I moved it to a west facing window. There has only been a few days or sun here and when it was sunny it was direct light. The crown and other leaves are still crisp. Just the few outer leaves. I water about every 7 days I always check the soil so it doesn't get over watered. The red seems to be showing more than it did last week

I was worried it might of been from the cold. At night I close the blinds so it's protected but some nights it's only 10 degrees at the most. I'll start checking around the 4th day for water and remove the old leaves. Hopefully I'm not slowly killing the poor thing :(

Droopy leaves are almost always a water issue ... either too little ... or too much.

If too little, ... a measured watering most often will restore your plants firmness within a day or so.

If too much water has rotted the roots, ... the standard advice is to depot the plant, examine the roots and cut off any roots that look rotted (brown), ... then repot and water SPARINGLY until the plant revives. This might take a while, but, unless the plant itself has succumbed to rot, the plant typically will survive and revive.

cold can damage it. and what can be even worse is cold and wet/damp.

early winter i stuck a meat thermometer into the soil of a plant on the window sill. i don't remember the exact figure, but i proceeded to remove anything i cared about from the window and finding space on the shelf.

the "B-List" is on the window sill now, but doing ok, since i typically forget to water them, so at least they don't rot ;-p

Karin

as far as watering do you guys water until it runs through the bottom or just give a little water to moisten? I'm afraid if I move it from the window it will not receive enough light for the rest of winter. Maybe I'll move it away until it warms up. I'll have to check the roots, hopefully I can get it done by this weekend. I believe the pot it's in is too big. That's the one it came in and I inly have clay pot. Hoping my order of pots will come in by the end of the week

just a long shot... when you repotted this plant did you pack down the soil around the roots? even just slightly press?

Suyoder, honestly I don't remember, it's a possibility. What happens when you pack the soil?

my violets had similar symptoms that yours have... i repotted a few and absentmindedly pressed the soil around the base of the plant like i do on every single other houseplant i have... and within hours it was droopy. i puzzled for two days before it struck me that i had packed the soil... so i took the root ball out of the soil again and made sure to repot it with no packing so that there was lota of air around the roota again. its amazing... but in a few hours it was crisp and happy again! i did remove a few of the oldest leaves before i repotted it again... so that might have helped the rest of the plant recover. :) just a thought... i dont know if thats actually whats wrong with it or not.

Next time you repot your plants, cut a 4" piece of shoestring and thread it through the hole in the bottom of the pot with half in the soil and half sticking out the bottom. Then you don't have to be poking the soil to check moisture level. Just keep about 1/2" of water in your tray at all times and it will wick into the soil as needed.

Well I believe this may be the problem. Have no idea how this happened. Never had it happen to any of my plants. Went to check the roots and this Happened....

is it rotten??

after getting what dirt off i could it doesn't seem to be rotten, just short and compacted

ahh -i hope fluffing the roots and soil helps it!!

i'm going to pot it down to a 2" pot. I only have clay at the moment didn't get my plastic ones in yet. I fluffed the roots and just going to start over.

Sometimes roots only go part of the way into the potting mix because that is the kind of plant it is. Some Vs have long roots, others have short. As long as the bottom leaves are firm, they don't have to be removed. I found that plastic works better for violets than clay, especially in the Northeast. It is easier to monitor moisture and temperature levels. Clay gets cold. You can get Mason Twine at the hardware store, some people use that for wicking. Go by the rule of thumb, that the leaf spread should be 3 times bigger that the pot size. If you can find a shallow pot, that would be good. But they are hard to find. 2" sounds kinda small. Do you have 2.5" or 3"? Joanne

Joanne, I ordered different size plastic pots from fancy bloomers but I haven't received them yet. I couldn't round any in all the stores near me. The leaf spam is only a little over 6". I didn't want to put it in clay but that's all I had. And I thought it might be ok until I get the new ones

sounds good. i think the downturn in the leaves and red coming through is just the intensified light. when they get a lot of light, the leaves turn downward. to our human eyes, we often can't tell the difference in light levels, but Mother Nature knows! you are fine with clay for a short time.

sytrofoam cups can be used as emergency pots. The old fashioned white kind, can be bought in bulk for very cheap in most areas. I poke a few holes in the bottom with a pen and trim the half inch below the rim with a knife for a quick pot for transplants or suckers.

