Hey, I'm pretty new at this but I'll put in my two cents!

If it looks like there are two plants in one, check to see if there are multiple crowns. If it's a one crown variety, having suckers may make it harder for it to bloom. If you want it to bloom, might be best to separate the plants so theres only one plant per pot.

Pots should be 1/3 of the diameter of the leaf. If your AV is 9 inches across (from one end of the leaf to the other end of the opposite leaf) then a 3 inch pot is good. 6 inches sounds like a lot, your plant would have to be about 18 inches across (gigantic!). The reason for this is if the pot is too big, the roots might not be able to take in all of that water, forcing the plant to sit in wet soil and increasing the chances of root rot and some other problems.

I hear plastic or clay is fine, just that clay dries out faster and you may have to water a bit more often.

Theres a FAQ that you can go to that addresses this issue. Try some of them and see if that helps! :)

Edit: I forgot to mention light! There might not be enough light for your av to blossom. Do you grow yours in a window (north, east, west, south) or artificial lights?

This post was edited by BittyBats on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 15:50

Good Answer BittyBatts

I was going to answer it but you said it first and best!

This post was edited by lucky123 on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 15:53

I liked your answer too lucky! I didnt consider things like pH, but like lucky mentioned, pH would affect the plant's ability to take up nutrient through the roots, so that might be why it's not blossoming. I guess the answer to that would be to repot, though the water might also be affecting pH.

BittyBatts

Although the peat based potting soils degrade into very low Ph mediums, stunting plants, repotting should fix that.

African Violets, potted in peat based potting soils, are fine with any water Ph 8 or under.

My water is 9+

I add phosphoric acid to bring the water I use on plants to Ph 7. It was easy after I figured it out but required some math to find the parts per million of phosphorus. It also required knowledge of how to mix water and acid. how to store acid and how to dilute water with acid to the proper Ph.

Trust me, water Ph, unless your water is so thick with dissolved solids you can plant in it and the Ph is above 8, you don't want to mess with it. It requires addition of acids, the best being food grade phosphoric which despite the label is extremely corrosive in its undiluted state. Also, it is necessary to know how much phosphorus (ppm) are being added when you bring the Ph down. Phosphorus is a fertilizer. It is possible to use citric acid (expensive) sulphuric (dangerous) or nitric (dangerous) so it is best to leave the water alone if you don't have an extreme problem. Or repot every 6 months to counteract the buildup of minerals and Ph in the soil

Very high Ph water can, over time, seriously affect plants. Yellowing of leaves, poor growth and lack of flowers are the usual symptoms.

This post was edited by lucky123 on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 17:24

Wow! Thanks for saying all that, lucky. I hear ver basic water tastes quite bad so I think I'm in the clear in that front. I like how dedicated to your plants you are, if my water was like that I think I'd give up on avs :/

Bitty Bats
The only thing that is difficult at first is how concentrated the acid is. Notice I am adding 10 drops of diluted acid to quart of water.

At first I put abt a cup of acid in a gallon of water. Whoa, it was so strong, I had to keep diluting and diluting so now I have it down to a science.

I have a very simple system. I dilute 2 oz of the concentrated 40% phosphoric acid in a gallon of water.

Then I put that diluted acid/water into an empty AV fertilizer bottle, (the purple bottle that measures drops, you know the one I mean.)

Then I add so many drops of the diluted acid to a quart of water.

I use the purple bottle droplets for fertilizer so I just have two purple droplet bottles, clearly labeled, 1) AV Fertilizer 2) Acid

I add so many drops of diluted acid and so many drops of fertilizer.

Really Really Easy! No harder than adding drops of fertilizer. I use the strips to test Ph.

Actually this water is considered good quality.

This post was edited by lucky123 on Fri, Aug 8, 14 at 19:38

Lol! Looks like you got it down pat ;-)

Hi everyone, I'm here with an update...

I just repotted my AV. When I measured the plant it was about 12 inches across. I separated the two crowns and put them in 4 inch pots (as per BittyBats advice above). The plant was not root bound when I took it out the original pot.

I just have a question: will the 4 inch pots be fine? I fear they may end up being too small for the fast growing plants. See pictures below.

Picture one (the AV before):

{{gwi:371210}}

Picture two (after the separation):

{{gwi:371211}}

They'll be fine! These plants are likely standards and I believe that the way to do it is that the pot should be 1/3 the leaf diameter. Seems counter-intuitive but it works well.

AVs are somewhat shallow rooted so they will get too overwhelmed if there's too much soil-particularly in the watering area. The tiny roots at the bottom will get waterlogged if there's too much soil. So you should be good to go and won't need potting up until the diameter of the leaves(for each plant) gets past 10-12 inches, or for some reason, it becomes too root bound (roots are sticking out the holes in the bottom of the pot!). I've got one NOID that is just BIG. It's in a 6 inch pot which is really too big for even most standard AVS but it's as happy as can be. Blooms are close to three inches in diameter! Right now for you-I'd just keep the pot sizes you've got!

Others will chime in that have more experience!

Best,
Judy

Perfect, your plants should be very happy. There really is nothing more to say!

When I separate them, I keep them on the same shelf together for a while, side by side. They seem to benefit. Almost as though they are still connected, they grow in tandem.

Don't go larger than a 4" pot. In six months or a year's time, you can replenish the potting mix. We forgot to add that when you separate, if there are cut places, you can lightly dust them with cinnamon, however, these look fine. Nice work and nice plants.

Be sure to post photos when they blooms, someone might be able to help you identify them. They look like they will have nice blooms.

It is not unusual for variegated leaf edge plants to have smaller root systems than plants with solid dark green leaves.

If in a year's time, if you ever think they have outgrown that pot, you can always post a photo and ask for an opinion.
However, it is unlikely you will ever have to increase the pot size.

Joanne