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African Violets House Plants

African violet leaves grow narrow

stillinwisconsin

4 months ago

Can anyone tell me why my leaves seem to grow so narrow? it seems when i rescue clearance rack finds, the leaves are more rounded

then in ‘recovery’ (aka in my care haha), the new leaves grow darker and narrower

otherwise very healthy and they bloom religiously

i had powdery mildew problems last year so after trying various soils i finally switched them out of glazed ceramic pots, back into nursery pots and just use the glazed as cache pots and switched to Al Taplas 5:1:1 mix (they love it)

i use optimara violet food, maybe once a month and rain or distilled water only

sometimes i use dynagro ‘grow’ instead if tgats in my watering bottle at the time

is this a fertilizer issue or a lighting issue?

the non blooming one in my pic is my most recent rescue you can see the older outer leaves are wider in girth, and the newer growth is narrower… the outer leaves will be pruned soon and it probably needs more sun but i have been letting it acclimate after it’s transplant shock

the room doesnt get any cooler than 70ish at night and i have a humidifier running for winter months (Wisconsin)

typos are due to my smart phone not wanting to punctuate or auto correct anything on this forum for whatever reason, so excuse that please

feedback is appreciated thank you!

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Comments (4)

stillinwisconsin
Original Author
4 months ago
well after examining one of these closer, i just realized she threw me a baby since she was replanted in the 5:1:1 mix lol

she has the narrowest leaves…and i wonder if its due to crowding ??

is now a good time to separate? or should i wait until spring?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 months ago
you gave us all great info on every variable except one ... and it sounds like you hit those spot on ...

info on everything but light .. and then you ask.. is it light level ... hmmm ... lol ...

it very well could be.. but give us some facts on such ...

but regardless of that .. it has always been my idea.. that if a plant is happy enough to REPEAT BLOOM .. it can be having many real problems .. and if there arent any problems .. well ... whats to fix???

there is the small chance its one of those circumstances where some heavily stressed plant seems to bloom.. set seed one more time.. perhaps to carry on the species before it dies ... but crikey... your plants sure dont look like they are in that circ ..

i think the simple solution to your problem ... after we look at light levels... is to just get more plants... so you have other things to look at .. lol ...

ken

ps: when i had my AV collection ... it was under fluorescent lights about 6 inches from the plants for 16 hours a day ... etc ... in my MI .. window sills were to cold in winter ... lights have become much ore intense.. my simple point is... a flowering plant needs a lot of light.. to create the energy.. to keep flowering ....

pps: and if you are going to buy or build a light stand.. well go all the way up.. many shelves.. and buy more plants like mentioned above... lol.. i fell like a drug pusher this morning ... lol
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stillinwisconsin
Original Author
4 months ago
Yes i forgot to mention lighting factors lol

they are by my south facing windows (and bright light from west windows) so lots of bright direct and indirect light

the sun lower in the sky in the winter…these plants seem to do well here without supplemental lighting …

off topic but the new growth leaf spacing on my rubber plant seems to be shorter on the winter growth than summer months when sun is higher in the sky ??? just an observation … i thought the opposite would be true

i have been trying to give them (AV’s) more indirect light b/c of past issues with mildew which im trying to avoid but they do get SOME direct sun … table far right gets morning direct sun and the left table gets late afternoon direct sun

there is also a wood burning stove in here so toasty but i try to keep min 40% relative humidity, i cant get it much higher than that

i have a light stand for my succulents and its only one shelf this season lol i have no room for my african violets there (yet haha) but i didnt think supplemental lighting was necessary as they bloom religiously

but yeah they seem happy to me i just could never figure out why the leaves grow narrower for me but sounds like i should count my blessings at this point

Thank you for the feedback
terrilou
4 months ago
First off, if you are getting clearance violets to rebloom, there isn't much wrong with your growing techniques. As for leaf change, that has happened to a lot of us growers. Say you buy a blooming Optimara violet, get it home & enjoy the blooms, then repot into your own mix, and slowly you see the leaves change. The plant is no longer in the ideal conditions as regards light, heat and humidity as it was orginially grown. (not to mention a possible spray or two of growth inducing chemical.) So it reacts and if you have a clearance violet, it has been under even more stress.

Your plants look good but as violet growers we are always tweaking our conditions. If anything, I would keep an eye on your light conditions. Direct afternoon sun could be too harsh. I also use rainwater and Optimara fertilizer at 1/8th tsp per gallon every watering but I use a mix with no fertilizer in it.

You might consider raising the baby in a different area to see how it fares and yes you can take it now, no need to wait till spring. Starting a new plant from a leaf might also give you new insight.

Terri

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