The styrofoam now sold is usually biodegradable, so when you are finished, they can be tossed out, guilt-free.

With clay pots, some of the hazards are AV leaves touching the sides will be abraded and the salts in the soil tend to leach out into the clay, discoloring it. It is hard to control the water and temp. So,long term, not ideal, short term, they are ok.

there were long discussions on this topic --what are the best materials for containers--on the forum in the recent past. but for now, that is probably all the info you need. Today, I am using some clay pots myself. My plastic pots are packed away, we just moved. So until I can find them, some emergency transplanting is being done in clay. Joanne

Just had to add, if you're looking for a plastic pot temporary substitute, don't overlook your recycling bin: yogurt cups and pudding cups and such are often the perfect size. Poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage and you're good to go!

Yum, applesauce, pudding and yogurt, here we come!

Thank you all so much for your help, I really appreciate it!! :) I'll have to start saving my kids applesauce cups

I just got several brands to see which are the easiest to poke holes into! They were on the bottom shelf, so I just plunked down on the floor to study them. Then suddenly I was surrounded by little kids who must have thought a grown lady sitting on the floor was cool. When I was studying the yogurt in the yogurt aisle, I found some oddly shaped containers. A "helpful" shopper stopped by to give my lots of advice ... lots and lots ....! I just nodded and smiled, I did not have the heart to tell her I was examining them close-up more for their suitability as flower pots!! Talk about a friendly neighborhood supermarket. I made it though the pudding aisle without incident and got the sugar free chocolate kind, which I have hidden in the back of the fridge .... guilty pleasures, all in the name of AVs.

I will spare the details of the Keurig (cult??) adventure, as this post is already long. Joanne

Glad I could help, Joanne and LoveofBostons. I really like using the pudding cups because they are translucent - easy to see the roots and even to see the moisture in the potting mix! Oh, yes - K cups! My son saved some of those at work and just brought a bag of them to me this winter (I don't have interest in owning a Keurig coffee maker as I don't drink much coffee) and these little plastic darlings are perfect for just separated semi- and mini babies. A valuable pot source for sure!

Joanne, that's great! The people in my supermarket would probably just ignore me if I happened to plop on the floor. But yes, those "experts" with their advice are hilarious sometimes. :-) THanks for sharing! You make me curious about the K-cup adventure. I've been toying with the idea of trying to find someone who would save some for me!

Hi, Anne, Sounds like you are finding the K-cups are working well for you. They are great for the small babies, as you said. I also root larger leaves directly in them. I continue to ask friends, who also grow plants, but not AVs, to save theirs for me, which they do.

Suyoder, When I did the research on what type or brand of K-cup machine to get, that is, if we decided to get one, I looked on the internet. I saw some youtube videos in which a young woman said she refills and reuses the same pod with her own coffee a few times. Each time it is used, another hole is poked in the bottom of the pod by the machine. She said once it has 3 or 4 holes, that is enough times to reuse it. That made me think that the used pods would be even better for rooting with the extra holes already poked in the bottom by the machine. (I also saw some, to me, hilarious youtube videos on the limited availability of a specific brand and model of K-machine, making me think it was a sort of cult. But that is the way coffee drinkers are about their coffee, anyway! )

Anyway, if you have friends who work in small offices, such as real estate or teachers or beauty salons, even banks, wherever you might go, you can ask them to save the k-cups for you.

We had a discussion about this on the forum a few months ago, that was how i learned about this use for used k cups. I asked if the coffee being removed from them could be used for the compost pile but was advised no. They are a little messy, you have to cut off the tin foil lid, which is glued on, then cut out the tiny coffee filter with a sharp knife and rinse out the coffee. Easier to do when they are dried out.

