Lovely! It looks like a two for one plant as I suspect the blue & white blooms are a sport of the pink & blue. Neat!

Very nice. It is lovely. Jeff, please share where you get the reservoir pots. I can see you have drilled a fill hole and your water looks really blue. I would love to know your growing protocals

Beautiful photos! I like sports too and wish there was a standardized method to stabilize them. Many of the traits we take for granted today were sports of one plant: pink flowers, double flowers, girl foliage: all from the humble Blue Boy! For this reason alone we should keep a few oldies around in the event a unique sport may still be produced.

Crazy quality plant growth/blooming from a quality grower ...

Thanks for the kind words. I always enjoy looking at what you guys are growing so when I get something that I like, I figure some of you may too!

And we do!

Thanks for the input. I will try the water solution too, if it’s ok. R u making it by gallon ration?

Yes, I mix my water by the gallon. I check the PH of my water every few weeks since I am on a well and the PH can vary. I live in Florida where the lions share of ground water is delivered via an expansive series of limerock aquifers. (Hence the need for PH down. The next guy may need to add PH up so you'll have to test your water.)

I use Dawn dish detergent. Don't know that it matters but thats whats sitting on the side of my kitchen sink so thats what I use.

1/8th tsp per gal DynaGro is a number that a good many folks who wick water use. I would caution folks to experiment with a plant or two to make sure that dilution will work well for them.

The blue dye is certainly not necessary but I grew to like it when I still used Optimara fertilizer which has dye in it from the factory. When I changed over to DynaGro, it did not have the blue dye so I bought some blue dye granules off the internet. I just like the blue color which hides the brownish green color of untreated water.

Jeff - why do you add soap? IMHO it will eventually make our soil soggy. I understand that ready made mix have wetting agent added - to help resoak the soil after it is dried to a bone - but I am sure that you do not do it.

Second observation - keeping the water pH higher - keeps the the soil neutral - that is what my FL friends say - heat and humidity in FL - make the peat go acid fast - but water coming with high pH - helps. So - check your soil pH every so often - may be there is way to fine tune it. May be water with a straight well water once a month... I am not an expert on FL growing - I just repeat what I heard.

It is always a pleasure to read your ever-experimenting reports ;-)).

K, think I’m ready. Will adjust to begin. Physan 20 is for fungal growth? Plan to use it and dynagrow, maybe not dawn for me yet as I had a bad experience that I haven’t recovered fully. ( also dawn destroys lipid membrane in roots? )I really miss the ones I lost. I really, really want to replace them, and not just AV’s. But, especially my AV’s. Should have asked questions here 1st before widely spraying. Learn and grow.

Thanks so much for input. How long is Pysan shelf stable and water stable? Just wondered if one might know. I can and should also research. I appreciate the experience of others before me. Look forward to one day posting my own blooming pictures one day.

Physan 20 is a sterilant - it kills algae, mold, mildew etc - and I presume is not that plant friendly - so do not exceed the dosage - and do not repeat the treatment unless needed. The maker of Physan says it is very stable and the shelf life of the concentrate in a bottle is not limited.

Would hydrogen peroxide work instead?

depends what are you trying to control.

Algae - seems that both Physan and hydrogen peroxide will work, but Physan is stable - and peroxide will dissipate in 24 hours.

We need to find a a way to control algae, and not damage the plants. So probably control is the answer, not a total eradication. Having uncontrolled algae growth on the mats - will feed a cloud of fungus gnats and will give an unpleasant odor. Adding a small amount of Physan will help to maintain the mats and the water in reservoirs relatively clean - between the regular cleanups. The presence of fertilizer salts in a solution eventually pickles the mats, wicks and trays - so you need to do it every so often.

To avoid scrubbing the individual reservoirs - Dale Martens recommends putting plastic baggies inside - and discarding them when they become dirty, Saves time,

Nice idea!

There was a short article in the AVSA mag in one of the last few issues. The author cautions of improper Physan 20 use. I think I am going to eliminate it from my plant food recipe for a couple of months and see just how bad the algae gets.

On the algae note, while "unsightly", I have known orchid folks who grow orchids and other plants semi-hydroponically. A couple decided to quit trying to eradicate the algae in a few pots to see what effect it might have. To their surprise, the plants in those pots actually seemed to perform better. The biggest issue I would expect with algae, might be with it "clogging up" a wick. Haven't done wick watering in ages so can't really say.

