t8 lighting for african violets? please help asap!!
jay83
9 years ago
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Karin
9 years ago
jay83
9 years agoRelated Discussions
t8 lighting for violets...please help!
Comments (10)Less traffic control please AV's are a plant and just as relative is they are often cared for year round in a house. Hense the forum title house plants ? OR Seeming as every plant comes from natures outside world next week we can tell everybody there is no such things as a house plant ? Jay what you've read about T-8 32 watt CFL( clear color) is correct they can and will burn the tops of several types of plants with out moving/circulating air. I would agree that AV's would still be a very good burn candidate even with good moving air. I can't even imagine what the safe distance would be to not burn the tops but would think AV"s would look a little odd in growth while reaching for the light... Having less then the more AV enthusistics you could have AV sucsess with a tall standing lamp holding 3- 13 watt enerygy saving clear color CFL's at a east by south east AV's at window sill level for the past four years.. e but I would think the lighting assistance for ideal distance would be something you would be able to mannipulate in short time/ over time while growing less then more of them along with blinds for filtering sunlight if in the discribed window situation.....See More2 or 4 lights per shelf for standard African Violets?
Comments (6)Thank you everyone for your guidance! I appreciate it and will stick with 1 fixture per shelf for the time being. These hang from chains so I can adjust them up and down a bit as needed to fine tune the lighting. Irina- I was growing Paphs (rarer types) from flask to single pot size with the goal to sell some to make the whole thing pay for itself. Worked for a while, but now there are lots of others doing it, and that flooded out the market. Besides, I just want to have fun right now. And I have always admired African Violets. Friday I expect the first box of babies and I cannot wait! I have a few grocery store rescues here right now I have been working with, but it will be fun to get some of the named varieties in here this weekend :) Take care, Tom....See MoreHELP my african violet is slowly fading away
Comments (12)If this is one of your first AV's, please take note of the following ... AV blooms do not last forever, usually only a few days to a few weeks, depending on the variety. After this, they brown and dry up. At this point, you should remove the bloom stalks. So ... for future notice, let's go through the steps of successful African Violet care ... 1.) Have a suitable spot selected for the plant(s). This spot needs to be well lighted (either from a window or household fluorescent lighting), and the temperature in the area should be steady. In other words, don't place the violet(s) in spots which will experience temperatures which are too hot ... or too cold. The good thing about African Violets is that they like the same temperature range which is comfortable for people (70-85 F). The (natural or fluorescent) light that your plant receives should be enough to cast a shadow if a white piece of paper is held behind them. This level of light will be necessary to ensure that your plant will bloom. 2.) Determine whether or not you can water your plant with household water. Some city/metropolitan water systems add chemicals (Chloramines) to their supplied water which, unfortunately, will harm/kill your African Violets. I would start by purchasing a gallon jug of spring water from the grocery and use that to water your Violet(s) until you determine whether or not Chloramines are in your water supply. You can also use rain water, if it's available. 3.) Shop for your African Violet (if necessary). We've all seen the bright and colorful displays of African Violets at the grocery and/or big box hardware stores. These plants are ideal to cut one's teeth on in learning to successfully grow African Violets ... with one caveat. These plants will almost always come with insect pests (thrips and/or others) which will ultimately begin to rob you of the beauty of your African Violet blossoms, unless you take the necessary steps to stop them. The alternative to buying African Violets at retail outlets ... is to buy them through mail order. There are a number of reputable mail-order African Violet vendors which will supply you with healthy African Violet plants which, in most cases, will not be carrying insect pests (thrips and/or others). Some of these vendors are Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses (website), PJ's Violets (ebay) or Jack's Violets (ebay). But, in general, pick plants that look healthy (not droopy) and which have a nice spiral type leaf pattern, where you can clearly see the center (crown) of the plant. Avoid plants that look jumbled ... or full of leaves, because that indicates that there is more than one plant in the pot, ... and you will have to separate the plants to have your best success. 