Violet Leaves Crowding Bloom?

amyrose_2010

14 years ago

I'm growing a African Violet in my office. It has always been in bloom with no fertilzer or anything. My ones at home require more love. But, for the first time, it is not in bloom. It seems the area in the middle where the blooms come out have been crowded in with leaves. Is this something that can happen? Can I fix it?

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Comments (4)

Christine
14 years ago
It could be normal. After blooming constantly for so long, the plant may just be taking a break.

The lack of blooming could also be caused by something easy to fix, such as needing to be repotted and/or fertilized. You say you haven't been fertilizing. If it has been more than eight months or so since it was repotted, now would be a good time to do that and also give it some fertilizer. It needs a little love too! :~)

There are many other causes for lack of blooming (see Why Won't My Violets Bloom? at http://www.avsa.org/VioletBloom.htm

However, you mentioned the crown leaves are crowded. Do they look normal or are they curled up, tight, and deformed? If the leaves are tight and deformed, click on the link below for possible causes and solutions. Again, the solution could be easy (e.g., give it less light, repot the plant, etc.) or more involved (e.g., treat for mites).

Good luck on finding a solution. Your plant sounds like a terrific blooming one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Optimara: Deformed Crown Causes
amyrose_2010
Original Author
14 years ago
Interesting. It has actually started to bloom again, but it seems there are only two stems of blooms instead of many, like there usually is. It really looks like it's been taken over by the leaves. Like the blooms have to push their way around the leaves to get some sun. The leaves are all healthy and normal looking around the crown. I will for sure fertilize it but the pot seems to be the right size. The leaves on the outside of the plant slowly die off and I pinch them off. the bloom is just getting smaller and smaller and less frequent. It looks like it's eventually going to just be a plant of leaves. Thanks for the input!
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Hi Steve, If you look at the FAQ section of this forum, I believe there's a topic on how to get your violets to bloom. Main factors are light, water, soil, and fertilizer. In order to bloom, your plant needs extra energy, which means you want to make it as happy as possible, without overdoing it. From the looks of things, you haven't repotted your violets in a while, and maybe (it's a bit hard to tell) they are in a pot that is slightly too large for them. So if it were me, I'd start with repotting & grooming. - remove any dry or yellow leaves, then repot in a light soil mix, and a pot 1/3 the diameter of the plant. (Look at 'rejuvenating an old violet' for more info). I'll post the link to Rachel's website below, it's a great resource for growing African violets. Btw, I came here for the same reason, 3 months ago - now half my plants are about to come into bloom, and that's with a disastrous move inbetween - so thing's aren't as hard to fix as you may think, and the plants are usually quite quick to respond :-) Karin Here is a link that might be useful: Rachel's reflections
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Two years is a long time. When did you last repot? What are you feeding it? there can be several culprits, but likely it is just a ph imbalance from the potting medium breaking down. it COULD be chloramines, if your city just changed their water processing. when you repot, if you are looking to re-use that self watering pot, wash it well (maybe even with some vinegar, but rinse that really well). and prepare a soil mix with probably about 40-60% perlite mixed in a commercial African violet or seedling mix - try to find perlite and soil that have no fertilizers added - those can do really strange stuff if put in a self watering pot. i assume your plant has a "neck" (or stem). it doesn't hurt the plant, but some people don't like the looks. if you want to "rejuvenate" the plant, (i don't know if the article still is to be found here somewhere). the measures you take are a bit more drastic than simply repotting. Materials needed: potting mix (moistened, not sopping wet) pot. clear ziploc bag big enough so that will enclose pot & plant without touching the leaves a knife Procedure: take the plant out of the pot wash the pot fill the pot with pre-moistened potting mix (it should clump when compressed, but not be wet enough that you can squeeze water out) remove all flower buds and the outer rows of leaves until you get to the healthy center crown (anywhere from 2-6" across i think is fine). sever the stem about 1/2-3/4" below the lowest row of leaves place the plant in the pot, pushing the stem into the mix, bringing the bottom row of leaves near level with the soil line don't fill the reservoir with water put the entire thing, pot and plant, into the ziploc bag, blow it up for volume then close it. place it somewhere bright, but make sure there will be no direct sunshine hitting it (good way to cook a plant) wait for new growth. usually roots within a few weeks. if there is too much condensation, open the bag to air it out, then close it again. water if needed (probably not necessary) when you see new growth, open the bag bit by bit over the course of a few days, slowly acclimatising the plant to "normal" humidity levels. when you take the plant out of the bag, you can fill the reservoir Disclaimer: this is how i read it everywhere. i always strip the plant down to 2" or less, and rarely bag them. Do this at your own risk, if you are attached, root a bunch of the leaves you take off, as backup. good luck Karin
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fred_hill
14 years ago
Hi,
I would still repot the plant. Take it out of the present pot, get as much of the old mix off as you can without destroying the root structure as possible and put it into fresh mix. The pot should be 1/3 the size of the crown of the plant. While you are repotting, check the symmetry and remove all dead, wilted and discolored leaves.
Fred in NJ
okie_deb
14 years ago
Amy when we mention re-potting it doesn't mean you have to put it in a different pot. You can remove the old soil as mentioned and with fresh soil put it back in the same pot you removed it from in the first place. So no moving it to a bigger pot if it's still the right size for it.
Depending how long it's been since you changed the soil all the nutrients in the soil the plant needs may be used up. Could be a part of why it's slowing down on it's blooming and making less bloom stalks. Believe me when those stalks want out from under the leaves they find a way. haha.
I use a diluted fraction of fertilizer each time I water. Maybe your plant would love some too. Would be easy to keep a small baby food jar of fertilizer in your desk.
Let us know if it perks up and starts blooming with more bloom stalks again after its spa treatment.,,,Debbie

Violet Leaves Crowding Bloom?

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Christine

amyrose_2010
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Christine

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amyrose_2010
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