Three months as an AV Addict (Pic's)

14 years ago

Hello All.

I found the Garden Web AV forum sometime in February, got my first order from the Violet Barn on March 5th. Here it is three months later and I want to show you our plants. I say our because I couldn't have done this without your help. I went thru nearly twenty pages of this forum and took notes.

minis, semis, and tailers

Sandards

Katchina standing guard

the Little Guys

Love my Plants.

Thom

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Comments (9)

bspofford
14 years ago
I love your plants too! Everything looks great, nice and symmetrical, blooming well, and very happy. You have done a great job, Thom.

Don't you just love those minis? I, who used to want only standards, am becoming more enchanted all the time by them. And of course the space requirement issue.....

Again, nice growing and thanks for sharing.

Barbara
dognapper2
14 years ago
Beautifully done!

I'm just starting over as of a month ago - got my first order and waiting for the mailman now for 2nd - I once had shelves like that.
(I remember blooms like that ;)

(A little envy - a little "walk away from the order form" pictures like yours lure us to seek out! Promising self control/2 lighted shelves & a couple of window sills limit this time around.)

Would love to know the story behind the Katchina doll standing guard. I have a little troll monster standing guard in one of my trays - my daughter gave to me in my christmas stocking a few years ago ;)
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Hi Toni... Yep thats the plant I was talkin about. Even the same colored flowers. I did get a pup from the mother, not knowing if it would ever root... but I stuck it in a small pot and it has put up 2 new blades. I was curious as to what was going on in the pot so just yesterday I pulled it out to examine it. You aren't a kiddin it's a "pot buster" My Gosh, the roots on this little guy are huge already. I ammended the soil some before sticking it back in the pot. Funny you mentioned the seeds, last week when I was cleaning the ladies house I got the cutting from, I noticed a seed pod that had been on the plant for quite some time. A perfectly round, still fleshy green, I picked it off. Now it's in a small pot as well, hope to see if the seeds take. I didn't wait until they were dried so they probably won't do anything. But I'm gonna grab some more and wait for them to dry before I plant them. My EC is still hangin in there. I'm thinkin it may just be goin thru a little shock due to environment change. I think there are some disadvantages to buying from a greenhouse/nursery. Their conditions are so hard to duplicate. I realize every plant comes from one at some point, but I think the ones that they sell right from their store are more spoiled than the ones that come from the box stores. Just my opinion. VF-11... So far I have seen some huge improvements in most all of my plants. There is only one place to get it here, which is direct from the rep. She lives on the other side of the state so I had to pay shipping as well as the cost of the product. I shared it with my sister so it wasn't as bad as if I had to buy it all myself. When it comes to my plants tho, I don't fret $$$'s too much. If it helps them and makes them thrive, then it makes me feel good. My way of thinkin is "I'd rather have no plants than ugly ones" so I do whatever it takes to make them purddy. LOL. I did some reading on here the other day tho, and I'm a little confused... they mentioned that VF-11 isn't a fert, it's a conditioner. So, now I'm wonderin if I should alternate between fert and VF-11. Shees, this hobby was a lot easier before I knew so much. LOL. But it's fun to learn and try new things. Especially when you see nice results. You are quite the bargin hunter, Toni. I have a corn plant I got from a grocery store a few years ago. It was pathetic lookin, but it was only $2.00 so I took a chance and brought it home. It took me awhile to figure it out, but now it's twice the size it was and doing well. It's one that has a definite dormant period, I didn't know that at the time I bought it and it lost a few leaves due to over watering it when it wasn't growing. It's growing now, just coming out of dormancy, and it will continue to do so until fall, and it will give me 4-6 more leaves, which will make it about 2-3 ft taller by the time it's done for the season. My other plants slow down some in the winter but this one stops! Thanks again for all the nice pics, and advise, I always look forward to your posts/comments. PS I was right, hubby didn't notice the new shelf I bought... I waited for a few days just to see how long it would take... I had to show it to him! He didn't believe me when I told him I bought it two days before... when I painted my dining room wall dark red, I didn't tell him. I just said "do you notice anything different"? He looked all around the house knowing he'd better come up with something, he thought maybe I had rearranged the furniture or something, I had to point it out to him, then he said "what color did it used to be"? LOL
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Toni, Thai cooking is something like Chinese and something like Indian, but really something all to itself, spicy and very fresh with lots of citrus notes (think lemon grass). Kaffir leaves are an essential part of Thai cuisine. The leaves are used whole in soups and sliced very thin (like a super fine julienne) for other dishes. Below is a recipe I got off the the Net that is easy and very tasty. By the way, my five new trees arrived today. The Australian finger lime is quite large, which is to be expected for a two-three year old. It has some flowers on it but no fruit, which is fine by me. From its appearance I get the feeling it grows like a weed. The kumquat is the smallest tree, but it has a small fruit on it. Will see if it stays on or falls off. I will take some pics within the next couple of days and post them here. Beef Panang - Panang Nua 2 Servings 2 tablespoons sugar 4 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced (a leaf is one leaflet off of a mature compound leaf) 2 tablespoons fish sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons red curry paste 1 cup coconut milk 1 lb. beef, sliced (flank steak, top round, etc.) Pour 1/2 of the coconut milk in a pan over medium heat. Add curry paste and break it up to mix it with coconut milk. Keep stiring to prevent bottom from sticking. Lower the heat to simmer if necessary. Simmer until red oil appears. Add the beef and stir to coat the beef with the curry paste. Add sugar, fish sauce and the rest of coconut milk. Let it simmer until the beef is tender and the liquid is reduced to a thick sauce. It should take about half an hour to an hour depending on your heat. Add water if your beef is still tough and let the liquid reduce. Sprinkle the sliced kaffir lime leaves on top. Serve hot over rice. narcnh
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nwgatreasures
14 years ago
Those are BEAUTIFUL!
I'm proud for you and I bet this is just the beginning.

Dora
minimac
14 years ago
Oh how lovely ,Thom. Everything is in bloom - beautiful! There must have been a violet bug going around in February. I'm in the Southern In. Louisville,Ky area and that's about when it hit here too. Rescued several from HD. Saw my first mini there. Came home looked minis up on the Web and I was suckered!(Besides I was running out of room.) Tried to read everything I could and found these helpful people -ummm perhaps I also should have taken notes...LOL! Made my first order from The Violet Barn, too. I must say, after all the slashing and burning, my violets have been real troopers. (there's only a couple in hospital, now) Next week I'm going on vacation. I think it will really do them a lot of good. But, we're doing OK. I'm curious- have a question - Have you put down any leaves? Well, enjoyed your pictures and you collection. I know you will keep up the good work.
ines_99
14 years ago
Ooooohh, so nice. What is that big purple one on the bottle to the left in the second pic? I am hoping Funambole. I just got a starter.

They all look beautiful! What kind of lights do you use?
thominindy
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you all for the praise. It means so much

Dognapper: I'm glad you got started again. So much fun. The Katchina was put together by a Navajo elder about thirty years ago. Sadly I don't remember the katchinas name. It had to do with corn or planting if I remember. You did get me searching the net trying to ID him (or Her).

minimac: You sound like me. I bought three noid's at various stores, a year later they seemed happy, one had bloomed all winter. So i decided to learn something about them, and I found this forum. The rest is history LOL.
It is funny to hear you say it will be good for your plants for you to be away. I said on one of these threads that my plants would appreciate me leaving them alone for a few days, and I wondered if people would understand what I meant. When I first started learning how to pot and learning what worked for me I was always picking at them or re-re potting, and I'm sure they appreciated a break.
Yes I have leaves down. I just potted a few babies and have a few more that will be ready soon. I have a isolation/hospital shelf in another room. At one point my isolation shelf was more full than my collection shelves lol. There are several plants there that should have been in the pictures.

ines 99: Yes,that is Funambule. It started sending out buds right after I repotted. Came from the Violet Barn. For lighting I use 48" fluorescent shop lights with a full spectrum bulb and a 4100K T8

Thanks again.

Thom
dognapper2
14 years ago
Something must have been in the air in February! I bought 3 new no-names from a local nursery advertising a cure for the winter blues. I bought them on Valentine's Day as a gift to myself for getting the 3 left from my original collection to do better. Then promised myself if those did okay I could try again with the named ones when weather was warm enough to ship.

2 of the cups with leaves started on May 6th are already sending up mouse ears!!!

I also discovered they have names and how to care for them properly starting here on GardenWeb. One of my favorite additional AV groups is Violet Voice but it needs some fresh faces to liven things up a bit.
(An addict needs more than one place to go!)

I hope some of you might check it out if you've never visited...or if it's been a while and you didn't know where they moved to:

Here is a link that might be useful: Violet Voice
thominindy
Original Author
14 years ago
Hey dognapper. try the Brat Pack. That is my other home.

http://www.african-violet-brats.com/

Thom
glorybea
14 years ago
Thom. Boy, can I identify with you! I fuss with my AVs and at times feel sorry for them. I'm going on vacation the last week of July which will give them a vacation from me, but worry what state they'll be in upon my return. I've got to devise a good watering system and the right light for such a hot week.

Glorie

Three months as an AV Addict (Pic's)

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Three months as an AV Addict (Pic's)

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bspofford

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