The machines can also brew decaf or hot chocolate, apple cider or tea. But it seems like a big expense if not wanting to also brew coffee. Just easier to ask friends to save their pods for you. Joanne

JoAnne , if I were to sit on the floor at my grocery store they would probably ask me if I was mentally ok. I rarely get the "helpful" shoppers but everytime I get asked to grab a product off the top shelf for people. AnneCecilia and to think i've been thowing my k-cups out! Its funny you don't really think of these things until someone tells you and you're like that's brilliant why didn't I think of that? I will have to save a few for just in case

my children when we eat out use individual sized Ranch dressing that are bid enough to dip chicken nuggets. Those cups make good starter cups for leaves. Also if we get icecream Sundays or parfaits we use the clear containers that those come in for mini green houses.

Yes, Bostons, save your k cups and also join an AV club near you and bring them with you, they will give you great trades in exchange! You must be tall! I am short, so if I am sitting on the floor to look at what is on the bottom shelf, well, that is where the kids or "rug rats" are, anyway, so that must be why the store puts all the kid goodies on the bottom shelf, were the grownups don't normally see them, but they are at kid eye level. The kids just thought I had found something fascinating and wanted to know what it was, i guess.

Julie, I never thought of using those chicken nugget sauce containers! Burger King, here we come!

Sadly there are no clubs by me :( they are all at least 3 hours away. I will have to start watching what my kids are eating to see if its reusable!

Just an update... After repotting this in a 2" clay pot I bought a lamp and have placed them under CFL. As of this morning I noticed the smallest bud forming!! Also the leaves have settled down a bit and aren't reaching as high. The av is still in the clay pot. I finally received my plastic pots but I'm unsure wether or not I should tepot this one into plastic being buds are forming.

And I still can't figure out why when i post from my phone the pictures are sideways, please forgive that

No, don't repot it! It is too soon, for two reasons, you just repotted it, it has gotten settled, and never repot when blooming. When I said they would be ok in clay for a short time, I meant six months. It is doing fine in the clay. In the fall, if or when it is done blooming, you can refresh the potting mix and possibly move it to a plastic pot. But if it is still blooming, then leave it alone. This is the time of year when many violets come alive and start to set buds. Just watch the edges of the clay to make sure they are not abrading the plant. Once it blooms, it will need to be watered more frequently. Some violets will continue to bloom, even after a major bloom cycle, they continue to send out a few blooms all year. Others, such as Optimara, bloom in cycles. Then rest. When the violet is resting is the best time to groom and repot, if necessary. A violet that continues to send out a few blooms outside of major cycles can be repotted carefully. It is hard for a violet to both make roots and flowers at the same time. If you repot when blooming, it tires out the plant because it won't know what to do. When repotting, tang remaining blooms should be removed. With violets, "less is more," meaning less handling is more conducive to the violet's growth. Joanne

Joanne, thank you for that! This is good to know. I'm wondering what I can do to the edge of the clay pot so it doesn't bother the leaves? A few of them are slightly touching

Well, maybe I am contradicting myself, but since the bud is so small, it will take weeks to grow, if you had a plastic pot the same size as the clay or slightly larger, say, 2 1/2", you might consider repotting it. The best way to do that is to line the new pot with potting mix and dampen it slightly. Then take the entire plant with the mix out of the clay pot, do not remove any of the mix, then gently but quickly insert it into the plastic pot so that there is minimal disturbance to any roots. To be on the safe side, dome it all for a day or two to recover from this handling.

The reason I say that is, if a few leaves are already touching the rim of the clay pot, then it is likely that more will touch it later. What often happens is that at the underside of the leaf stem becomes abraded from the rim and from the salts in the potting medium that tend to collect on the outside of the pot. (That is what any discoloration is from.)

If you do not want to move it, advice has been given on this forum from time to time. Lucky uses clay and has suggested various things. If I recall correctly, she covers the edges with aluminum foil.

Another idea would be to carefully drip melted candle wax to seal the edges.

Sometimes you can find chunks of beeswax in a hardware store, you could rub that on the edges.

I used to slip a piece of curved paper such as cut from a styrofoam or coated cardboard coffee cup between the rim and the leaves. That is the only method I tried. *

Perhaps a bit of wax paper or even cling type plastic wrap.

If you don't mind doing a search on the forum for "Clay pot" you might find the threads in which this has been discussed. Look for a thread that has Lucky123 on it as the most recent that I recall.

