns that go along with any new hobby and the learning curve, lol.

Barbara, thanks for the welcome to the AV forum. I'll be starting my own thread shortly, so as to monitor the responses, if that's ok. I'll try to not duplicate the same questions, so you kind folks don't feel put off for having to retype the same info ad nauseum, lol. Wow, that's a long stint in the San Juans! I am so glad to have had the year and a half I lived in WA. First we lived in Anacortes, had a house, with our boat in Olympia. Then DH changed jobs and we moved up to the San Juans, in Anacortes. One of the many high points of my time there was cruising past Orcas Island and ending up in a pod of Orca Whales! One breached (?) alongside our 30 foot boat with that awesome big eye staring me in the face! It was only a few months later we got a bigger boat, lololol. Another of the fun times was living next to Kenny G in Friday Harbor for a weekend. I absolutely loved Friday Harbor!!

Now then, Vall3fam, you have me rolling on the floor in stitches this morning! What a wild sense of humor you have. I'm afraid your prices are a bit steep for me, though I'm sure you are well worth it! Maybe I can interest you in some a weekend onboard, in the master cabin with your own lexan hatch, with a view of the mast, moon, stars. Then hang a line over the transom and see what we can catch for dinner. Or perhaps next morning a sunrise cruise with champagne and orange juice mimosas, bagels and cream cheese, fresh air with a gentle breeze, beautiful palm trees for scenery... All this for maybe an hour or two of the two of us playing in the dirt with my baby mini AVs?! I realize you are in CA in a beautiful climate and don't need to come here for our sunshine and balmy winter weather, but if I could twist your potting arm just a little....hee hee.

Fondly,
Girlsaylor
bspofford
16 years ago
Vallfam, you are cracking me up!

Barbara
m3rma1d
16 years ago
(off-topic)

Hey Barbara--I sent you in email, didja get it? :-)

I Need a 'Professional' AV Growing in Fort Laud.

Comments (17)

bspofford

fred_hill

Related Discussions

floridabear
Original Author

m3rma1d

robitaillenancy1

irina_co

floridabear
Original Author

m3rma1d

floridabear
Original Author

irina_co

bspofford

Randy Ritchie

bspofford

vall3fam

Randy Ritchie

bspofford

m3rma1d

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

I Need a 'Professional' AV Growing in Fort Laud.

Comments (17)

Related Discussions

floridabearOriginal Author

floridabearOriginal Author

floridabearOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

floridabear
Original Author

floridabear
Original Author

floridabear
Original Author