I strongly caution AGAINST rain barrel water for african violets because it contains all kinds of "mess" from the roof run-off that at the very least alters the ph of the water and at the most contain horrible chemicals, sediment, etc that are not good for the violets. It works well for outside landscape and some houseplants but not violets or other gesnariads.

I applaud your 'green' approach to the violets and there may be someone here who can give you a recipe for fertilizer.

Welcome to the board, can you please take off the caps so your post are easier to read?

Dora

Thank you,Dora,for responding!I'm sorry about the caps mistake-I'll get the hang of this comp. thang yet-! Also,I was unaware that rain barrel water would potentially hurt african violets.The water in my tank is crystal clear and looks right now like you could drink it..I'm serious.. It's well filtered (3 times)before it gets to the barrel,so do you mean it would still have a bad ph and potential chemicals naturally?I really appreaciate your thinking because I had'nt thought of!I'm also new to this rain barrel thing,what with the drought we've had.So,thanks much!...still looking for that Food recipe..!Caren

Here's a homemade formula for plants.

BEER FORMULA

1 can reg beer, not light
1/2 cup epsom salt
1/2 cup ammonia
2 cups water
3/4 cup molasses
4 tbls of bloom booster type fert.
500 mg vit. B-12 crushed and dissolved
1 tablespoon to a gallon of water

every 4th watering, use plain water.

Hi Caren, if you use recycled pots and soil I think I understand the pots but what is recycled soil? also I would think it would be alot cheaper to buy your plant food then to make it.Terri

Well, if you are really into the recycle thing, and its really about recycle and not about the plants, you could use worm castings...if you live near the ocean there is seaweed. Maybe google to see if you could make your own fish emulsion. If you got the leaves for free, maybe someone will give you some fertilizer, it doesn't have to be violet fertilizer...people have been growing violets longer than there has been violet fertilizer available. Violets will lose lower leaves, they get old and you take them off so they don't sap the strength from the plant. The droopy is either too much or too little water. If you have raised them from leaves, you must have the water thing going good unless you have changed the type soil they are growing in. If they are blooming, they can't be doing too bad. PH is important, if it is too high or too low, the leaves will not grow right, you will notice in the crown of the plant, not the lower leaves. Also if the plant has gotten too cold it might droop. Thats my 2 cents! Hope your plants perk up and Good luck with your recycling!

Caren,
You can't filter out improper pH, no matter what the water "looks like". I hope that isn't offensive.

Recycling soil is also a pH matter, if you are using the recommend 1:1:1 ration (like the recipe promoted here in this forum and on AVSA) then it has a shelf life of just a few months and then that soil is done for (based on my understanding)

Propogating and growing violets isn't a millionaire's hobby but it isn't something (in my opinion) that is cheap. By the time you use the energy and time that it takes to make your own (if it was originally to save $) then you could have purchased a basic/effective violet fertilizer and put your energy into something more productive.

If your goal is the satisfaction of doing it all 'green' then it's not about the $$$. You mention both in your original post and sometimes, those two are not compatible.

I took a quick peek at my $$ that I've spent the past year and my fertilizer is the LEAST expensive investment that I've made but well worth it.

Glad you're here and hope you stick around.

Dora

Hi Caren, This is another thing I can't help thinking about the soil, to me one of the most important things in a violets life is the soil and I always want the best I can make for mine but if you are trying to save some money and you don't make your own soil you could buy the soil with the plant food in there already. There are quite a few brands out there to chose from.-Terri

Hey!and how yall doing?!I thank every one who has offered up feed back to me on my quest-AND,today,I just broke down and got some dang store-bought miracle gro..a 1.5lb box($4.50)at the dollar store.But to answer some of yall's queries,to sabrebuddy;re-cycled soil is when you take dirt from pots,window boxes,etc.that maybe had annuals or the plant died,whatever and you remove the dead roots by screening or by hand,into a dirt mixing tray/bucket,anything you can mix in and then you would add new stuff to it-I saw this on"IN THE GARDEN WITH BRYCE LANE"on NC Public TV.To ima digger;that beer recipe sounds interesting..is this something you have tried? To lilypad22;It's about both issues because like you said,people have been cultivating for centuries and made do just fine...I've had to make do alot with nothing and had to make something,so I do kinda have that in my blood.I get doubtful,though,so your words were encouraging! To sabrebuddy(Terri);I'm happy to know your name!and thanks again..I,like a lot of folks,do have to cut back on many things,so sometimes I overthink things!Plus,I have a lot of different plants to the tune of 100+ To Dora;you certainly have not offended in any way! I joined this forum to talk to others,be open to advice and hopefully make friends.I feel kind of isolated sometimes when it comes to having others who are as into plants as myself..heck,I had never been online before much less used a computer until my neigbor GAVE me this laptop because he thought it was tore up!Don't that beat all?!So,I am thankful how it's all worked out and now I feel like I'm part of a good thing! Gosh,I've been going on too much now,it's past supper time. BYE to all! Caren

I'm glad you got some better soil for your plants! It will make all the difference. When our plants are a little off, its time to repot. When people ask on this forum what is wrong with my plant and someone asks when is the last time it was repotted, the answer is often never or years or a long time. There are other forums on this site and thathomesite.com for frugal people like you. Trash to treasure is fun. Take care. tish

Hi Caren, you are amazing the way you can make something out of nothing. for all any of us know you could be raising prize winning african violets,some of us do put alot of time and money into our violets,as some of us show them in shows. you will have to learn how to post a picture of your violets so we can all take a peek at them. maybe your neighbor can show you how. until you post again keep on learning and do what feels right to you .-Terri

Caren -

I second Terry. Growing African Violets is not about how to make lots of them to grow for cheap, but grow may be several - but really well - so they bloom and make you smile.

