Newbie with a few questions

17 years ago

Hi guys,

I have been lurking here for the past week and now I have a few questions. I have tried to grow AV's in the past with no luck. Last week was my anniversary and hubby took me out of town to eat there was a K-Mart across the street from the restaurant and we don't have one in our town so we stopped off to have a look around. As soon as I went in the door I saw the AV display, my 1st thought was to just walk on by but something caught my eye...the most beautiful Optimara AV I have ever seen in a discount store. Now this beauty was not one of those measly little things they put in a pot too large it measured 13 inches across and had beautiful blooms white with little spots of a sort of fuschia on the petals which looked like they had been sprinkled with diamond dust. Well, how could I pass this up? Needless to say I have an addition to the family which sent me on a search that led me here. After lurking I have been bitten by the AV bug, in a weeks time I have 8 new additions to the family not to mention sucker babies and leaf starts. Now for my questions...I have searched for a good plant food with not much luck at all, we live in a small town so yesterday when we got to the my hometown about 35 miles away I stopped at Home depot and Lowes hoping I would have better luck...not so. Everything I have come across specifically for violets contains urea...miracle grow, shultz, I looked for peters??? but they didn't have it so I ended up getting Better~Gro Orchid Plus 20-14-13 NO UREA plus essential minor elements including trace amounts of magnesium, boron, copper,iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. I am hoping someone can tell me if this is a good plant food. Next question is this...I have read a lot on this forum about letting your water sit overnight to allow the chlorine to dissipate but I have also read from "experts" that if it is fit for human consumption it is fine for your plants. My question is if chlorine in such small amounts if harmful to your plants then why isn't it harmful to do the chlorine diluted with water (1 part to 15 I think) treatment to your plants that I have read about on this forum...just curious. Last question. Should I do a precautionary debugging even though I haven't seen any problems so far? I read on rachels site about putting your plants in a covered tote with raid saturated paper toweling overnight. I really don't want critters, would you recommend this treatment as a precaution or only if a problem arises? Sorry so long, I really want these plants to not only live but thrive...can you tell? Oh BTW y'all seem like a great group of people.

Thanks,

LN

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Comments (5)

robitaillenancy1
17 years ago
When a grower has a few hundred plants he/she will take great precautions to be sure no insect enters the home.

I would ASSUME this plant is in good health. If there are no insects crawling in the flowers, you don't have to pinch off flowers for two months.

If you have unpotted the plant to look at the rootball to make sure there is not root rot or any suspicious white powder from soil mealies, you are probably safe there as well.

The bleach 1 teaspoon to a gallon of water, I believe is to get rid of fungus gnats and this would be done once or twice only, not continuously. It depends on what your city is doing to the water to answer your question about allowing clorine to dissapate before use.

You sound eager to make sure your collection is healthy and bug free. For the moment, just enjoy them. I believe you will make a good violet grower.

The fertilizer should be just fine although if you alternate it with one with higher middle number you might get more blooms. I think a grower could raise AVs using 20-20-20 all year but I prefer to feed them a variety of foods with different numbers because of the trace nutrients that are important as well as the main three numbers.

Nancy
0
laneyn
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi Nancy,

Thanks for your response and advice. I have repotted all the plants in a light mix of 1-1-1 with a little extra perlite thrown in...all plants roots looked fine and I have seen no signs of bugs. As far as fertilizer, I haven't been able to find one with 20-20-20 or any equal numbers which do not contain urea so I will alternate the one I mentioned with Expert Gardner Bloom Burst 10-52-10...without urea of course. I have 8 plants now and I'm trying 3 different watering methods to see which works best for these plants. I have found this forum and rachels a really good source for info. I am going to try and include a pic of my K-Mart Optimara if I can figure out how.

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Thanks,
LN
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larry_b
17 years ago
Hi Laneyn,

Welcome to the forum! Nancy has given you some excellent advice. I also agree with needing to augment your fertilizer with another one with a higher middle number. The fertilizer you have is a little proportionately high in nitrogen. Since you live in such a small town you may consider doing some of your purchases mail-order. My favorite mail-order plant and supply store is The Violet Showcase. They have fertilizer, pots, saucers, chemicals; almost anything you need. You can look at their web site, but I would recommend that you ask them for a catalog. They have always been very helpful to me and will take the time to help you with your problems and questions.

I hope this helps,

Larry
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laneyn
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi Larry,

Thanks for the welcome and the info. I checked out the website it looks like a good one and the prices are reasonable. Each time I walk through the door with a new plant hubby just shakes his head, a monster has been created!...LOL

LN
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lilypad22
17 years ago
Just keep in mind that the reason most violets die is from overwatering. Don't keep them too wet. You did good to repot in a better soil mixture..(the peat the plants come potted in, holds too much water and the roots can't breathe and rot).

I'm glad you are trying violets again. Now that you know some tricks by reading the websites info, I'm sure you'll have better luck.

tish
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