Penny - Usually the plants in a wild do not look as attractive as our plants, dirt, caterpillar holes - but they are alive, they bloom and put seeds - so their biological function is fulfilled. It rains, the water runs off, the soil gets leached naturally. Bacteria work on debri from the nearby trees providing nutrients for the plants, birds fly over leaving their droppings all over, also adding to the nutriens. Complete complex ecosystem at works. We cannot reproduce all the complexity of the system - so we repot and fertilize and leach soil. I do not believe that using wood sticks is enough. They will definitely got stained by humic acid of peat, but I do not think they are capable of taking all the salt and acidity out. Leaching works better. But - whatever works for you...AVs are very flexible and they can survive for long time, even bloom even if they are crowded and not repotted. They won't give you all the performance they are capable of, but they will live. Plus - whet we are dealing is not wild species - we are working with pampered hybrids. So beneficial bird droppings will probably burn ugly holes in the leaves. Irina, the spoilsport

Zwaantje, congratulations on all of the buds! The east windowsill should be fine for most of your plants. After I received a baby AV with leaves going straight up I found three possible causes: not enough light (the most common cause - the plant is reaching up to be closer to it), too much light (the plant is trying to shield its tender crown), and extremely crowded initial growing conditions (which blocks leaves from growing flat and forces them upwards. Then even when the plant has space, new leaves can't grow flat since they hit the ones standing up!). You will need to experiment to find the cause/cure. Try placing the plants in a lower light area or cover the crowns with tissue paper and see if the leaves go down. If the leaves don't change, move the plant into more intense/longer light than it originally had. Maisie, M3rmald is right. The heavy original mix meets the growers' care practices and needs (for example, the mostly peat mix has to hold water long enough for packing, shipping and retail display) but isn't ideal for the home growers (for example, the mix is very unforgiving of overwatering, one of the biggest causes of AV houseplant death). Plus, over time the mix breaks down, compacts, and the pH changes - none of which are good for the plant. If new leaves are growing in you could see buds at any time.

Zu - you use Klasmann Peat. My guess you are using not their raw material - but a peat based mix - or you do something to adjust Ph? Straight peat has Ph of 4-4.5 - and AVs need 6.3-6.8 range - that's why we repot them every 6-12 months - to avoid the damaging from progressively more acid aging peat soil mix. Your violets look way too healthy and green - so I suspect you mitigate the acidity someway. But if it is on a low side - it can explain more than normal sporting. You think 200 AV is a lot? I had a friend visiting - and she told me she has 3000 pots if you count all potted leaves and starters. She is a young retiree - so it seems she created another job taking care of them AVs. (I suggested to donate a good portion of them to the nursing home before she starts sleeping in her truck because of the massive AV hoard). I,

Ok my apologies, first pic is of the SUCKER, second is mom and third is when I just bought it, now that I look closely, it had a bit of verigation on a few leaves when I bought it but I though it was water damage. Well I most definetly lucked out on this one. Lucky me