New to African Violets!

10 years ago

Hello! Been a long time lurker of this site. I've been owning and growing Cacti for awhile now. But just like all the other women in my family, I can't avoid the calling of AV's.
Here's where the Newbie part starts to kick in. When it comes to most little things in life, I get very obsessive very fast. No in between lol! So after a lot of looking I've found Lyndon Lyon. And after a lot of narrowing down I've picked 17 plants that I'm IN LOVE with. Is that way too many to start with? At the same time that websites summer shipping is gonna end soon which will cause things to get a lot more expensive.
I live in Minnesota and we have freezing winters. My room is smaller with just one window with Western exposure. I'm assuming they'd be too cold on the window. So how far away can they be from my window and still get sufficient lighting. That's my biggest worry. Everything seems basic.

I'm VERY excited to start this hobby. I can post the plants I plan on buying if anyone is interested! (:
Sorry if this post is repetitive, I've gone through a lot of the threads, but I do everything on my phone!

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Comments (13)

bunnycat
10 years ago
Welcome, PerfectC
My first thought is starting with 17 all at once could be a bit too much. Second thought is that 17 won't get enough light from only one window unless it is a huge picture window. Being too close to the window on cold winter days and even more so, nights, would be very hard on your violets. Do you have room for a fluorescent light stand by chance? They would love that. I guess my advice would be to start with a few and increase in the spring and summer. Remember, overnight temps are dropping to freezing here in upstate NY , and yours may be worse. As your violets travel they could be subjected to some pretty cold conditions. That's why sellers offer heat packs and the resulting higher winter shipping costs.
Which LLG violets are you interested in? They have so many pretty ones.
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Whitelacey
10 years ago
PC,

Is it possible to get a few of your family's extras to experiment with through the winter? That way you can hone your winter skills and be a bit more practices come shipping season.

And I also think 17 is too many. I think I would start with about 5 until you get some practice under your belt.

Linda
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Well, I'm certainly not an expert, but here's what I've gathered: First, it seems like different plants flower differently. Some are almost always in bloom, and others bloom don't bloom as often. The AV that I've had forever probably blooms about every couple of months?? If you fertilize, your AVs should bloom more often than if you don't. You can also induce blooms somehow by controlling the lighting and pinching off buds that form before you want the blooming to occur. I've never tried this, but I've read about it online. Second, when I have a flower that's starting to turn brown, I just remove that flower. Maybe other people have different answers? But this is my experience.
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you actually need both and a good size basement. At some point you figure out that the best AVs only can be grown under the lights. Here comes the basement - because all the stands are not fitting into the living place upstairs and family complains that the light from the plant stands interferes with the ball game watching... The next thing you realize that there are plenty of AV gesneriad cousins you want to grow too and they are too tall to grow on shelves plus you need to hang some - like 15-20 baskets with columneas and other gessie vines and you need good windows for it. Sunroom will work too. That's how the hobby takes over... Irina What she said -- Andrew
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Welcome dcfrankr ... Like nyxx said, it sounds like you're doing fairly well with your violet. As she said, be careful not to overwater the plant. Sounds like your fertilizer is working too. The other issues to check ... LIGHT The plant will have to receive many (10-12) hours of sunlight/fluorscent light every day to bloom its best. A desklamp fitted with one of the new spiral CFL bulbs (daylight) can supply your plant with all of the light it needs. Also, an east, south, or west facing window will usually provide near-adequate light for your plant. POT SIZE African Violets grow best in small pots. The pots should be no wider than 1/3rd the diameter of the plant's leaf-spread. Therefore, a 4 inch diameter pot is ideal for a 12 inch diameter plant. If you put your plants in bigger pots, the plant's water absorbing capacity will be exceeded and you will risk rotting the roots. But keeping doing what you're doing and pay attention to light and pot-size also, and you should be successful with your African Violet. Happy growing ...
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Ah! Thank you for the video! That's so much easier to understand than reading everything. I guess I'm a visual learner! Looks like I'll be performing surgery on my dear violet this weekend.
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perle_de_or
10 years ago
Hi PerfectC, I would also go with a much smaller number to start with, I got way too many when I first started. I had a lot of leaves and my club gives away plants so I was soon overwhelmed.
My top favorite Lyndon Lyon plant it Blue Dragon. Its awesome. I would love to hear what you picked out.
What I would do is order just a few of what I like the best and also practice propagating leaves from friends, or you could get an inexpensive AV from a big box or grocery store and experiment with that and rooting leaves from it. I look forward to hearing how it goes for you.
PerfectCircle
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the replies! I looked over my plants in my wish list and and just couldn't cut it down anymore. So I was naughty and got all of them BUT I will be giving many to my mom and aunt who have been growing AV's successfully. So I will have about 5 in my personal care until I think I'm ready to have them all. Cus taking care of that many at once when I'm still new does seem like a lot. So don't worry, I'll take it slow! (:

