Violet rescue !!!!

19 years ago

My husband and I recently rescued many plants from the dumpster of a local store. We wanted the pots. Well once we got them home most where just in need of TLC. We cleaned them up and put them under lights and now 4 weeks later we have close to 50 generic violets bursting from thier pots. I am taking all with buds to a local nursing home to be used for Mothers day gifts, but have lots of plants that would be all to happy to share a leaf or two. They are in shades of pink, purple and white.

I will send groups of three(one of each color) for a SASE or if by chance any one can spare a leaf from any episcia or strep I would love it. My mom while staying with us hung all of my Episcias outdoors, she hated the way they shed, she forgot to bring them in and all where killed. I can spare a few leaves from my midnight blue strep if anyone has another variety to share.

Thanks

Brenda

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Comments (11)

LadyBrasa
19 years ago
Dear Brenda,
What a great rescue!! I don't think I can access the dumpster at the places that sell AVs locally. Its such a shame!! You are an AV angel. The poor things are living beings, too.
I am curious if you have any that are light blue, light lavender, girl leaf, variegated, or fantasy? I might be interested in a few leaves if you have them. Do you have any idea if they are Anthoflores, Optimara, or something else?
Thanks,
Rebecca
razz
19 years ago
Hi,
I have strep country girl. I would love a leaf off of your midnight blue.
razz
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Welcome from Lurkdom! Your plants look healthy. Your multi-colored one is doing either what is called "sporting" or mutating from one bloom presentation to another (frequently from multicolored to solid), or "reversion" where it starts to look like an ancestor. Sporting is extremely common with African Violets. Since eventually all of the blooms will probably look alike, growers often try to restart a plant with the look they like by using a leaf under the bloom they want to keep or setting a bloomstalk. Since you are a beginner I put in a link below for Rachael's Reflections, a website that has lots of good information. Another site that I like is The Violet Barn's illustrated How to Lessons at http://www.robsviolet.com/lessons/lessons.htm . Pictures are really helpful to me! Here is a link that might be useful: Rachael's Reflections
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Ann, Fred is absolutley right about isolating new plants, regardless where they came from. Squatty pots can be ordered from Cape Cod Violetry. They don't have a website, but you can email John Cook at violets@cape.com, and he will e-mail you a catalog. Also, check out the AVSA website at avsa.org. There are two areas for you to browse through to find clubs and vendors close to you. Under 'affilliates', check your state and neighboring states for any clubs. If you find any within driving distance, I encourage you to go. They always welcome new lpeople, and have many leaves, plants, and much knowledge to share. It is also coming up on the time of year for AV shows, and they usually have leaves, plants, and supplies for sale. Aslo, check the 'vendors' for the your area while on the AVSA website. Then, go to the 'photographs', and eat your heart out! lol Then, go to your local library and see if they have any violet books. If not, hopefully they are linked to other libraries in the area and can order them for you. If not, I would suggest buying a good reference book on growing. Two that I recommend are 'Growing to Show' by Pauline Bartholomew, and 'YOU CAN Grow African Violets' by Kent and Joyce Stork. Both have very good basic information but also take it a step further. Good luck. Barbara Here is a link that might be useful: African Violet Society of America
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Hi Seth, Heres some info on the basic care of AV's, If you have any questions you can ask them here or email me privately. Fred in NJ Some basic African violet care 1. African violets are very much like human beings. They prefer growing in similar conditions. The plants prefer temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humidity of approximately 50%. They enjoy bright indirect light as opposed to direct sunlight. 2. African violets grow well in light airy soil less mixes. The mix should be one that allows the roots to penetrate to the edge of the pot. It should not be so heavy that it retains so much water to make the mix soggy. More African violets are killed by over watering than any other method. A simple recipe that many growers use is equal parts of peat moss (or potting soil without any fertilizer), coarse vermiculite and coarse perlite. A handful of horticultural charcoal may be added to sweeten the mix if desired. 3. Light plays an important part in violet culture. Plants need between 10 and 12 hours of indirect light a day. This may be obtained either naturally or by artificial means. East or west exposures are good. Northern windows frequently are not strong enough but can be adequate if some artificial light is added to extend the light period. Southern exposures are much too hot in the summer and tend to burn leaves unless the are shaded by a sheer curtain or dappled light from an outside source. Fluorescent lights are ideal. Plants should be approximately 12 inches from the top of their crown to the light bulbs. Cool white, Gro Lux, Gro Lux WS, Vari Lux and combinations of cool and warm bulbs make plants grow beautifully 4. African violets need a constant source of food since they are potted in a soil less mixture that has little or no nutrient value. Most growers keep their plants on a constant feed system. They fertilize every time they water with a dilute mixture of fertilizer usually about half the manufacturer recommendation. The fertilizers use a three number system. The first number is for nitrogen, which promotes leaf and plant growth. Second is phosphorous which helps promote bloom and the final number is potassium which is included for general health. 5. Standard size violets should be repotted every 9 months to a year while semis and minis every 4 to 6 months. The rule of thumb for pot size is to go up a size when the crown of the plant is more than three times the size of the rim of the pot. So if the crown is 9 inches across it can go into a 3-inch pot. A large 18-inch plant can be put into a 6-inch pot. Most minis and semis do best in 2 to 2 inch pots. Since violets have shallow root systems, squat pot or azalea pots are ideal. 6. There are some diseases that can give a grower problems so it is always advisable when bringing a new plant into your home to ISOLATE the plant for at least a month before putting it with any of your other plants. Some of the problems that can occur are thrips, soil and foliar mealy bugs, cyclamen mites and powdery mildew. Each problem has its own cure from spraying to a systemic.
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NannetteB
18 years ago
hello Brenda,
I would be happy to take some leaves off of your hands. although i am, new to av's and only have 3 plants none are strep. please e-mail back if any leaves need homes.
nannette
dpinker1
18 years ago
I would love some leaves. I've grown violets for years and just love them but am looking for some new colors. Feel free to email me.
Motezuma
18 years ago
Hi y'all. I have some Noid leaves I threw out last week (grooming) but couldn't bear to see them go, so I put them in water, if anyone wants them... You can email me privately...

