Those few plants take up to much time? Wow. Perhaps you should start asking questions before giving up. What exactly is the problem? Surely someone here can help.

My violets are suffering from the heat and lack of care I give them but I tend to enjoy them more during the colder months of the year.

Chrsty i've sent you an email.

Christy,
Sorry to hear that you are giving up on growing AV's. But if you are giving away may I make a suggestion. If any of the plants are blooming please consider taking them to a Senior center or rehab or nursing home. Even one blossom on a plant will cheer up some old or sick person.
Fred in NJ

That's a very nice idea Fred and I agree. Shame you're giving up on your AV's but if you must make someone happy with them. :)

Belinda

WOW~ 8 plants and they take up too much time??? I dont get it...I have hundreds and still find time to "peek" at them and just plain enjoy them. BTY- anyone feel up to trading plantlets in Sept or Oct? I have alot to seperate soon and would be willing.

I sure would manyminis. Give me a holler at cajunkisses@gmail.com when you are ready. I have many baby plants started and would love to trade. :)

I think Christy is lucky. SHe doesn't have an addictive personality. She likes AVs but not to the extent she wants to make them her hobby and accumulate 2000 of them.

Irina

LOL...shortly after I posted this, I lost internet and phone for the day :( I was wondering if I had any takers!! Thanks Erlyberd, ya'll have been so much help already, it's not that there is a problem, it's a lack of time and space. In the winter, they don't get enough humidity, and I struggled with that. Plus, they were kept in the basement where it was too cold. So they overwintered in my bedroom, which my husband wasn't too fond of :) I do not have an east facing window, and my south facing window is full of my succulent collection!! And the clincher, my 2 year old. She can reach too high, every day my child-proofing is moving upwards!! A few of you are asking that I send them in the mail, which I will certainly consider. I'll just need to gather boxes and such to get them ready :) BTW, I also have a bottle of Phyton 27 that I haven't been able to give away!! Christy

If your African violets take too much of your time, then you are giving them way too much attention. Honestly, I barely acknowledge mine and they are gorgeous year round. I think too many people want African violets to seem like they need special care. They don't. I have dropped, crushed, over-watered, under-watered, drenched in hot sunlight, left in the dark, and failed to re-pot my African violets for years at a time. They still reward me with blooms whether or not I deserve it. I have heat intolerance from multiple sclerosis, so I keep my apartment cool (most would say COLD) year round. I drop everything, including the African violets. I might take the dust off their leaves once a year. In the winter I hardly ever turn on the heat, so it's normally at 45-55 degrees; I tell people I keep it warm enough in the winter so the African violets don't freeze. In the summer the temperature cannot go higher than 70 degrees or lose my right leg, right hand and most of my cognitive abilities; at times the air conditioner has the apartment down to 60 degrees all day. I don't provide them with any special lighting. I water them when I am physically able to lift the jug. I always add food to the water, because with my short-term memory loss can never worry about a feeding schedule. I have mine in pots with holes in the bottom sitting on top of a tray of aquarium stones. If the stones look dry, I water the stones. My African violets LOVE living here! They have healthy foliage and gorgeous flowers. In the wild, no one fusses over them. They get gnawed on and stepped on. African violets acclimate very well to many different conditions. They survived before people came along to take care of them. It's a shame to get rid of plants you have cared for. Just stick them somewhere and forget about them. If they look like they are wilted, water them.

It's been so many years ago that I only had eight AVs, that I can't remember. Actually, I don't think I ever just had eight!

Linda ~ who has 140 Streps, 22 Chiritas, 15 Columnea and 44 AV trailers and *no* commercial plants stands!!! Oh, and no two the same variety :-)

AV Indestructable: You should try Streps (if you haven't already) they love cooler temperatures and don't mind going dry a bit.