My reservoirs are always green. No chemicals here. If the green gets too much for me, I wash the reservoirs and run water over the wicks to remove the algae. Most of the time, roots are also covering the wick. The plants don't seem to be complaining about the algae.

Terri

Jeff, could you recall which issue that article is in?

I haven't had to put Physan 20 into reservoirs lately as I decided to put all those clear snack cups into tea cups -- problem solved.

Not the mag I just got in the mail last week but the one the month before.

Today I will be repotting a lot of babies and also planting many leaves. The advice here is great. I got everything Jeff listed. Joanne

Thanks to all for helping keep this forum a nice place to be!

Irina, I use about two drops of dish soap per gal of water. I had never read where adding very small amounts of dish soap to a wicking reservoir could be harmful. I use it to hedge my bets w regard to having all the stars in alignment for proper wicking action.

I check my well water for ph levels once or twice a month. I used to do it more but it never seems to change so now I am down to minimal testing.

I repot once or twice a year (depending on the plant) and I wick water. At least so far as I can tell, my soil does not seem to get used long enough to develop any issues. I will keep an eye on it for sure.

My most recent tragedy was the loss of my Ness Fantasy Gold due to a botched surgery. The son of a gun just would not revive in spite of my best efforts. (Kind of hurt my feelings. Thats the first one in a long time I've lost.) Ive got a couple of leaves planted from the removal of the second crown. Hopefully one of them will take off.

Nah, it was not you. My Ness Fantasy Gold was more fantasy as in "imaginary" and no gold to speak of. It did not do much. It did not even try. Hope your leaves cooperate.

My Ness Fantasy Gold had no gold and the flower was so puny. I gave to Rosie. I hope she has better luck with it.

Jeff,

I had bad luck with Fantasy Gold also. It was a sensitive plant. I read that Snow Edelveis tends to sport. Your plant looks terrific. It still looks close to the original. I see what you mean about the brown tips from sunburn. It won't hurt the plant.

You might want to consider ordering from PJ's Violets on Ebay. They are in Florida. Aegis recommended them, so I ordered from them. Very pleased with their selection, quality, and packing.

Joanne

My snow Edelweiss sported too. Only has white and blue.

Anything with fantasy will sport when you propagate it. Old variety, new variety, Russian, British... you name it. Some sport, some sport less. If you buy it not in bloom - you are taking your chance. The best grower, the most reputable seller cannot guarantee you that the violet will bloom true until it opens the blossom.

Yes - better to buy from reputable sellers - because if the leaf and babies are treated poorly - the chance of sporting increases. Stress causes ulcers in people - and sports - in violets.

A good friend of mine gave me a leaf of B-Man Etna. 3 starters are coming to bloom - one - gorgeous large pink blossoms with fantasy, one solid blue and one .. buds still closed...

That's very interesting, Irina, the idea that the choice of vendor can affect the outcome (sporting) due to care. What a good point! I try to look at propagation of a fantasy violet as part challenge and part luck. Fortunately, since I don't depend on the outcome for my livelihood nor do I show, I can view it as just a game. It's fun to see what results from one leaf!

Not very many people in this world can earn enough on AVs. Holtkamps - yes. LLG and VB - they scrape the living - but they do what they love. The rest - supplementing their pensions.

Irina, Thank you for explaining that fantasies sport. That would be a good reason to buy them from the hybridizer.

Most fantasies I have purchased locally that were grown from secondary sources have not bloomed true. Some reverted, others mottled. So it is not the fault of the variety itself.

Joanne

I had two fantasies that reverted this year, both were purchased as starter plants: DEO Star Special Forces (pink with purple markings) bloomed solid purple for the first time and Cajun's Drama Queen (reverse fantasy) went solid purple on the second blooming. When it bloomed the first time the fantasy was very minimal. They can be beautiful but also very unstable.

Darryl Hoover - "Definitely Darryl" - gave our AV Council a lecture on hybridizing - he works on semi-minis and minis right now - one cool guy -- check him on F-book.

He discussed genetic drift of the hybrids - saying - I wish I kept this original old plant. With time - little changes that happen when you propagate leaf from leaf from leaf... become very significant - and you are dealing with something that is barely recognizable.