*When leaves became abraded, I removed them and started new plants with them, but this happened to too many leaves. Joanne

Joanne -So after some thinking I didn't re pot the violet I moved it to a plastic pot that was the same size, took all of 30 seconds. I did dome it for almost 2 days. So far everything looks good. Lets hope the bud just keeps getting bigger. Thank you all for you advice and help!!

I'm so glad that your particular violet recovered! How are the others doing? All but 8 of my violets are blooming and it's such a pretty sight!!

That's funny... I guess everyone has found different things that work for them. I brought home two No ID violets from my local greenhouse and they were in that nasty black heavy soil that they always are in. So I immediately repotted them, including loosening and shaking off as much of that soil as I could.. the resulting rootball was probably half the size that it was before. I repotted it in my fresh pre-mixed and moistened soil, let them sit for two days without watering and then watered them good. They are still blooming with no sign of any stress at all.. and that's been over a week ago. :-) Granted, the blooms probably won't last quite as long as they would have previously, but I don't really mind... I think it helped the plant in the long run to just get rid of that yucky heavy soil. Just took these pictures this morning:

My Violets · More Info

My Violets · More Info

Oh and just to share the beauty..... :-)

They are beautiful!! The others are doing well. The other rescue that I found I really took it down a lot. The leaves were so damaged I figured I would experiment. I believe that one is also sending up a bud but it's so small I can't tell yet. As far as the ones I ordered they are doing great. Especially the jolly orchid has a new flower just about everyday.

Excuse the crowding in the middle of relocating everything

Yay! I love the look of a shelf full of violets!! ;-)

Just waiting for my husband to build my new stand. My goal is for this shelf to be only violets so they have enough room. Between the violets and all my other plants I have no room :( hopefully soon he can get it done

I know the feeling! I was thrilled when my husband got three violet shelves done for me.. but then they all started blooming at once, and I wanted all of the blooming ones in the main room.. so I moved them out on the desk in the dining room, and my pretty new shelves are nearly empty for now. *chuckle* I'm getting a little worried about when all these leaves that I've put down send out babies...... I'll be swamped!

Haven't experimented with putting leaves down yet. Good luck with the propagation. As long as it makes you happy keep on doing it!!

oh i LOVE the growing part of violets! theres something so rewarding about watching little leaves come pushing out of soil and then when it FINALLY blooms.... ahhh.... so much fun. ;) but its not something everyone enjoys... and thats fine! ;)

Su, Many people recommend repotting the Optimaras into better soil right away. I have seen Optimaras grown in "normal" soil that look much better. Loveofbostons, sounds like the right solution. I dont think i understood you had a pot the exact size! it should be fine. I just repotted a few that have buds that i did not remove. the plants needed bigger pots. there are only so many sizes of pots, so there is a big jump from a 3" to a 4".

Leaves can be fun. I used to have a plant that was brittle and lost a lot of leaves, so that was how I started, only with leaves that naturally broke off. there are better, more methodical ways to go about selecting leaves to root. that is a study in itself. anyway, wait to pull off a leaf to root until the plant stops blooming.

just another update: as of this morning this is how it's looking!! Any recommendations on fertilizer? Not sure if that's why outer leaves are yellowing or if it's age. I currently don't use a fertilizer.

You can get african violet fertilizer on Amazon.com or I have seen it in lowes. It looks beautiful though! The yellowing leaves are just aging i believe... Don't take my word for it though because I never let my plants keep their leaves... I'm always removing the beat up outer layer. :-P

I figured it was one of the two. It's come a long way and I'm so happy it's getting buds!

I would remove those faded leaves and repot, they don't like clay pots, the salts build up & burn the plant. It is also potted too low in the pot, the crown should be even with the top. I repot with/without blooms, it doesn't faze them. Proof... my Tiger, best in show, they like to be groomed.

Phsyco somatic- absolutely beautiful!! It's not in clay anymore. Was only temporarily while I was waiting for an order of pots. The crown is almost level with the top now after re potting. I am going to remove the leaves tomorrow

UPDATE: it finally bloomed!! Only 1 has opened but it made me so happy to see. This one has come a long way!

Nice! and worth the wait!!!!! Rosie