Larry's method is great. I used a different method. I put all my violets on my kitchen table and used a clear painter's drop cloth to make a tent for them. Put it under and over them with sticks to keep it off of the plants. Sealed it with masking tape. Left room between them so they would not touch. My plants are all in self watering pots but I only put enought water in for about a week. I was gone for three weeks. Lost none and all were either in bloom or started up again as soon as their light was increased.

Wow so surprised to hear the updates on the bulbs. In the past our AV's always looked like giagantic bushes and no flowers at work. A fellow co-worker that had an AV at home and was suffering from neglect brought it in to me. Right now I have it in it's original 4 in plastic pot from the store and the bottom just barely touching water in a reg coffee syrofoam cup. Temp just to get it's legs back on, so far it's looking good. I put it on top of my file cabinet to get some of the overhead lighting. I don't think the under cabinet desk lights are good for plants. I have a poor rainforest plant (tislandia) under mine full time and it's probably murderous on it, cause all plants need nighttime. I am sorry I digress. Okay so I am surprised about the lightbulbs. Also the North window makes sense to me, since it's probably next best to the east window. Thanks for enlightening me on the lightbulbs.....!

No, my understanding is that it should bloom regardless of type. And several years is long enough to mature. There are certain kinds of AVs that will not bloom true from a leaf cutting, but they all bloom. That being said, I have had AVs (1-3 plants at a time) for the last 25 years and they never bloomed. Never, that is, until I suddenly found myself in a house that has the right light. For a year my AVs bloomed their little heads off. Right up until they developed an aphid problem (which I won't go into here). Of course, I had never invested in lights of any kind. My guess is that it is a light problem. AVs can be huge, healthy plants and never produce a bloom if they don't get the right kind of light. There are lots of resources for info on lighting. If you want to use natural lighting you'll have to experiment a bit. AVs want bright, indirect light, but can take a little direct sun if it's not too hot or too long. Mine bloom beautifully in a blocked southern exposure. My Mom's bloom in an unblocked eastern exposure, about a metre back from the window. For info on artificial lighting, check out the FAQ section of this forum, or try Rachel's, or both. Best of luck, Feegle ~You enter into a certain amount of madness when you marry a person with pets. - Nora Ephron Here is a link that might be useful: Rachel's Reflections

Nathanhurst; Thanks for you input. Who knows which factor is most important? My AV and Chiritas are now blooming like crazy being planted in the classic way in a 20gal terrarium. It seems now that everything is in bloom the suckering process has slowed down. Nothing is "potbound" since it is planted in the ground. One way to accomplish this in a classic terrarium is to take a knife and circumscribe a circle around the AV to cut down many of its roots. I have not had to choose this option. I know all other growing conditions are very good since all my propogating leaves each have many plantlets coming up withing 4-6 weeks. They were started in pure vermiculite inside the terrarium. As an aside, I have a small standard AV in a 6 inch self watering pot and it is starting to bloom. I am sure potbound is one more factor like all the rest, but each factor alone is not manditory. Thanks Ivan