4.) Once you have your plants, the most important to do is to NOT OVER-WATER them. The easiest way to kill your violets is to over-water them. Violets only need to be watered when the soil is very nearly dry. And when watering them, you need to allow the excess water to drain out of the pot's drainage holes ... to be discarded. A violet which is allowed to remain in a pot which is saturated with water will quickly die of root rot. 5.) Make sure that the AV pot is not too big ... and that it has drainage holes. An AV should be in a pot no bigger than 1/3 of the plant's width. So the leaves should stick over the sides of the pot, so that the plant looks like it has wings. I've included a photo for comparison. The easiest pots to use are like the plastic one shown in the photo, though, in time, you can graduate to using other types of planters. (Or you can set the plastic pot inside of a more decorative planter). These tips should set you well on your way to successful AV growing. And please, come back to Gardenweb with any other questions....See MoreBabies Birth African Violet Help
Comments (8)After the plant is stressed, bagging or doming it is wise and will help. However, you have the plant seriously over potted. With a pot disproportionately large it is difficult to keep the soil from staying too wet. Ideally the pot size should only exceed the spread of the roots by about 1/2 inches to an inch at most, which leads us to the usual saying that the pot size should be about 1/3 the size of the plant. That is more applicable with an adult plant than a baby, however. I would suggest repotting it into a small pot that is less wide than the spread of the leaves. Also, your soil looks heavy and has little perlite in it. African Violet roots thrive best where there is tons of light airy soil. I use 1/2 potting soil mix with 1/2 perlite myself though usually 2/3 soil mix to 1/3 perlite can also suffice. If you get a lot of condensation accumulating on the inside of your bag, open it slightly or cut tiny slits to allow some evaporation. It does not need to be entirely sealed. After it's been bagged about a week you should be able to start opening the bag slightly and getting the plant re-acclimated to your normal open air growing conditions. Provide the brightest light you can that is not full sun and it should do well. As for the broken leaf? Simply stick the stem tip down into a tiny bit of soil and bag it separately. It will need to remain bagged or domed for a couple of months but if the soil is only damp and not wet, and if your light is bright enough, your odds of it growing entirely new plants are not bad at all! For more information on propagating African Violets from leaves, or potting sizes, or potting mixes, Google is your friend. Keep reading! Once you learn a few basics, they really are pretty easy to grow and enjoy. ;)...See Morejay83
9 years agoKarin
9 years agojay83
9 years ago
Vikki
9 years agolauraeli_
9 years agojay83
9 years agoWow those are beautiful NOIDS @anon-cdn!. so there is hope for T8 shoplights after all!. and here I was debating on if I should put a layer of window screening under the tubes to help dapple the light lol. but as we can see t8 does work just the way it is! thanks @anon-cdn! now I feel much better about splurging on T8 lol. I just wish T12 didn't die out they worked so well for me and everyone else on violets and u can keep those T12 shoplights lower-10 inches lol. Im doing wall shelving-where u have a shelf on the wall. above that do another shelf where u hang your shoplight from. I can do several shoplights that way and at the same time doesn't take up floor space. got the idea online lol! here is a pic of where I got the idea from, pretty good idea. this way you just take up wall space and leaves your floor space free. notice in the pic, its just a simple wooden shelf with a wall bracket. and directly above that at the proper height you do another shelf, same size and that's where u hang ur shoplight under then the chain suspends it. good idea, simple. leaves floor space totally free and same time doesn't clutter your room up with stands! not to mention this is by far the cheapest method ($3 each if that for a simple 48x12 wooden pine board cut at home depot. two bucks for shelf brackets. $20 for a t8 shoplight) where as if u use stands u got to buy a stand first (usually $40 or more...some are $119 at home depot for the edsal 48x24x74h storage shelving unit five tier) add to that shoplights. tubes. ur pushing $200. so choice is clear this is the cheapest route! :) plus I have all my floor space FREE
taxonomist3
9 years agojay83
9 years agojay83
9 years agojay83
9 years agocdnanon
9 years agotaxonomist3
9 years agojay83
9 years agoZukoll
9 years ago
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