My African Violet needs help!
jordancr4
6 years ago
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help my african violet
Comments (9)Hi, Do you have an African violet club near you? If you do, the people there will be more familiar with your growing environment. They might have back copies of the AVSA magazine. I read the actual magazine. I did not read it on line. I do not know if it is available on line. Other online resources are Rachel's Reflections. The Violet Barn is a seller. They have helpful information on their website. Your plants appear to have tight centers. That can be caused by too much light, When using artificial light. Some people say the tight centers will never loosen up. I don't know if that is true or not. Some people might suggest that you move the plants further away from the lights, such as putting them at the end of the stand, or raising the lights. I am not the best one to offer advice. Hopefully one of the experts on this forum will see your question and offer better advice. If it is possible for you to grow in window light, at this time of year where you live, perhaps try that for a while. Sometimes, you might find that you can grow in window light, at least for part of the year. Joanne This post was edited by fortyseven on Sun, May 25, 14 at 14:56...See MoreNeed Help: African violet won't grow
Comments (3)It has been about a month... did you take any before and after pictures to see any differences? It's hard to see changes when something is growing fairly slowly and there are lots of leaves to notice. Here is my AV (i took a lot of leaf cuttings from it, so it's regrowing). The first pic was the day I put it under lights, and the second pic is 16 days later... yes, there has been a color change, I guess from the different kind of light. It used to be in a south-west facing window. I use the Schultz AV food you describe everytime I water. I think it ends up being about 3-4 drops in a standard size water bottle. I mix it up and have that bottle on hand anytime I need to water....See MoreHELP my african violet is slowly fading away
Comments (12)If this is one of your first AV's, please take note of the following ... AV blooms do not last forever, usually only a few days to a few weeks, depending on the variety. After this, they brown and dry up. At this point, you should remove the bloom stalks. So ... for future notice, let's go through the steps of successful African Violet care ... 1.) Have a suitable spot selected for the plant(s). This spot needs to be well lighted (either from a window or household fluorescent lighting), and the temperature in the area should be steady. In other words, don't place the violet(s) in spots which will experience temperatures which are too hot ... or too cold. The good thing about African Violets is that they like the same temperature range which is comfortable for people (70-85 F). The (natural or fluorescent) light that your plant receives should be enough to cast a shadow if a white piece of paper is held behind them. This level of light will be necessary to ensure that your plant will bloom. 2.) Determine whether or not you can water your plant with household water. Some city/metropolitan water systems add chemicals (Chloramines) to their supplied water which, unfortunately, will harm/kill your African Violets. I would start by purchasing a gallon jug of spring water from the grocery and use that to water your Violet(s) until you determine whether or not Chloramines are in your water supply. You can also use rain water, if it's available. 3.) Shop for your African Violet (if necessary). We've all seen the bright and colorful displays of African Violets at the grocery and/or big box hardware stores. These plants are ideal to cut one's teeth on in learning to successfully grow African Violets ... with one caveat. These plants will almost always come with insect pests (thrips and/or others) which will ultimately begin to rob you of the beauty of your African Violet blossoms, unless you take the necessary steps to stop them. The alternative to buying African Violets at retail outlets ... is to buy them through mail order. There are a number of reputable mail-order African Violet vendors which will supply you with healthy African Violet plants which, in most cases, will not be carrying insect pests (thrips and/or others). Some of these vendors are Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses (website), PJ's Violets (ebay) or Jack's Violets (ebay). But, in general, pick plants that look healthy (not droopy) and which have a nice spiral type leaf pattern, where you can clearly see the center (crown) of the plant. Avoid plants that look jumbled ... or full of leaves, because that indicates that there is more than one plant in the pot, ... and you will have to separate the plants to have your best success. 4.) Once you have your plants, the most important to do is to NOT OVER-WATER them. The easiest way to kill your violets is to over-water them. Violets only need to be watered when the soil is very nearly dry. And when watering them, you need to allow the excess water to drain out of the pot's drainage holes ... to be discarded. A violet which is allowed to remain in a pot which is saturated with water will quickly die of root rot. 5.) Make sure that the AV pot is not too big ... and that it has drainage holes. An AV should be in a pot no bigger than 1/3 of the plant's width. So the leaves should stick over the sides of the pot, so that the plant looks like it has wings. I've included a photo for comparison. The easiest pots to use are like the plastic one shown in the photo, though, in time, you can graduate to using other types of planters. (Or you can set the plastic pot inside of a more decorative planter). These tips should set you well on your way to successful AV growing. And please, come back to Gardenweb with any other questions....See MoreNats on my african violets. Please help!!
Comments (2)Some past tips have been to let the plants dry out (larvae live in the damp soil), putting a layer of sand on top of the soil to discourage the egg laying, sprinkling cinnamon...none of them worked for me when I brought home gnats in a new prayer plant and they invaded every plant in my home. What did work was buying a package of mosquite dunks, floating a piece of the dunk in a container of water overnight, then using it to water my plants. The BT in the mosquito dunk kills the gnat larvae and stops the cycle...it may take more than one treatment if the infestation is heavy. The same BT (bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) is in Gnatrol, & Knock Out Gnats, probably others...I just found the dunks better priced locally (and passed the rest of the package on to a friend with a water feature in their garden)...See Morejordancr4
6 years agodviolet1
6 years agoaegis1000
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agojordancr4
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6 years agoaegis1000
6 years agojordancr4
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoaegis1000
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agojordancr4
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6 years agoaegis1000
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6 years agofortyseven_gw
6 years agojordancr4
6 years agoaegis1000
6 years agoRosie1949
6 years agofortyseven_gw
6 years agojordancr4
5 years agoRosie1949
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