They will survive in your recycled soil, they will possibly not die from the Miracle Grow high urea fertilizer (I would really use these 1.5lbs outside - it would be enough to water outside plants once every 2 weeks with a teaspoon per bucket for long long time).

But they will not perform as well...

Irina

Hi Caren,

This thread is a real hoot! I don't think I have ever read anything quite like it. It is certainly entertaining.

Most people on this forum probably grow AVs as a hobby, and like any other hobby there are costs associated with it. It's not the most expensive hobby that I have ever been involved in, but in order to be even halfway successful it requires a little investment. Probably the more you are willing to invest the more successful you will be.

Seems to me that you could probably buy fertilizer specially formulated for AVs a lot cheper than buying all the ingredients for the home made brew fertilizer and it would probably be a lot better for your plants.

Please let us know how those violets do that you stuck in the dirt that the other flowers died in. If you are successful in your methods you may change the entire approach to growing AVs.

Best of luck!

Curtis

Hi Caren!

I too am new to the forum. I too understand your "money hinderance." I have come to realize that once you've been "dirt poor" for so long a certain state of mind sets in very deeply. Though our finances are getting better (I am a stay-at-home mom of two) I still panic about money and feel guilty for buying new plants, etc. We don't have a lot of debt; it's just my husband doesn't make a huge amount of money so we budget it VERY CLOSELY. My husband finds it necessary for me to put money into my hobbies (especially plants) because it makes me feel good and helps me release the stress.

Believe me, I know the guilt you feel for buying things for your love of plants. You need (for yourself, happiness and sanity) to do it anyhow. Take a deep breath and smile. Now, I am not saying to go overboard. Save $5.00 per paycheck or whatever your income is. If there's something you REALLY want that's more save for it. I save our loose change I can use it for whatever I want. Whatever is in there I can use. If it's empty then sobeit. Pick up change off the streets etc. Sell stuff you're not using on www.craigslist.org. Clip coupons, shop by sales and pricematch for all your groceries. What you save you can use a portion of that for your need for Horticulture. You DESERVE it!!!!!

:-) Jessi

Hi, Caren -

Thanks for posting. I, too, am interested in cheap and "organic" ways to grow violets. I think we all need to learn how to garden in accordance with Mother Nature. Also, violets are an inexpensive hobby to begin with, and keeping costs down helps to make them available to all - which is as it should be! Having said that, I see a few problems with your approach. There is a reason why most people who grow a lot of violets don't bring in dirt and stuff from the outside to plant violets in. The reason is BUGS and DISEASES! Since I don't use toxic pesticides, my only protection against pests is to ISOLATE my new violets from dirt, cut flowers, new plants, etc. for several months before mixing them in with my regular collection.

To try to get more to your point, if I were going to try to fertilize violets using homemade methods, I would try to create an organic compost to plant them in that contained lots of good stuff -- like rotted alfalfa, composted manure, worm castings, blood meal, fish meal, etc. If I was collecting this stuff from my yard, I would compost it well (which kills a lot of things) and then bake it in my oven to sterilize it before using on indoor plants. This can make a stink, and I haven't even tried this in many, many years. However, it can and has been done.

Another problem is that like many people who grow lots of violets, I wick water my plants. This is by far the easiest way to keep them, I think. Anyway, wick watering requires a very light potting soil with 1/3 to 1/2 perlite mixed in. The above-mentioned compost would need to be mixed with a lot of perlite in order to be light enough for this watering method. The only way I know to get perlite is to buy it.

I don't think that using homemade compost is likely to save you any money if you count anything for your time, electricity to heat the stove, etc. If you can hook up with a violet club, you might save money by going in with other members to buy soil ingredients (perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, dolomite lime) in bulk, mixing it, and sharing the mixed soil among you. You could add some of your own sterilized organic compost to this mix to feed your plants. However, it would be easier to buy a small amount of African violet food for a few dollars. Most of the time, you will want a fertilizer that has 3 balanced numbers -- like 14-12-14. I even use Osmocote timed release flower food, which is 14-14-14. 1/4 tsp. feeds a 4" pot for 4 months. The cheapest way I know to grow good violets is to go to a violet club, buy a bag of their pre-mixed wicking soil and some violet food, plant your leaves, and watch 'em grow. That way, you can get started for probably less than $10. Enjoy your African violets!

Barbara