I'm also thinking I'm gonna rig up a shelf for them with artificial lighting and everything. Because by the window is so cold and I want them as happy as possible since they are little babies!

Here's the list of the ones I bought. Any pointers if you know anything about the specific plant would be awesome!

1 x Lyon's Zoe
1 x Scandal
1 x Golden Autumn
1 x Cosmic Art
1 x Optical Illusion
1 x Marina
1 x Sierra Sunrise
1 x Private Dancer
1 x Beauty Goddess (EK-Boginia Krasoty)
1 x Gem Flower (Kamennyi Tsvetok)
1 x Mystic Mermaid (Russian Name Pending)
1 x Winter Smiles (Zima Ulybaetsia)
1 x Evening Splendor
1 x Sequins 'n' Ribbons
1 x Midnight Sun (Lyon's)
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Whitelacey
10 years ago
PC,

You got some good ones. I just bought Zoe and it is a beauty!

Linda
susan_kc
10 years ago
I have Private Dancer and it is one of my favorites--always blooming and beautiful variegation on the leaves. Good luck!
bunnycat
10 years ago
I've been very happy with Winter Smiles. Not so gangly as some Russians, very pretty flowers and nice leaves, too
fortyseven_gw
10 years ago
Hi PC!
Glad you

Of the ones you
Private Dancer is a popular favorite.

Best wishes, Joanne

Your list, for reference:
1 x Lyon's Zoe
1 x Scandal
1 x Golden Autumn
1 x Cosmic Art
1 x Optical Illusion
1 x Marina
1 x Sierra Sunrise
1 x Private Dancer
1 x Beauty Goddess (EK-Boginia Krasoty)
1 x Gem Flower (Kamennyi Tsvetok)
1 x Mystic Mermaid (Russian Name Pending)
1 x Winter Smiles (Zima Ulybaetsia)
1 x Evening Splendor
1 x Sequins 'n' Ribbons
1 x Midnight Sun (Lyon's)

This post was edited by fortyseven on Mon, Apr 28, 14 at 19:30
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Whitelacey
10 years ago
I love Zoe. It's red. "Nuff said.

Linda
Karin
10 years ago
That's quite the collection! I only have 5 mature plants for now, and a few babies. Nothing fancy, just whatever I stumbled across at the grocery store... Still waiting to see if I can get them all to put out flowers again, then I'll decide on whether to order something or find a nursery or a show to buy a couple of plants at...
fortyseven_gw
10 years ago
Linda
Would you know if Zoe is similar to Bob Serbin?
Joanne
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Whitelacey
10 years ago
Joanne,

I have both and I think if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Zoe. The color is a deeper red, flowers fully double and wavy. The foliage is rather plain but the flower is a knock-out. I'd love to see this flower on a pink variegation.

Their coloring is similar but I think they're distinct each from the other.

Linda
fortyseven_gw
10 years ago
Linda, Thanks, I will add it to my "must have reds" list!
Joanne

New to African Violets!

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