Well, I'm back :) I found good homes for the ones that I had, and ended up keeping a Vince's Choice. It is thriving nicely and now I'd like to get another. Considering I have a ton of Oyama planters!! My humidity issue has been resolved, I got a large fish tank. I didn't get it knowing it would change the humidity in the house, just happened to notice over the winter. AV indestructible, I think you hit the nail on the head. I was too involved in them, and since ignoring my Vince's choice, it is thriving beautifully. I would still love a true blue AV, though I don't think they exist, I would like a variagated leaf maybe like a ACA's Summer Parfait. I had one before, and it was very pretty. Any suggestions on one similar that I might like? Thanks for any feedback :) Oh, and my toddler now listens to me. Well, sometimes. She at least understands that Mama doesn't like her messing with my plants!!!! Christy :)

Christy--- Glad you didnt completely give up on avs, I dont have many but I certainly have ignored what I have especially during hummer season and plant seedlings taking a lot of my time.

Christy, Don't feel discouraged because the Oyama Pots are not the best watering system in my book. My plants seem to be getting too much water (1.5" pots) so I never fill the bottom but water by hand. This could be half your problem.

Try mixing your own soil for wick watering and you'll have great looking plants with no fuss. I have plants that don't get touched for many weeks. Yoplait yogurt containers work for res for minis in 3 oz solo cups.

I don't think an aquarium is neccessary IMHO. I use an aquarium for starting leaves, suckers or crown cuttings.

I think AV Indestructable hit the nail on the head.

I could be wrong, but I think she means that she got a fish tank full of fish (not AVs) and the evaporation from the fish tank helped the humidity levels in her house.

Aca's Summer Parfait is quite pretty. Reminds me a bit of Ma's Debutante. What I'm taken with lately is Witch Doctor... those leaves are interesting and lovely, to me. I believe it's called mosaic variegation? Anyway, it's green, cream, and pink and makes me think of dieffenbachia leaves, only with some pink too. Haven't seen it bloom yet, looking forward to that... it's supposed to be hot pink/magenta, I think. Similar, but with pale pink flowers, is Genetic Blush. That one arrived in bloom, but didn't enjoy my winter, so the leaves are mainly green right now. Hopefully it'll pick up.

A fun "blue" that I've had was Opera's Romeo. It's large, with dark almost "black" leaves, and blooms "blue" with pale pink spots and a nice white edge. When it was happy, it bloomed almost constantly, but unfortunately something caused it to sulk and I lost it. Still, I liked it so much I got another one, but it's still tiny.

Hope you like the looks of some of these. Violet Barn has a good shot of Opera's Romeo, and the AVSA site has a good shot of Witch Doctor (photographs, under W), while Bluebird Greenhouse has a decent shot of Genetic Blush. Normally, I just look under the AVSA site, but the pics for Romeo and Genetic Blush don't show them well (can't see the variegation for Genetic Blush, and Romeo has no spots, which sometimes happens, but not that much). Oh, and Violet Barn is a good place to see Ma's Debutante, also.

Don't have this, but just noticed it while browsing Violet Barn (again) but Funambule is blue, with pink and white fantasy, and variegated leaves. You might like that too.

Apparently I'm on an enabling mission : ) Whoops.

Thanks quinnfyre, for the enabling mission :) I did mean a fishtank full of fish, and one blue crawdad. The evaporation did wonders for the humidity levels in the house. Last year I considered getting a Whole House Humidifier because it was SO dry, but didn't want to give my husband yet another chore. I did find a violet to buy, on Ebay. I couldn't decide between a blue or a pink, so I got both :) I got a Misbehaving from Kbugs, and a Kiwi Dazzler from JoanMarie. I've already gotten the Misbehaving, looks great! I won the Kiwi Dazzler last night, so I'll get that next week. Oh, and Kbugs sent 2 Bishop leaves, as well :) Christy

I ordered several leaves from Bluebird Greenhouse in April. I am waiting for them to root. One I ordered was Funambule. I can't wait to see it bloom.(-: