Hello Lisa, why are you trying to grow a banana? Does it conjure up tropical images? There is one growing next door that is hated by the other next door because it sends runners under the fence. It even has bananas but is not a thing of beauty. Micro clime thing. North slope, no frost. No banana plantation was ever on the flat. Does that help? I'd like to grow Lily of the valley, tulips, daffodils and a few other things but i know they would be a complete waste of time so i do not bother Somewhat on topic. I love Drosera capensis but it is not growing as well as it should for something that is supposed to send seed everywhere. Comment re. Afican Violets.Beeeeeeeesssssssssts of plants, anyway they would take up space where i can grow orchids..

Jeff,,,,they choose to have a sales department that doesn't give a tinker's darn about what will make their CUSTOMERS happy. Have you seen their operation????? Take a look and get back with me. This is no longer a mom & pop company operating a few greenhouses in their back yard. Terri I will respectfully disagree. You cannot go to their website and "check" for any degree of certainty. Look at the other recent threads, and you will find us, the african violet serious customers, advising newbies that even if the pot has an Optimara label, you should always label it a "NOID-might be Opt. this". As has been stated, some people don't even want to trade for or put Opt. leaves in Round Robins. Why is that???? Because with no id to begin with they don't want to take a chance of passing along a misidentified plant leaf! And look at some of their color pix. Can you reeeeaaaallllyyyy tell the difference between a few of them???? I don't think so. I know I have my doubts about some of the colors and MY perception of what they are. Do I buy Optimara's? Yes I have, because they have a few I am in love with. Fortunately the ones I love CAN be ID'd because they are that one of a kind. Opt. MyDelight, Opt. Trinidad ll, Opt. MySensation and a few more. But the mainstream Opt's???? Good luck. Ok, I go into Lowe's. I look at all the plants (I am not just a violet person! haha). Other house plants are labeled. Outdoor plants are labeled. Rose tags say Rose Oklahoma, Rose President Lincoln, etc. Liriope is labeled as such. Hosta has a name to it beyond "Hosta"!!!! Do you think the average gardener cares what named Marigold, Hosta, Salvia, Helloborus they are purchasing??? NO! More of them don't care than do care. And these are things that will come up every year as long as they are taken care of! But the point is,,,they have real name tags that tell you all about the name!!!!! Honestly they just want to get it planted for color, landscaping etc. They are not passing them on by cuttings to the extent we are doing in basements, windowsills and any other spot we can find. But guess what.... Optimara says African Violet. That's it. Something that they know people set up lights for, propagate, learn about with various techniques,,,,,they know we cherish and keep and trade them with our friends,,,,. And they can't give us a TAG!!!!! A lousy name TAG that can be mass produced cheaper than we can buy 100 for online!!!!! ($1.78 free ship just in case you want to know!) Who do they think they are? They are snubbing the very people that make them who and what the heck they are!!!!! They labeled them back in the day!!! I still have some of the old tags! They got too big for their britches and thumbed their nose at the very people that got them there. I don't want to hear their excuses for no label. Worker's can't read and mix them up. BULL SQUIRT!!!! Then hire better workers!!!!! NO EXCUSES!!!! Ok off my soapbox now, not yelling at you Terri, or anyone else. I have said this very same stuff before about Optimara when this subject has come up. This is not a personal attack toward anyone except Holtkamp/Optimara. And any other company who does this. Shame on them. I am stopping now and I will post no more in this thread with my opinion about this subject. Whew. I am done. Rosie

Mr. persistance! I love it! Work w inexpensive plants! Read, read, read. If you read and remember everything written, just on this forum. We will come to you for advice! Were I you, I would take the advice of some and create one single stable ingredient. An easy one is soil. You have to be able to eliminate at least one and preferable two key requirements for healthy plants. Soil, water, sun and food. Soil is easiest. Forget the exotics. A simple combination of perlite, vermiculite and peat will work great, 1-1-1. If it's available in your area, get the larger sized pellets. If not, a little horticultural charcoal can also work to loosen up your mixture. The idea being to create a loose mixture that will enable the roots of your plant to navigate freely throughout the pot. The next easiest is sun. Most indoor growers underestimate the amount of light needed to make these plants thrive. Sure, grandma grew AV's in her window and they probably bloomed once in a while. Thats not what we're doing. Read. You can determine exactly how many lumens it will take to provide adequate light for the square footage of the plant racks you have. Take appropriate steps. Once you have your soil and your light right. If the problem persists. Talk to you then.

There is no special lighting in my office. It just ordinary florescent light fixture installed under the cabinet ( common office setting). I don't have any window in my cubicle. Actually, I think the plant doesn't get sufficient light, especially in weekend. It is totally dark but there is nothing I can do. However, it's still have flower but not a lot because it doesn't get enough light. You can see the picture above that all leave are upward asking for more light. Maybe you can try Russian. There are people from other discussion here said Russian need less light.