Question on finding African Violets in Georgia?
angolita
14 years ago
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fred_hill
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Searching for these old African Violet pots
Comments (13)That's a very neat idea! I'm surprised that I never saw those pots. Perhaps they weren't distributed everywhere or perhaps my mother simply didn't use wicks on anything but african violets and used round pots. I would imagine the square ones probably cost a little more, what with the corners. They are definitely kind of neat looking :). If you can find them, there's a fair chance they will be usable. I know I rescued a couple that were my mom's and one is turquoise. Aside from being a little faded, it's fine. The later ones came in more garish colors (orange, bright yellow and green at best). The problem is that flower pots aren't seen as having value, especially plastic ones. Even most McCoy ones aren't selling on eBay and there has to be a market before things show up there. I don't know what your budget might be, but check and see if eBay has any place to list "wanted" items. Those "pickers" are out there. I have no idea if Craigslist is an option. We don't have it and I only looked at it for antique sewing machines for awhile. As for the plants, I'd suggest joining the AVSA if you haven't already. There are some people there who might be able to help with information. I found an ad in a 1975 AVSA magazine for Buell's which offered a list of "all we grow." A piece of their literature would be helpful. Although you will find that many of the plants from that time period are lost, some are still available. There is a certain interest in vintage violets and John Cook at Cape Cod was still selling some on eBay last season. You don't have to go back as far as the original 10. One thing you might want to consider when choosing, is whether they are "droppers" or not. I grow Blue Boy (1948), Happy Harold (1971) and Midnight Radiation (1983) and they are all very messy droppers. A roomful like that would be a nightmare. Tommie Lou (1967) does not drop and Feather (prob. 80s), drops but doesn't make the mess. I think you may be able to create the vintage look with slightly newer plants. There are still Eyerdom (Granger Gardens, Granger) and Lyon's varieties available from this era also. Bloomlovers.com carries some vintage, although you have to grow them from leaves or plugs. Good luck with this project. If you find any round turquoise pots, send them this way, lol. Diana...See MoreAfrican Violet questions.
Comments (102)"It's an amazing little plant. So cute. How many, in all do you have? If you don't mind me asking..." About 100-150 or so I think... All minis & semis. Tho, the semis are kinda "too big" for my liking so I am trying to "phase them out" of my collection :-p "Would a petitition, if 'x' amount of signitures were submitted to the ASVA, convince them renaming a 3" or smaller Av, a micro?" I dunno... Maybe... Maybe not. I'm new (less than a year) to the AVSA so I don't wanna "cause waves" :-p "M3, your camera really picks up detail. It displays each 'hair' per leaf. I don't know if it's the camera or your computer. I like that." Thanks but as I said when I posted that pic, my friend Jana took that one, not me. Jana's good tho. And I sorta taught Jana a bit of what I know. Good cameras help. But still, thanks--I do think I am a good photographer... You can see my pics in the gallery area of this forum. "What's the brown pieces/medium in your soil? Is it bark?" It's just the potting medium that all of Rob's plants come in. I bought this from his table at Tulsa Convention... But it's the same if you mail order from him. Kinda heavy stuff, I repot whatever I get from him immediately into a light mix (about 1/2 peat, 1/2 perlite) so I can get 'em on wick watering. "I'm baffled by the number of people who travel around the US hunting down AV's. Did you go to OK to AV shop or other reasons and happen to come upon a show?" I don't "travel around the US hunting down AV's" HAHAHAhahahahaha I went to Tulsa, OK in May because that was where the 62nd annual AVSA National Convention was being held. It's A BIG DEAL.... Not just the sales room with most of the biggest African Violet suppliers that are in biz, but meeting up with violet lovers from all over the world, with seminars & classes... Oh, and a BIG show. 2009's National Convention will be in Reno, NV... so I'll be going there for it :-p Mostly I just liked it for the people. I only bought 2 plants (which was pathetic compared to most of the frenzied shoppers at Convention as you might imagine LOL)...See Moreafrican violets and toxic plants question
Comments (7)I think toxic plants are plants that have poisons that frogs and other creatures can absorb just by sitting on them. There are slso some plants that can poison creatures like frogs because if the insects the frogs eat munch on the plants, they absorb the poison, and the frog eats the insect, injesting the poison. I haven't run into too many poisonous plants. I do have silver philodendron in the tank with my frog Rain but its okay because Rain gets fed in another container (due to a bad experience with crickets - she likes to see them in a clear container one at a time - and because I've heard crickets can hide in tanks, grow big, and attack the frogs). The cricket will never eat the silver philodendron and poison the frog but I wouldn't recommend the plant to people who feed their frogs in the tank. Diffenbachia (Dumbcane) is a good plant to stay away from (it swells up the throats of people and animals). I would suggest checking the list of plants that are dangerous to animals. If you wouldn't have it around a cat or dog, you might not want to put it in your tank. Black Jungle has list of recommended tanks for dart frogs and other creatures on their website. Also check out other terrarium supply companies. Most of them will not sell poisonous plants. Two other good companies are TropiFlora and also T & C Terrarium Supplies....See MoreAfrican Violet light needs in "lux".
Comments (10)My thought on it - if you measure light on a bright window - it may be 1100fc for several hours - the rest of the day it is significantly less. When you use your fluorescents for 12 hours - 1100fc will be too much. My lay person explanation is - plants have only so much ability utilize energy for chemical reaction synthesizing organic material. AVs are relatively low light plants. So comes the morning - they are all primed up for absorbing light - certain wave lengths - converting light energy into chemical energy. But they can only do so much per day, the rest of the light is not utilized and is harmful. So the plant starts adjusting - instead of spreading leaves to let the light hit perpendicularly - they change the angle of incidence, hugging the pots - so more light gets reflected, they develop olive tan on the leaves - so they are coping. If the coping is not enough - the damage is done. Since Optimaras are sold for the window growers, not for the small amount of crazies like us - the hobbyist is looking at the shade his hand produces in a day time, not at 6pm. Most Optimaras are dark leaf plants - so in AV vocabulary - it translates to relatively high light need. Your 7000 lux = 650 fc is about right for dark leaf plants for 10-12 hours. I run about 14 for 400fc and 16 hours for 300 fc - and dark leaf starters stretch - and light leaf plants - like Optimara MySensation - hug the pot. Since you aim at close to precision - you need to run one stand with dark leaf plants - and one - with light leaf plats - different times on them -and even on the shelf - you can move the plants to the center or to the sides of the shelf depending on how they react. I would prefer to err on a low side. No damage done. Full time job! I....See Morelilypad22
14 years agonwgatreasures
14 years agoangolita
14 years agonwgatreasures
14 years agonickybellagran
14 years agoangolita
14 years agonwgatreasures
14 years ago
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