-Mo (WV)
VioletRebecca
18 years ago
is there a web site that i can go to that will tell me what kind of av's are out there and the one's that I have all of my tags just say african violets on them that is it. :(

thanks
korina
18 years ago
Go to www.avsa.org and click on the Photographs tag. Unless you have some kind of fast connection, this will take a *long* time to download. Be aware, there are about 15,000 named varieties of African violets, plus uncounted numbers of unnamed varieties from big nurseries. Chances are, you won't be able to id yours.

Having said that, go to www.optimara.com. They're one of the big Av hybridizers, and yours *might* be one of theirs.

Good luck.

Korina
theraglady47
Original Author
18 years ago
Ok, here's an update.
Sorry to have not gotten back to all who emailed me. I work as a florist and Mothers Day knocked me off my feet.

Many of the violets are now in bloom and I am working on identifying them. There are somve wonderful olors and some unusual combinations( sorry, no varigated leaves)

I will send leaves to anyone who sends a SASE as long as they last( I have at least 45 leaves to spare right now. I will try to email pictures of the mother plants to those I send leaves to. If you are not fussy about color I have many many plants not yet in bloom, some have great purple stems un leaf undersides. If you want a specific color email me and I will let you know if I have any ready yet.

I know the plants came from a supplier in canada. There are no names on most. I just don't have time to go through all of the pictures in the violet sights to identify them. I can only tell you considering these came from a dumpster on a snowy day, they are just beautiful plants. They have grown very well, the leaves are huge and green and most have been setting buds. They seem to really like the little portable green house window I put them in.

I just placed a large order for some Episcias and streps so I don't need any trades right now. If you do have any unusual streps or Episcias fine, but otherwise I don't need any more plants for a while.

Please email me for my address.
susieq01
18 years ago
I looked at my AVs yesterday and found that on of them had the brown edges on most of the leaves .Watering? or light?
West facing window. but the avs have been there for nearly a year.
korina
18 years ago
Susieq, when was the last time you repotted?

Also, it's much colder now, and the sun is lower in the sky; they could be getting too cold at night or too much sun during the day -- where do you live and how far from the window are they?

Korina, just a font of useful info ;->
dchall_san_antonio
18 years ago
Not sure how/why this one popped to the surface, but it gives me an opportunity to introduce myself. I'm a GardenWeb regular over on Lawns, Soils/Compost, and Organic Gardening. My new job has me schlepping all over Texas and living in hotels, so I needed a window based gardening hobby. I picked AVs. My last AV project was probably in the 1970s, so it's been awhile.

Rescue is the topic and that's what I did. For the time being I'm living in a hotel in Wharton, TX, about 60 miles SW from Houston. Last week I took a trip to the Wal-Mart in El Campo and picked up the dregs of last spring's AV crop. I got 15 for 50 cents each. The pots were so saturated it has been seven days and they definitely don't need water yet. One has bit the dust and another one has one leaf on a damaged stem. On the dead one, when I picked it up all the leaves were limp, so it's no surprise it died. It was going to be my challenge. Oh well. I'm sure these were watered daily with a hose once they moved them outside. We'll see what happens.

These are going to be an organic care project. I picked up two other Wal-Mart AVs last summer in the Texas Panhandle. On my organic program, one still survives (and is thriving). The organic fertilizer changes the nature of the soil. I switched from a dry to a liquid fertilizer and suddenly the timing and quantity of water I was using became a massive over watering amount. I quickly had a dead plant that was standing in an inch of water from two days earlier. The second one had the same thing happen but I was looking for it and caught it before it went south. Normally I water by adding an inch of water to the outer pot and letting the plant soak that up. Then I give it another inch and it usually soaks that up right away. With the new fertilizer it didn't, so now I know what I'm looking for.

Anyway with the 15...uh...14 new ones, I'll be converting them from the Wal-Mart program to my organic program. As I see things happening I'll write in and let y'all know. I realize the incentive to "go organic" with AVs is much less than it is with lawns, but I have a motive for my madness. When I get a chance I'll start a new thread and explain what I'm doing.

Violet rescue !!!!

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LadyBrasa

razz

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Violet rescue !!!!

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